Show Preview | John Coleman

Scottsdale, AZ
Legacy Gallery, November 14-22

This story was featured in the November 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

FOUR YEARS AGO at Legacy Gallery, consummate western artist John Coleman debuted a major show two years in the making, with 20 artworks portraying the uncannily realistic American Indian subjects and scenes for which he is renowned. Now, at the age of 71, the esteemed member of the Cowboy Artists of America and the National Sculpture Society returns with another collection of 20 works completed over the last two years and bearing the same title as the previous show: Spirit, Lives, Legends. It opens on Saturday, November 14, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m., which the artist plans to attend. “The morning of, or the day before,” adds Coleman, “I’ll be doing a talk and leading tours, though we’ll break into smaller, socially distanced groups to keep people comfortable.”

Coleman feels it’s perfectly appropriate that this new body of work shares its title with the 2016 event. Now as then, he says, “I would like my work to remind people that art can transcend any obvious storyline.” He explains that “legends refers to the historical record,” expressing his dedication to impeccable accuracy. “Spirit,” he continues, sums up “the romance of my subjects.” As for lives, Coleman hopes that his works hold meaning “not only for the people I portray but also for the lives of all people,” including “who we are today.”

Even a glance at the pieces on display confirms how impressively Coleman fulfills those goals. Take, for example, THE ORACLE II, a charcoal drawing that stands more than 5 feet tall and depicts a medicine man who was first described in the journals of painter and writer George Catlin in 1850. Like all of Coleman’s drawings, the image is so powerfully lifelike that viewers may forget it’s black and white. “The mood was really important to me,” says the artist of the fine-tuning necessary to create such a vibrantly alive drawing.

Among the paintings, Coleman feels particular pride for MOTHER’S BLESSING, showing a young Indian mother tenderly placing a hand upon a child securely resting in his cradleboard. Images and artifacts on the teepee wall behind her portray heroic tribal exploits, evoking the mother’s hopes and fears. “It’s just like writing a story,” one that viewers interpret for themselves, notes the artist.

Among the four sculptures in the show, Coleman’s greatest piece—not only in size and impact but also complexity—is HE WHO JUMPS OVER EVERYONE, a bronze of a legendary Crow chief on horseback, measuring 7 feet 4 inches tall. Four times larger than a similar piece from four years ago, the work dazzles in its detail, from the warrior’s flowing hair to every barb of the feathers in his warbonnet, hanging from his spear, and crowning his rearing steed’s head. “This piece is about movement,” adds Coleman, noting that its more than 100 separate elements were expertly cast and assembled by Erik Peterson of Peterson Creations in Prescott, AZ, not far from his home and studio. “I wanted to wait until not too early in my career,” adds Coleman warmly, “to do something to the total limit like this one.” —Norman Kolpas

contact information
480.945.1113
www.legacygallery.com

This story was featured in the November 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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