Show Preview | Glenn Dean & Greg Beecham

Jackson, WY
Legacy Gallery, September 5-22

Glenn Dean, She Rides the Land of Her People, oil, 16 x 20.

This story was featured in the September 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

AS THOUSANDS of art lovers descend on Jackson, WY, this month for its annual Fall Arts Festival, two iconic aspects of the American West find eloquent expression at Legacy Gallery. The gallery mounts a major solo show of works by landscape artist Glenn Dean (September 12-22), as well as an Artist Focus show featuring Greg Beecham’s wildlife paintings (September 5-15). Beecham, a resident of the town of Dubois, 80 miles northeast of Jackson, is on hand during the Palates & Palettes Art Walk on Friday, September 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. Dean, who lives in the California central coast enclave of Cambria, attends his show’s opening reception from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, September 13.

: Greg Beecham, Alpha, oil, 30 x 30.

: Greg Beecham, Ever Ready, oil, 18 x 40.

: Greg Beecham, Landing Among the Boulders, oil, 18 x 32.

“I’ve been at this full time for 41 years now,” says Beecham of his devotion to capturing the beauty and majesty of the animal world. His realist paintings bring extra dimension to his subjects—literally—through his sculptural application of oils with a palette knife and thick brushwork. The 10 new works he unveils this month represent his evolution “toward a more contemporary approach,” capturing the essence of creatures through “strong composition and very little background.” ALPHA, for example, features a wolf’s head at twice its actual size, enabling the artist to incorporate subtle dots of greens, reds, and purples that subconsciously make the image “far more emotionally stimulating” for viewers. In an even more dramatic departure from Beecham’s usual subjects, LANDING AMONG THE BOULDERS presents a grasshopper at “many, many, many times life-size.” Adds the artist, “I was so stunned by its complexity and beauty.”

: Greg Beecham, Wet Pursuit, oil, 18 x 24.

: Glenn Dean, Cloudscape, oil, 23 x 23.

: Glenn Dean, Drifters, oil, 40 x 50.

The title of Dean’s solo show, Roaming the West, evokes the epic scope of the landscapes lovingly portrayed by the 42-year-old artist, whose works have won top awards at major events such as the Quest for the West and Maynard Dixon Country annual art shows. “I try to approach my subject with a viewpoint of reverence, while also trying to simplify what I’m seeing,” says Dean, explaining the archetypal quality he achieves in WATCHING THE SHADOWS MERGE, one of 16 recent canvases in the show.

: Glenn Dean, Watching the Shadows Merge, oil, 24 x 24.

: Glenn Dean, Into the Canyon, oil, 24 x 12.

: Glenn Dean, Afternoon Ride, oil, 24 x 24.

Dean notes that, while he painted landscapes pure and simple for the first 15 years of his professional career, over the past six years or so he’s been including in the compositions human figures, often on horseback, while always striving to make the details timeless rather than historical. “When I look at paintings that have figures in them, I feel more of a connection with them,” he explains. In SHE RIDES THE LAND OF HER PEOPLE, for example, an Indian woman ambles on horseback at sunset amidst the wonders of Monument Valley, her contemplative presence irresistibly drawing in the viewer. Similarly, THE RISE engages the imagination with a moonlit setting in which a lone cowboy on horseback crests a sagebrush-covered hill. “Each painting is its own challenge,” sums up Dean of the rich variety of scenes on view. —Norman Kolpas

contact information
307.733.2353
www.legacygallery.com