Show Preview | Rivera & Winborg

Santa Fe, NM
Manitou Galleries, June 5-28

Jeremy Winborg, Might & Mane, oil, 36 x 50.

Jeremy Winborg, Might & Mane, oil, 36 x 50.

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

DURING A TIME when virtually everyone around the world is feeling the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, Cyndi Hall of Manitou Galleries hopes people gain some comfort from a two-man show at the gallery’s Palace Avenue location in Santa Fe, NM, this month, when works by oil painter Jeremy Winborg and Native American sculptor George Rivera go on view. Both artists plan to attend the opening reception on Friday, June 5, at 5 p.m., provided the gallery (which was closed at press time) has reopened by then.

“We’re just trying to be that beacon of light,” says Hall. What Manitou’s associate director finds particularly comforting about the works of Winborg and Rivera is the resilience and fortitude they convey through their subject matter. “The women and children Jeremy paints display an inner strength,” she notes, “and in George’s sculpture, you see a culture of people that still carry on [their traditions] in modern times.”

For Winborg, who lives in Utah’s Cache Valley, the Native American women he portrays in traditional tribal clothing often evoke a quiet fierceness. When working with his models during photo shoots, he looks for a spark in their eyes, he says. “I want to show how important Native American women were to the everyday life of the tribe,” explains the artist. “Everything would have fallen apart if the women weren’t there.”

Like so many others these days, Winborg has been isolated at home, with his wife and five children. Normally, he paints in a studio above his parents’ house that he shares with his father, but lately he’s been working in an “impromptu studio” at his house that also serves as the family’s crafts and toy room. The change in routine, however, hasn’t cramped his style. In fact, says Winborg, this show marks one of his most expansive to date: he is showcasing about 10 large paintings along with a few studies. He has also been exploring new techniques. “Maybe it’s the quarantine,” chuckles the artist. “At the moment, I love strictly abstracted backgrounds. I’ve been trying to incorporate more of an abstracted landscape feel, with mountains, deserts, and skies. It’s a good juxtaposition with the realism of my figures.”

Rivera, too, has been staying at home in northern New Mexico; he resides on his native Pueblo of Pojoaque, where his mother grew up. His father hails from Santa Fe, and Rivera himself lived in the city for a time. After spending several years studying abroad in California and Europe, Rivera returned to New Mexico. Today many of his subjects capture life on the pueblo, most notably the traditional dances performed there. Initially, the artist sculpted his imagery on a small scale. “It was just me capturing the moment and the essence of the dance,” he says. “Little did I know they’d become monumental pieces.”

In his 24-inch-tall bronze BUFFALO DANCER, Rivera depicts a young man performing a dance that honors the buffalo, whose life has been sacrificed to nourish the community. Like several other tabletop pieces Rivera brings to the show, the work ultimately inspired life-size renditions. One 12-foot version is installed at Buffalo Thunder Resort in New Mexico; the second is located at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. “When the dances are being performed, it’s a powerful cultural experience,” says Rivera. “And so that became, for me, the strongest thing I could try to portray.” —Kim Agricola

contact information
505.986.0440
www.manitougalleries.com

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

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