Show Preview | Howard Post

Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
May 6-27

Howard Post sees the West from a different perspective, both literally and figuratively. His sparely rendered scenes of horses, cowboys and the vast ranchlands that sur­round them glow in rich jewel tones that powerfully evoke nostalgia, even though they are all set in the present day. Yet, one characteristic may define them like none other: Most of the images regard their subjects from above, as if the viewer were hovering several feet off the ground.

“When I used to compete in rodeo back in the ’80s, I’d sometimes sit up in the chutes,” explains the artist, referring to the pens where broncs and bulls are held before events. “And I discovered that, looking down, the animals and figures created abstract patterns and shadows and colors that really appealed to me.”

So, guests attending the May 6 evening opening for Desert Bound, Post’s new show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery, will most definitely gain fresh angles on familiar Western subjects from the 10 art­ works on display. They represent his first solo outing with the downtown Los Angeles gallery, where director Beau Alexander has built a reputation over the past decade for show­ casing many of the leading talents, both well-established and new, in contemporary Western art.

“Howard’s distinctive style has been a breath of fresh air in that Western genre for over 30 years,” says Alexander. “We’re excited to introduce his art to a whole new generation of collectors. It’s an honor to have Howard doing a show in our gallery.”

Post, who won’t be attending the exhibition in person, expects to make some sort of video appearance from his Tucson home.

Post comes by both his Western knowledge and his artistic command through a lifetime of experience. The native Arizonan grew up both making art and cowboying, earning a bachelor’s degree and, later, a master’s degree from the University of Arizona while also a member of its rodeo team. Even after fully transitioning in the early 1980s from illustrator to full­ time fine artist, he continued participating in the West’s signature sport, only last year hanging up his gear as a prize-winning competitor “in the highest-level group” for the World Series of Team Roping.

The images at Maxwell Alexander Gallery understandably offer Post’s intimate understanding of Western life. Take A GOOD END TO THE DAY, for example, in which a cowboy peers across the range toward a downpour over nearby mountains. Every element—from how the artist captures the tilt of the man’s hat, to the slump of his shoulders, to the coiled rope—expertly captures the weary satisfaction of a job well done. Likewise, the casual comradeship of the two figures in BLUE BANDANAS invites the onlooker to join in the conversation, or at least speculate about it, while PAINT STUD feels surprisingly intimate in its depiction of four distinctive steeds amidst the desert scrubland.

All of these paintings suggest the infinite variety, and delight, that Post finds in his chosen subjects. “I’m always out there with my camera,” he concludes, “and I’ve got thousands of images that I still haven’t gotten around to painting.”

—Norman Kolpas

contact information
(213) 275-1060
www.maxwellalexandergallery.com

This story appeared in the April/May 2023 issue of Southwest Art magazine.