Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
September 11-October 2
Joshua LaRock, The Sun Shines Back, oil, 28 x 46.
Over the past several years, Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles has established a reputation for showing many of the top names in contemporary western art. So it comes as high praise when gallery director Beau Alexander describes artist Joshua LaRock as possessing a “technical ability to paint the human figure that is second to none.” LaRock’s show of at least 10 new works debuts on Saturday, September 11, and at press time Alexander was uncertain whether the latest pandemic protocols would allow for an opening reception. Meanwhile, he notes, “The gallery remains open by appointment, and we’re hoping to get back to normal hours soon.” All the works can also be viewed online.
Considering the paintings together, LaRock and Alexander decided to title the show Trackers. Explains Alexander, “Many of the subjects in them are shown out in the wild, and they seem to be tracking their way through the wilderness or searching for something.” That holds particularly true of a major work that’s actually titled THE TRACKER, in which a cowboy crouches beside his horse, studying the dust for telltale signs of his quarry. Every element of the work speaks to LaRock’s own quest for excellence, from the weary but determined man to his exquisitely rendered steed to the background of river, cliffs, and endless sky that expresses the artist’s admiration for the epic western landscapes of 19th-century master Thomas Moran.
Joshua LaRock, The Tracker (detail), oil, 42 x 42.
The artist brings to his subjects a familiarity with the West stretching back to his childhood in Austin, TX, and his teen and college years in Colorado, along with summertime visits to his paternal grandparents in El Paso. His artistic studies, however, took him east to New York, where he trained to paint both figurative and landscape works in the classical European style at Jacob Collins’ renowned Water Street Atelier and Grand Central Academy of Art. A move back to Austin a few years ago—coupled with his exposure to today’s western painters while teaching at the Scottsdale Artists’ School and attending the Scottsdale Art Auction, both in Arizona—led him to begin exploring what he terms “contemporary western realism.” His ultimate aim, he says, is to convey “transcendent moments of beauty that uplift the viewer.”
Joshua LaRock, Of Golden Light and Red Earth, oil, 35 x 29.
Transcendent moments abound in MONUMENT VALLEY, a large-scale panoramic scene of the vast park on the Arizona-Utah border under the jurisdiction of the Navajo Nation. It is LaRock’s only nonfigurative work in the show—although two tiny riders on horseback may be noticed near the edge of the shadow, amplifying the sense of scale and rewarding closer inspection. When he visited Monument Valley, says the artist, “I was blown away by the vast valley and the presence of these giant sentinels. I wanted the painting to become like a window that gave you the feeling you could step through the frame right into the created world.” Judging by the impressive result, LaRock definitely appears to be on the right track. —Norman Kolpas
Joshua LaRock, Monument Valley, oil, 23 x 58.
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