Durango, CO
Sorrel Sky Gallery, May 3-31
Edward Aldrich, Hard Winter, oil, 9 x 14.
This story was featured in the May 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
EDWARD ALDRICH’S new solo show at Sorrel Sky Gallery’s Durango location is perfectly summed up by its title: The Wild Within. A widely admired and avidly collected wildlife painter, Aldrich does more than just portray animals with an impressive verisimilitude that bespeaks more than 25 years of award-winning professional work and frequent trips into the wild. Beyond that, each Aldrich “animal portrait,” as he calls them, somehow taps into a creature’s very spirit, miraculously connecting the viewer with its wild soul.
The dozen or so paintings in this current collection promise to make a primal impact on the art lovers fortunate enough to attend the show, which is on view beginning Friday, May 3, and has its official opening reception on May 10 from 5 to 7 p.m., coinciding with downtown Durango’s lively Spring Gallery Walk. Aldrich himself not only attends the gathering but also shares his expertise in a three-day workshop on wildlife painting at the gallery that same weekend.
Gallery visitors themselves can witness Aldrich’s incisive process through works that represent the latest stages in his relentless efforts to “imbue my paintings with some of the life or presence of each animal.” Lately, he says, he’s been taking three distinctly different paths toward that goal.
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- Edward Aldrich, Bald Eagle Portrait, oil, 16 x 12.
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- Edward Aldrich, Ever Onward, oil, 48 x 36.
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- Edward Aldrich, Barn Owl, oil, 16 x 12.
The first, typified by the bison featured in HARD WINTER, is what he describes as a “classic way, with the animal presented in its natural environment and lighting”—in this case, a high plains backdrop and the warm glow of sunrise—“used to help portray an emotion.” In the second style, any kind of setting disappears completely as he focuses intensely on a realistic close-up of his subject, with the background of his BALD EAGLE PORTRAIT, for example, morphing into an abstract composition of broad brush strokes, drips, and spatters “that give it a kind of energy,” he says, adding that “it’s also a lot of fun for me as an artist.” Aldrich’s third and newest approach seems an amalgam of the other two, with dramatic full-body portraits like that of a wolf in EVER ONWARD, where only a hint of its snowy environment remains. “All that’s left is the animal and its personality,” the artist says simply.
Such heartfelt images come as no surprise to Sorrel Sky’s owner and CEO, Shanan Campbell Wells, who has known Aldrich for virtually his entire career. “Ned gets the animals’ energy,” she says. “He’s truly gifted, and every piece he does is interesting and powerful. This show is a rare occasion to see the works of, and meet, a master at this level in his career.”
The amiable and articulate Aldrich, meanwhile, looks forward to sharing the passion he feels for his subjects. “I love animals,” he says. “And nowadays, people are so stuck in their cities and on their computers that the natural world seems to be receding. I would love for people to see the show and get back in touch with these subjects.” And even, perhaps, with their own “wild within.” —Norman Kolpas
contact information
970.247.3555
www.sorrelsky.com
This story was featured in the May 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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