Show Preview | Tobey & Richardson

Santa Fe, NM
Ventana Fine Art, July 8-22

Rebecca Tobey, How Many Hands, bronze, 18 x 20 x 11.

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Those who visit Ventana Fine Art between July 8 and 22 can witness mythical forces of the natural world at play in some 40 new works by sculptor Rebecca Tobey and abstract painter Jean Richardson. The title of the show, Forces of Nature, embodies the work of both artists, whose strong, earthy subjects capture the spirit of the West. “But each artist herself is also a force of nature,” says Wolfgang Mabry, fine-art consultant for the gallery. “These are two extremely powerful, talented artists at the peaks of their careers.”

Tobey’s stylized bronze and ceramic sculptures depict animals at the heart of Native American legends, from birds and bears to elk and bison. Working in her studio in Santa Fe, the sculptor adorns each creature with detailed sgraffito carvings of animals, human figures, mountain vistas, and other glyphs and imagery. “There’s always a story line,” says Tobey. “Often, it’s about the interplay between man and nature and the responsibility man has for all animals.” Tobey brings an expanded line of ceramics to the show that highlights her popular cutout work and interior glazes, which appear like colored glass from within. New bronzes also debut. HOW MANY HANDS features a dappled gray mare marked by a gleaming hand in polished bronze with patina. “It’s a play on words,” says Tobey, alluding to the unit of measure for a horse’s height. But the sculpture holds other meanings, too. “My grandmother always said a dappled gray horse was good luck,” she says. “These stories become sacred to you. I want viewers to have the experience of discovery and see their own stories in my pieces.”

Jean Richardson, Bright and Breezy, acrylic, 46 x 72.

Richardson’s abstract paintings of horses bounding into open space exude a sense of power and movement that—combined with her textural variations, energetic brushwork, and unrestricted splashes of paint—create a feeling of unbridled freedom. “My horses are a metaphor for the human spirit,” says the Oklahoma artist, who is interested in portraying energy and motion. Even horses standing stalwart and serene in her works are surrounded by movement in the backgrounds. Richardson uses a palette knife to achieve thick impastos that add depth and texture, and she applies paint splashes spontaneously. “I’m an action painter,” says Richardson, likening her process to jazz improvisation. “I’m giving a hint about what I feel and see.” Although Richardson’s latest acrylics continue in that vein, many works such as BRIGHT AND BREEZY show her iconic horses surrounded by abstracted skies, grasses, and other natural vistas rather than indeterminate backgrounds. “I’m trying to say the same thing in a different way every day,” she says. “A teacher once told me that when you have trouble with what you want to do, go outside. Usually, I return to nature.”

The show opens with an artists’ reception at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 8. “We want visitors to feel a kinship to the power and beauty of nature,” says Mabry. Hopefully, he adds, they will come away with a deeper desire to protect and preserve it, too. —Kim Agricola

contact information
800.746.8815
www.ventanafineart.com