Show Preview | Kyle Ma - Southwest Art Magazine

Jackson, WY
Wilcox Gallery, June 26-July 10

Kyle Ma, Sunlit Pastures, oil, 36 x 48.

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.

AUSTIN, TX, artist Kyle Ma was just 14 years old when his paintings first caught the eye of Eric Wilcox, who manages Wilcox Gallery II in downtown Jackson, WY. At the time, Ma had been studying oil painting for just a few years, but Wilcox recognized in him the makings of a young master. A year later, when Wilcox reviewed new paintings by Ma, his initial instincts were confirmed. “I was like a kid in a candy store, looking at Kyle’s techniques, his brushwork, his colors—it was all so well done and so sophisticated for such a young artist,” he says.

: Kyle Ma, Seward Harbor, oil, 18 x 24.

: Kyle Ma, Iris Garden, oil, 16 x 20.

: Kyle Ma, Dallas Divide Winter, oil, 14 x 18.

Ma quickly gained another fan, too: Eric’s father, Jim Wilcox, a widely respected landscape painter and founder of Wilcox Gallery. At 15 years old, Ma garnered an invitation to the join the gallery’s reputable stable, becoming its youngest member by far. The artist, who celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this year, has since held two one-man shows at the gallery—both “just barely short of sellouts,” says Eric Wilcox—and he’s preparing to launch his third solo exhibition this month at Wilcox Gallery II. Entitled 20 in 2020, the show opens with an artist’s reception on Friday, June 26, at 5 p.m., followed by a painting demonstration on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Both events, as well as the opportunity to bid on Ma’s demo piece, are offered in person as well as through live video streaming on the gallery’s website, due to public health concerns.

Whether art lovers experience the opening events in person or virtually, Ma’s latest creations—30 to 35 paintings in total—promise to impress. “Kyle doesn’t cease to amaze,” says Wilcox. “As good as he was when he was 14 and 15, he just seems to get astronomically better each year. It’s just a passion, a drive he has, to get better.”

: Kyle Ma, Eternity, oil, 12 x 16.

: Kyle Ma, Lemons, oil, 12 x 9.

: Kyle Ma, Rodin Museum Garden, oil, 16 x 12.

Ma’s drive to improve is one reason he paints a variety of subjects and genres, says the artist, who was born in Taiwan and moved with his family to Texas when he was 10. He started taking oil-painting classes at the age of 11, and he has since studied with such acclaimed artists as Scott Christensen. “When I started out, I wanted to paint landscapes because I was looking at a lot of works by the Impressionists, and I wanted to be able to capture light like they did,” he explains. But Ma soon realized that portraying a wide range of subjects would allow him to more fully train his eye as a painter. “With any subject, the principles are the same,” he says. “It just requires you to apply the principles in slightly different ways.”

In several new pieces, Ma has revisited subjects he has portrayed in the past, applying different colors and compositional techniques to make them wholly different works. Take, for example, his 36-by-48-inch painting SUNLIT PASTURES, featuring a small group of bovines huddling together. “That one is actually my second painting of that same subject,” the artist says. “For this show, I wanted to paint it bigger and get a stronger feeling of light, and I also did quite a bit more work on the foreground grass.” Ultimately, with all his new works, adds Ma, “I’m trying to get a little more refined and get my work to have a little more impact.” —Kim Agricola

contact information
307.733.3950
www.wilcoxgallery.com