Southwest Art Previews the Mark Maggiori Solo Exhibition

This story was featured in the October 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine.

A cowboy leaning against a fence at the end of a long day could easily be an image from painter Mark Maggiori’s repertoire, but the scene also describes the artist himself. The Frenchman-turned-American has immersed himself in the culture that first captured his imagination as a teenager, donning the look by dressing in vintage cowboy wear and adopting the lifestyle by spending weeks on the range in Arizona and Utah. It’s all in service of creating the paintings in his first-ever solo show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery this month. The show opens with an artist’s reception on Saturday, October 10, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

Maggiori first traveled the American West when he was 15; Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly left an indelible impression on him, and he vowed to return. The multifaceted artist went on to graduate from the prestigious Academie Julian, in Paris, and then traveled the globe with a rock band, eventually migrating to Arizona with his wife. For the past two years he’s devoted himself to painting full time and has chosen cowboys, the iconic figures of the American West, as his exclusive subjects.

Artist Logan Maxwell Hagege first discovered Maggiori’s work, recommending him to Maxwell Alexander Gallery, which became the first to show the Frenchman’s work. The gallery has been instrumental in guiding his career during the lead-up to this solo debut.

“Over the past year and a half, he’s really developed his style and technique. He’s ready for it,” says gallery owner Beau Alexander. “Maggiori is bringing a breath of fresh air into western art.” Alexander cites Frank Tenney Johnson and Frederic Remington as two of the artist’s influences, yet observes that Maggiori’s work feels wholly contemporary. Drawing upon his background as an illustrator, photographer, and music-video director, he arrives at a unique vision that feels alive. He renders cowboys and horses realistically, while his loose brushwork pulls the backgrounds into impressionism.

“Cowboys are a very strong image of freedom. They represent a time when everything was possible here,” Maggiori says. His view of cowboys today, however, is grounded equally in romanticism and reality. Currently based in Los Angeles, the artist does studies on location and spends weeks with his favored subjects. “It’s amazing to see cowboys actually leading this life,” he adds.

The 15 or 16 pieces in the show took shape when Maggiori followed cowboys from dawn to dusk, capturing them in the varied conditions of their work. The resulting series depicts the cowboys during overcast mornings, in the bright light of high noon, and in the cool hues of night. Each portrays a cowboy feeling much as Maggiori did while painting the series—alone in the wild and dwarfed by the vast landscape. His pieces show a cowboy leading a pack horse down the Kaibab Trail at the Grand Canyon and riding in a wash with a storm rising in the distance, among other scenes. In these pieces, Maggiori says, “You don’t know when the rides started or when they are going to end.” —Ashley M. Biggers

– See more at: http://www.southwestart.com/events/maxwell-alexander-oct2015#sthash.H0MDR0kB.dpuf

American Art Collector Previews “Still” by Michael Klein

Michael Klein “Still” Exhibition:

In Elton John’s 1972 hit Mona Lisa’s and Mad Hatters the singer opens the song with this poetic serenade: “Now I know / Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say/I thought I knew/But now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City.” This was an artist pondering the beauty of the world, and its many limitations.

Painter Michael Klein has been exploring similar themes from his studio in, as luck would have it, Spanish Harlem, an arts- and culture-filled neighborhood on Manhattan’s northeastern shoulder.

“When you paint flowers, and when you step into the area of beauty, it’s so easy to fail. It can look too saccharin or sweet,” says Klein from his New York City studio. “It’s hard to take those subjects and make them beautiful on a deeper level.”

Klein, who has a new solo exhibition opening September 5 at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, California, says that early in his career he was taught by artists who were believers in the Boston School of painting, particularly R. H. Ives Gammell, but he quickly discovered limitations to the style within his own work. Klein eventually found Jacob Collins, an artist and teacher who was developing a different style of realism, one that appealed on a broader level to Klein’s interests with figurative and still life subjects.

“They were searching for beauty, and it was a profound beauty that spoke to and resonated with me,” Klein says. “They did two things that won me over right away: first, the color palette. You hear impressionists and other artists talk about never using black, but I wanted to use black because it was important to the tone of my work. Secondly, there was emphasis placed on drawing, which I loved, and Jacob is an extremely good draftsman.”

Klein says he paints from life, using live arrangements he sets up in his studio, but he can easily add to it based entirely on memory. In Studio Peonies, for example, he had originally painted the flowers closed, but after several months he revisited the work—“the peonies were long gone,” he says—to paint the flowers opened up, thus altering the very core of his delicate subjects.

“Painting from life is a huge factor for me. With color, I usually try to keep the colors relatively harmonious. I don’t want too much color, and I don’t want it to be overwhelming,” he says. “I want the painting to be about the poetry of the subject.”

Other works in the floral exhibition include Pot with Dried Rose and Pink English Roses, a painting with a composition and tonal qualities that Klein compares to a musical arrangement.

“There is always a shadow, always a neutral and always something really chromatic. As things get more into the light, they become more chromatic,” he says. “I don’t want the works to be bland or dull; I want there to be good color notes. It’s like bass and treble. Imagine a flute or something fluttering over the bass. But with all bass, it becomes too heavy. There has to be a balance there for everything to work.”

Western Art Collector Covers Glenn Dean’s Exhibition “The American West”

While he’s an artist, not a cowboy, Glenn Dean greatly relates to the solitude of the cowboy way of life. He says lone figures on horseback—as well as any solitary figure in nature—resonate with him on a spiritual level and appeal to his personal aesthetic, as an atmosphere of quietude is one he empathizes with and enjoys.

“It speaks to me on a tangible level of lifestyle, as much of my time as an artist, whether in the field or in the studio, is spent alone,” says Dean, “not alone in a lonely sense, but in a place separate from distractions. It’s a necessary isolation in order to be able to observe and feel, to process and think—and to work.”

Dean’s exhibition of more than 10 paintings at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, California, is titled The American West, featuring shots of cattlemen and explorers in the open range, often inspired by subjects he considers friends. In his current town of Cambria, California, Dean is surrounded by large, working cattle ranches, finding people to paint through friends and working with them throughout the past year to capture their essence.

In his oil No Sign of His Cattle, viewers see the back of a cowboy on horseback, with Dean focusing on the strong shape the horse and rider make together on a relatively featureless landscape. The oil Twilight Moon highlights the rider’s relationship between the rising moon and the rocky hillside, with Dean saying he was attracted to the idea of the circular flow in the piece.

Besides drawing inspiration from his real- life neighbors, Dean also travels to Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Nevada to gather ideas for landscapes. He has only been prominently featuring figures in his works for the past two years, says Maxwell Alexander Gallery director/owner Beau Alexander, so this exhibition shows collectors a fresh side to the artist.

“This new direction hasn’t strayed from his greatest attributes: composition, color, sophisticated simplification and strong emotion in his work,” Alexander says. “Longtime collectors, as well as new fans, are on a waiting list to get a glimpse at this new body of work he has been finely crafting in his California studio. It is always such an exciting time to unpack Glenn’s new paintings and get the first look at his genius work.”

One of Dean’s longtime collectors, Hoffman Art Institute founder Peter Hoffman, owns six of Dean’s works and says the painter is able to richly capture emotion in his work, his subtle use of color adding a deep psychological aspect to his paintings.

“Wonderfully, Glenn’s paintings reflect his understanding of the interconnectedness of all things,” Hoffman says. “There is an aliveness, regardless of the terrain, and his sense of atmosphere is remarkable. Glenn is a technically accomplished artist, and these skills help him create a subtle temperature effect without having to knock you down in order to communicate his message. He gently invites you to thoroughly explore a scene and experience the feelings associated with the setting at that given moment, and I find that very compelling. Understated power and deep psychological understanding makes for quite a combination.”

Dean is hesitant to name specific locations in his pieces, as he hopes to capture the overall experience of a place, which could reflect an entire region, or an entire culture, which he hopes translates to his audiences.

“I hope viewers feel just a bit of what I see in this subject,” Dean says. “I see a beauty in the connection between horse, rider and landscape, that I hope translates to my work.”

Southwest Art Covers Glenn Dean’s Exhibition “The American West”

Glenn Dean has proven himself to be a deliberate and adept painter of the American Southwest. Infused with his own brand of “simplified realism,” as he calls it, Dean’s canvases impart the inherent beauty he finds in his surroundings. He has always been interested in painting riders on horseback, and while these figures have appeared in his work from time to time as compositional elements, only recently has he made them the primary focus. Dean’s newest body of work, on display at Maxwell Alexander Gallery this month, gives viewers a more intimate look at these riders, as both integral facets of the environment and as storied protagonists.

Glenn Dean: The American West opens on Saturday, May 9, and continues through May 30. The gallery hosts an opening reception on Saturday, May 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The show includes a dozen new oil paintings, ranging in size from 12 to 40 inches across, and featuring riders and scenery from Dean’s native California and across the Southwest. Gallery owner Beau Alexander says, “Figurative works from renowned landscape painter Glenn Dean have been in development over the last several years. Dean has been studying and perfecting his figurative painting skills, waiting for the right time to share them with the public. It has only been about two years since he has started to feature figures in his western paintings more prominently. This new direction hasn’t strayed from his greatest attributes: composition, color, sophisticated simplification, and strong emotion in his work.”

Dean gathers material for his compositions in the field, observing, photographing, taking notes, and sketching. The resulting compositions feature shapes defined by color and wrapped in a delicate interplay of light and shadow. Figures and their settings display a slight abstraction while also retaining fundamental detail—evidence of the artist’s purposeful brushwork. He explains, “I try to paint my subjects in an honest and truthful way, while paying attention to artistic choices that might best reveal the more essential information of the subject.”

As he paints, Dean also channels history, finding inspiration in the rich aesthetics of late 19th- and early 20th-century western landscape painters. Like his predecessors, Dean has a great respect for nature and strives to mine both visual and spiritual elements within the landscape. “I want my work to speak of the things that I have found to be beautiful and powerful,” he says. “This can be in something simple, like a sagebrush, or something grand, like a towering desert monolith. Whatever the thing may be, I feel that it has a voice, its own separate breath of life, its own place in the world that fits just right … which, to me, speaks of the divine.”

Excited to show Dean’s figure-based collection for the first time, Alexander remarks, “Longtime collectors as well as new fans are on a waiting list to get a glimpse at this new body of work that Dean has been finely crafting in his California studio. It is always such an exciting time to unpack his new paintings and get the first look at his genius work.” —Elizabeth L. Delaney

– See more at: http://www.southwestart.com/events/show-preview-glenn-dean#sthash.Ay2AYKXq.dpuf

Western Art Collector Covers Tim Solliday’s Exhibition “The Native West”

When Tim Solliday is looking for inspiration, he turns not to other contemporary Western artists, but to the past, when artists were not only part of the public discussion but actually funded by the public through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ambitious plan to send Americans, including artists, back to work.

“My absolute favorite WPA mural is at the Los Angeles Public Library by Dean Cornwell, who was an American Illustrator.  Those illustrators were like rock stars in the ’20s through the ’40,” Solliday says.  “Cornwell, and the other illustrators, were taking fine art principles and using them in new ways.  He wasn’t called an illustrator; he was called a muralist, which I just think is great.  One of the things that appealed to me about those guys, especially Cornwell, was they were true to nature, but also more whimsical and fun.  They put more life into their works.”

Elements of the great murals can be seen in Solliday’s new piece Migration, a 12-by-28-inch panoramic of a Native American migration.  The painting, featuring 10 figures and numerous horses, was originally only intended to be a study for a larger piece that will be at the Prix de West in June.  The owners of Maxwell Alexander gallery, where Solliday will be showing new works beginning April 4, convinced him to exhibit it at his show.   Migration will be the centerpiece of new work by the California painter.

Other works include two nocturnes featuring looser brushstrokes–Home Fires, with a figure calmly standing in the moonlight, and Sacred Trees, with a horse and rider approaching a vertical wall of trunks and shadows– and the Pottery Painter, with a figure decorating vessels in a stand of trees.  The pieces are done in Solliday’s distinctive illustrative-like style, with strong lines and thick edges around his subjects.

“The outlines are there to bring the figure closer to you, and it’s important for what I’m trying to bring out in the picture,” Solliday says, adding that sometimes he’ll pose figures just to create shapes within their poses, such as triangles that are created with the placement of arms against bodies.  “I want to always emphasize the line, because design is very big for me.  Logan Maxwell Hagege, for instance, is another guy who is really focusing on design.  He knows how to lay out a painting.”

Solliday, who recently moved his studio into a room in an old church–“If the stained glass weren’t so faded it would create problems with the lighting”–says he wants to take what he knows about illustration, design and the idea of “the line” and apply it to scenes from the Old West.

“My big ambition is simple: I want to paint big figures and dramatic scenes,” he says, “and that’s pretty much it.”

Southwest Art Covers Tim Solliday’s Exhibition “The Native West”

Tim Solliday has always relished painting panoramic scenes. This month viewers have the opportunity to see one such signature Solliday work, MIGRATION, a multifigure painting that depicts American Indians moving across a western landscape on horseback. MIGRATION is one of about eight new works by the artist featured in Native West, a solo show that opens at Maxwell Alexander Gallery with a reception on Saturday, April 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. “Panoramic, progressive paintings offer me a great chance to show many different characters in expressive actions,” Solliday says. “Long, progressive paintings are very dramatic and make a great composition.”

The Southern California-based Solliday is an established artist and a regular participant in prestigious shows, including the annual Prix de West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK. An early influence on his fine-art career, Solliday says, was studying with California Impressionist Theodore N. Lukits [1897-1992]. Solliday’s style and subject matter, though, is strongly reminiscent of Taos Society of Artists members such as Ernest Blumenschein and Ernest Martin Hennings. Like some of the Taos artists, Solliday is known for his expressionistic approach and vibrant colors in depictions of the southwestern landscape and its peoples. While the artist enjoys working on panoramic scenes, he also displays a penchant for nocturnes like HOME FIRES, a painting in the show that portrays an Indian chief standing by a stream while looking back at his village bathed in the moonlight.

Gallery owner Beau Alexander doesn’t hesitate to call Solliday a “living master. His numerous years of outdoor study and painting directly from nature give his studio pieces life beyond realism,” Alexander says. “Each piece is built up from preparatory composition sketches, then studies from life, and then onto the final canvas where all of the elements are combined. His traditional method of working is a throwback to an academic era in art, and his unique style is what makes him one of the most sought-after contemporary western artists today. If Solliday were alive in early 1900s New Mexico, he’d be welcomed with open arms as a member of the Taos Society of Artists.”

– See more at: http://www.southwestart.com/events/maxwell-alexander-apr2015#sthash.ieVk1FKX.dpuf

American Art Collector Magazine covers “Offerings” by Todorovitch

When California painter Joseph Todorovitch first started drawing and painting, he was creating multiple figures in elaborate scenes. Worried he was biting off more than he could chew, he dialed back to single figures, a choice he now realizes was very wise.

“My multiple figure pieces were more illustrative and conceptual. I slowly recognized the difficulty of what I was doing, so I started to only paint single figures…so that I could do them convincingly with all the wonder of nature,” he says. “I’m bringing those more complex arrangements back now that I understand the fundamentals better. I’m also really challenging myself with the mechanics, including dynamic pieces that have more anatomical nuance.”

The Pomona, California, artist and teacher specifically calls out to some of his work with ballerinas and dancers, including Mariposa and Swan, pieces that are examples of an idea Todorovitch refers to as the “gesture of the pose.”

“I’ve always been very sensitive to the spirit of the pose. I want my paintings to capture that eloquently, whether or not it’s an active pose or a passive pose,” he says. “There’s an undercurrent of beautiful and graceful gestures that can be found in humanity. That is what I’m painting.”

He is especially drawn to eyes, which unlock a whole new world of narrative and ideas, even before the piece is finished. “Eyes are universal. As soon as there is a pair of eyes in a painting, we connect as humans. There’s so many opportunities to present a story there. To look into the subject’s eyes is to see so much,” he explains. “We’re always trying to abstract our surroundings, even looking at people and presuming to know what they’re thinking. To convey psychology with paint is very special to me. I want to get in close and interpret that.”

In Lateef, Todorovitch paints a friend, his arms raised to his head and his face largely in profile. In Refresh, his model exists in

a world that seems mostly incomplete, her head fixed into an abstract space that accentuates her features and turned glance. These figures offer a silent mystery, which is an aspect Todorovitch tries to paint in most of his works.

His new solo show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, California, is titled Offerings, and it leads right into these mysteries.

“It’s me reaching out and showing you how all this comes together. It’s an offering of my view,” he says, adding that viewers are encouraged to have their own view, as well. “I want to leave a lot of myself out of it. Other than my hands creating the paintings, there is no common theme except the one the viewer chooses. I hope the viewer sees something there for themselves.”

Southwest Art Magazine Covers “Trading Post” Curated by Logan Maxwell Hagege Dec 2014

Maxwell Alexander Gallery conjures the spirit of the Old West this month by transforming itself into a full-fledged early American trading post. The show, curated by gallery artist Logan Maxwell Hagege, pays homage to these iconic commercial and social destinations, celebrating them as integral to the proliferation of American art and to the advancement of a burgeoning multicultural society. Spurred by Hagege’s personal interest in the history of trading posts, the exhibition-installation creates a microenvironment that mingles contemporary fine art and craft with western and Native American memorabilia. Among the more notable showpieces in what Hagege calls a “hodgepodge” of collectibles is a pair of 1950s-era, 6-foot-tall kachina dolls, as well as a variety of Navajo rugs and jewelry. A selection of vintage and contemporary weavings and kachinas are for sale.

Trading Post opens on Saturday, December 6, with a reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A broad array of offerings by 11 artists and artisans is for sale, ranging in price from $20 to several thousand dollars and appealing to a wide aesthetic. Gallery owner Beau Alexander says, “For me, the most exciting thing about going to trading posts is looking for treasure. Here, people will find unique treasures that a typical gallery wouldn’t be able to show.” Hagege adds that the show features his “dream list of superstar western artists.”

Gallery artists and special guests each bring two to three pieces to the show, including highly renowned western painters G. Russell Case, Glenn Dean, Jeremy Lipking, Mark Maggiori, and Tim Solliday. Award-winning painter Billy Schenck participates as well, contributing two paintings of late-19th-century kachina dolls. Reminiscent of subject matter that would have been available at a trading post, the paintings are done in the artist’s signature style, which contemporizes traditional themes and compositions. Graphically charged with vibrant, flat color and nearly indistinguishable brush strokes, Schenck’s paintings reference the photographs, posters, and movie stills prevalent in popular culture. Reflecting on the exhibition, Schenck remarks, “A lot of artists I consider peers, and that I collect, are in the show. I’m glad to be part of that. It’s like the Super Bowl for western artists.”

“The idea behind this show was to try and imagine what artists who are around today may have had for sale in the trading posts of the past,” Hagege explains. “This show will feature a mix of contemporary as well as vintage items that will give the L.A. crowd a feel for what a trading-post experience is like.” In addition to curating the show, he contributes two portraits of present-day Native American figures against stylized, light-infused backgrounds, linking traditional subject matter with modernist aesthetics.

Along with paintings, Trading Post offers a number of Old West and Native American pieces by award-winning kachina carver Randy Brokeshoulder; noted Navajo weaver Melissa Cody; Slowpoke leather goods; and artist Ishi Glinksy, who brings baskets made of baling wire that are inspired by traditional Tohono O’odham tribal forms. —Elizabeth L. Delaney

Western Art Collector Covers Mark Maggiori & Brett James Smith Two-Man Show Oct 2014

Maxwell Alexander Gallery brings together two exceptional artists for its October exhibition.  Titled “Cowboys & Indians,” the two-man show features new cowboy works by Mark Maggiori and Native American themed paintings by Brett James Smith.

While well-known for his classic sporting scenes, Smith says his art has been evolving.  About 20 years ago on a back country fly-fishing trip to Montana and Idaho he discovered a new and historically interesting subject to explore with his paintings: the West.

“At first my interest was in depicting my usual cast of sportsmen characters in this new environment,” explains Smith.  “The creative possibilities seem inexhaustible.”

As he moved throughout the progression of his career, the need for a diversion from his usual repertoire of subjects became overwhelming.

As he remembers, “I was burnt out of the formula paintings.  Although lucrative, I needed a creative place to go where there were no rules in designing pictures.”

Smith continues, “I feel it is unimportant in my designs to be affiliated with any particular group.  Among the multitude of tribes of native people in North America, the customs, beliefs and religions varied from tribe to tribe.  They differed as much as they were the same…their art and designs were unique only to individual.  Inspiration was born from the mystic haze of dreams and these dreams would turn to nightmares as their fate played out.  From the destruction of their culture rose the development and ownership of their land, a concept that was unimaginable to a people who had never seen a road or fence.

Within this context lies the inspiration of these new paintings for the show.  Smith will have between six to nine works in Cowboys & Indians, including Bison Leather and Skull Pit.

As he explains, “There is great freedom in making pictures that are not bound by reality or a planned progression in a design.  Starting with a simple idea I work out a simple composition around it, which will revolve the colors and shapes that are fluid and unplanned.  My attempt, first and foremost, is to create pictures, and imagery that are unlike anything that has come before.  I will be the first to admit that some attempts at this are more successful than others.”

Nostalgia filled cowboys grace the recent canvases of Arizona based artist Maggiori.  He will have around 10 new paintings for the show ranging in size from 16×20 inches to 30 by 40 inches.

“I love to paint and dream about the old times,” explains Maggiori.  “Cowboys always represented, for me, a time when America was still a promise land…a huge dream for whoever wanted it, before corporations and plastic.”

He continues, “I am trying to paint pieces that will tell a story itself and bring to the viewer certain nostalgia, a moment to remember what it felt to be riding a horse on a wide-open range.  I am so fascinated by the era 1860 to 1910 in Europe and in America.  Those were some golden ages.”

Maggiori is also fascinated with older leather, fabric and textures, and incorporates them into his works.  “That’s why I am not painting modern cowboys…they are usually wearing too much bling.” Jokes Maggiori.

Also in the new batch of paintings will be nocturne paintings.  He says, “I think night and moonshine bring such a mysterious and enigmatic element to my paintings.  It is really hard to paint because sometimes you can get lost in the darkness of the colors…but the reward of the rendering is magic.”

Western Art Collector Magazine Previews “Vermilion Cliffs” Group Exhibit

Opening August 9 with an artists’ reception from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, California, is a group exhibition featuring the powerful and dynamic landscape of the Vermilion Cliffs region of Northern Arizona. There will be more than 15 new works on show by a powerhouse group of talent, including Len Chmiel, D. LaRue Mahlke, Ed Mell, Logan Maxwell Hagege, G. Russell Case, Gary Ernest Smith, Glenn Dean, Jeremy Lipking, Josh Elliott, Mark D. Nelson, Mark Maggiori, Ray Roberts, and Tim Solliday.

“The Vermilion Cliffs region is a very dramatic sight to see,” explains Beau Alexander of Maxwell Alexander Gallery. “The name of the area is self-explanatory, and the vermilion-colored cliffs have proven to be a frequently painted subject for landscape artists. Depending on the time of year, visitors can find snow on the ground or temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees. In a single day the weather can also be very dramatic, changing from sunlight to rain to hail or snow.”

He continues, “We have seen a large number of paintings being produced in this region over the last eight years or so and we felt that it was time to highlight the location with an exhibit to give it the importance that it deserves. Our goal is to only show museum-quality work, so we’ve invited the top tier of landscape and Western artists to participate in this show. It’s going to be a real treat.”

Case says that the Vermilion Cliffs is “…all in all my favorite place to paint, and one of my favorite subjects. I love the simple areas with the in and out of canyons, which allows for great rhythms of shadows. The layering of ridge lines in the evening is useful for a subtle atmosphere painting with the morning being great for high-contrast and high-key temperature feels.”

Roberts travels at least once or twice a year to the Vermilion Cliffs area from his home in Angels Camp, California. He also teaches painting workshops at nearby Marble Canyon. One of the paintings in the show will be a 20-by-30-inch moonrise painting of Echo Cliffs. “I had to do quick sketches, the light changes so fast,” adds Roberts.

Mahlke says that long before she had the opportunity to go to Vermilion Cliffs she experienced its sublime beauty through the paintings of fellow artists, “Their portrayal of Northern Arizona and the Vermilion Cliffs sparked a strong desire to go there myself and, in 2006, I had the chance to travel through the region for the first time. That was all it took. Vermilion Cliffs has since become a favorite place to retreat to, usually with an artist friend, to paint, photograph and refresh my spirit in the glory of God’s creation,” says Mahlke.

In her pastel work Illuminated, Mahlke explains, “Usually the sky over Vermilion Cliffs is a glorious display of all kinds of clouds. On this day, the sunlight and cloud shadows were mesmerizing to watch as they danced across the desert and onto the face of the cliffs. Suddenly this peak was brightly illuminated, as all else fell into shadow…”

The exhibition which features Western Art in Los Angeles hangs at the gallery through August 30th.

Southwest Art Magazine Covers “Vermillion Cliffs” August 2015

The dramatic Vermilion Cliffs of northern Arizona take center stage as subject matter for a new show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery this month. The presentation opens with a reception from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on August 9 and features paintings by 13 top artists from across the West, including Len Chmiel, Ed Mell, Josh Elliott, and Jeremy Lipking. Gallery owner and director Beau Alexander enthusiastically describes the show as one where collectors can expect the same caliber of work that is on display in major museum exhibitions. “The vermilion-colored cliffs are a frequently painted subject for landscape artists. Depending on the time of year, visitors can find snow on the ground or temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees. In a single day the weather can also be very dramatic, changing from sunlight to rain to hail or snow,” Alexander says. “We felt that it was time to highlight the location with an exhibit to give it the importance that it deserves.”

Texas-based artist D. LaRue Mahlke agrees that the Vermilion Cliffs are worthy of an artist’s attention and a show featuring works that capture the area’s magnificence. “No matter where you go in the Vermilion Cliffs, your eyes are rewarded with sublime beauty,” she says. “It’s an artist’s dream, a poetic vision, a place I will always come back to—captivated.” Mahlke’s painting for the show, MORNING SALUTATION, was inspired by a feeling of exhilaration as she watched the sun shine on the cliffs, creating vivid shadow patterns and captivating shifts of color as the day progressed.

Although Mark Maggiori lives in Arizona, he had never visited Vermilion Cliffs National Monument until he was invited to contribute to the show. When he went to gather reference material, he was stunned at the vastness and majesty of the place. For something different, Maggiori says, he decided to paint a nocturne even though he readily admits that the Vermilion Cliffs, for many artists, are all about colors and daylight. Maggiori, who was born in France, bestowed his moody nocturne with the title VERMIlION CLIFFS AU ClAIR DE LUNE, meaning “in the moonlight.”

Unlike Maggiori, California painter Logan Maxwell Hagege has visited the Vermilion Cliffs more times than he can count. The road that goes along the base of the cliffs, he says, is always interesting, and at each turn, a beautiful scene comes into view. On every occasion he visits, the cliffs seem like a new place to him because the weather conditions are constantly changing. “I feel like I could keep going back to this region to paint for the rest of my life and never get tired of the inspiration that I get from these cliffs,” Hagege says. “In 100 years, art historians will look at all of the paintings of the Vermilion Cliffs from this time and will think of it as a haven for artists, much like the Grand Canyon. So many interesting paintings are being done in this area, and it provides so much inspiration for artists.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

American Art Collector Magazine previews “Three Figures” June 2014

Three Figures, the new show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, California, will focus on the figurative work of three artists—Sean Cheetham, Aaron Nagel, and Jeremy Mann—whose delicate works take long, thoughtful looks deep into the hearts of their subjects.

The show opens June 7 and runs through July 5. An artists’ reception will be held opening night, from 7 to 10 p.m. The exhibition will include Cheetham’s Racer 5, named after one of the artist’s favorite beers, a bottle of which can be seen on the table in the painting.

“The two people in the painting are myself on the right and my good friend Johnpaul on the left. He lived in that building at the time and it seemed like a perfect setting for a painting. The building was basically in Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles. Not my favorite place in the world,” Cheetham says. “I liked that spot in the building because there were plenty of interesting textures in that room as well as having the opening to the Los Angeles night sky. I composed the image with multiple photos taken from on top of a ladder. The angle seemed to be the best way to get everything in there, as well as just to do something with a little more fly-on-the-way feeling.”

Ratcliff, featuring one of Cheetham’s neighbors, is more of a classical portrait—a no-nonsense examination of a face and its characteristics. Cheetham picked his subject partially because of his facial hair. “He had this beard, which is something I’ve always enjoyed painting,” he adds.  Also in the Maxwell Alexander show is Nagel’s The Suffering I, with its pale pink background and its female subject with soot on her neck and jaw.

“I’ve used painted body parts in paintings for years now, mostly on the hands of my subjects. It initially was a purely aesthetic decision…” Nagel says. “For me, it’s not a specific idea I’m trying to convey, but rather a mood—one that hopefully lends itself to the godlike qualities I’m after. We used chalk in this particular piece instead of my usual acrylic paint and I like that it looks a little dirty, a little less slick…but still it’s inert enough to allow the viewers to come up with their own story.”

He says the title refers to several different ideas: “First and foremost, I like my subjects to exude a certain power and, to me, that power is analogous to the power portrayed by icons in religious art. When in the presence of a wrathful god, or an obsessed populace, somebody has to suffer. Additionally, and on a more informal note, when I see something beautiful, my own reaction is oddly that of turmoil, of suffering— something even as simple as a beautiful woman and the first thing I feel is a baffling chagrin. It’s not torture so much, but it’s suffering none the less.”

Mann—who has several new pieces in the show, including Menagerie and a cool-blue cityscape called Rooftops in the Snow—says he greatly admires the artists in Three Figures. “Solo shows are great and all, but I like the idea of well-arranged group shows. I think [Maxwell Alexander Gallery’s Beau Alexander] fits his group shows in themes and likenesses that raise the bar, where other gallery group shows are just ways to include a lot of vegetables in the soup,” Mann says, adding that he’s long followed the work of Nagel and Cheetham. “To finally be showing with these guys is fantastic for me. Group shows like this always have a wonderfully close mix of work and mingling of like- minded artists.”

Southwest Art Previews “Landscapes of the American West” by Glenn Dean

“It’s why I live where I do. It’s classic California: rolling hills with oak trees, sycamores, and eucalyptus trees,” declares painter Glenn Dean, referring to the iconic landscape elements of his native state. Beyond that, however, California’s central coast is a perfect jumping-off place for the 37-year-old painter’s frequent plein-air excursions around the Southwest. From Utah’s striking landforms to the ancient cliff walls of Canyon de Chelly, the quintessential landscapes of the Southwest and California are the focus of Dean’s second annual solo exhibition at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, CA. Landscapes of the American West opens with an artist’s reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on April 12 and runs through May 3. The show features some two dozen oil paintings in Dean’s distinctive style, which gallery owner Beau Alexander describes as “bold in composition and design, but retaining a sensitivity and passion that keep the viewer intrigued.”

Among the California locations to which the artist returns again and again are the Carmel Valley, the desert, and the gentle hills of a Morro Bay ranch not far from his home. On the coast, his timeless subjects include rocky seascapes and expansive Pacific views from high, windswept bluffs. Other southwestern scenes in this show include sun-struck mesas and an old church gate in a quiet, nocturnal mood. In each geographic region, Dean is especially inspired by massive forms in the landscape and by the ways that other visual elements, including atmosphere and light, interplay with these forms. This aesthetic approach reflects his longtime interest in the style of early western illustrators, as well as early 20th-century painters including Maynard Dixon and Edgar Payne. “Their work is very powerful from a distance and also up close,” he observes. “When I find artists whose work resonates with me, I feel a kinship with them because their work speaks to my own interests and aesthetic ambitions.”

Dean is especially known for capturing the essence of a landscape through his plein-air skills, conveying a clear sense of season, place, time of day, and light. Back in his Cambria, CA, studio, he refers to his extensive collection of oil sketches and on-location paintings to produce larger, more finished works. Yet finding the “landing spot” where a painting feels finished is always an intuitive experience, he notes. The artist’s most recent body of work, while returning with fresh eyes to familiar terrain, reflects his continuous refinement of the balance between saying enough and not saying too much—creating paintings that honor the subjects and feel complete, yet are not overworked. “It’s a matter of letting each piece speak,” he reflects. “A painting has a way of letting me know when it’s done.”

With rapidly growing collector interest in recent years, Dean earned the Golden Thunderbird Award for best of show at the 2013 Maynard Dixon Country exhibition. Also in 2013, his painting DESERT GIANT was acquired for the permanent collection of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Dean’s first annual solo show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery almost sold out. —Gussie Fauntleroy

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– See more at: http://www.southwestart.com/events/maxwell-alexander-apr2014#sthash.lJaaGs5Y.dpuf

Western Art Collector Magazine Previews Glenn Dean’s 2014 Solo Exhibit

Western landscapes are about the hierarchy of immensity, and how it can shift from artist to artist, subject to subject. Consider Glenn Dean’s evocative and fascinating desert pieces: what is dwarfed in one scene is monumental in another.

In Dean’s Midday Sun, a cowboy and his horse are framed against an empty tan sky, the distant mountains appear puny and forgotten in the background. In his Canyon Riders, a scene of four figures on horseback gently riding through a red rock canyon, Dean reverses the theme and paints the rocks as the monument and the figures as small shapes lost in a huge expanse of rock and sand. In yet another piece, Mesa and Clouds, even the grand mountains are one-upped, this time by a dazzlingly blue sky filled with interlocking clouds.

“I try to have a sense of scale in each piece, from the figures to the mesas to the clouds,” Dean says. “I try to take a commanding presence in terms of the shapes and the variety of subjects.” Dean points out the cowboy in Midday Sun: “I painted him on a relatively featureless background to make him more prominent.”

The California artist admits that starting a piece is the best part of being a painter—the canvas is filled with hope and opportunity.

“I always start with the bigger idea, which will be pretty clear, and then the smaller things will develop and I’ll refine them or modify them. But the big idea stays the same,” Dean explains. “Mostly, I try not to overwork the painting, and to keep it fresh.”

Besides the bold daylight desert scenes, Dean has also experimented with nocturnes, including in Vaya Con Dios, featuring a California mission bathed in rich moonlight.

“With Vaya Con Dios, I wanted to take it down to a low color key, but I wanted to have some color in it still, so I pushed in that greenish moonlight,” he comments. “I enjoyed painting it because it was so different than daylight.”

Dean’s landscapes—both daylight and moonlight pieces—will hang in the solo exhibit Landscapes of the American West April 12 through May 17 at Maxwell Alexander Gallery.

American Art Collector Magazine previews “The Last Pearl” Debut Exhibition by Vincent Xeus March 2014

VINCENT XEUS

The last pearl

Painting, for figurative artist Vincent Xeus, is the process of questioning reality in order to appreciate the true beauty of all things. “What is light without darkness,” he muses, “what is happiness without sorrow?”

In his first solo exhibit at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Culver City, California, Xeus will present figure paintings that are not about the body, but instead the journey to resolution. Each painting in the group of new work also has a different purpose in his exploration.

“The Education portrays the dualistic nature of human experiences. It paints the unique human desire and ability to acquire presence through the process of cultivating objectivity,” says the artist. “The painting Le Rêve paints a young woman in endless contemplation through time, choice and beauty. What I wanted to explore through the painting is our vulnerability when balance is put to question. It’s for the audience to decide if it is fear slipping way or longing at rest.”

Xeus wants his paintings to be “a gateway for the audience to their own subconscious.” Explaining, “My intent is to reveal that which is beneath what we think we see. Everything is perfect as it is, so the true reflection can only be beautiful. Painting is my process to experience that beauty. For those audiences who are ready, they’ll see the light through the darkness and they’ll experience bliss through chaos.”

The paintings come from a love of the Old Masters’ traditions, but with contemporary undertones that break away from the past techniques and styles. Not limited by techniques, however, Xeus is inspired from each individual painting as he paints it. “It’s always a sort of unintentional intent not to be limited by techniques, so whatever that particular piece calls for at a moment will be the way to deliver it,” he says. Some have smooth characteristics similar to a Flemish style, or thick brushstrokes and a Rembrandt-esque texture.

Every painting in the exhibit is not restricted by size or shape. Framing, for Xeus, is critical as it completes each work. “Many pieces in the show will have custom genuine gold frames, and the others will be in antique frames I collected over the years,” he explains.

The exhibit takes its title from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Last Pearl. “Each pearl holds one gift from life such as health, wealth, fortune and love,” says Xeus. “Andersen writes in his fable, ‘the last pearl, which must not be wanting, increases the luster and explains the meaning of all other pearls…the pearl of sorrow, in which concealed the wings that shall carry us to eternal happiness.’”

Maxwell Alexander Gallery profile in the 100th anniversary issue of American Art Collector Magazine

Maxwell Alexander Gallery specializes in tightly curated exhibitions featuring some of the top artists from each genre. The all-star exhibitions range from representational figurative to modern Western, focusing on the highest standards in
fine art. Maxwell Alexander Gallery is one of the premier destinations for contemporary realism and modern Western art on the West Coast.

Upcoming exhibitions include a solo exhibition by Glenn Dean, and group exhibitions including Logan Maxwell Hagege, Jeremy Lipking, Jeremy Mann, and Vincent Xeus. 2014 will include new works by Kim Cogan, Dean, Hagege, David Kassan, Kris Lewis, Lipking, Mann, Bill Schenck, Tim Solliday, Joseph Todorovitch, and Xeus.

“The 2013 year has been one of the strongest for LosAngeles and it only looks to improve,” says gallery director Beau Alexander.

“With the quality of art we are able to show, Los Angeles will continue to gain credibility as a premier destination for representational fine art.”

Underpaintings Blog Cover the “1-Year Anniversary Exhibition”

View the whole article here: http://underpaintings.blogspot.com/2013/12/sneak-peek-one-year-anniversary-show.html

Opening Saturday in Culver City, California, is a new show at the Maxwell Alexander Gallery.  It is a celebratory exhibition marking the one-year anniversary of the ambitious, young gallery, and it features works by 13 of the artists the gallery has shown since opening.  Among those on view will be Jeremy Lipking, Glenn Dean, Kris Lewis, Logan Maxwell Hagege, David Kassan, Tim Solliday, Bill Schenck, Duke Beardsley, Vincent Xeus, Kim Cogan, Joseph Todorovitch, and Jeremy Mann.  Additionally, there will be some works by new artists the gallery expects to feature in the coming year.

“Our goal was to have tightly curated shows with the highest quality,” says gallery owner Beau Alexander, “and I think we’ve been extremely successful at keeping this vision alive. I’m excited for our clients to see what we have planned for the coming year.”

American Art Collector Magazine previews the “1-Year Anniversary Exhibition” Dec 2013

A year ago the Maxwell Alexander Gallery introduced a new breed of gallery to the Los Angeles area, a concept that has since spread nationwide. This December the Culver City, California- based gallery marks its one-year milestone with an exhibition highlighting “the best of ” and a picture of the future.

“People thought we were crazy to open a gallery in this economy, but our goal was to only show high-caliber art. We knew qualified collectors would react in a positive way when we showed them quality over quantity,” states Beau Alexander, gallery director. “The art at Maxwell Alexander Gallery is undeniable; it is the new breed of fine art.”

The anniversary show will feature new work by 13 of the gallery’s mainstay artists as well as examples by newcomers to the space. Specializing in contemporary and traditional representational art, as well as art that combines both modern and traditional techniques all in one, participating artists will include Jeremy Lipking, Glenn Dean, Kris Lewis, Logan Maxwell Hagege, David Kassan, Tim Solliday, Bill Schenck, Duke Beardsley, Vincent Xeus, Kim Cogan, Joseph Todorovitch, and Jeremy Mann, among others.

Cogan paints his surroundings, whether it be a street corner, a coastal scene, objects or figures. Of his piece Dark Corner, he explains, “This particular corner caught my eye because of the stark contrast of light and shadow. I wanted to capture that in an expressive way while using dramatic composition and perspective to create the feeling of being enclosed by the space.”

Lewis’ allegorical painting Sea Change continues a prevalent theme in his work. “The ocean is just about overwhelming the child who represents the lost innocence in humanity. The struggles of a rough and complex environment present a serious challenge as we lose focus on what is truly important to survive in our day-to-day lives. We also seem to be isolating ourselves from our ‘human connection’ in the process,” Lewis remarks.

Mann’s figurative piece Plumose illustrates the artist’s distinct, expressive style and interest in manipulating paint in a variety of techniques. “I keep working on different substrates and with different techniques to release myself from the object or image I am looking at, and focus on mark making and color harmonies as well as more intangible qualities such as the effects of light and composition,” muses Mann.

The inspiration for Kassan’s portrait Audrey was multifaceted. “On the surface, I was fascinated with Audrey’s unique porcelain-like skin. Formally, I wanted to contrast that luminosity against a simple neutral background,” he remarks. “Essential to this portrait was my search to portray what it is that she is thinking and feeling within this pose. The painting is life-size so that the viewer is more engaged with Audrey and her emotive qualities are more tangible to the viewer, outside of just being a painting.”

Fine Art Connoisseur covers the “1-Year Anniversary Exhibition”

View the whole article here: http://www.fineartconnoisseur.com/Maxwell-Alexander-Gallery-Commemorates-an-Exciting/17955993

Maxwell Alexander Gallery Commemorates an Exciting First Year

Jeffrey Carlson Reporting

Contributing Editor, Fine Art Today

What better way to celebrate the culmination of an exciting year of art installations than with another attractive show?

 Maxwell Alexander Gallery is nearing the end of an eventful first year. In 2013, the Culver City, California, gallery went a long way to establishing itself among the premier destinations for contemporary realism on the West Coast. From its highly attended grand opening exhibition last December to a hyped exhibition organized around the theme of skulls, Maxwell Alexander Gallery has offered a consistently quality blend of figurative, still life, and landscape paintings and drawings, executed in traditional, progressive, and Western modes of representation.

The works on view are united not by any common theme, but by their status as forerunners in their particular genre. Kim Cogan’s visionary cityscapes hang next to David Kassan’s deeply spiritual and psychologically penetrating portraiture. Colorful pop-Western images of cowboys and Native Americans from Duke Beardsley, Logan Maxwell Hagege, and Bill Schenck represent the freshest wave in art of the American West. Joseph Todorovitch has a place among the most technically proficient painters of the human figure working today, while Jeremy Mann and Vincent Xeus have excelled to similar degrees with provocative pieces that offer unsettling,

impressionistic distortions of their subjects. Whichever genre is under discussion, Maxwell Alexander Gallery hopes to hang only the best of the “new breed of fine art.”

Amid the participating artists are several who have shown there in the past, along with some fresh faces who will also be making future appearances at the gallery. “Our goal was to have tightly curated shows with the highest quality, and I think we’ve been extremely successful at keeping this vision alive,” says gallery owner Beau Alexander. “I’m excited for our clients to see what we have planned for the coming year.”The “One-Year Anniversary Show” at Maxwell Alexander Gallery opens December 14, with a reception beginning at 6 p.m. To see more, visit www.maxwellalexandergallery.com.