Durango, CO Sorrel Sky Gallery, October 2-31
This story was featured in the October 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
BRIGHT PRIMARY colors, visceral drips of paint, layers of stimulating texture: Chuck Middlekauff’s vibrant water-media paintings of cowboys, movie stars, vintage signs, classic snacks, and other Americana-inspired subjects bespeak the sheer fun he has while creating them. The prolific artist has been busy working on a new collection of paintings for his solo show this month at Sorrel Sky Gallery in Durango, CO, that combine his love for cowboy motifs and the pop-art style. The exhibition, fittingly entitled The West Goes Pop!, kicks off with a reception on Friday, October 2, at 5 p.m.
Gallery owner Shanan Campbell urges prospective visitors to check Sorrel Sky’s website for event updates, since plans may change due to public health concerns. If the reception continues as scheduled, however, it promises to be as engaging as Middlekauff’s paintings themselves. The convivial artist plans to be on hand to answer questions about his work, and his sense of humor is likely to crop up in discussions about his process and pop-art approach. “Someone recently looked at my work and said, ‘It looks like [Andy] Warhol ran into [Jackson] Pollock at a rodeo,’” Middlekauff jokes. “I guess that’s sort of what’s happening. I’m just doing my version of pop.”
The artist’s imagery, paint-spattered yet detailed, suggests a creative process that’s equal parts measured and unrestrained. His paint application itself is a mix of both; when he loads his brush with paint, some of it invariably dribbles and splashes across his surfaces. The artist chooses to leave the drips and splatters there, surrounding and even sprawling across his carefully rendered subjects. Then, purposefully, he’ll “add more drops, drips, splatters, and circles,” he says. “It’s a delicate balance between control and out of control. I’ve got it. But my wife can’t bear to watch.”
Other extemporaneous effects can arise as the artist paints. Items on his work table, ranging from art tools to candy wrappers, may inspire Middlekauff to portray those objects in—or physically collage them onto—his paintings. The artist has also recently started leaving sections of his paintings unfinished, “allowing viewers to see more drawing, and even some bare canvas,” he says.
All of these approaches can be seen in the eight to 10 new paintings on view, and in several earlier pieces included in the exhibition. Says the former commercial artist, “By putting my cowboy into a modern, unexpected environment [with] other things I like, I’m setting my love of the cowboy image and the West against a backdrop of American-pop subjects: signage, advertising, product design, celebrities, movies. I like the contrast, the surprise element.”
And in a Middlekauff painting, there are plenty of surprises waiting to be found by viewers. “Each time I look at a piece, no matter how often, I always find something new, a previously hidden gem,” says Campbell. “His cowboy series lets me build my own story around what I observe—the boots, the hat at an angle, the posture—these all let me imagine whatever I wish and make me smile.” —Kim Agricola
contact information970.247.3555www.sorrelsky.com
This story was featured in the October 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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