Southwest Art’s 55th Anniversary | T. Allen Lawson

JDB: When did you begin to think of making a career in art?TAL: I had a fantastic junior high art teacher in Sheridan, Wyoming. The summer after eighth grade she invited me to exhibit in a gallery where I presented a dozen of the worst paintings and drawings ever. My relatives and friends’ parents purchased them so I started high school with some money. I was the cat’s meow. I was also a competitive swimmer. When we traveled we stayed in other swimmers’ homes and I happened to stay with Bob Barlow’s family. Bob took me under his wing, introducing me to other artists, including Ned Jacob, whose ability to draw and orchestrate a central theme in a painting has influenced me profoundly.

JDB: How would you characterize your inspirations—barns and other structures, for example—that have been so prominent in your work?TAL: I have a deep love of architecture. From Wyoming to Maine, I’ve seen magnificent barns. I’m attracted to work, and it would have been fascinating to watch these barns being built in an era without power tools. On the artistic side, a barn is like a movie screen. Because the sides are often painted at different times and wear differently, light hits and shifts constantly. Peeling paint on a big white barn offers wonderful visual stimulation.

JDB: How has your practice and technique evolved?TAL: When I work on paintings now, I think of them as total abstraction. They might be representational from a distance; up close, what you thought you were seeing becomes completely different.

JDB: Has any artist had an influence on your career?TAL: I once met Spanish artist Antonio López García, often called the greatest living realist. When I noticed the abstraction in his large paintings, he smiled and said, “Abstraction is what makes it real.” You get closer to reality when you push abstraction.

JDB: What’s next for you? What’s on your mind and in your imagination?TAL: A few years ago, I did five large paintings of individual trees. For the first time, I used other implements: mason’s tools, kitchen utensils. The more I played, the more realistic the paintings became. I want to do bigger pieces and push this kind of abstraction.

contact informationtallenlawson.com

representationJonathan Cooper Gallery, London, UK, jonathancooper.co.uk.LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, lewallengalleries.com.Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, maxwellalexandergallery.com.Page Gallery, Camden, ME, thepagegallery.com.Simpson Gallagher Gallery, Cody, WY, simpsongallaghergallery.com.

upcoming showsPrix de West, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, June 12-13.Solo Exhibition, Page Gallery, July 16-August 14, 2027.

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