A new book by artist Charlie Burk provides a different perspective
There are many artists who believe that the vast landscapes of New Mexico are best portrayed in wide, sweeping vistas stretching for hundreds of miles. A scarlet-and-pink sunset reaching into the distant horizon, or the Rio Grande Gorge cutting through the endless desert near Taos—these kinds of scenes are common in western art.
But these are not the views that attract the attention of painter Charlie Burk. He’s captivated, instead, by a macro approach to the landscape that pulls viewers close to the earth. So close, in fact, that we find ourselves gazing at ground level through grasses and reeds that seem to undulate before our eyes, the textures and colors shimmering and alive.
Burk has been meticulously exploring these kinds of landscapes for years now, and a new book available at Winterowd Fine Art in Santa Fe celebrates his rich artistic career. The monograph, titled Charlie Burk: Journey in Abstraction, comes in both a limited-edition hardbound and a softbound version.
Burk, who is an Albuquerque native, received his bachelor’s of fine art from the University of New Mexico in 1973. His early work was executed in watercolor and focused on realism. Eventually he moved to oil painting, which allowed him “a more exuberant practice of color, shape, texture, and movement,” writes gallery owner Karla Winterowd in her introduction to the new book. “The closer he moved into an examination of nature, the more liberated his brush became, until abstraction prevailed.”
Today Burk continues to explore each painting with joy, clarity, and vitality, while also allowing viewers space to interpret and explore on their own. “I am astounded at both his patience and his skill with the materials,” Winterowd adds, “taking all the time he needs to create a tour de force.”
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