EXHIBITIONS

Manitou Galleries is proud to present new works by Roger Hayden Johnson and Hib Sabin.

Roger Hayden Johnson captures the rich colors of sunlight at dawn and dusk in his architectural landscapes. He travels the back roads of the Southwest, Spain, and Portugal, as well as those of the Italian and French regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Burgundy, Provence, and the Perigord, in search of old and indigenous architectural structures. In the few short minutes right after sunrise or the fleeting moments before sundown, he takes photos in his favorite light--that spectacular long-shadowed light of intense, rich color and cool, deep shadow. It's this special light that brings a sense of stillness and tranquility to Johnson's paintings.

Roger Hayden Johnson taught himself to paint the landscapes near the small Iowa farm where he grew up. He later studied art at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and earned a Master’s degree in art and art history at the University of Northern Iowa and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting at Drake University in Des Moines. After having lived in Paris and Munich, Johnson moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1984. He began traveling into the mountains and valleys of northern New Mexico, where he fell in love with the earth-colored walls of old adobe buildings. With its small Spanish speaking communities clustered around churches, the area reminded him of Europe. And when the sun slanted low across these solid, age-graced structures, he was hooked.

New Mexico sculptor, Hib Sabin creates masks, spirit sticks, amulets, spirit bowls, and boats, often-incorporating creatures such as- wolves, owls, ravens, bears, coyotes, and eagles. The pieces are finished in watercolor and acrylic and then steel wool and sandpaper are incorporated to create an aged quality. Juniper and pinon woods are used most often, as they are both native to New Mexico.

He is inspired by Shamanic practices from tribal cultures around the world. The sculptor has traveled across the world studying traditions and cultures, including those of the curanderos in Mexico and tribes in India.

Hib is inspired by Inuit sculptures, Mexican folk art and the mythological cultures of Native Americans. Hib carves animals and instills them with an energy that captivates the viewer.

Many of the pieces he carves are custom made, honoring specific totem animals requested by patrons. He is particularly interested in the symbolism of bears, wolves, ravens and owls, and they appear in many of his works.

Join us for something new, fun, different, and exciting at Manitou Galleries on Canyon Road! We’re debuting new “summer” themed work by nearly every Manitou artist – and it will all be unveiled at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 28.

There will be no previews of any of the new works (not even on our website), so if you’d like to see the latest by your favorite Manitou artist, make sure you’re at Canyon Road on Friday evening.

We’re very excited about this concept. Most of our staff hasn’t seen the work. So, don’t go asking your salesperson to take a peek and describe a work to you. Unless you want to buy a new work by your favorite artist sight unseen, stop by 225 Canyon Road at 5 or check our website at 5:01!

So join us for some early summer fun. Wear your finest Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops and celebrate with us on Friday, June 28 at 5:00 p.m. at 225 Canyon Road.

Kim Wiggins’ dramatic expressionist oil paintings of his native New Mexico are populated with ribbons of color, bulbous clouds, anthropomorphic mountains and sinewy trees. Concerned foremost with composition, Wiggins carefully plans out the placement and elements to each painting and depicts the spiritual essence of his subject.

Laurie J. Rufe, former Director of the Tucson Museum of Art states, “Like Van Gogh, Wiggins' style is based on a pictorial language of heavily impastoed brushwork, bold color, and dynamic surface movement. Wiggins draws upon Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, American Regionalism, and muralist and folk art traditions, and it is this union that makes his paintings truly unique and unexpected.”

Liz Wolf works with clay, bronze and wood to channel the spirits of animals into mythical forms. Wolf also creates figurative pieces depicting strong contemplative women appearing as spiritual guides or disciples. Her work is an eclectic statement from visual and spiritual experiences from all that surrounds her. Wolf says, "When a work of art is not art for art’s sake, but instead holds a place in everyday life it possesses a religious or magical quality and may even capture a part of one’s spirit or soul."

Nestled in a high desert terrain, the villages of Northern New Mexico inspire artist William Haskell to create exquisite watercolors which reflect his passion for this unique and diversified landscape. Weathered adobe structures are drenched in a crisp white light beneath New Mexico mountain ranges in many of Haskell’s colorful watercolors. His focus on detail in his work goes beyond mere description of subject and draws the viewer into the painting for a more intimate connection with everyday forms and a sense of place. 

Working primarily in watercolor, Haskell has become known for the depth and quality of his glazes. He says, "With the use of dry brush techniques, I am able to take the watercolor to a different level by working as translucently or opaquely as needed. I use 300-pound Arches watercolor paper with a smooth, hot press finish. I seal, dry-mount and archivally varnish the finished painting. This removes the need for glass, which traditionally protects a watercolor. This allows the user to get closer to the work."

Manitou Galleries at 225 Canyon Road is pleased to announce our exhibition of new works by Billy Schenck.

Schenck has been known internationally for the past 42 years as one of the originators of the contemporary "Pop" western movement and an American painter who incorporates techniques from Photo-Realism with a Pop Art sensibility to both exalt and poke fun at images of the West.

Like the heroes he idolized in B-Westerns, Schenck might well be called the "Good Badman" of Western American art. Early in his career he became known for appropriating cinematic imagery, which he reproduced in a flattened, reductivist style, where colors are laid side-by-side rather than blended or shadowed.

Drawing upon narrative tensions that have attracted mass audiences to western fiction and movies, Schenck added hot colors, surreal juxtapositions, and stylized patterning to explore clashes between wilderness and civilization, the individual and community, nature and culture, freedom and restriction.

Current career highlights for the artist include inclusion in the recently opened exhibit at the Denver Art Museum entitled “Western Horizons”, Landscapes from the contemporary realism collection. A retrospective of serigraphs created by Schenck from 1971 through 1996 opened February 2011 at the Tucson Museum of Art.

Renowned sculptor, Star Liana York continues to create phenomenal bronzes embracing various themes from the equine to the ancestral to wildlife and to Native American figurative.  

Since arriving in the Southwest, Star's body of work has reflected the cultural diversity and history of the area. She is also inspired by the native wildlife and mythology, and the mysteries of ancient sacred sites.  Star says, "This is a place that requires a curious, open mind and respectful patience for it to reveal all its aesthetic and spiritual complexities. It is richly rewarding when time and care are given."

Star's source of inspiration for a significant part of her work comes from Native American and Western cultures. She sensitively captures their cultural identity, whether indigenous or ranch life, and celebrates them by preserving her observations through bronze.  Star says, "When a character emerges from a work I am sculpting, I feel touched at a deeply intimate, subconscious level. "

B.C. Nowlin’s art mirrors his cross-cultural background. A native of Alameda, New Mexico, his family’s land formed the southern boundary of the Sandia Pueblo Reservation. Nowlin came of age steeped in childhood experiences of vibrant Hispanic culture and Native Puebloan mysticism.

Entirely self-taught, using neither photos or sketches, Nowlin has created a visual catalog of spiritual journeys that have become his signature imagery. His palette reflects a stunning array of styles, a complex originality, and a surprising breadth of imagery that has attracted exhibitions in galleries and corporate collections worldwide.

Preview and reception Thursday, August 15th, 5:00-7:30pm. Opening reception Friday, August 16th 5:00pm-7:30 pm. Weekend hours for the gallery are: Friday, August 16th 9:30am-7:30 pm , Saturday, August 17th  8:00am-6:00 pm, Sunday, August 18th  8:00am-5:00 pm. All artists will be on exhibit with many in attendance throughout the weekend.

During the Market, Manitou will feature the works of Jennifer O'Cualain and Martha Pettigrew. Both artists will be present providing demonstrations of their process throughout the weekend.

Jennifer O’Cualain is a prolific painter of all things natural.  Her popular wildlife paintings touch on the idea of illustrating the simple and honest physical characteristics of many species ranging from field mice to bison. 

“I strive to make my paintings more like portraits than typical animal art.  The feel of fur under your hand is a relatively universal goal, but I want my viewer to get a sense of the individual animal.”

After graduating from Arizona State University in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in painting, Jennifer continued to attend figure drawing classes.  As a people portrait artist throughout high school and college, she knew that one day her love of animals would need to become a larger part of her everyday life.  Now she has the opportunity to continue developing her ability to capture a likeness with her desire to spend time with animals.

Formerly an illustrator, Martha Pettigrew has established herself as one of the foremost Western contemporary sculptors. Her work has been accepted in such prestigious and exclusive exhibitions as: Settlers West’s The Great American West Show, Tucson Arizona; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s Birds in Art, Wausau, Wisconsin; Women Artists and the West, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona; and Sculpture in the Park, Loveland, Colorado.

Pettigrew says, “I find the everyday tasks of the native people of the Southwest, especially the women, to be an endless source of inspiration. If I have achieved my goal as a sculptor the viewer will feel an emotional attachment and never tire of seeing the piece. The sculpture may become a source of inspiration in their lives.”