Daybreak: Our inaugural opening with a grand group exhibition

Walking into the gallery, visitors will first see the beautiful art they likely have never seen in Jackson before. Secondly, they'll perhaps notice the smell of fresh paint. Drying oil-on-canvas works hang on walls that were themselves only primed and painted mere weeks ago. With the opening of the new gallery in historic Gaslight Alley on the town square in Jackson, Wyoming, we are also introducing an exciting array of artists not previously represented in the valley.

Some of our artists are paying tribute to the scenes just north of us in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Bruce Brainard, Nic Fischer, Scott Yeager, and Stephen Wysocki all reference their travels and plein air studies. To the south of us, in Colorado, Utah, and Texas, Dane Chinnock, Laura Guese, John Taft, and Emma Kalff look to earth and sky when capturing incomparable scenes of the West.

In keeping the spirit of the West alive, several of our artists expand the lore and myth of the region through historical and personal synthesis via paint. Nicholas Ward implements a rich yet subdued palette that reflects the sometimes exaggerated mythology, dreamlike, or intensely real stories of the American West. Kyril Bruce DeFoor masterfully crafts three-dimensional dioramas on canvas, rich in narrative. As the artist states, his tributes to art history are "...like a mini theater set where I reenacted countless Western dramas."

Then there are artists who excel through process. Intaglio printmaking is the foundation of Helen Gotlib's landscapes and floral works. Further transformed through silver and gold leaf gilding and carving on wood panels, each work takes on new life. Jennifer Moses' atmospheric tonalist landscapes converge texture, pigment, and detail with a bold yet elegant sensibility that only the best painters can achieve. On the expressionist side, Suzanne Onodera merges sky and foreground in a tug and pull of color, loose gesture, and refined brushstrokes. With all of these artists' works, it is difficult to remove one's eyes when surveying the equilibrium of detail and composition.

With the concurrence of beginnings—new gallery space, new artists, new art—what better way to usher in our first summer than with a grand group exhibition? Over twenty distinguished artists are featured in Daybreak. As the inaugural show, the excitement of bringing contemporary Western artists from near and far to collectors and friends in the valley deserves an exhibition of impressive scale. It is our greatest privilege to open our doors to an audience ready to discover a roster of artists who represent the integrity and authenticity worthy of the Jackson art scene.