MUSEUM PREVIEW
San Antonio
Watering Hole. In the composition, we see a cowgirl
on horseback approaching a “watering hole,” which is
actually a pool with a beach ball in it. “In this image,
I could see that this rancher may have been visiting a
watering hole in that location for generations and now it’s
been replaced by a suburban overlay,” says Duchemin.
Other standout pieces in the show include Gilleon’s
Northern Plains, which takes prominent Native American
chiefs and renders them in Warhol’s Pop Art aesthetic, and
Fritz Scholder’s Indian at Bus Depot, an impressionistic
piece of a Native American leaning against an arcade
game at a bus stop.
“What makes it Western art is the subject matter and
themes,” says Duchemin. “What makes it contemporary
is that it moves away from the romanticism and realism
and takes on 50 different styles.”
Into a New West: Contemporary
Art from the Booth Museum
Through September 1, 2019
Briscoe Western Art Museum
210 W. Market Street, San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 299-4499, http://www.briscoemuseum.orgPaul Pletka, Mescaleros- La Silla Negra, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30”. Booth Western Art Museum permanent collection, Cartersville, GA.
Anne Coe, Suburban Ranchette: The New Watering Hole (detail),
acrylic on canvas, 42 x 48”. Booth Western Art Museum permanent
collection, Cartersville, GA.