Featured Artist Chuck Middlekauff

Enjoy the paintings of artist Chuck Middlekauff, who expresses the heart and culture of the West with a contemporary twist. Visit his website for more.

 

 

Because I have my own vision of the American West, I don’t know if my paintings fit into the category of “Art of the New West.” I am certain, however, that I am doing art that is different from the long-established “Western” art of today or the past.

 

 

Instead of your traditional Western theme of realistic landscapes, cattle drives, Indians, etc., my cowboys just hang out in made-up surroundings. And I’m further disqualifying myself because sometimes my paintings fall outside the “Western” genre.

 

 

I want my bold and unrefined paintings to reflect and illustrate my own passion for the West and America. This is what I knew and loved as a kid of the 50s and 60s, and now experience as nostalgia during ongoing road trips.

 

 

I’m influenced by artists of the 60’s and 70’s Pop Art Movement, especially Andy Warhol, as well as my contemporaries like Nelson Boren, Billy Schenck, and David DeVary. I present my own take on the American cowboy, southwestern landscapes, roadside culture, movies, rock-and-roll, and the commercialism and consumerism of our American way of life.

 

 

Using my education in fine art, I paint things that make up the visual personality of America. This includes cowboys, neon signs, rusty pickups, murals, billboards, and Coke machines, all weathered pieces of a bygone era.

 

 

Prompted by my commercial/graphic design degree and experience as a commercial artist, I often incorporate American product labels and print advertising concepts that have shaped our past and our more recent culture.

 

 

Whether painting directly on canvas, or on paper mounted on canvas, I use vivid, mixed-media colors, spatters and splatters, drips and drops. I’m always aiming for visual stimulation for myself and for my viewers.

 

 

Putting together unrelated things, starting with a central character (cowboy) or object, I add to the composition, item by item. I include the things I love, and hope others can relate to, until I see what I want. Not knowing where the painting is going keeps me interested and excited throughout the process. I sometimes even surprise myself with the outcome.

 

 

Always evolving, I have worked hard to develop my painting style. In the process, I’ve found my voice and I feel that I’m making a distinctive mark in the contemporary Western art world and the contemporary art world in general.

 

Chuck Middlekauff invites you to follow on Instagram and LinkedIn.

 

 

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