Duke Beardsley, "Unbridled Obstruction: Impromptu Sublimations From The Lost Trail to Nowhere", 2020

DUKE BE ARD SLE Y

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February 17 – 29, 2020 Scottsdale Artist Reception | Thursday, February 20 | 7:00–9:00pm

DUKE BE ARD SLE Y Unbridled Obstruction: Impromptu Sublimations From The Lost Trail to Nowhere

Jackson Hole | Scottsdale | AltamiraArt.com

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Obstrucciรณn 1 Mixed media on canvas | 12 x 36 inches Enquire

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Duke Beardsley Harnessing the end of a decade presents an opportunity for reflection. Duke Beardsley recently examined his 10-year trajectory and recognized key currents in his paintings: his enduring interest in resituating Western iconography within contemporary terrain; the inspiration of abstraction and Abstract Expressionism.

But he also noticed an unsettling trend toward perfection, or the perception thereof. So, he decided to do something drastic and derail himself. “I’m getting in the way of what my paintings have been becoming. I’m obstructing them,” he says. “I’m not letting them be this perfect thing if that’s what they’ve been. I’m breaking them apart with color, texture and bad treatment to see what they do and don’t do when you block their traditional path.”

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These Obstruccións, as he calls them, encourage even more subjective readings than his previous paintings. Having distilled Western vernacular down to its most essential elements –people focused on solitary or simultaneous pursuits—he is now fracturing even the outline of form. The pop cowboys of his past, toiling headlong into the future, have suddenly become suspended in a layered present, their presence itself textured and tattered. Following his same braided process, he now stops himself midstream, adding hints of background, roughing the surface.

One tile piece, shown yet unsold, had never sat right with Beardsley, so he tested his new technique, attacking it with denatured alcohol, razor blades and sanders.

Suddenly, a new personality emerged and the piece came into itself. “I’m pushing this icon further and further away from traditional Western landscape. I’m letting the cowboys and cowgirls run off on their own.”

Some viewers might see a more painterly technique in this new series, rich with materiality. The philosophically bent will connect with the intellectual shift toward narrative abstraction. As always, Beardsley steers clear of revisionist history or glorification of violence; his iconographic distillations are rooted in people, not postures.

No matter the lens, Beardsley hopes viewers see the work itself, free of his intent. “One of my goals has always been for me to get out of the way; for the viewer to have their own relationship and dialogue with the paintings.”

More than anything, the Obstruccións have underscored the resiliency of Western iconography: “It can certainly handle everything I’m throwing at it.” Adverse to grandeur, he pins his current intervention inside the tight scope he has set for himself. “I’m not trying to turn the whole Western paradigm on its head—just mine.”

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Rompecabezas Mixed media on tile | 40 x 80 inches Enquire

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Obstrucciรณn 2 Mixed media on canvas | 12 x 36 inches Enquire

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Obstrucciรณn 3 Mixed media on canvas | 12 x 36 inches Enquire

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Obstrucciรณn 4 Mixed media on canvas | 12 x 36 inches Enquire

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Atencio Oil on canvas | 60 x 72 inches Enquire

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Los Tartanos Oil on canvas | 32 x 84 inches Enquire

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Highwayman One, 2020 Oil on canvas | 72 x 30 inches

Highwayman Two, 2020 Oil on canvas | 72 x 30 inches

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Highwayman Three, 2020 Oil on canvas | 72 x 30 inches

Highwayman Four, 2020 Oil on canvas | 72 x 30 inches

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Bosquejos Cinco Oil on canvas | 18 x 48 inches Enquire

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The Iron Horse Mixed media and epoxy resin on panel | 48 x 60 inches Enquire

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End in the Dust Mixed media and epoxy resin on panel | 48 x 60 inches Enquire

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Purple Rain Oil on canvas | 24 x 72 inches Enquire

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Pedazos Pรกlidos Oil on masonite tile | 40 x 80 inches Enquire

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Highway Men (set of four paintings) Oil on canvas | 72 x 120 inches Enquire

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7038 E Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 AltamiraArt.com | 480-949-1256

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