July 4 – 15, 2023
Jackson Hole, Wyoming DUKE BEARDSLEY
Obstreperous Dissonance: Irresolute
Provocations from The Lost Trail To Nowhere
Things are out of whack, it seemed so all winter and spring for Duke Beardsley. But instead of recoiling, he’s welcoming discord in his new work.
“The cosmos is kicking our butts,” he says. “There is something in the universe right now that is beautifully, strangely, confusingly dissonant.”
Instead of cowering, he’s patiently reacting: “I’m going back to the most stable iconography I know—the working cowboys and cowgirls,” to see what they have to say about all this. Turns out, they’ve got lots of thoughts on the matter. The starting point of this new series— a painting called “Sneaky Jake”—silhouettes a russetbrown cowboy mounting his horse against a marigold expanse, their outline emblazoned in turquoise. “This painting, in particular, has been fascinating. It’s made me ask myself, ‘Where did my confidence go?’ There is a tremendous amount of discomfort and distrust around me, within me. I want that confidence back and that’s why I’m pushing the envelope.”
Hence the title of his new exhibition— Obstreperous Dissonance: Irresolute Provocations from The Lost Trail To Nowhere. “I don’t choose my titles lightly,” Beardsley says, picturing the eye rolls that may come with such mouthfuls. In its redundancy, Obstreperous Dissonance underscores the current state of play for the artist and the world at large: “Both words refer to discord, when two or more entities which are capable of being harmonious are doing the exact opposite— they’re striking a non-harmonious chord. They are supposed to go together but somehow they don’t.” This doubling header thus becomes the latest chapter in his Lost Trail to Nowhere series. “Challenges be damned. Success be damned. We are all on this crazy lost trail to nowhere. We continue on, and I don’t ever want to lose sight of that.”
With inquiry embedded in his practice, Beardsley lets instinct drive his palette, considering the consequences as he goes. “Why vibrant turquoise against mango yellow? There’s a boing effect,” he says. He pokes his own creative bear. “Who provokes anything for no reason? We all do! All the time! There is an urge to cause disruption in me right now. I’m going back to my bread and butter and shaking the snow globe—through color.”
In this color-reactive state, Beardsley finds himself inspired by contemporary colorists,
including Pop artists and cultural icons like Yves Saint Laurent. “A brown cowboy on a gold field—that’s the Wyoming state icon. But that bright blue aquatic line throws it all under the bus.”
True to its title, “Sneaky Jake” creeped up on Beardsley; initially part of a larger black-and-white installation, the lone cowboy seemed to need separation. Recently compelled to create a yellow painting, Beardsley tried to make the cowboy comply, only to find him resistant. His studio assistant Virginia Diaz Saiki shed guiding light on the dynamic: “What are you trying to make this painting be that it doesn’t want to be?” That essential question aligned with the insight of guitarist Mike Eli LoPinto (currently on tour with Chris Stapleton)—who, in conversation with Beardsley’s friend Duke Phillips III on his Ranchlands podcast, spoke of the magic underlying all art; the artist puts something into the world that previously didn’t exist. “That never occurred to me, and I’ve been making art arguably my whole life,” Beardsley says. “What about the celebration of the fact that you’ve pulled something out of the ether?
“Between those words and Virginia encouraging me to accept the paintings as they emerge—I’m finding the courage to go back over familiar turf in a different way and be confident that it will work. I never know where I’m going until I get there.”
Salvio Oil on canvas | 60 x 32 inches
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Alto Oil on canvas | 60 x 20 inches
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