TRACY STUCKEY Suburban Cowboy by Zoe Larkins
Had you leἀ New York or San Francisco at ten o’clock this morning, by noon the day aἀer to-morrow you could step out at Cheyenne. There you would stand at the heart of the world that is the subject of my picture, yet you would look around you in vain for the reality. It is a vanished world. No journeys, save those which memory can take, will bring you to it now. The mountains are there, far and shining, and the sunlight, and the infinite earth, and the air that seems forever the true foundation of youth, but where is the buffalo, and the wild antelope, and where the horseman with his pasturing thousands? So like its old self does the sage-brush seems when revisited, that you wait for the horseman to appear. But he will never come again. He rides in his historic yesterday. --Owen Wister, Introduction to The Virginian
Writing in 1902, Owen Wister thus qualiἀes the American West in which his novel, The Virginian, takes place. In the book, the eponymous cowpuncher and a schoolmarm from the East fall in love on the plains and in the mountains of Wyoming. The Wyoming in which their romance unfolds—that of the second half of the 19th century, the cowboy’s heyday, the ἀnal years of the frontier—features stunning vistas, abundant game, rugged horsemen, savage Indians, duplicitous thieves, and quaint farmers and their wives. It is the quintessential American West.
The Virginian is celebrated as the ἀrst full-length western novel, and it is widely considered to be the prototype for western books, ἀlms, and television shows that were popular in the US and abroad during the 20th century. Wister’s book and its successors fabricated the mythical West that Tracy Stuckey paints. Stuckey updates to the 21st century the archetypes of the West that recur in these narratives— the cowpuncher as Christ; the genteel eastern woman as, alternately, temptress and angel; the unsettled landscape as both Eden and the Promised Land; the frontier as a breeding ground for American values—and in doing so he deconstructs them. In a new body of work inspired by Wister’s novel, Stuckey portrays the West as it exists today in advertisements, television shows, and fashion photography, demonstrating the persistence, and commodiἀcation, of the ideal that Wister conjured. For example, Stuckey’s painting A Place for Jane critiques western gender stereotypes with a conflation of advertising and television imagery. In the painting, a well-coiffed man in a suit perches on a wooden fence and watches an equally well-groomed man, also wearing a suit, ride a mechanical bull. Two women, each in a strapless black cocktail dress, look on. The composition imitates a still from an episode of the 1960s cartoon “The Jetsons” in which Jane Jetson visits a dude ranch. In the episode, a melancholy Jane is diagnosed with “buttonitis”—malaise caused by the ease and empty routine of 21stcentury life—and is encouraged by her doctor to take a vacation. Jane travels to a “dude planet,” where she dances with a robotic cowboy and indeed watches a man ride a mechanical bull. Jane and the other visitors to Beta Bar Ranch on Beta III Dude Planet imitate life on the frontier. So, too, do the four ἀgures in Stuckey’s painting. They pose like fashion models against a stereotypically western backdrop. In fact, Stuckey uses advertisements as templates for the compositions and human ἀgures he paints. Here, the ἀgures’ posture, facial expressions, and digitally altered bodies appear preposterous, out of the context from which Stuckey presumably excerpted them, that of editorial photo spreads and large logos. Admittedly, fashion models often look absurd in photographs staged with sincerity in similar settings. Alien in the western landscape in which Stuckey situates them, the ἀgures in A Place for Jane appear to be play-acting life in the West.
In another of Stuckey’s paintings, a man and woman engage quite literally in horseplay, apparently role-playing the West. The woman, wearing only black lingerie and stiletto sandals, rides a man in a plaid shirt and cowboy hat as she would a horse. Their position references a 1976 Helmut Newton photograph, a copy of which hangs on the wall behind them, that depicts a woman on all fours wearing eastern riding pants and boots, a bra that barely contains her breasts, and, on her back, a saddle. For Newton’s model, posed in an elegant Paris hotel room, the West is an accessory. Similarly, in Stuckey’s painting, the Pendleton blanket spread over the bed on which the man kneels, the midcentury modern bedroom, and the man’s clothing and hat suggest that for the couple the West is a lifestyle aesthetic. In fact, without window views to indicate otherwise, the bedroom could be in Pennsylvania or Virginia, or on a soundstage in Los Angeles. Like the ἀgures in Stuckey’s paintings, Wister pretended at frontier life. Born to a wealthy Philadelphia family and educated at Harvard, where he began a lifelong friendship with classmate and fellow frontier enthusiast Theodore Roosevelt, Wister traveled west for the ἀrst time in 1885, for his health. He stayed at Union Army Major Frank Wolcott’s V.R. Ranch, in Wyoming, until his health improved and he returned to Cambridge to attend law school. Enchanted by ranch life and the Wyoming landscape, Wister visited the West frequently in subsequent years, capturing his experiences in journals and ἀctional short stories, but always returned to the East. The West that Wister knew had begun to disappear when The Virginian was published in 1902. Not long after Wister had made his ἀrst trip to Wyoming, severe weather decimated cattle herds; the railroad and other manifestations of American industry encroached upon the simple life in which Wister and others had found escape; and in 1890 the US Census Bureau declared the end of the frontier, promptly transforming a hopeful ideal into a romantic memory. But the West portrayed in The Virginian and in Wister’s short stories, many of which were published in Harper’s and illustrated by his friend Frederic Remington, could not disappear because it had never existed. It was an idyll, authored by an infatuated easterner. However, with the publication of The Virginian, Wister’s gloriἀed West flourished in the minds of readers across the country.
Like Wister, Stuckey is not a native westerner. He grew up in Florida, where television shows and movies formed his impression of the West. Unlike Wister, Stuckey moved to the West—to New Mexico, for graduate school, and recently to Colorado—and the artist says that living and working in the West has affected his practice. But Stuckey does not consider himself a “western artist.” He is not native to the region and views it as an outsider, as Wister saw the West from a perspective informed by his eastern upbringing. From his distinct vantage point, Stuckey critiques the myth of the West and the cultural production that it spawned in a poignant homage to the genre’s greatest literary work.
Zoe Larkins is a curatorial assistant in the Modern & Contemporary Department at the Denver Art Museum. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from Scripps College, in Claremont, California, and a master’s degree in the history of art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, in London. She writes about contemporary art
detail: Man Being Beaten, 2015, oil on canvas
Emily, 2014, oil on canvas, 54 x 66
Newton’s Bedroom, 2015, oil on canvas, 54 x 66
A Place for Jane, 2015, oil on canvas, 54 x 84
Living Room Squirt Gun Fight, 2015, oil on canvas, 40 x 60
The Sociables Living Room, 2014, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
Western Aces, 2014, oil on canvas, 60 x 48
A Man Being Beaten, 2015, oil on canvas, 48 x 36
The Schoolmarm, 2015, oil on canvas, 60 x 48
left: Riding in Monument Valley, 2014, oil on canvas, 30 x 2 4 right: In The Living Room, 2014, oil on canvas, 42 x 60
TRACY STUCKEY Refashioned Fables: Icons and Tribes of The Disbanded West 2014
right: Ranch Romance, 2014, oil on canvas, 60 x 48 overleaf: Giddy Up, 2013, oil on canvas, 36 x 84
left: Untitled (Study for the Death of Pecos), 2013, oil on canvas, 42 x 27 right: Slue-Foot Sue, 2013, oil on canvas, 60 x 40
left: Super Western, 2012, oil on canvas, 72 x 50 right: Tipi, oil on canvas, 2013, 60 x 48
top: Red Rocket Rider, 2009, oil on canvas, 45 x 66 right: Target Practice, Oil on canvas, 2013, 72 x 60
Target, Oil on canvas, 2010, 40 x 60
TRACY STUCKEY Painting Highlights 2007-2014
top: What a Dangerous Life, 2007, oil on canvas, 60 x 90 right: What a Dangerous Life 2, 2007, oil on canvas, 72 x 60
above: Bonneville Barbeque, 2010, oil on canvas, 45 x 60 right: Bonneville 1 (Umbrellas), 2009, 57 x 45
left: Poncho, 2014, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 right: Leแผ y, 2013, oil on canvas, 48 x 72, courtesy of Schmidt Dean Gallery
bio Tracy R. Stuckey 2055 Tunis Circle Fort Collins, CO 80526 Born 1977 Indiana Lives and works in Fort Collins, CO Education 2005 2001
MFA University of New Mexico, Painting BFA Florida State University, Studio Art
Solo Exhibitions 2013 2012 2010 WV 2008 2005 2003 2001
“Refashioned Fables: Icons and Tribes of the Disbanded West,” Visions West Gallery, Denver, CO “Pecos Bill and Other Tall Tales,” Schmidt Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA “New Paintings,” Annex Gallery, Charleston, WV “Tracy Stuckey: New Work,” Schmidt Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA “Tracy Stuckey: New Paintings,” James David Brooks Memorial Gallery, Fairmont State University, Fairmont, “Tracy Stuckey: New Work,” Inpost Artspace, Albuquerque, NM “The Higher the Marble Content, the Better the Meat.” Bivouac Artspace, Albuquerque, NM “Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy,” The Walls, Albuquerque, NM “BFA Graduation Exhibition,” Florida State University Museum of Fine Art, Tallahassee, FL
Selected Group Exhibitions 2014
“Into the West,” Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY “New Visions of the West,” Patrajdas Contemporary Art, Ogden, UT “Fixation,” curated by Sergio Gomez & Didi Menendez, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL “The New West: Contemporary Perspectives of the Rocky Mountain Region,” McNichols Civic Center Building,
2013 2012 2011
“Contemporary Couples: A Creative Life Together,” Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY “Group Show 04: Summer Mixer,” 101/Exhibit, Miami, FL “Human Form: An Enduring Inspiration,” Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY “Drawing Discourse,” curated by Alex Kanevsky, S. Tucker Cooke Gallery, UNCA, Asheville, NC “Summer Exhibition,” Schmidt Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2010 “FSU Art Faculty,” James David Brooks Memorial Gallery, Fairmont State University, Fairmont, WV 2009 “Cool Stuff, New People,” Schmidt Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA “Guilty Pleasures,” Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA “Sketchbook Project,” Art House, Traveling Exhibition 2008 “Spring Training,” SCA Contemporary, Albuquerque, NM 2007 “Yummy,” NEXUS, Philadelphia, PA “In the Cut,” Donkey Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2006 “Bodies In Motion, Bodies at Rest,”Ingham Chapman Gallery, Gallup, New Mexico 2005 “Juried Invitational,” curated by Joel Peter Witkin, Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM “Sensual... or Erotic?” Katrina Lasko Gallery, Bernalillo, NM “Land Arts of the American West 2004,” Traveling Exhibition, John Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, NM, Creative Research Lab, Austin, TX 2004 “Poverty and Abundance,” Trevor Lucero Studio, Albuquerque, NM “Juried Invitational,” curated by Linda Durham, Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2003 “Unsalted,” Trevor Lucero Studio, Albuquerque, NM “7th Annual GAA Small Works Exhibition,” John Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, NM. “Collect: Inside 83,” Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM “Small Packages,” Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM 2002 “Graduate/Faculty Silent Art Action,” Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM “6th Annual GAA Small Works Exhibition,” John Sommers Gallery. Albuquerque, NM. “Incoming,” Group Exhibition, Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM “Creative Tallahassee 2002,” Annual Juried Exhibition, City Hall, Tallahassee, FL “Images of People,” Group Exhibition, City Hall, Tallahassee, FL 2001 “Creative Tallahassee 2001,” Annual Juried Exhibition, City Hall, Tallahassee, FL “Anywhere But Here,” Group Exhibition,” Ogelsby Gallery, Tallahassee, FL 2000 “Rollin’s Juried Exhibition,” Juried Exhibition, Ogelsby Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
1999
“The Unfair,” Group Exhibition, Club DownUnder, Tallahassee, FL “Exquisite Lives of Birthday Suits,” Ogelsby Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Grants and Awards 2011 2010
Professional Development Grant, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Top 100 Artists, “A Year in Review 2010,” Juried Exhibition, Artists Wanted, Brooklyn, NY Top 25 Artists, “Summer 2010 Open Call,” Juried Exhibition, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY 2005 Graduate Research and Development Grant (GRD), Graduate and Professional Students Association, University of New Mexico (For support of “Meat Paintings Project”) 2004 RPT Grant, Office of Graduate Studies, University of New Mexico (For support of “Meat Paintings” Project.) Raymond Jonson Prize, University of New Mexico Graduate Research and Development Grant (GRD), Graduate and Professional Students Association, University of New Mexico (For support of Skinscapes Project.) 2003 SRAC Grant, Office of Graduate Studies, University of New Mexico (For Skinscapes Project.) Materials Grant, Graduate Art Association, University of New Mexico 2001 First Place Award, “Creative Tallahassee 2001,” Juried Exhibition, City Hall, Tallahassee, FL 2000 Rollin Award, “Rollin’s Juried Show,” Ogelsby Gallery, Tallahassee, FL Purchase Award, “Rollin’s Juried Show,” Ogelsby Gallery, Tallahassee, FL Publication Award, Iconoclast, Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL Selected Bibliography Zevitas, Steven,“Tracy Stuckey, ”New American Paintings, #106, June 2013, pages 17, 132-135 Menendez, Didi, “Tracy Stuckey,” Poets and Artists, Issue #33, March 2012, pages 32-33 Woods, Lynn, “On the Cover: Tracy Stuckey,” Chronogram, November 2011: page 10 Menendez, Didi, “Tracy Stuckey,” Poets and Artists, v. 4 no 1, February 2011: pages 76 – 82. Mangravite, Andrew, “Stuckey and Cope at Schmidt Dean Gallery,” Broad Street Review, 15 May 2010 Taylor, Chris and Bill Gilbert. Land Arts of the American West, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009 Allen, Steve Robert, “Live From Albuquerque: It’s the Top 10 Local Arts Events of 2005!” Alibi, v. 15 no 46, 5 January 2006: page 18.
The Higher the Marble Content, the Better the Meat, Exhibition Catalog, Bivouac Artspace, Albuquerque, NM Salem, Nancy, “Sly. And Rib eye,” Albuquerque Tribune, 18 November 2005 Allen, Steve Robert, “Meat Puppets,” Alibi, v.14 no 46, 17 November 2005: page18. Fox, William, “Land Arts of the American West,” Sculpture Magazine, v.24 no 8, Oct 2005: page 80. Staff, “Media Merge in Grad Show,” The Daily Lobo, 30 March 2005: page 8. Zimmerman, Eric, “Land Arts of the American West,” Glasstire, January 2005, Online Journal. University of New Mexico Press, Cover Award, Conceptions Southwest, 2004. Jackson, Amanda, “Artwork a ‘Sensual’ Experience,” The Daily Lobo, 21 Oct. 2003: pages 1, 6. Permanent Collections Howard Tullman, Chicago, IL Theodore R. Aronson, Aronson + Johnson + Ortiz, Philadelphia, PA Florida State University, Ogelsby Gallery, Tallahassee, FL Ann Saville, Annex Gallery, Charleston, WV Teaching and Related Experience Present 2008- 2013 2006- 2008 2002- 2005 2002- 2005
Part Time Instructor, Colorado State University – Department of Art Part Time Lecturer, West Virginia University – College of Creative Arts Adjunct Professor, Fairmont State University – School of Fine Arts Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico – Painting and Drawing Dept. Teaching Assistant, University of New Mexico - Painting and Drawing Dept. (Instructor of record) Assistant Director, John Sommers Gallery – University of New Mexico