Rutledge Goes From Farm to Market

Jimmy Fowler writes about Jo Lemay Rutledge's first ever solo show Farm to Market, opens at Artspace 111 on January 15, 2011 through Febuary 15, 2011. Rutledge believes she has something fresh to contribute to Western art -- she does not paint any of that "nobel cow and crying Indian."  Rutledge depicts the most authentic and truthful ranch life of West Texas, "almost documentary-style way" Fowler writes, "horses and cattle are displayed, but their faces are distant or obscured, compelling the viewer to see them as abstract shapes full of muscular curves. The grass, the trees, and the clouds quiver with life and aggressively compete for attention with the human and animal subjects. Her paintings of un-mown prairie grass and wildflowers are spectacular, full of dynamic vertical paint slashes that make the tableaux seem simultaneously abstract and photorealistic."