Gallery Wild | 7/7-7/16 | Jackson Hole, WY

Natural Harmonies

A new exhibition at Gallery Wild called Solstice - Natural Harmonies presents the wildlife portraits of Doyle Hostetler and the nature scenes of Silas Thompson right at the heart of the summer season. “[The show] features brand new works from two outstanding, contemporary…artists,” says gallery owner and artist Carrie Wild. “[They] have each developed unmistakable, signature painting styles. Doyle’s monochromatic subjects emerge from airy backgrounds into sharp focus and are a contrast to Silas’ impressionistic, highly textured, bold and colorful landscapes. Hanging together, Doyle and Silas’ work finds a perfect, complimentary balance to emphasize the infinite variety within the natural world.”Silas Thompson, The Myth That Isn’t Untrue, oil on canvas, 60 x 60"

Thompson says his goal with painting is constant innovation in his approach, always finding new ways to create “the illusion of solidity, time, emotion, risk, danger, beauty and reward. That sounds like a grand goal, but boiled down, I simply want to be a good storyteller like those who went before me. I want to evoke emotion in my viewers like a sad ballad, jovial march or a sentimental love song, like a story told around a warm campfire on a cold night.”Doyle Hostetler, Last Look, oil on canvas panel, 48 x 32"

Doyle Hostetler, Painted Wild, oil on canvas panel, 32 x 48"

The majority of works in the exhibition by Hostetler are made up of larger format portraits of animals, an endeavor to “capture the essence of the wild in these creatures.” Hostelter’s signature monochromatic tones and slight touches of color enhance the contemporary feel of his artwork. “I think the pairing of my work and Silas’ work together was a brilliant idea for the simple fact that they are such contrasting styles, and I think that his body of work makes mine stand out that much more and vice versa,” he says.Silas Thompson, The Envy of Kings, oil on canvas, 48 x 48"Thompson adds, “In art, things are most often analyzed under a microscope, one particular color, brushstroke or shape, but most truly I see the experience of creating and enjoying art is much more about the juxtapositions. A yellow-orange is nothing but for the blue-violet next to it…the positive cannot exist without its negative…I think this is fully embodied in the contrast of Doyle’s and my bodies of work…Neither of us attribute anything specific to each other’s work, more than hanging side by side, and in this case that is enough to be powerful.”