Jared Sanders paints weathered barns, bales of hay and abandoned buildings—common sights on the side of any highway in the West. In his new exhibition The View from the Roadat Altamira Fine Art in Jackson, Wyoming, his works remind viewers that the West is not only defined by grand, dramatic landscapes but also by the quiet moments that come with simply existing in a space.
Red Door, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in.
“I try to appreciate things that may be overlooked,” says Sanders. “I’m trying to find something that’s unique; I can find beauty in something that maybe most people wouldn’t see. The buildings, I think, have a design quality and a beauty to them that’s there. It just has to be accentuated and kind of isolated and pointed out to everyone to see.”
The buildings Sanders depicts in new show paintings like Open Sky and Red Door look remote or dilapidated, and are covered in snow, but there’s a warmth and familiarity to them, as if they are scenes from a daily drive into town.
The View From the Road, oil on canvas, 48 x 70 in.
Sanders spends a lot of time traveling and primarily driving throughout the West. Along the way, he takes pictures of the landscape that he brings back to the studio. He does not try to copy the photographs exactly; he removes anything he considers “noise” from the landscape, and what’s left is a painting that is an authentic representation of what it means to take in the West from the window of a moving car.
“I’m always looking for the essence of what I felt when I was there, and at the same time, I’m also trying to create something that is aesthetically a good painting or a good design,” says Sanders. “I’m really interested in designing the space…there’s a lot of elimination and editing in each painting. I try to edit it down to what’s most important and what’s most valuable for the painting.”
Open Sky, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 in.
The artist describes each of his paintings as a journey to try to steal what he brought and captured from the road and turn it into a design that is a modern, minimal depiction of the scenes in his camera.
Beautiful places can often be hard to access, requiring time and resources. However, Sanders’ work reminds viewers that one of the draws and gifts of the West is that stunning landscapes are on the side of the road, and mountains bathed in sunlight can be seen from a gas station in the middle of nowhere.
Winter Storage, oil on canvas, 34 x 36 in.
“On just a random road in the West, you don’t even have to be really far from your home, and you can find so much beauty,” muses Sanders. “We’re so lucky to be in the West, to have these wide-open spaces…there’s beautiful stuff everywhere in the country, but in the West, you can see great distances, and you can see a lot from just your car.”
Sanders’ exhibition opens August 4 and runs through the 18th. Join the artist and gallery in celebrating the work at an opening reception on Friday, August 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. —
Altamira Fine Art 172 Center Street, Suite 100 • Jackson, WY 83001 • (307) 739-4700 • www.altamiraart.com
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