James Buckhouse - Selected Works - Biography - Bibliography
Western Mythology 2004-2006 - Statement 1 Statement 2
Press Release Walter Maciel Gallery
For Immediate Release
Contact: Walter Maciel
310 839 1840, info@waltermacielgallery.com
James Buckhouse
New Work
27 April – 3 June 2006
Opening Reception: Saturday, 6 May, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Walter Maciel Gallery will present a new body of work by San Francisco based artist James Buckhouse. The exhibition will include paintings, work on paper and video.
In this body of work, artist James Buckhouse traveled to the Ghost Town of Donner, OR (named for the “Donner und Blitzen” gorges) to document the slow return to the soil of the few remaining buildings of the failed community. Donner does not exist on contemporary maps, as the town is now in the middle of private land, but when it was first established, it was an early attempt by the homesteaders to band together.
Surrounding Donner are distant isolated buildings built by solitary homesteaders who were trying to go at it alone. Examining the building and materials and the locations can give a good indication as to whether the buildings were built by first wave or second wave homesteaders. Buckhouse documents the remnants of these buildings in detailed paintings on canvas and works on paper often focusing on specific details of the collapsing structures. In some locations, no buildings remain – and instead the only indication of a lost homestead is a stand of Poplar trees, which were not native, but planted in a row as a fast growing wind break at the edge of many homesteads. Imagery of the vast western landscapes becomes the subjects for other paintings included in the show.
Today, the land is home to contemporary cattle ranches and the wild Kiger mustang reserve. This reserve is a large area of unfenced land where the Kiger mustangs roam wild. Buckhouse tracked the wild mustangs with his father, an agricultural scientist and professor, recording them with still photography and video. A compilation of the footage has been edited and will be shown as a video in the back gallery.
In 2002 Buckhouse completed a new commission for the Dia Center for the Arts in New York, which was selected for the 2002 Whitney Biennial. He has exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and has given a preview of his collaborative work with New York City Ballet choreographer, Christopher Wheeldon, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Works & Process series. He has also exhibited his work at the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art. Buckhouse was the 2000 Visiting Artist at the Stanford University Digital Art Center.
The gallery will be open from Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. For further inquiries please contact Walter Maciel at 415 839 1840 or by email at walter@waltermacielgallery.com. Please visit the gallery website at www.waltermacielgallery.com.