Discover this year’s Featured Artist and get the upcoming schedule of events in this preview of the 27th Annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale.
From the organizers:
Sophy Brown has been named the 2020 Featured Artist of the 27th Annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale. Brown’s painting “Maelstrom” has been selected for the National Western’s permanent art collection.
This signature work will also be available for sale as a poster during the 2020 Coors Western Art Exhibit at the National Western Stock Show, January 11–26, 2020. This painting exemplifies the contemporary realism of the West that the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale has become known for and why it is one of the nation’s most attended Western art exhibitions, as well as one of the largest fundraisers for the National Western Scholarship Trust, the philanthropic pillar of Colorado’s National Western Stock Show.
In the genre of Western art, Sophy Brown is an iconoclast. A horsewoman and classically trained artist, Brown elevates equine imagery by melding her reverence for horses with her search for understanding of the world around her. Brown’s work has evolved dramatically over the last few years, bringing raw emotion to a new body of work that she refers to as “self-portraits.” Brown has freed herself from the constraints of conventional representational Western art, and instead allows herself to experiment with spray paint, adding torn layers and flinging paint at the surface. She takes paintings to the brink of destruction—often beyond the brink—as a way to dive deeper into the depths of her psyche, open new pathways, and, ultimately, express her very human experience.
Sophy Brown was born in 1963 in England, and came to America in 1987 when she went to the University of Michigan to study for an MFA in painting. She is currently based in Niwot, Colorado. She says, “It is such a great honor to be chosen as the featured artist in this coming Coors Western Art Show. I have been lucky enough to participate in ten previously, and each one of them has introduced me to many interesting people from the agricultural and ranching world, the rodeo world, and of course the art loving community of Denver and beyond. As the National Western Stock Show is a much-anticipated highlight of the year for so many people, and for as many different reasons, so it has been for me. As an artist, it is great to be part of an art show that is so very well respected for its quality and range and one that supports such a good cause, the National Western Scholarship Trust.”
The 2020 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale opens Tuesday evening, January 7, 2020, with the Red Carpet Gala Reception. The exhibit features 60 contemporary realists from North America and Europe who capture the Western way of life. The exhibition is open to the public during the National Western Stock Show, January 11–26, 2020. Last year over 1,000 people attended the Red Carpet Gala Reception on opening night, and over 30,000 viewed the exhibit during the National Western Stock Show. Also look for exciting emerging artists at the Young Guns Reception on Thursday, December 12, 2019 – an art opening and social event for patrons 40 and under.
The National Western Scholarship Trust was formed in 1983 to provide scholarships to students studying agriculture, rural medicine, and veterinary sciences. Since then the Trust has grown to award 100 scholarships annually, ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 per student.
2020 COORS WESTERN ART EVENT SCHEDULE:
• Thursday evening, December 12, 2019 – YOUNG GUNS RECEPTION. 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the National Western Complex, Expo Hall, Third Floor. Ticketed event is for those aged 45 and under.
• Tuesday evening, January 7, 2020 – RED CARPET GALA RECEPTION, 27th Annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale opening night, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the National Western Complex, Expo Hall, Third Floor. Tickets on sale now.
• Wednesday, January 8, 2019 – PETRIE INSTITUTE OF WESTERN AMERICAN ART SYMPOSIUM, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Denver Art Museum. “Natural Forces: Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington.” With Jennifer Henneman, Diana Greenwold, Maggie Adler, and Mark Thistllethwaite
• Saturday, January 11 through Sunday, January 26, 2020, Coors Western Art Exhibit and the National Western Stock Show open to the public.
For more details, visit www.coorswesternart.com.
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