Artist’s Reception: Not a Fool

Only a fool would limit themselves to one media: this exhibition is thus the culmination of fifty years of Abiquiu, NM-based artist Walter W. Nelson’s utterly original expressions in painting, sculpture, photography, and encaustics. Nelson explores bronze and terracotta, wood and pigment, oil, pastel, and photography. Featured are a striking series of large-format paintings that celebrate the Ocotillo succulent plant inspired by his artist’s residency at Big Bend National Park and which culminated in his book: Ribbons of Time: The Dalquest Research Site. Embracing the rugged Southwest, and covering ground whether by horseback or on foot, Nelson’s art inevitably reflects the varied relief of mountain and desert, but through Nelson’s unique lens of hyper-magical realism.