Vail International Gallery
“Wolf,” Carrie Fell
“So many galleries have so much good work to be proud of,” says Rayla Kundolf, director of Masters Gallery in Vail. “It’s not just what you’d expect. There’s some really special work around here.” Here’s a map to help you navigate some of the local art scene’s standouts, as seen in ART magazine. 90
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Sculptor Bates Wilson started hanging his work from the ceiling simply because he didn’t have room anywhere else. Now, he lets his sculptures dictate where they want to go — mounted on a wall, suspended from the ceiling, or elsewhere in a home. Made from discarded bits of aluminum and wood, Wilson reimagines vacuum cleaner insides and road signs into fish, planes, surfboards and other fluid-seeming forms. “I like the idea of a work having integrity,” he says. “A lot of conceptual work people do on a sense of irony rather than the aesthetic of a piece. Creating something new that’s not in the classic mold — I think that’s important.” His pieces are fluid and full of action, despite their static realities. “There’s joy in movement,” he says. The work looks heavy, its construction so solid and intricate, almost as if it needs its own will, its own volition to move. And yet they are lightweight, considering their size and scope. They’re made to last, both conceptually and technically. They’re made to live amongst. — WW
ter scene. It’s everyday. It’s life. Sometimes it can be political. It’s meeting people and hearing their stories and wondering how that relates to me.” For Fell, the art of painting isn’t about tearing through one canvas after another. When she’s creating work for a show, she thinks about the event as a whole, too. “It’s about making a bold statement that is then told in stories throughout my paintings,” Fell says. “They’re each an individual expression that leads you through the show. So there’s a story within a painting and then there’s storytelling throughout the show.” — BH
Carrie Fell Gallery Although most people think of painter Carrie Fell as an American Western artist, thanks to her images of cowgirls, horses and longhorns, her work can’t be so easily pigeonholed. “I suppose you can call me an unconventional Western artist,” says Fell. However, I don’t think that’s what my art is. I think my art is mostly gestural movements that show a statement through color and fluidity. What I paint doesn’t matter. It could be a café scene. It could be a win-
Rings Dan Telleen