Serial Western: The Colorful Cowboys of Keith Davis

Serial Western: The Colorful Cowboys of Keith Davis

william reaves fine art • march 1 - march 22, 2013

Serial Western: The Colorful Cowboys of Keith Davis In the “Go Texan” spirit of the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo, William Reaves Fine Art is pleased to feature recent works by Austin artist, Keith Davis, in an online exhibition entitled, Serial Western. Like trail riders rolling into Memorial Park, Davis’s whimsical paintings of vintage cowboy characters decked in full regalia ride into the Reaves Gallery just in time to participate in Houston’s annual salute to the legacy and romance of the cowboy culture.

Just like Houston (and its Live Stock Show), with equal parts time-honored Texas tradition and equal parts cutting-edge creativity, we think Keith Davis’s paintings work! His colorful cast of cowboys offer fresh and engaging imagery built on a magical past. Upon encountering the paintings in Serial Western, we are betting viewers will agree that Davis brings to town a very cool and unique brand of modern art!

Although very much from the present, Davis’s cowboy subjects are a throw-back to earlier times. Channeling the sense and feel of an old Western serial, he brings contemporary western characters back to the stage in a sensitive and dramatic fashion. As a modernist painter, Davis is an unabashed colorist who flirts with the tenets of magical realism in his overall approach. His distinctive renditions combine fanciful composition with bold palette and serious portraiture, and the results are a series of evocative and entertaining artworks with style and timbre somewhere between that of Joseph Leyendecker, Maynard Dixon or Andy Warhol.

Cover image: Keith Davis, Hollis, 2013, oil on board, 24 x 19 inches

As an artist, Keith Davis is as unique as his work. A flatlander originally from Levelland (on the High Plains), Davis relocated several years back to Austin, Texas. Self-taught and unaffected as an artist, he lives and works in his diminutive studio. There, by his own admission, he lives out the modern-day lifestyle of a “starving artist”, painting daily, honing his instincts and operating close to the bone between his sales. In his work, Davis employs an obviously active and creative mind to conjure up cowboy paintings with grand flourish, and, in this case, much like the subjects he brings to life, the artist is himself a sure-fired Texas character.

In Serial Western, we invite viewers to “return again to those thrilling days of yester-year” to encounter a new, contemporary cowboy scene created through the eyes and brush of Keith Davis. Undeniably, the exhibition offers up a series of enchanting sitters portrayed in avant-garde style that are every bit as beguiling and fun to watch as the oldtime Westerns that inspired them.

So, saddle up, Pardner, enjoy the ride and GO TEXAN!

Bill Reaves

Exhibition Checklist Serial Western: The Colorful Cowboys of Keith Davis Plate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Title of Work Bennett Brew Bucking Cowboy Campfire Cooking Cowboys Playing Cards Hollis Joe Ol’ Max Pete Red Mike Rex Sad Cowboy Sheriff Singing Cowboy Zane

Date 2013 2012 2013 2012 2012 2013 2012 2011 2012 2012 2013 2012 2012 2013 2013

Medium oil on board oil on masonite oil on board oil on board oil on panel oil on board oil on masonite oil on board oil on wood oil on masonite oil on board oil on board oil on panel oil on board oil on board

Dimensions 16 x 13.5 in.

24 x 19 in.

32 x 42 in.

32 x 45 in.

36 x 48 in.

24 x 19 in.

24 x 19 in.

16 x 18 in.

24 x 17 in.

24 x 29 in.

24 x 18 in.

24 x 20 in 24 x 19.25 in.

41.5 x 35 in.

30 x 24 in.

Plates

1. Keith Davis, Bennett, 2013, oil on board, 16 x 13.5 inches

2. Keith Davis, Brew, 2012, oil on masonite, 24 x 19 inches

3. Keith Davis, Bucking Cowboy, 2012, oil on board, 32 x 24 inches

4. Keith Davis, Campfire Cooking, 2012, oil on board, 32 x 45 inches

5. Keith Davis, Cowboys Playing Cards, 2012, oil on panel, 36 x 48 inches

8. Keith Davis, Hollis, 2013, oil on board, 24 x 19 inches

9. Keith Davis, Joe, 2012, oil on masonite, 24 x 19 inches

10. Keith Davis, Ol’ Max, 2011, oil on board, 16 x 18 inches

11. Keith Davis, Pete, 2012, oil on wood, 24 x 17 inches

12. Keith Davis, Red Mike, 2012, oil on masonite, 24 x 19 inches

13 Keith Davis, Rex, 2013, oil on board, 24 x 18 inches

14. Keith Davis, Sad Cowboy, 2012, oil on board, 24 x 20 inches

15. Keith Davis, Sheriff, 2012, oil on panel, 24 x 19.25 inches

18. Keith Davis, Singing Cowboy, 2009, oil on board, 41.5 x 35 inches

17. Keith Davis, Zane, 2013, oil on board, 30 x 24 inches

William Reaves Fine Art 2313 Brun Street • Houston, Texas • 77019 Tel: 713.521.7500 Email: INFO@reavesart.com www.reavesart.com