Beyond Sunset
Richard Rodriguez, Prairie Gold, oil, 8 x 16.
Richard Rodriguez revels in the fleeting beauty of the overlooked that delivers unexpected grace to the everyday. And he wants you to experience that, too. The native Coloradan infuses contemporary scenes—dilapidated machinery, grazing buffalo, rural homesteads, resting cattle—with a timeless aura through his soulfully lined and layered interpretations. “We’re always looking for the sunset, and yet there’s all this beauty that surrounds us,” Rodriguez says earnestly. “We end up missing what’s right in front of us. My work is about bringing that ordinary beauty to the forefront.”
- Richard Rodriguez, Graffiti Thunder, oil, 12 x 60.
- Richard Rodriguez, County Road, oil, 20 x 30.
- Richard Rodriguez, On the Moove, oil, 10 x 20.
Rodriguez’s appreciation for the commonplace can be traced to the mid-1970s when, as a child, he was intrigued by RUNNING FENCES, the Northern California environmental installation created by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. “Years later, when I was in architecture school at the University of Colorado,” he recalls, “one of my professors referenced the project and how it was designed to make you focus on the bits and pieces of the landscape you’d normally overlook. Although the countryside is beautiful, you’re not paying attention to every bush, every undulation. Christo’s work called attention to those moments, and it has influenced my own work greatly.”
The architect-turned-artist uses vertical lines, some bold, some faint, to create meaningful moments in his quietly contemplative paintings. “I use through lines that are—I wouldn’t say mundane, but they’re not the focal point,” Rodriguez says. “Much like Christo’s sculptures did in the landscape, they guide you through and create movement. They have no boundaries, which I think is kind of a beautiful thing.” Rodriguez, who studied at the Art Students League of Denver, also relies on colorfully textured layers to add depth and dimension to each scene, noting that “nothing leaves my studio flat.”
- Richard Rodriguez, Empty on the Eastern Plains, oil, 14 x 18.
- Richard Rodriguez, Field of Jacks, oil, 24 x 24.
- Richard Rodriguez, Off Track, oil, 12 x 24.
Beyond the technical aspects of Rodriguez’s work is an intangible, but equally important, quality: honesty. “I don’t glamorize what I see,” he says, “and I think people find that refreshing.” And relatable. The immensely likeable painter finds that his approach taps into a universal recall. “It all speaks to those fond, fuzzy things that are stored in your memory, whether it’s something from your childhood or from just the other day.” —Beth Williams
representation
Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, CO; Deselms Fine Art, Cheyenne, WY; www.rmrstudio.net.
This story appeared in the April/May 2022 issue of Southwest Art magazine.