As individuals, we all wonder where we fit into the grand scheme of things, the world at large. In the East, the world is made up of many people, buildings, closed spaces, etc. Here in the Southwest, one can see fifty miles in several directions from one vantage point. There is the light, the atmosphere, the earth. The scale of the human being in relation to the environment is different.

I come from an old New Mexico family, and I'm happy that I've come (full circle) back to the landscape here, because I feel that it's “in my bones.” I did work for some years in a more geometric formalism, and hints of this are still in my work. I find that I have to be out in this landscape, and I make many trips, drawing, using a camera, and doing small oil sketches prior to studio work.

One of my main concerns is with light, particularly with the “inner light” that may also burn in a Rembrandt or a Rothko. This leads to an inner experience of the land, and possibly a resultant mood in my work (which I never think about consciously, but that I do see in retrospect).

The landscape here has a strong mood. It is to be praised, but also feared; it can speak of awesome beauty, it can also speak of ghosts and death in its darkest shadows.

Tu eres lo que yo soy
Nimas ni memos que nadie
Un cuerpo que suena sangre
Y'una alma que sangre suenas

(Anonymous)

Everything
Seems so long ago
Since the body
Dreamt the blood
And the heart
Bled the dreams
It all seems
To float now
Everything
That happened
Yesterday
Seems so far away.

--Frank McCulloch

There is the sunset, the walking rain, the desert dawn. There is also the brooding power of the mountain storm. There is mystery, and this mystery, this brush with the unknown, this necessary gamble becomes involved only when labour meets with love at just the right point.

-Frank McCulloch-

In a body of new work, one of Albuquerque 's most treasured cultural assets, Frank McCulloch, continues his exploration of the mutability of the Southwestern landscape.

McCulloch's successful experimentation with multiple layers of thinned oil glazes lends the new work increased color intensity. His mastery of the medium leads the viewer through nuanced alterations in both weather conditions and mood. Included in the exhibition are the landscapes for which McCulloch is justifiably renowned as well as figurative paintings. All paintings are dated within the last 12 months.

McCulloch says, “In my work, I acknowledge a debt to romanticism and mysticism, not to be confused with romantic sentimentality. My work is mostly abstract, in that the landscapes are not ‘pictorial,' but deal with a more inner scape and mood.”

Frank McCulloch is a painter, poet, musician and educator – a New Mexico institution and ambassador of good will. His paintings reside in museums and private collections throughout the United States and abroad. He is a past recipient of the Governor's Award in the Arts and was recognized as Artist of the Year by the Albuquerque Arts Alliance. His community involvements include serving on the Albuquerque Arts Board, the Capital Arts Board in Santa Fe , the Art Advisory Committee of the Albuquerque Museum and the Collections Committee at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

-Dartmouth Street Galllery-