Chloe West's 'Games of Chance' at HARPER'S in New York City reframes the iconography of the American West through a hyperrealistic lens. Her paintings, rooted in her Wyoming heritage, intertwine European portraiture with modern narratives, aiming to redefine the classic symbols associated with the West. By exploring themes such as memory and identity, West offers a nuanced perspective that contrasts with typical portrayals of cowboys and conquest, exemplified in her standout artwork 'Cowboy Philosopher,' which invites viewers to reconsider traditional gender roles in Western imagery.
In West's world, those tropes are unraveled-not with satire or shock, but with nuance and rich visual storytelling.
Her self-portraits... present a West that is more contemplative than combative, more philosophical than violent.
Take Cowboy Philosopher, a standout piece in the show. In it, West stares directly at the viewer... It's a composition steeped in history.
Games of Chance blends the aesthetic structure of 17th-century Dutch still life and portraiture with a distinctly modern narrative.
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