CARSON CITY — Las Vegas artist Suzanne Hackett–Morgan’s paintings and prints are on display at the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery in Carson City. The Arts Council will host an artist talk at 6:15 p.m. and a reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 15.
“A Western Dependence” features two series of paintings and prints created over the last 14 years by Hackett-Morgan, who is drawn to neglected billboards, closed roadside attractions and other evidence of abandonment in the desert west,” Susan Boskoff, Arts Council executive director, said.
The paintings and prints in “A Western Dependence” are based on actual places in California, Arizona and Nevada, some being composites of elements from different sites. In her recent work, objects are employed in the same manner as human figures and structures in early American and contemporary Chinese landscape painting — accentuating the drama of the natural environment while maintaining a human narrative, Hackett-Morgan said.
“I want to believe that the West is a place still ripe for rambling and exploration, despite the fact that it is deteriorating,” Hackett-Morgan said. “Roadside remains signal that we have changed the West environmentally, economically and spiritually forever.”
Hackett-Morgan earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Washington University and a master’s degree in painting from California State University, Northridge. She is a founding director of the Goldwell Open Air Museum and Artist Residency near the ghost town Rhyolite, which was recognized in 2012 as a top cultural treasure by the Nevada Commission on Tourism’s Discover Your Nevada campaign. A leader in the Nevada arts community, Hackett-Morgan is a consultant to other arts organizations. Her paintings have been exhibited in Montana, California, Wisconsin and Nevada, including several public art commissions in Clark County.
The OXS gallery, 716 N. Carson St., is open from 8 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Hackett-Morgan’s exhibit will be up through Sept. 27. Gallery admission is free. The OXS-Office eXhibition Series is managed by the Artist Services Program of the Nevada Arts Council and the gallery features artists who have been recognized through the Artist Fellowship Program. The Arts Council is funded by the Nevada State Legislature and the National Endowment of the Arts. For more information, contact Fran Morrow at 775 687-7106.
