
There is a lot of superb contemporary realism being made these days; this article by Allison Malafronte shines light on a gifted individual.
One quality that makes a painter a true artist is the ability to see and capture aspects of life that others might overlook. Or, conversely, to have the ability to take something grand in nature and distill it to its core essence so that it can be communicated in two dimensions. Damien M. Gonzales (b. 1960) can do both.
For this Albuquerque-based landscape painter — who is often surrounded by stunning sunsets, rugged mountain terrain, and colorfully aged architecture — finding a paintable subject is not exactly detective work. But even during his travels elsewhere and everyday moments at home, he can tune in to the special qualities that make a scene unique. Take his painting “Mummy Cave,” for instance, which was painted from the canyon floor in Canyon del Muerto after a Navajo guide drove Gonzales about 14 miles into the ancient Anasazi ruins. He was given only one hour to set up and paint, but was able to quickly finish the sketch that was ultimately used to complete the final painting.
In another scene, “Candil,” Gonzales looked west from his backyard one evening and saw the remnants of a large storm that was diminishing as the weather cooled. “It appeared to be resting on the horizon and looked like an oil lamp,” the artist says. “The idea for the painting rattled around in my head for many weeks until finally I got it out.”
In another storm painting, “Rose Thundercloud” (shown above), Gonzales managed to capture yet another seemingly implausible scene in the sky. “This giant raincloud formed north of the Sandia Mountains over Placitas, New Mexico, on a hot summer afternoon,” he recalls. “During monsoon season, giant storms are spawned over certain locations where the earth is hotter than surrounding areas and the air is moist. They billow up, flatten out at around 40,000 feet, and form anvil heads. The new storm cloud forming in front of the mature thunderhead in the background is what really caught my eye, along with the scale.”
Having a sharp eye is clearly instinctive for this self-taught painter of the Southwest, who also had the benefit of an ongoing mentorship with the established landscape painter Wilson Hurley (1924–2008). When Gonzales was 12, his father asked Hurley to critique his son’s drawings and paintings. This became a tradition over the next several decades; the young artist would check in periodically with Hurley, who happily offered advice and direction. Nevertheless, Gonzales decided to pursue a career in mechanical engineering, which he did successfully for many decades. Now retired, he is free to dedicate himself to his first love full-time.
This article was originally published in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine (subscribe here).
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