Topher Straus:
The Parks
Another summer and another new art exhibit is coming to the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum. We’re excited to announce that we will be featuring works by Topher Straus from July 18th through September. The majority of the works will be from Straus’ The Parks collection.
Inspired by his own exploration of the outdoors and a strong desire for continued preservation, Straus’ large-scale paintings take an original approach to depicting iconic national park landscapes around the United States. He is proud to show his work in the area that fostered life-long connection to nature. His process blends photography with digital painting, with the final image printed onto large sheets of aluminum and finished off with a high-gloss transparent acrylic resin finish. The results are dynamic abstractions of familiar park scenery that pop with color. Michael Paglia, Art Critic for Denver’s Westword recently reviewed this series with the following observations:
“Given the high-tech methods and the semi-gloss surfaces, the result could be too slick and commercial, but the expressionistic handling of the outlined forms prevents that. The landscapes are simplified and conventionalized abstractions of the views and have a retro-cubist quality, along with a dash of Yellow Submarine.”
Black Canyon National Park
Colorado native Topher Straus left the state to attend Syracuse University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Art. He pursued a career in documentary, narrative films and advertising that took him to Los Angeles and later, New Zealand. Upon returning to Denver in 2012, he shifted gears and began fervently working in his studio as a full-time artist, quickly landing his first solo exhibit. His second solo show, The Parks, was featured at Niza Knoll Gallery early in 2019. He is an active, enthusiastic promoter of his own work and the art community as a whole. Follow Topher on Instagram @CreativeTopher and his website at TopherStraus.com
July 18th we’ll be hosting an opening night event that will feature local beverages, snacks, and a chance to meet Topher in person. The event is free to attend and will run from 6:00pm to 9:00. Keep up-to-date on the event by checking out the event page on Facebook.