August 2020 Artist Reception
Westward & Miserable: The Art of John Henry Haseltine
August 28th, 5pm – 8pm
Green Door Gallery
120 N. Main, Livingston, MT
406.333.2330
Join us at Green Door Gallery for a reception with artist John Henry Haseltine and the chance to see his work.
Westward & Miserable: The Art of John Henry Haseltine
opens August 28th and will remain up through October 23rd.
Green Door Gallery is located at 120 North Main in historic Livingston, MT.
The EXHIBIT:
Green Door Gallery is pleased to present Westward & Miserable: The Art of John Henry Haseltine.
BIO
John Henry Haseltine is an artist, filmmaker, and performer. He sometimes makes puppets, but they aren’t super functional and you have to be REALLY careful if you want to use them.
Haseltine was born in 1987 and graduated from Emerson College in 2009 with a BA in film production. He initially resided in Los Angeles, working various film and TV production jobs while making his own short films and playing guitar in the punk band Thee Tee Pees. Eventually he settled in Livingston, Montana to dedicate more time to his art and give someone else a chance to bring coffee and lunch to television crews.
Like many artists before him, Haseltine found Montana’s geography and history a limitless source of inspiration, despite rarely venturing outside of his home studio or darkened theater spaces. He’s comforted in the knowledge that the vistas are out there, and will eventually get out and poke around some. He hears it’s amazing!
ARTIST STATEMENT
WESTWARD & MISERABLE is equally influenced by the bizarre realm of western culture between John Ford films and Howdy Doody, and the practical realizations the socially conscious are able to make while inhabiting western regions today. Within a painting, I don’t worry about separating western mythology from more revisionist historical realities, because from my perspective, revising the mythology of the west is a practice as old as the myths themselves and is a fundamental part of the medium. I paint with acrylic craft paint – it’s paint intended for derby racing cars, bird houses or paper mâché crafts, but it’s also ideal on canvas if you want everything to look like a giant, unmovable roadside Paul Bunyan statue. So much of this region’s aesthetics, history and rituals strike me as natural subjects for jarring narrative paintings. Apart from a tremendous amout of brush strokes, my job mainly comes down to figuring out how hunched over the guys in the painting should be, what beard lengths will be the funniest, and which people are crying or just about to start crying. I enjoy saddling these historical figures and stoic archetypes with some of the less glamorous emotions that occupy an awful lot of our brain space today (anxiety, neuroticism, self-centered despair…). It’s why many of the “heroes” look like babies or little boys. These emotions aren’t ever included in our myths and folklore, but I find it hard to believe they weren’t there when these stories happened to whatever extent they actually did.
Green Door Gallery celebrates the work of regional artists and a culturally engaging experience for the viewer. It is located in the heart of historic downtown Livingston, Montana in the old Chatham Building. As a member of the Livingston Gallery Association, Green Door participates in the 4th Friday Art Walks each month June through September as well as the Holiday Art Walk in November and events year-round. Green Door Gallery is located upstairs at Wheatgrass Gifts at 120 North Main Street in Livingston. 406.333.2330. wheatgrasssaloon.com/gallery
Green Door Gallery is committed to keeping Livingston healthy and our economy strong by frequently sanitizing surfaces, encouraging social distancing and managing occupancy. Masks and hand-sanitizer are required upon entry. Mask will be available if needed.
