Roger Evans’ signature, caricatured animals will be featured in the Wild Hearts Gallery in Placitas as the March exhibit. Evans says he turns to animals to express ideas about race, class, sex, age and more – humorous but not frivolous – often poking fun at the social order. It’s a style for which he has been known since the early 1990s. A larger-than-life big bird will be joined by some free-hanging sculptures, a new painting of his favorite subject – cows, and more. They are designed with a whimsy to create a smile. Evans also wrote a book in 2022 book highlighting his artwork and his take on a life worth living.
An architect by trade, Roger was already 40 years-old when he came to Placitas in the 1970s and built his domed house in the forest. In just 700 square-feet of living space plus a two-hundred foot loft for sleeping, tiled in mosaic with animal sculptures inside and outside. “Building small was meant to simplify life”, he says. Evans sees the art in continuing to chart his own path – having the final word and the last laugh about it too.
“Someone asked me where my fascination with cows comes from. They eat grass; they don’t eat other animals. They give us milk and cheese… Hooray for cows!” Evans says.
The artist’s reception at Wild Hearts Gallery in Placitas will be on Saturday March 9 from 1-3 p.m.
A First Sunday ARTScrawl event kicks off the month on March 3, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Wild Hearts Gallery will be providing cookies and coffee from Chicky’s Coffee on First Sundays, in coordination with the Albuquerque Art Business Association’s ARTScrawls events. Guests are invited to enjoy a fresh, new display of paintings, pottery, glassworks and sculpture by the 15 members of the cooperative gallery, and featured artist Roger Evans on Sunday, March 3, 10 am to 2 pm.
Wild Hearts Gallery is an artists’ collective, supported by 16 local artists. Located at 221-B State Highway 165, the gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.