Riders Of The Golden Sky 2021

Mark Maggiori's 'Riders Of The Golden Sky' looks like it was made recently with oils on canvas, and I would say it’s really about the experience of light and color in the process of painting. The color palette, dominated by ambers and oranges, creates this warm, almost dreamlike atmosphere. When you look closely, you can see the texture of the brushstrokes, especially in the billowing clouds and the rough terrain, and that adds a physicality to the work. It’s like Maggiori wants you to feel the grit of the landscape and the heat of the sun. The way he builds up the layers of paint, it feels very intuitive, almost like he's sculpting with color. Look at the way the light catches the horses’ flanks, or the small white flowers in the foreground. These areas demonstrate how Maggiori is thinking about how to render a scene through the act of painting. The piece is reminiscent of some of Frederic Remington's work, but Maggiori brings a contemporary sensibility to this genre, showing us that art is a continuous conversation across time.