Rich Bowman : "Endurance of Light"

“The sky remains both a subject and a force for me,” says Bowman. “Ever-changing, yet timeless, familiar, yet endlessly surprising. It is a presence that continues to pull me back, inviting contemplation of light, atmosphere and scale.”

The paintings in this exhibition span a wide range of approaches and moods. Central to the show are Bowman’s signature cloud and sunset paintings, where light and color act as the primary emotional drivers. These works emphasize atmosphere over narrative, allowing viewers to engage intuitively with shifting skies and luminous horizons.

Interwoven throughout the exhibition is a subtle influence of the American Southwest. Rather than explicit references, this sense of place emerges through nuanced changes in palette, heat, and horizon—suggesting landscape without defining it outright. The result is a quiet grounding of the ethereal, where atmosphere and environment exist in balance.

“Some of these pieces push toward more extreme perspectives, exaggerating space and viewpoint to heighten the viewer’s physical and emotional relationship to the sky,” says Bowman. 

 These compositions expand scale and immersion, encouraging a deeper awareness of the vastness overhead and the act of looking itself.

Together, the works in "Endurance of Light" form a meditation on observation, time, and return, exploring why certain subjects continue to call an artist back again and again. The sky, ever-changing yet eternal, becomes a space for reflection, wonder, and sustained engagement.

New to this body of work is Bowman’s most recent exploration into the artistic tradition of the nocturne, paintings that experiment with night skies and diminished light.

“These paintings shift the conversation from radiance to quiet persistence, where glow replaces glare and the sky asserts its presence through restraint rather than spectacle,” says Bowman. “Together, the works in "Endurance of Light" trace a continuum—day to night, calm to dramatic—capturing the sky not as a single moment, but as an enduring companion.”

Opening Reception Thursday, February 26th, 6-9 pm. 

Location: Bonner David Scottsdale

7040 E. Main Street Scottsdale, AZ 85251 

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