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Logan Maxwell Hagege\u2019s \u201cHopeless Dreamer,\u201d 30\u2019 by 30\u201d oil on canvas. (Provided by the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale)<\/p>\nLogan Maxwell Hagege is among a generation of painters redefining Western Art for the present age, adding a decidedly contemporary edge to the populist genre that has kept its appeal in these parts for well over a century now.<\/p>\n
Hagege is the official featured artist at this year\u2019s Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, an event that takes place alongside the National Western Stock Show. His selection makes sense, considering the way his work bridges the past and present of the art form.<\/p>\n
Hagege\u2019s oil paintings take on Western art\u2019s familiar subjects. Cowboys tussle with agitated horses. Native Americans traverse desert terrain. Landscapes unfold over vast, rocky tracts, engulfed by big skies.<\/p>\n
Logan Maxwell Hagege\u2019s \u201cHopeless Dreamer,\u201d 30\u2019 by 30\u201d oil on canvas. (Provided by the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale)<\/p>\n
For anyone who is looking, there are easy-to-find references to pioneers of the genre, particularly to artists associated with the rich cultural history of Taos and the rest of New Mexico. Names like Maynard Dixon, Martin Hennings and Walter Ufer\u00a0 \u2014 painters who kept their edges sharp and their shades bold \u2014 might come to mind.<\/p>\n
But Hagege\u2019s work moves it all forward, and with considerable freedom. He indulges in color, collecting his hues from the natural surroundings of his scenery but then taking them to extremes. Skies appear extra-blue, hollyhocks come in brilliant reds and pinks.<\/p>\n
And his implied narratives are full of a quiet drama, stories he starts with the facts he observes on the ground, traveling out from his studio in Ojai, Calif., but then enhances with his own imagination as he paints.<\/p>\n
Hagege acknowledges that the roots of his work rest in soil made fertile by the Western painters that came before him. As an artist working today, he stands on their shoulders. \u201cThey figured out a lot for me, and I feel like I\u2019ve continued on from where they left off,\u201d he said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n
But his voice is distinct and free-flowing. While those earlier painters worked to document the evolving West of their day \u2014 particularly for their collectors who lived back in the East and had never seen it \u2014 Hagege is more likely to paint the fantasies that unfold in his head as he works.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of turn my brain off when I paint,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what comes out, comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Logan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TDP-L-FE11MAGIndigo.jpg\")
Logan Maxwell Hagege\u2019s oil painting \u201cIndigo Stripes\u201d will be on display as part of the 2026 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale. (Provided by Logan Maxwell Hagege)<\/p>\n
Hagege begins his process like many other artists. He explores the region, taking photos and making sketches. Then he brings that raw material back to Ojai, where he lives with his family (along with the sheep and chickens they raise). His studio is in a separate space about 100 feet from his main house, he said.<\/p>\n
He mixes and matches the pictures and comes up with his own fictionalized scenarios. \u201cI take those photos and sketches and sort of put them back together, and they turn into the finished studio paintings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He might exaggerate a rockscape, or turn a cloud into an abstract shape in the background of his painting. \u201cSo, it kind of looks like a cloud, but that\u2019s not really how clouds look necessarily,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut it\u2019s representational enough where you still can kind of tell what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The humans in his paintings tend to be solemn, mysterious, and often on journeys to locations unknown. \u201cThese are all real people who I know, and who I\u2019ve developed relationships with over the years,\u201d he sad.<\/p>\n
But he is not beholden to their actual stories; more like their traditions, which he tries to capture the essence of. For him, that freedom is a way of breaking loose from the genre\u2019s unwritten rules and speaking with his own artistic voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of go into a flow state and just work,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of times I don\u2019t even feel like I\u2019m responsible for what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, Hagege\u2019s paintings do tend to have a distinct style, and much of that comes from those color choices. They can appear hyper-bold, adding a comic or cartoon tone to otherwise serious settings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat probably goes back to my early influences,\u201d he said. \u201cI was really into comics and animation when I was younger before I led myself into fine art painting.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Logan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TDP-Z-FE11MAGHAGEGE-02.jpg\")
Logan Maxwell Hagege is the featured artist at the upcoming Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale. (Provided by the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale)<\/p>\n
Still, he believes the colors in his paintings stand out because viewers do not expect to see them in his Southwest landscapes. \u201cPeople don\u2019t really think of the desert as a vibrant, colorful place, but there really is a lot of color out there already.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a painter, he has learned to see and exploit contrasts, to use those desert browns as a counterpoint to the other shades on his canvases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you set a bright color like a sky or a colorful blanket that somebody might be wearing against those more muted tones, those colors are exaggerated that much more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His work has been referred to as \u201cstylized realism,\u201d though he is not sure any specific phrase fits exactly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, the word \u2018style\u2019 for me gets tricky because I feel like when I think of a style, it feels concrete,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I like to just think of it as my artistic voice, and that voice can change over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
The Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale is part of the National Western Stock Show and is included with entry tickets. More information is at coorswesternart.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n