Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ is pleased to present a group exhibition of new work by gallery artists and select guests January 20-31, 2026.
Please join us for the Artist Reception on Thursday, January 22nd from 6-8pm.
Blooming West: The Georgia Effect
"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for a moment." - Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O’Keeffe stands not only as one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century, but as the Mother of the New West. She is the foundational figure who proved that Western themes could be both deeply regional and unmistakably modern.
Blooming West celebrates the seed that O’Keeffe planted, a modern vision of the West that fused florals with emotion, experimentation, and soul. Her work opened the door for artists to re-imagine the Western landscape through the lens of Modernism. Billy Schenck, Dennis Ziemienski, Ben Steele, Bradford Overton, Robert Moore and featured guests Maura Allen, Dyana Hesson and Whitney Gardner continue O’Keeffe’s lineage by blending bold form, contemporary color, and personal narrative.
Father of Western Pop, Billy Schenck depicts a cowboy meeting his end after claiming he hated flowers. O’Keeffe was once quoted saying she too ‘hated flowers’ but that they were ‘cheaper than models and didn’t move’. Schenck's signature irony depicting the fate of his character, "Cliff", creates a foil to the show's celebration of flowers while honoring Georgia O'Keeffe's strength and resolve.
Ben Steele recreates O'Keeffe's famous painting, Jimson Weed, in pixels. A nod to the common sexualization of her florals, an interpretation that was encouraged by her husband/gallerist Alfred Stieglitz and repeatedly rejected by O’Keeffe. Steele honors O'Keeffe's most recognizable work in her oeuvre while referencing Stieglitz's storytelling.
Dennis Ziemienski draws us in to a desert icon: the cactus flower. These ephemeral blooms appear overnight and disappear as fast as they came. Ziemienski freezes this bloom in time so we may appreciate its rich hues and dramatic structure.
Whitney Gardner uses close cropping to achieve an intimate, portrait- like depiction of her flowers, oscillating between abstraction and representation. Soft forms and perfectly placed sharp edges evoke a boldness that recalls O’Keeffe.
By revisiting the flower, this exhibition highlights how the New West continues to evolve. These works reflect the same spirit of innovation that defined O’Keeffe’s career: a willingness to challenge expectations, to push form, and to see the West not as a fixed idea, but as a living, expanding vision.
More than a century after she first began painting, Georgia O’Keeffe’s influence still blooms.
Pre-sales are available. Contact the gallery for details, 480-949-1256/ az@altamiraart.com.
