Photo by Gary Calicott
October 27, 2018, a new exhibit featuring Simpkins’ detailed and colorful paintings opened at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon and was on display through February 17, 2019.
Former Curator of Arts and Community Engagement, Andries Fourie, had this to say about the exhibit:
“John Simpkins personifies the tradition of the artist as a mystic and hermit. For the past seven years, he’s lived and painted in the schoolhouse in Andrews, a ghost town nestled between Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert in Oregon's Harney County. His days are filled with the quiet contemplation and solitary discipline of his studio practice.
Here, he's created paintings by the surrounding arid landscape and it's wildlife. Simpkins weaves them into dense, layered allegories. His detailed and colorful paintings are shaped by influences as diverse as American Primitivism, Byzantine icon painting and Buddhist art.
He describes the animals of the region as being constant companions and transforms his frequent chance encounters with coyotes, badgers, owls and other creatures into paintings that depict them as guides and teachers, a concept he borrows from the Buddhist tradition. Consequently, the mule deer buck that startles John by peering through his studio window one morning is immortalized as a messenger wrapped in saffron robes.
Simpkins displays a tenacious dedication to his unique vision and perspective. The impressive trove of accumulated paintings from the last seven years that fill his studio are a testament to his robust work ethic. His vibrant vision has found fertile soil and flourished in its austere environment. John Simpkins has transformed the arid desolation of the Oregon desert into a creative oasis.”
The main hall gallery of the museum was lined with works by Simpkins. Working with the artist, the Museum created interpretive labels for each of the paintings to guide visitors as they consider the art’s colors, layers, subjects, stories and symbolism. A photo-op station was placed at the end of the hall where guests could transform themselves into one of the many subjects and stand in one of the worlds of Simpkins’ art.
The Museum welcomed Simpkins for an artist reception on November 8, 2018 to speak to a capacity crowd of 200 guests. Young and old alike felt the transformative power of Simpkins’ work. High Desert Museum’s resident badger seemed to look in awe at his own likeness in the title piece “Desert Mystic.” Simpkins considers this one of his highest honors.