Lee Baldwin visits Charles Huckeba

Contemporary Abstraction in an Ancient Tradition

By Lee Baldwin, May 2005

Charles Huckeba's painting bridges past and present. He is a complex thinker, and won't be reduced to a simple caption. Art of his genre does not reveal itself at first glance: viewers have to spend time with this work and participate with intelligence to unfold its mystery.

In Huckeba we have someone who showed early artistic talent, who bounced off a handful of career choices before discarding them as unsuitable. Family encouragement got Charles Huckeba as far as the art department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A tipping point arrived during his studies there in the form of professor Alfred Noyes, who influenced Huckeba to turn away from realism. Noyes perceived that abstract work was Huckeba's strongest suit.

So far we have nothing out of the ordinary, until a turning in 1993, when Huckeba became aware of Native American rock art, petroglyphs, and saw in those ancient depictions of human and animal figures an art that was primal, immediate, and abstract. The abstract nature of rock art appealed to him, resonating with his admiration of abstract expressionists such as Cy Twombly, Willem de Kooning, and others. Abstract expressionism, with its emphasis on spontaneous and emotional work, was the first genuinely American art movement to achieve worldwide sway, and which put New York at the center of the art world following World War II.

Petroglyphs are an ancient art form created by Native Americans before there was an America, as far back as 16,000 years. Petroglyphs were practical and integral communications within the shamanic cultures that created them.

The original Native American rock artists worked on a rich natural "canvas" of fractured and multicolored rock walls, by scratching or percussively chipping into the hard surface to reveal the lighter-colored material beneath. Huckeba began integrating various painting techniques developed from his academic foundation to reproduce, or re-enact, images from rock art designs found in the China Lake region of California's Mojave Desert.

Huckeba's process first creates a chaotic, abstract ground on canvas, recalling the surface of weathered rock, and then carefully reproduces petroglyph designs from photographs by scratching through the paint layers. Huckeba's re-enactments faithfully mirror the ancient designs, albeit in acrylic on canvas rather than incised stone.

Huckeba's later pull toward personal imagery was based on the painting technique of his rock art re-enactments, but digging into his own mental symbols and search for faith. Now the plot thickens—an artist emerges who seeks to combine two original art genres, Native American rock art and abstract expressionism.

As one gazes at a Huckeba canvas, there come into focus playful, loose and wild backgrounds of symbolic shapes, worked over in layers that become progressively more organized, as though a chaotic river of mental symbols is caught at the moment it resolves into a concrete thought.

Huckeba's process reminds this observer of the hero's journey, as defined by Joseph Campbell. A sequence of separation, initiation, and return sees an individual leave the tribe, to return after gaining the knowledge that will inform their life forever.

The hero's journey is relevant to Huckeba's work because his quest lay in deep studies of Native American rock art. His departure is the painting process he developed, one that is original, evocative, and of a proven lineage. Although Huckeba's art borrows from and builds on two classic North American art traditions, it is not derivative. What is impressive is Huckeba's emerging body of work over many years that re-fashions the earlier storylines.

Abstract expressionism has the image of rebellion. It is highly idiosyncratic. Rock art, while itself idiosyncratic, is clearly trying to communicate particular ideas. Taking inspiration and energy from these two art forms, Huckeba readily acknowledges that his work is not immediately accessible, but trusts that the language of form and color in his canvases will draw people in. He expects that viewers who contribute time and mental presence will find the larger meaning.

There are many ways to categorize art, and one blurry line can be drawn between works that represent familiar objects and those that represent a story. If that story is personal to the artist, then the viewer will feel the impact and meaning only if the story is told. While some of Huckeba's vibrant panels can be appreciated at face value, others speak only in the light cast by their history. It is in that spirit that Artist's Voice was drawn to investigate the art of Charles Huckeba. If you have not yet experienced his work, don't wait. You might see an American art legend in the making.

Charles Huckeba's work can be seen at:

Huckeba Gallery, 227 West Gurley St., Prescott. 928 445 3848

Casa de Artistas of Scottsdale, 7058 E. Main Street, Scottsdale. 480 423 1777

And on Charles Huckeba's website.