A New Look at the Old West
Multidisciplinary artist Jeremy Booth has navigated through the “Wild West” of NFTs en route to capturing the nostalgic-laden landscape of the American West on large-scale canvases.
by Bridget Cottrell / photos of “Sweat and Blood” opening at Square One Gallery by Suzy Gorman, courtesy of Jeremy Booth
"I am as much an entrepreneur as I am an artist; if something doesn't work out, I move on," said Kentucky-based Jeremy Booth, describing the circuitous route he took from a self-taught graphic designer to a fine artist featured at major art fairs and sold by the likes of Christie's. More than a childhood fascination come to life, it's no coincidence that the strength and resilience of the American cowboys prominent in his paintings are reflective of his character.
Jeremy Booth
Early in his career as a self-taught graphic designer struggling to find his voice, Booth was faced with the graphic nature of mortality: the discovery of a mass on his brain that had triggered a series of series grand mal seizures. While the financial toll was brutal, he utilized the six-month recovery period following surgery to create a new portfolio and sign with a French agent. Throughout a decade of graphic design work, Booth became known for his "Vector Noir" approach, where simple shapes and striking color palettes appear as simultaneously retro and modern. This distinctive style led to commissions from Apple, Wrangler, Roku, and Warby Parker, among others.
A short documentary covering the opening weekend of my solo show, "Sweat & Blood," at Square One Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri.
Artist Jeremy Booth at his solo show opening a Square One Gallery.
At the same time, Booth garnered quite a following on social media, and when he accepted a position as a product illustrator for Coinbase, a pioneer in cryptocurrency exchange, he dove headfirst into the NFT / digital art world. The whole blockchain concept can be confusing to those of us on the outside, and I readily admit that all the art-tech terminology I read in an article about Booth's digital work on NFTnow.com in advance of our meeting left my head spinning. My takeaway after asking Booth to "dumb it down" for me is that for an artist, in theory, digital art provides an open ledger of ownership that should provide a royalty payment each time the artwork changes digital hands in the future.
Detail from Cattle Run, 2024. 48”x48” acrylic on canvas.
Seeking to expand his artistic footprint, two years ago, Booth began to dabble in fine art painting, drawing on childhood memories, the popularity of Yellowstone and artists he admires, like Mark Maggiori, to commit some of his digital work to acrylic-on-canvas. After connecting online with impressionist Australian artist Robert Hagan, who also uses a limited palette but in oil, to create romantic and peaceful visions of the American West, Hagan invited Booth to join him on a trip to a ranch in Kansas to get in situ reference material and essentially art direct his paintings. "At that time, I was still doing a lot of digital, and dabbling in geometric painting, but after admiring a cattle drive in person, I felt like I’d found my new focus and jumped fully into physical art,” remarked Booth. “I really credit Robert for giving me the confidence to try it.”
Colorado Dream, 2024, 40”x40”, acrylic on canvas.
In his acrylic paintings, Booth's subjects are treated as mythological archetypes; their vector-like silhouettes communicate cinematic nostalgia while inviting the onlooker to fill in the details. He has a deep affinity for the interplay of light and shadow, stripping the reference photographs captured by his professional photographer wife, Tabitha Booth, down to aspects of linear simplicity amplified by a bold color palette.
Detail from Restore, 2024, 36”x36”, acrylic on canvas.
Booth says his previous success in digital art and graphic design helped him skip the "starving artist" phase. A solo show at the Marfa Invitational followed inclusion of his Over the Ridge painting, accompanied by a digital certificate of authenticity powered by T.R.A.C.E. in Christie's 2024 Beyond the Screen exhibition and auction at Art Basel and a group exhibition at Sotheby’s NYC. His most recent solo show, “Sweat and Blood,” recently wrapped up at the Square One Gallery in St. Louis.
Sweat & Blood, 2024, 40”x40”, acrylic on canvas.
Although his focus has shifted to painting, Booth explained that all his artworks began in the digital space. "I've definitely had to learn patience because of the greater lengths of time it takes to produce a work on canvas." To underscore his point, he remarked that he'd created less than two dozen large-scale paintings in two years versus twenty-thousand digital works.
As an agile multidisciplinary artist, Booth has given himself the freedom to roam a frontier of his own, just like the subjects of his compelling paintings.
For more, visit jeremy-booth.com.
