Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann
Joe Ashbrook Nickell,
140 pages, hardcover:
$45.
Missoula Art Museum

In Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann, author Joe Ashbrook Nickell provides a glimpse into the psyche of a 95-year-old artist still grappling with his place in the world. Tension is palpable in the oeuvre of this Montana cattleman turned painter and sculptor, whose work portrays both riotous natural beauty and horrific destruction. Ohrmann’s unease is particularly apparent in his paintings: In swirling brushstrokes that recall Van Gogh, he depicts centuries of violence against the land and its people, from conquistadors decapitating Indians to Western settlers exterminating bison to modern developers stripping forests bare. The irony is often as thick as the paint. One canvas, titled The Harvest (Paul Bunyan), shows the iconic lumberjack striding through a clear-cut as wildlife scatters in his wake. Tainted Revelations is a journey through a landscape darkened by environmental guilt; it’s not necessarily a pleasant trip, but it’s always compelling.

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Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann by Joe Ashbrook Nickell

by Ben Goldfarb, High Country News
June 9, 2014

<h1>Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann by Joe Ashbrook Nickell</h1> <p class="byline">by Ben Goldfarb, High Country News <br />June 9, 2014</p> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide"> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container"> <ul class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper"> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="rf-book-in_our_care-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82193" data-id="82193" src="https://country-survey-collabs.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/RF-book-In_Our_Care.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">In Our Care (2003). </figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="rf-book2-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82194" data-id="82194" src="https://country-survey-collabs.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/RF-book2.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">All the Friends I've Known Had Souls (2002).</figcaption></figure> </li> </ul> <p> <a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><br /> <a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><br /> <a aria-label="Pause Slideshow" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause" role="button"></a></p> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white"></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann <br />Joe Ashbrook Nickell, <br />140 pages, hardcover: <br />$45. <br />Missoula Art Museum</p> <p>In <i>Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann</i>, author Joe Ashbrook Nickell provides a glimpse into the psyche of a 95-year-old artist still grappling with his place in the world. Tension is palpable in the oeuvre of this Montana cattleman turned painter and sculptor, whose work portrays both riotous natural beauty and horrific destruction. Ohrmann's unease is particularly apparent in his paintings: In swirling brushstrokes that recall Van Gogh, he depicts centuries of violence against the land and its people, from conquistadors decapitating Indians to Western settlers exterminating bison to modern developers stripping forests bare. The irony is often as thick as the paint. One canvas, titled The Harvest (Paul Bunyan), shows the iconic lumberjack striding through a clear-cut as wildlife scatters in his wake. <i>Tainted Revelations</i> is a journey through a landscape darkened by environmental guilt; it's not necessarily a pleasant trip, but it's always compelling.</p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=187145">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">Tainted Revelations: The Art of Bill Ohrmann by Joe Ashbrook Nickell</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/46-10/tainted-revelations-the-art-of-bill-ohrmann-by-joe-ashbrook-nickell/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=117109&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/46-10/tainted-revelations-the-art-of-bill-ohrmann-by-joe-ashbrook-nickell/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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