Gary Niblett: His Life & Art

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Gary Niblett: His Life & Art, is the first retrospective of the storied career of New Mexico artist, Gary Niblett (b.1943). Featuring over fifty pieces of his Western art, European paintings, early Hanna-Barbera Inc. work and more, the exhibition spans Niblett’s entire career and will open to the public on November 5th, 2022. It will be on view through February 4th, 2023.

Born in 1943 and raised in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Gary spent his childhood immersed in the outdoors of the American West. As a high school student, area ranchers paid him to paint portraits of their horses; perhaps offering an antecedent window into what was to come. In 1963, after attending Eastern New Mexico University, Niblett moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the Art Center College of Design. He soon took a job with Hanna-Barbera Inc. where he worked as a background artist on Scooby Doo, The Jetsons, Charlotte’s Web, and more. Through this work he developed his skills and knowledge of lighting and color as well as design and composition. In 1973, he left the studios to focus exclusively on Western art and returned to New Mexico where he started to gain national recognition.

In 1976, Niblett was invited to join the Cowboy Artists of America, and the next year won the CAA Silver Medal for Oil with his painting, “Gold Fever”. His winning streak and accolades continued with awards and honors throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s, and into the new millennium. In addition to his awards and honors, Niblett’s work has been exhibited the world over in Moscow, Beijing, Taiwan and at the Royal Watercolor Society in London.

Including his many Western and Native American works, the retrospective exhibition will survey Gary Niblett’s diverse set of work; from his early days as a burgeoning young artist, the time he spent in California under the employ of Hanna-Barbera Inc., later European street scenes, and his more recent New Mexico landscapes. The exhibit opens Saturday, November 5th, 2022 with an artist reception. The exhibition has been organized jointly by Gary Niblett and Carlsbad Museum.

Please mark your calendar for November 5, 2022 for the opening and reception of this special career retrospective. We will be delighted for you to meet the very gracious artist and his wife and see his work in Carlsbad Museum. Food will be provided by HX Chuckwagon out of Lubbock, TX with music by Gary’s good friend Rhone Prather.