Billy Schenck

Bringing his art to the UK for the first time ever in November 2018, the real-life ranch sorting world champion promises to expose viewers to a reimagined Western narrative. Greek mythology clashes with irony, apocalyptic imagery and sexual tension for a collection that brazenly expands the limits of the genre. Billy’s work is characterised by its scorching colour palette, surreal juxtapositions and cinematic composition.

His fiery horizons and landscapes are formed from distinct geographical locations and his childhood memories of summers spent in the high deserts of Wyoming. From the 1980s onwards, Billy began to expand his colour palette and add a mischievous, tongue-in-cheek slant to his work. Likening the Western genre to a metaphor, he continually sought to push the boundaries of the subject – leading him to be titled the founder of the ‘Western pop art’ movement.

With a career spanning five decades, Billy Schenck’s work features in major collections around the world, including 52 museums and the private collections of the estates of Malcolm Forbes and Laurence Rockefeller. In 2010, the artist released Bill Schenck: Serigraphs 1971-1996 in conjunction with a retrospective of the same title.

One of his biggest career highlights to date is a shared retrospective with Andy Warhol at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, from May to September 2018. Here, 26 pieces from his Myth of the West collection appeared alongside Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians.

In 2018, the artist will take his first-ever trip outside the USA for a touring exhibition of the UK. It will be the first time audiences will have the opportunity to meet the original ‘grandaddy of contemporary Western art’.

Real-life ranch sorting world champion Billy Schenck is known as the 'Warhol of the West' for his exciting fusion of Navajo culture, modern-day cowgirls and tongue-in-cheek humour. His debut UK tour to launch The New West in November 2018 was followed by an appearance in GQ magazine.

His work also featured in the comedy-drama film Ideal Home, starring Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan. Billy, who is credited as the founder of the Western Pop Art movement, says: "I wanted to do with my paintings what Sergio Leone had done with film. No other genre in the last 200 years can compete."