Merrill Mahaffey is a noted Southwestern landscape artist who paints the open, unpopulated, and rugged landscapes of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. His imagery ranges from postcard-type views of mountains and canyons, to more abstracted studies of jumbled rock slides, to simple but elegant recordings of major public works like Hoover Dam.
His characteristic high-key palette consists of yellows, tans, pinks, and whites, with pale purple and blue shadows. He spends much of his energy on the rhythmic patterns in the colored rock walls, and in the reflections of bodies of water, usually tamed rivers.
Mahaffey’s oeuvre is a link between aesthetic and environmental concerns. He bridges realism with fractal modernism in an ever-evolving style that reflects the highest standards of craftsmanship, exploration and invention. The viewer in search of beauty, intelligence, relevance and originality in both concept and technique will find it all and more in Merrill Mahaffey’s vision.