Don Coen: The Migrant Series brings a remarkable series of large portraits to Phoenix Art Museum. Created by Colorado-based artist Don Coen, these 15 large-scale photo-realist portraits tell the visual story of migrant farmers in today’s United States, a group of our population rarely considered in fine art. The works take a human-centric approach, highlighting the unique personalities of each subject and acknowledging both their personhood and work ethic.
Each piece in the Migrant Series suggests the intimacy of a traditional portrait, but they are presented on a captivating scale, coercing careful consideration of their presence. Painted between 2001 and 2010, the series comes from hundreds of hours spent in fields making studies and taking photos in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Florida.
The full-color catalog contains essays by Lewis Sharp, Denver Art Museum Director Emeritus, and Jerry N. Smith, Ph.D., Curator of American and Western American Art, Phoenix Art Museum.
