Groveland Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Far and Wide: Landscapes from the Midwest an exhibition of new work by Minnesota artist, Tom Maakestad. Raised in rural Northfield, Minnesota in a family of artists among a community of farmers, Maakestad strives to reconcile scenes from his idyllic farm upbringing with the mass production farming more present today.

The Midwestern landscape continues to provide a rich vein of subject material. In this new series, Maakestad approached familiar scenes from Minnesota and the surrounding states, hoping to discover a new story. Paintings from this upcoming show capture rolling hills tilled for planting, pastures speckled with the silhouettes of cows, and long shadows created as sunlight drops below the horizon. Painted during different seasons, varied light conditions and using numerous mediums, Maakestad’s work offers a fresh look at rural America.  He writes “From an aesthetic point of view, I appreciate the vast stretches of agricultural landscape with undulating patterns and light.” Amidst the tension, complexity, and concerns surrounding modern farming, Maakestad is able to pause and find the beauty which lingers, both on the farm and beyond its fences.