Exhibition: John Henry Haseltine: The Mountain Clown and Other Foul Animals

In the Jessie Wilber Gallery: The Mountain Clown and Other Foul Animals is an irreverent jab at cultural mythologies, specifically Western and Pioneering narratives. Utilizing toys, puppets, performance and comics in addition to painting, Haseltine explores how both self-produced folk art and kitsch mass production equally contribute to the legacy of western mythology. He’s interested in the parallels between historical western expansion and contemporary gentrification in the region, as well as the ways stories can be manipulated to represent local and personal identities.
Haseltine is a self-taught painter primarily inspired by American primitive painting and regional folk art, as well as mid-century kitsch and punk adjacent art from the 70s and 80s.
His first book, Westward & Miserable, a collection of paintings and stories gathered from his past gallery shows, was published by Elk River Books in September 2024. The Mountain Clown & Other Foul Animals, his first solo museum exhibition, opened in October 2024 at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings.