Surrealism of the Southwest - The Visions of Orlin Helgoe | Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center

Surrealism of the Southwest - The Visions of Orlin Helgoe

June 7 to September 27 | White Gallery

Student, teacher, mentor, friend, roofer, painter, husband, father, grandfather, wanderer, the van Gogh of the Prairie, Prairie Shaman – these are a few of the titles that have followed Orlin Helgoe through his life.

Helgoe, originally a Montana native, married his wife Ruby there too. They had four kids while they moved around from teaching post to teaching post as well as earning his Master’s degree in Studio Fine Arts from Cornell University. In 1962 he began teaching at Pueblo Junior College which now is known as Colorado State University-Pueblo.

His children remember him as passionate – a driven man. Each of them has expressed childhood memories of his eccentricities from walking everywhere around town with a sketchpad to creating his own symbolic language, known as the Prairie Alphabet. His constant sketching led to thousands of pieces of art in ink, pencil, paint and mixed media. Helgoe would even pick up interesting pieces of garbage while on his walks and paint them. His symbolic language become a constant inclusion in his work. Some of his works contain one or two of the symbols and some include the entire lexicon. Many have attempted to decipher the symbols on their own but to no avail. After his wife’s death in 1967, the children found an interesting surprise, a complete legend to Helgoe’s Prairie Alphabet.

Ed Sajbel, Helgoe’s supervisor at Pueblo Junior College remembers Helgoe’s passion too. Many close to Helgoe worried about him because of it - he would paint or draw fervently for long periods at a time. Sajbel has compared Helgoe’s teaching position to Van Gogh’s brother’s support. The college work allowed Helgoe the financial stability to continue to create and explore. Some colleagues may have been frustrated by what seemed to be preferential treatment but the students seemed to embrace Helgoe as almost a demagogue. They seemed to find his completely open exploration and sharing of creative practice indispensable. Nothing he knew was off limits to his students, from his crisscross brush stroke to the creation of new symbols, Helgoe inspired his students to the same heights he was attempting.

Even if one does not know who Orlin Helgoe was, his works are arresting. They demand one stop and explore, even contemplate what is being offered. It could be completely surface, utilizing simple objects and local creatures. It could be something hidden, with a treasure map offered to the adventurous viewer, sometimes, it is both. There are so many ways into a Helgoe piece, from the pulsating colors in juxtaposition with stark black and whites or metallics, to recognizable creatures elevated to their numinous qualities that he collects a very wide audience base.

Somewhere between abstract realism and surrealism or what many have termed prairie surrealism specific to Helgoe, his contemporary works fly through our imaginations. Harmonious shapes and masterful designs create soothing and thoughtful menageries. Office doors, vehicles, and table clothes were among the surfaces that Helgoe has left behind to fascinate and intrigue us, and perhaps to help us look again at the beauty surrounding us.