Colton Rothwell: Pearl Road
Blue Sky is pleased to announce February exhibition: Pearl Road by Colton Rothwell
First Thursday Opening: Feb 6, 5 – 8 PM
In-Person Artist Talk: Sat, Feb 8, 2 PM
Pearl Road explores Colton Rothwell’s relationships with the landscapes and cultural values of his small Idaho hometown, where he felt like an outsider after coming out as gay in adolescence. Torn between conforming to traditional masculine ideals or forging his own identity, Rothwell grapples with the myth of the American West, offering both solitude and vulnerability. Inspired by post-documentary and New Topographics photography, his photos blend personal narrative with visual ambiguity, reflecting an evolving relationship with memory, place, and self-discovery.
Colton Rothwell (American, b.1999, he/him/his) is an artist working in and around photography. His practice draws upon his experiences growing up queer in the rural Western United States to investigate ideas around masculinity, queer ecologies, landscape, and materiality.
He is a recipient of Aperture and Google Pixel’s Creator Lab’s Photo Fund (2023), a Hopper Prize finalist (2023), and was awarded four medals in the 75th College Photographer of the Year Competition (2020). He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and was an artist in residence at the Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta, Canada (2023). His work has been published online and in print, including Booooooom, Aperture, Photo Vogue, Fotofilmic’s JRNL, Shots Magazine, Fraction Magazine, and The Missoulian.
In 2024, he was selected as a finalist in the Top 50 of Photolucida’s Critical Mass, where he was a Michael Reimann grant awardee.
Currently, Rothwell is pursuing an MFA in Visual Arts at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
Organizer
Founded as the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts by a group of five young photographers in 1975, Blue Sky quickly established itself as an important venue for local photography. In a short period of time, the organization expanded its offerings to include national and international artists, many of whom exhibited at Blue Sky early in their careers. Blue Sky’s special endeavor continues to be the exhibition of emerging and established artists that exemplify the finest in photographic vision and innovation. As such, Blue Sky has earned the accolade as having “the best record of discovering new photographers of any artists’ space in the country.” Today, from our 3,700-square-foot facility in Portland’s historic DeSoto Building, Blue Sky presents 20 – 25 exhibitions annually, maintains a public research library, showcases regional photographers in an annual juried exhibition of original works in its Pacific Northwest Drawers, and offers artist talks and programs — all free to the public.