Jim Contreras: Occult Western Living

The Meeting is pleased to present Jim Contreras’s debut solo exhibition opening on November 7, 2026.

Press release:

My exhibition, Occult Western Living, begins with a deep dive into Mike Kelley’s drawing style. I admire his authoritarian voice, loaded with commands, which turns frontier imagery into a psychic landscape of juvenile perversions, fake repression, and reconstructed histories. This, I believe, will be the bedrock of a new western lifestyle. I paint Kelley in holy garb—a white suit and angelic features, as if he were in embalming makeup. He is the godfather of Occult Western Living.

The quixotic pursuit of wealth drove the old west. The new west needs a new economy, one that promises riches. Hold the hammer tight and flatten the profile into a puddle. Turn the “he” into a “she” and capitalize on the difference! Put differently, we philosophize with our hammers, not our heads. To this day, we Westerners carry a deep mistrust of all things stylish and cosmopolitan, in essence, the East’s currency. Flattening profiles and destroying currency—digital, pecuniary, aesthetic—it doesn’t matter, all meet their maker here at The Redundant Beach!

I view this destruction of currency as a potlatch, a gift that becomes an obligation. The spiritual power of the potlatch should not be underestimated. A few years ago, on a fact-finding mission to New York City, I covertly delivered a potlatch of my own, relieving myself at the entrance of a gallery in the lower eastside. It was therefore no surprise to be approached to do an exhibition but steps from where I had left my offering. The offering had been accepted. The gift had become an obligation. Riches of a far greater proportion than what I had left would be delivered unto me.

— Jim

Jim Contreas lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Occult Western Living at The Meeting is Contreras’ debut solo exhibition. Jim Contreras, his second solo exhibition, will open in November 2026 at The Redundant Beach (@theredundantbeach).