THE END of the ROAD

In their first group show, a foursome of artists present new works influenced by life on their very own scrap of the Wild West

- SARAH GIANELLI

It’s not an uncommon fantasy—fleeing the city for somewhere wild and remote, living off the land—but a foursome of artist friends actually did it. Well, maybe not the last part, but close enough.

In their first group show together, artists Sean Cheetham, Kate Zambrano, Jeff Nentrup and Sonya Palencia present new works shaped by their firsthand experience of settling on adjacent ranches in the California mountains. Opening June 3 at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, Dead End Trail explores the darker elements of the American West through the filter of each artists’ unique lens, interests and style.

Sean, Jeff and Sonya met in the late ’90s while attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Jeff and Sonya eventually married, and Jeff and Sean have remained close friends and collaborators as artists and musicians ever since.

Life took a big twist for Jeff and Sonya in 2012, when the opportunity arose to make their daydream of trading city life for a quieter existence a reality.

“We were ready for a change of pace,” says Nentrup who was still living with Sonya in Pasadena. “We wanted to explore the mountain life and be inspired by nature and our surroundings a bit more than we were.”

When a 160-acre ranch on a dirt road that dead-ends at the nearly two million-acre Los Padres National Forest became available, the couple jumped on it.