Still Life with Golden Arches

A few years ago, Scottsdale-based painter Nate Ronniger ditched majestic Western landscapes for still lifes. No worries, they’re not the stale-fruit-and-flowers crap your doily-knitting granny collects. Ronniger’s whimsical oil paintings feature modern resin toys and iconic figures like Ronald McDonald. “I was never fully connected to landscapes,” Ronniger tells New Times. “I enjoyed painting them, but there was always something missing.”

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• Nate Ronniger
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• Visual Arts
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That something? Control.

With still life, Ronniger can manipulate every aspect of the subject matter, from toy selection to lighting to the paper bases that serve as stages for his colorful characters. “The toys are like actors playing the star role in the paintings,” he explains. “They have colors, designs, and expressions that I get to work with.” And unlike real art models, they do exactly what he wants and he doesn’t have to pay them a cent.

Meet Ronniger at the free opening reception for his solo exhibit “To the Moon and Back.”