Terry Urban Rattlesnake Lover For Sale

About this work

Terry Urban's "Rattlesnake Lover" commands attention through its visceral interplay of media and primal subject matter. The large-scale canvas pulses with layered textures where acrylic foundations give way to gestural oil passages, while pastel and ink marks snake across the surface with deliberate urgency. The rattlesnake motif emerges not as a literal rendering but as a presence felt through sinuous lines, diamond-pattern abstractions, and a palette that shifts between sun-bleached desert neutrals and sudden strikes of warning color—ochres, dusty pinks, and venomous yellows punctuated by deep, bruised purples. The work vibrates with tension between attraction and danger, embodying the seduction implied in its title. There is tenderness here alongside threat, suggesting intimate relationships with forces that could destroy us. Urban builds this emotional complexity through material contrast: the softness of pastel dragged across rough acrylic grounds, the precision of ink interrupted by loose, almost reckless oil gestures. The fifty-by-forty-eight-inch scale places viewers in close proximity to something wild, demanding a physical reckoning with the canvas. Within Urban's broader practice, "Rattlesnake Lover" continues the artist's exploration of American mythologies, natural symbolism, and the body as contested terrain. The work demonstrates Urban's signature refusal to let any single medium dominate, instead orchestrating a dialogue between materials that mirrors the push-pull dynamics of desire and self-preservation. The painting feels both ancient and immediate, channeling something archetypal through distinctly contemporary formal strategies. For inquiries about acquiring "Rattlesnake Lover," please contact Guy Hepner gallery in New York.