Southwest Contemporary

20/08/2024

It's "a tale as old as time,” says Nancy Good, a Las Vegas-based artist and gallery owner, about the increasingly tough economics of the Las Vegas Arts District. ⁠
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“Locals joke that it’s the brewpub district,” she says. “Developers start seeing the value of it, and then they start buying the properties. And then the artists and creatives are priced out, right?" ⁠
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Following the closure of Priscilla Fowler Fine Art, Delaney Uronen reports on the precarity of the Las Vegas Arts District and new efforts to set up a Business Improvement District to protect artists and arts businesses in the area. Read more at the link.

Priscilla Fowler Fine Art, which has closed after eight years, left its owner in debt—and doubting viability of the Las Vegas Arts District.

13/08/2024

SWAIA - Santa Fe Indian Market isn’t really one thing, it’s a multiverse. If you’re in Santa Fe this weekend for the largest Indigenous art market in the world, it’s best to approach it like a vast root system with the market at its heart—satellite exhibitions and events abound.⁠
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Click through the link to find Michael Abatemarco's top five picks for must-see Indigenous art shows and experiences for this weekend.!

While you're in Santa Fe for SWAIA Indian Market, don't miss these Native-produced experiences at Container, Hecho a Mano, and beyond.

17/07/2024

The term “biophilia” is attributed to biologist and author Edward O. Wilson, who theorized that as humans evolve, they become more intricately intertwined with the natural world.⁠
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At the Denver Art Museum, a design exhibition highlights how nature has been and continues to be a major source of inspiration, situating artists and designers as key players in this movement to reconnect with the natural world.⁠
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Emma Ahmad reviews "Biophilia: Nature Reimagined" at the link.

Biophilia in design, an emulation of the natural environment, is undoubtedly having a moment in a new exhibition at the Denver Art Museum.

12/07/2024

The artists who are the driving force behind the art and entertainment company Meow Wolf have been actively unionizing as the Meow Wolf Workers Collective under the Communications Workers of America since 2020. ⁠
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As these employees have utilized labor strategies to seek a balance between corporate growth and artistic integrity, they’ve weathered financial insecurity, surprise layoffs, and more, but it seems like their struggle is finally beginning to pay off.

Nearly four years into Meow Wolf's unionized era, employees say things are looking up despite a recent round of staff cuts.

11/07/2024

What does it take to create a pavilion at the Venice Biennale? Behind the precise geometric patterning of Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition at the U.S. Pavilion of this year’s Biennale is a Southwestern tale of sheer grit that aligns with the artist’s ethos of intimate community collaboration.⁠
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A team of assistants worked for months on a massive series of murals in the narrow work spaces at SITE SANTA FE for “the space in which to place me,” a temple for Indigenous and q***r celebration floating above the Venetian waters and overflowing with vibrational forms. ⁠
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Gibson’s team sourced 297 Golden brand paint colors and 3 glazes for the project, which involved mapping, taping off, and painting coats across innumerable fields based on Gibson’s design mockups and corresponding lines on the Polytab panels, which were then shipped from New Mexico to Italy.⁠
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At the link, Jordan Eddy reports on the production process and collaborative ethos behind Gibson’s exhibition.

Meet the team behind the Santa Fe-based mural project that brought Jeffrey Gibson's Indigenous, q***r dreamland to the Venice Biennale.

03/07/2024

At the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, “Materializing Mormonism: Trajectories in Contemporary Latter-day Saint Art,” is an exhibition curated by a trio working with the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts, a New York-based nonprofit. ⁠
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The exhibition is central to the museum’s current season, which is dominated by a narrow swath of religious themes and practices.⁠
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Anchoring the season with “Materializing Mormonism” made sense to Tiffany Fairall, chief curator for the museum at the time, in part because she views Mormonism as a marginalized Christian faith and LDS members as a segment of the population Mesa serves. “I grew up hearing the negative comments other Christians, like Evangelicals, would say about them, so why not learn more about them? It’s unfortunate not everyone has the same level or reciprocal attitude of tolerance,” she says.⁠
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Lynn Trimble reports at the link.

New exhibition Materializing Mormonism at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum has ties to the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts.

02/07/2024

Chiara Giovando, founder of the new nonprofit gallery Institute of Contemporary Art Santa Fe, wants to shift the broader Santa Fe community’s expectations of art institutions. ⁠
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How can this nascent organization create an enduring, positive impact on artists in a town that is already replete with art spaces, where home prices are more than double what they were five years ago, and where foot traffic is inconsistent? ⁠
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Giovando believes it starts with living among artists—not just exhibiting their work. “I remember Santa Fe as a child in the 1980s,” she says. “The east side… was interspersed with artist studios. Artists worked right in the middle of town.”⁠
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Isabella Beroutsos reports at the link.

Chiara Giovando, founder of the boldly named nonprofit ICA Santa Fe, aims to build a holistic support network for artists in her hometown.

26/06/2024

Christina You-sun Park has been named the new executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. The Phoenix-based artist and arts administrator assumes leadership of the state arts agency just in time to help the commission adapt to the realities of the state’s latest budget machinations: a 60% reduction in funding.⁠
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“There’s a disconnect with what we know about the economic impact of the arts, as well as the way arts and culture feeds the soul, and what we see in public policy related to the arts,” says Park. “Part of my role will be to build connections with policymakers and show them the many ways that art impacts both individuals and communities.”⁠
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Lynn Trimble reports at the link.

Artist Christina You-sun Park becomes director of Arizona Commission on the Arts—just as its state funding is slashed by 60%.

26/06/2024

Kathleen Wall’s new installation "Activating Oga Po’ogeh Land Acknowledgment" creates space for the public to think deeply and critically about the places and spaces in which we reside, asking questions about Indigenous place-based histories and ongoing relations, Western concepts of land ownership, and the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism in Santa Fe. The multimedia sculpture, supported by the Railyard Park Conservancy's Railyard Art Project, is on view through August 31, 2024, along the Santa Fe Rail Trail near Nuckolls Brewing Company.

Learn more at the link:

Kathleen Wall's new installation merges art and community engagement, prompting deep reflection on place and Indigenous histories.

25/06/2024

In the 1943 essay “Surrealism and Us," Martinique-born activist and writer Suzanne Césaire called for a Caribbean brand of Surrealism that would revolutionize Black art and society. With its capacity to reveal the unconscious, Césaire believed Surrealism “will aid in liberating people by illuminating the blind myths that have led them to this point.” ⁠
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The groundbreaking exhibition "Surrealism and Us" at the The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, curated by María Elena Ortiz, challenges traditional definitions of Surrealism by exploring more than 80 artworks made by Caribbean and Black artists from the 1940s to the present.⁠
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Leslie Thompson reviews the exhibition, on view through July 28, at the link:

Inspired by a 1940s essay, Surrealism and Us exhibition in Forth Worth examines Afrosurrealism's tools for battling cultural assimilation.

24/06/2024

“There’s a fleeting moment where the end of today meets the beginning of tomorrow, where time and space feel infinite, and anything feels possible.”⁠
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Raised on art and transcendental meditation, Taos-based artist Aleya Hoerlein paints beyond this world.⁠
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Read Ekin Balcioglu’s interview at the link:

Raised on art and transcendental meditation, Taos-based artist and collectivist Aleya Hoerlein paints beyond this world.

21/06/2024

More space and funding for Colorado’s creative industries are on the horizon following a multimillion-dollar boost from state lawmakers during this year’s legislative session.⁠
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The state’s FY24-25 budget dedicates $1.25 million in additional operating funds to the state’s art agency, Colorado Creative Industries—the first increase since 2013—and millions more in tax incentives were pledged to capital projects.⁠
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Still, Colorado currently ranks 45th nationally in arts funding, and creative industries continue to find their footing after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on revenue.⁠
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“This legislation is rewarding for me because in a couple of years, when these projects are realized, I can get in my car and drive across the state to visit the wonderful new places we have,” says Rep. Brianna Titone, one of the legislation sponsors. “I get to stop in at the theater that is now the centerpiece of the downtown in a small town in Colorado or whatever it is they end up producing. It’s such a reward for all of Colorado.”⁠
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Kara Mason reports at the link:

After stagnant arts funding in COVID-19 era, Colorado legislators approve $16 million tax credit for infrastructure at tail end of session.

19/06/2024

The 2024-25 New Mexico Field Guide is on stands now! 🗺️⁠
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The New Mexico Field Guide, our annual guidebook to arts + culture across our home state, includes maps of art communities big and smal, listings of museums, galleries, and arts orgs, ⁠and a robust calendar of arts events and things to do all summer long.⁠
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📫️ Order a print copy of the 2024-25 Guide at https://southwestcontemporary.com/products/back-issues/new-mexico-field-guide-2024/.⁠
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This year's edition features:⁠
➕ NEW maps for Las Cruces and Mesilla⁠
➕ A tour of New Mexico's "roadside" collections.
➕ A celebration of Albuquerque gallery Exhibit/208's 25th anniversary⁠.
➕ A roundup of the (19 and counting) artist studio tours across the state⁠.
➕ A special report from the Roswell art scene 👽️⁠
➕ Maida Branch and Johnny Ortiz-Concha, the makers behind MAIDA GOODS and / shed project.⁠
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Cover art: Madeleine Tonzi , "Subterranean Rainbow," 2024.

Explore the rich and varied tapestry that is the arts in New Mexico! The annual New Mexico Field Guide is a guidebook to all things arts and culture

23/05/2024

Are you an artist or writer who might enjoy living in a “curious” Victorian mansion with a private chef and a laser cutter? Or perhaps you’re more inclined to the rugged life of a Wyoming rancher? ⁠
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We’ve got the artist residency for you.⁠
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These residency programs (mostly) across the Southwest region (mostly) have application deadlines between June and August of 2024, with a few notable initiatives that accept applicants year-round.⁠
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Find our latest round-up at the link:

Southwest artist residency opportunities abound in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

20/03/2024

“One thing about being a Chicana artist: we’re conscious of how our histories were broken. I’ve been thinking about these things since I was sixteen years old,” artist Delilah Montoya says in a recent studio visit with writer Nancy Zastudil. ⁠
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“I always felt like there was something that was innately askew [in documentary photography]… more about sensationalism and being a vo**ur, and I didn’t want that. I wanted it to be a platform so that those I’m working with have a way of speaking,” she says. “I think it makes more sense to become a good listener. And I think that does more to reveal.”⁠
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Featured in our current issue, Living Histories, learn more about Montoya's work and career at the link:

Delilah Montoya, a Chicana artist based in Albuquerque, turns a mestizaje lens on documentary photography and the representation of women.

18/03/2024

Folks say the Southwest has a long, rich history—we have the dinosaur tracks to prove it.⁠
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In fact, thousands of dinosaur tracks are preserved in Dinosaur Valley State Park, near Glen Rose, Texas, dating back 113 million years ago. ⁠
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Just a mile away, the Creation Evidence Museum of Texas teaches "Floor geology," positing that God created dinosaurs, animals, and humans at the same time, with a controversial fossil on display as purported proof.⁠
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In an essay in our Living Histories issue, Aleina Grace Edwards considers the ways science, religion, and climate change run together in Dinosaur Valley. Learn more at the link:

Aleina Grace Edwards considers the ways science, religion, and climate change run together in Dinosaur Valley, the Dinosaur Capital of Texas.

12/03/2024

Featured in Living Histories, SWC's Spring-Summer issue ⁠— Andrew Ina's recent work delves into his family’s archive, oral histories, and his own memories to reflect a history of migration, fracture, and longing.⁠
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The son of Lebanese migrants who fled a country mired in civil war, Ina largely grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, feeling in between cultures, not quite belonging to either. He now lives in Lubbock, Texas, where he teaches at the School of Art at Texas Tech University.⁠
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"In these works, Ina poses a question that is faced by many in diasporic communities, caught between the land that was left behind and a vastly different life in a new place," Natalie Hegert continues at the link. "Ina often wonders about how culture constructs memory. 'Where does a biological memory leave off and a narrative begin?' he questions.⁠
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Ina's work is also featured on the cover of this issue. ⁠

Andrew Ina's artwork explores memory and displacement, using family photographs documenting their lives in Lebanon and the United States.

11/03/2024

In Southwest Contemporary’s Spring-Summer issue: Living Histories, out now, we consider how art serves as a container of cultural memory. ⁠
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In our featured artists section, guest-juried by Philbrook Museum of Art assistant curator for Native art, Kalyn Fay Barnoski (Cherokee Nation enrollee, Muscogee Creek descent), we feature ten artists across the Southwest who engage with histories within their practices.⁠
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Employing various artistic gestures and disciplines, these artists mine their personal family archives, collective cultural memories, and stories embedded in geography to bring forth present truths. ⁠
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“I was inspired by the submissions by artists who use their practice to engage deeply and expansively with their own cultural, community, or familial histories,” Barnoski writes in the section introduction. “The selected artists’ works upend expectations, including my own at times, and open up dialogue around the agency of storytelling. The breadth and diversity of our contemporary living histories are evident in this collection of works. These artists have created an important record for all, honoring past and future generations, through their unique perspectives and visual languages.”⁠
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The featured artists include: ⁠
— Tamara Burgh (NM)⁠
— Jacey Coca (AZ)
— Esther Elia (NM)
— Andrew Ina (TX)
— Chaz John (NM)
— Marlowe Katoney (AZ)
— Jisun Myung (AZ)
— Jeannie Ortiz (NM)
— Chip Thomas (AZ)
— Anne Yoncha (CO)
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We will feature each of these artists over the coming weeks. You can also read their profiles on our website now, or order a print copy of the magazine from our online store:

These stories have their roots in the land, in the specifics of the Southwest bioregions, in flora and fauna; they look at the place-bound built environment, in communities and cities; and consider the Southwest of the imagination and of the senses.

08/02/2024

From 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒍. 𝟖 — Lizz Denneau’s practice explores “the relationship historical racism has with the development of respectability politics and its reverberations through the Black female body,” according to her artist statement.⁠
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She uses found materials to "create conceptual layers of meaning," Scotti Hill writes, "crafting boundless feasts of activity in visual form that contain elements of both beauty and horror."⁠
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See more at the link:

Lizz Denneau’s sumptuous and extravagant creations force us to reckon with their simultaneous beauty and horror.

06/02/2024

From 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒍. 𝟖 — Fernando Andrade, an artist based in San Antonio, paints vibrant scenes of Latinx fiestas on styrofoam plates, reclaiming the material as a transmitter of joyful origins rather than disposable mementos.⁠
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“Andrade contemplates his cross-cultural roots, straddled between his birthplace of Acuña, Mexico, and his hometown of San Antonio, Texas,” writes Gina Pugliese. “On the one hand, his representational drawings show how various exchanges between the U.S. and Mexico intimately shape subjectivity and social-political discourses regarding border violence, gun culture, and mental health. On the other hand, his improvised, abstract paintings meditate on freedom, fantasy, and futurity.”⁠
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See more at the link:

Fernando Andrade, an artist based in San Antonio, paints scenes of Latinx fiestas on styrofoam plates, reclaiming the material for joy.

22/01/2024

“There is a connection between photography—analog film photography, light being recorded on film—and death. Recording something impermanent, now past, making a physical memory,” ponders Santa Fe-based artist David Benjamin Sherry. “I’m still drawing parallels between loss in photography and life. Maybe, through loss, we gain a new way to see?”⁠
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Caitlin Lorraine Johnson visits Sherry’s studio for our latest "Work in Progress" at the link:

Santa Fe photographer and painter David Benjamin Sherry discusses the emotional and physical landscapes within his work.

18/01/2024

Ceramic artist Elaine Parks has a studio and pottery school in Tuscarora, Nevada, a town of 10-odd people at the northern edge of the Great Basin. Here, frequent desert walks are part of her art practice. ⁠
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She focuses on the details. “There are so many fantastic textures, even in the same environment, the same rock, it blows you away,” says Parks, whose work will be on view in the group exhibition 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 at Cal State LA from January 22 to February 29. ⁠
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Aleina Grace Edwards writes about Parks’s practice at the link:

Ceramicist Elaine Parks carefully combs the environment to find and fashion objects that command awareness and attention.

03/10/2023

Artist Hannah Eddy is equal parts painter, muralist, and brand designer, though making accessible public art is her real raison d’être. ⁠
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The Reno-based artist takes a playful approach to environmentalism with her detailed designs that paint a full picture of the sublimity of the natural world. Her strategic use of language adds a lightly directive quality to her work: she beckons us to follow Mother Nature’s lead, appreciate what we have, and accept the good and bad in stride. ⁠
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Aleina Grace Edwards writes at the link:

Hannah Eddy strikes a balance between fun visuals and fervent reminders of what we have to lose with climate change

28/09/2023

"Pondering the mascots and monikers surrounding Seeley—cowboy, mad potter, jailbird, abstinent monk, and muse—he strikes me as best represented by a tumbleweed–blown into one dusty Western town after the next, attracting interest and curiosity," writes Gina Pugliese of artist Byron T. Seeley. ⁠
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For 16 years, Seeley has lived in Jeffrey City, Wyoming, the former uranium mining town that boomed in the 1950s and busted in the 1980s, with a current population of 22. ⁠
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Pugliese visited Seeley at his studio and shop Monk King Bird Pottery to chat with him about his unconventional artist's journey. ⁠
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Learn more at the link:

Byron T. Seeley of Monk King Bird Pottery makes the most of his time making and selling art in a former uranium mine boomtown.

27/09/2023

Artist Rita Deanin Abbey established roots in Nevada in the 1960s after developing an affinity for the desert. She achieved significant milestones during her career, however, she remains little known within and outside the region.

When we learned that a Las Vegas museum (Rita Deanin Abbey Museum) devoted to Abbey (1930-2021) recently celebrated its second anniversary, we wanted to shine a light on her work and her impact in the Vegas valley.

Gabriella Angeleti writes at the link:

The Rita Deanin Abbey Art Museum in Las Vegas traces Abbey’s prolific but underappreciated career that remained cemented in Southern Nevada.

13/06/2023

Public art is notoriously contentious—and frequently bad. But the city of Denver's public art collection boasts several exceptional examples of monumental outdoor artworks, including works by Hebert Bayer, Sol LeWitt, Anthony Magar, Beverly Pepper, Bernar Venet, and more.⁠
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Joshua Ware takes us on a tour of Denver's most stellar public artworks at the link:

Denver's public art collection boasts outstanding examples of monumental, outdoor sculptures by Hebert Bayer, Sol LeWitt, and Beverly Pepper.

09/06/2023

Biggest thanks to everyone who made this year's 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now exhibition happen, including the artists, guest jurors, and everyone at 516 ARTS! ⁠
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The opening reception was an incredible celebration, but the show is on view through September 3, so you have plenty of time to stop by. ⁠
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You can also read about all 12 artists in our latest print and digital publication, the New Mexico Field Guide. Find their profiles at https://southwestcontemporary.com/category/new-mexico-artists/

07/06/2023

Texas-based conceptual artist Celia Álvarez Muñoz has made work rooted in the tensions that emanate from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands for more than 40 years. In her first major career retrospective on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (Breaking the Binding, March 16-August 13, 2023), she continues to create work that teases out contradictions, leans into uncomfortable truths, and invigorates conversation.

Justin Duyao writes about the exhibition, which travels to NMSU Art Museum in October 2023, at the link:

Celia Álvarez Muñoz’s first career retrospective presents a body of work that's committed to the complexity of stories from the borderlands.

03/05/2023

Lindsay Brenner’s Human Bird Nest, a public artwork presented by the Railyard Art Project in Santa Fe, combines themes of sanctuary, rebirth, and ecological resilience.

“I wanted to build the nest in the same way that a bird would, intuitively, but also with the goal of creating a place of safety and protection,” explains Brenner. “And similar to a real bird’s nest, I wanted to build it in the spring, when the harshness of winter is fading, and new beginnings are emerging.”

On view through July 31, learn more about the project at the link!

Lindsay Brenner's Human Bird Nest, a public artwork presented by the Railyard Art Project in Santa Fe, combines themes of sanctuary, rebirth, and ecological resilience.