D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July 2009
Art Shorts
Grant County Arts Scene
Details have been announced for the 13th annual Weekend at the Galleries event on Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 9-12. The event will again attract art lovers from far and wide to enjoy current works by regional artists on display in over 20 galleries in historic downtown Silver City and nearby areas. In addition to galleries bursting with new art, the weekend includes a variety of fun-filled events. Friday evening, Oct. 9, 5:30-8 p.m., the weekend kicks off with "Pollo Loco," a competition for "chicken art" created by artists, both professional and amateur. The works will be judged by live chickens and sold for under $200 per piece. You can enjoy pizza, beer, root beer and all the fun for a $10 ticket. Microbrews will be provided by High Desert Brewing Company in Las Cruces (see story page B1). The competition is open to everyone; submit your works at Art & Conversation, 614 N. Bullard St. Saturday evening, Oct. 10, 4-8 p.m., is "Evening at the Galleries," the traditional plethora of formal gallery openings — in a new twist this year, with each gallery featuring food and decorations from a different country. Stamped "passports" will offer opportunities for prizes. For more information, contact Seedboat Gallery at 534-1136.
anima!, a new art gallery and custom frame shop, has opened in the building that used to house Flowerings, featuring the work of local artist Simon Sotelo III. 215 W. Yankie St., 574-7808, animagallery.com
Elemental Arts gallery in Silver City is closing; artist-owner Valerie MIlner is moving to Los Angeles.
Leyba & Ingalls Art is featuring "Playing in the Mud," large works by Romaine, and "RECYCLED parts" by Wanda Fuselier and gallery artists. 315 N. Bullard, 388-5725, www.LeybaIngallsARTS.com
JW Art Gallery in Hurley is featuring new work by Christine Sandifur, Patrick Archer, Shannon Stirnweis and Jim Andrews. 99 Cortez Ave., 537-0300, www.thetown.com
Lois Duffy Art is featuring whimsical pieces by Molly Heizer. 211-C N. Texas St., 313-9631, www.loisduffy.com
"A Prelude to Happiness," an exhibit of works by Todd Shelby and Karen Prittchett, opens Aug. 6 with an opening reception 4-7 p.m. at the Blue Dome Gallery. The show runs through Sept. 8. 307 N. Texas St., 534-8671, www.bluedomegallery.com
San Vicente Artists is sponsoring "The Body Beautiful" art show at the Silco Theater, July 4-5, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Judith Meyers, an art instructor at WNMU, will be judging the show. The artists group is also holding its second annual children's art camp, July 18 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Silco for grades one to six. Information, 388-2079 or artshow@silvercityartists.org
Kate Brown Pottery and Tile Studio in the Mimbres will hold a one-day intensive tile-making class, July 18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $95 for all materials and instructions. 536-9935, katebrown@gilanet.com, www.katebrownpottery.com
Silver City artist Dagny Sellorin has completed new intricate bead art including a piece entitled "The New Mexico Quarter Horsefly." Another piece, an elaborate beaded globe, was accepted as a finalist in the Fire Mountain Gems International beading competition.
Coming up in August, works by Silver City Jean McLaughlin Cowie will be honored at two art "happenings." Cowie is the "Artist of the Month" at the Tapestry Gallery in Madrid, NM, and also will be part of an exhibit by the New Mexico Art Quilters at the Branigan Cultural Center.
Las Cruces & Mesilla Arts Scene
An explosion of color, texture and form highlights the 2009 Summer Exhibition at the Preston Contemporary Art Center, opening with a reception for the artists July 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m. The show, which celebrates the beginning of the gallery's second year, runs through Sept. 27. It features works by abstract painters Arturo Loya, Diane McGregor, John Ochs and Allison Renshaw and digital artist Myriam Lozada-Jarvis:
- Abstract oil painter Diane McGregor lives and works in her studio located on five acres of high mountain desert outside Santa Fe. Nature always has been a significant factor in her environment and profoundly inspirational to her work.
- Three things motivate and shape the work of Kansas City painter John Ochs: pure pleasure, challenge and the engagement in a visual and critical dialogue with other painters, past and present. Harkening back to the style of the Abstract Expressionists, Ochs' paintings put form before content. Using dynamic color combinations, he manipulates layers of shellac into broad biomorphic forms, creating tension with signature curvilinear strokes and rectangular borders.
- The paintings of California artist Allison Renshaw emphasize forms in motion and the seductive qualities of color. What best differentiates her paintings from other works of the abstract genre is her ability to fuse into their content a distillation of things from the real world. She takes imagery from nature, from architecture, machine forms or figures and, in the process, bends visual reality in a body of work she titles "Fragments." Renshaw says that she is interested in how memories occur and connect a life of partial meanings.
- Myriam Lozada-Jarvis was born in New York City and lived in nearly every borough before moving to Las Cruces. Her work reflects the quick-paced flow of visual details, sounds and the feelings of moving through a charged urban environment. Lozada-Jarvis' interest in all things new in art led her to digitally create energetic compositions printed on paper or canvas. Her approach to these new tools remains similar to her traditional use of paint and ink. She creates brush strokes that contain bits and pieces of other images that are either photographs or drawings she has made using traditional techniques, resulting in digital images that suggest multiple meanings and open interpretations.
- Also featured in the Preston's exhibit are works by emerging artist Arturo Loya, a native of Chihuahua City, Mexico, who has resided in Las Cruces for three years. Trained and licensed as an architect in Mexico, Loya realized his preference for minimalist design. His uncle, the noted abstract artist Carlos Estrada-Vega, recognized Loya's promise as a painter and became his mentor. Loya's style has developed from early representational works done in Mexico to his current body of abstract pieces that reference the minimalist architecture he designed.
The Preston Contemporary Art Center is at 1755 Avenida de Mercado, 523-8713, www.prestoncontemporaryart.com
"Cycles of Life," featuring the diverse works of six regional artists, opens July 2 at the Branigan Cultural Center with an reception 5-7 p.m. The show continues through July 25. Local artist Julie Ford Oliver brought the artists together for this exhibit after being inspired by a similar exhibit at a museum in England. Each artist brings his or her interpretation of a cycle of life, as influenced by profession, cultural heritage and chosen media: Ann Angelo is a social worker who creates contemporary quilts and banners. Poetry is the medium of Rick Bernstein, a scientist. Claude Montes, a sculptor, finds life in marble and stone. Margaret Bernstein, a journalist, works with the written word through interactive books and spiral pieces. Jim Turrentine, owner of Big Picture Studio/Main Street Gallery, is a photographer. Paintings and drawings by Oliver reflect on the cycle of life with cancer. 501 N. Main St., 541-2154, las-cruces.org/museums