Santa Fe’s Monthly
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of and for the Arts • November 2015
Photo Credit: Kate Russell Photography
53 Old Santa Fe Trail | Upstairs on the Plaza | Santa Fe, NM | 505.982.8478 | shiprocksantafe.com
CONTENTS 03 10 14 17 19 21 23 27 28 32 33 35 39
letters
universe of:
Francisco Benítez art forum: Man In A Box by James G. Davis studio visits: Sandra Filippucci and Lauren Mantecon ancient city appetite: The Beestro by Joshua Baer one bottle: The 1947 Chateau Climens Haut-Barsac by Joshua Baer dining guide: Vinaigrette and Midtown Bistro art openings out
& about
previews:
Black Magic at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art and Jack Balas: Guy’d Book at James Kelly Contemporary 1994: Bruce Nauman feature: The Life of Saint Agnes of Taos by Diane Armitage critical reflections: An American Modernism at the New Mexico Museum of Art; Irina Zaytceva at Tansey Contemporary; Elliott McDowell at the Webster Collection; Eric Garduño at Peters Projects; Larry Bob Phillips at Phil Space; Necessary Force at UNM Art Museum; Stephen Hayes at David Richard Gallery; Taos Moderns at 203 Fine Art (Taos); and The Land Mark Show at the Center for Contemporary Arts 51 green planet: Chris Poole: Education Animal Curator, photograph by Jennifer Esperanza 53 architectural details: Rural New Mexico Road, photograph by Guy Cross 54 writings: “The Origin of the World” by Roger Salloch. Photo: Roger Salloch. flashback:
The lives of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude merged with their work to produce some of the most innovative, grand-scale projects in the environment, engaging preliminary drawings, and memorable wrapped sculptures. Documentary photos of their life and work accompanied by short essays fill the volume Christo and Jeanne-Claude: In/Out Studio (D.A.P., $65). Christo left Bulgaria in 1956 for a visit to family in Czechoslovakia when the Hungarian Revolution broke out. Due to the political turmoil he fled to Vienna in a sealed freight car. He sought asylum and received a temporary visa by enrolling in the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, signing the portraits he painted to support himself with his family name of Javacheff. After only nine months in Vienna, he then went to Geneva, and by March of 1958 was in Paris where he met his life partner and collaborator, Jeanne-Claude. Daughter of one of the society women Christo painted, Jeanne-Claude was introduced to him by her mother and shortly afterward moved into his one-room studio, accompanied him to New York in 1964, and helped to create legendary, large-scale international works—including Running Fence, Pont Neuf, and Wrapped Reichstag—until her death in November 2009. Christo still lives and works in their SoHo apartment and studio, about which Jeanne-Claude said early on, “we work in our home” and later, “we live in our office.” Christo maintains his daily work regimen, stating, “It is only in the studio that I am really alone with my ideas. It is the place where I feel comfortable, where I am happy. My drawings and collages, incidentally, are also the only things that encourage me in my belief that a project will succeed, because Jeanne-Claude and I have often gone through hard times when a project was not progressing or had been rejected. Whenever that happens I go into my studio and look at the sketches. They help me to continue to believe in our dreams. They keep my fire burning.” Their projects often took years to bring to fruition. Sketches for the eleven thousand orange gates installed in Central Park began in 1979 and the project wasn’t realized until 2005. Christo’s preliminary drawings and collages are the artworks the pair sold to finance their efforts, choosing to avoid public commissions and sponsorships. This book is a visual tribute to and a compelling visual record of the ingenuity, drive, and mutual devotion these two important artists shared.
READINGS & CONVERSATIONS
In Pursuit of Cultural Freedom
brings to Santa Fe a wide range of writers from the literary world of fiction, nonfiction and poetry to read from and discuss their work.
is a lecture series on political, economic, environmental and human rights issues featuring social justice activists, writers, journalists and scholars discussing critical topics of our day.
AMINATTA FORNA
RICHARD FALK
with
Laila Lalami
with
Ali Abunimah
WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER AT 7PM LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER AT 7PM LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Tickets on sale now
Tickets on sale Saturday 7 November
Aminatta Forna is the award-winning author of the novels The
The obstacles facing the Palestinian people seeking justice and rights under international law have never been as formidable. Yet the reorientation of the Palestinian struggle, together with the increasing expression of solidarity throughout the world, creates a new reality—the legitimacy of hope.
Hired Man, The Memory of Love and Ancestor Stones, and a memoir The Devil that Danced on the Water. She was born in Scotland, raised in Sierra Leone and Britain, and spent periods of her childhood in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. Forna first gained serious literary attention for her memoir, The Devil that Danced on the Water, in which she investigates the murder of her father, Mohamed Forna, a rising star in Sierra Leone’s fledgling democracy. Her novel, Ancestor Stones, encompasses a sweeping view of Africa in the 20th Century, told through the story of Abi, newly returned to Africa from England. Forna’s second novel, The Memory of Love, is set in contemporary Sierra Leone at a hospital where the patients are coping with the wounds—both physical and psychological— from the previous century’s Civil War. Of her recent novel, The Hired Man, John Freeman of The Boston Globe wrote, “Not since Remains of the Day has an author so skillfully revealed the way history’s layers are often invisible to all but its participants.” TO PU RCHAS E TICKETS:
Ticketssantafe.org or call 505.988.1234 $6 general/$3 students/seniors with ID
www.lannan.org
— From Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope © 2014
Richard Falk is Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice at Princeton University and Research Fellow at Orfalea Center of Global Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara. He was chair of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s board of directors until 2012, served as honorary vice president of the American Society of International Law, and is a member of The Nation editorial board. He served as Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights for the United Nations from 2008–2014. Author of numerous books on global issues and international law, his most recent works are Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope and Chaos and Counterrevolution: After the Arab Spring.
LETTERS
magazine VOLUME XXIV NUMBER V WINNER 1994 Best Consumer Tabloid
SELECTED 1997 Top-5 Best Consumer Tabloids SELECTED 2005 and 2006 Top-5 Best Consumer Tabloids Publisher/Creative Director
Guy Cross
Publisher/Food Editor
Judith Cross
Art Director
Chris Myers
Copy Editor
Edgar Scully
Proofreaders
James Rodewald Kenji Barrett
Staff Photographers
Dana Waldon Audrey Derell
Calendar
editor
B Milder
Rhapsody in Color—acrylic paintings on Yupo paper by Norm Flax will be on view at the Santa Fe Public Library’s Tybie David Satin Gallery, 145 Washington Avenue. Exhibition opens Friday, November 6. Image: Stars Over Santa Fe.
Webmeister
Jason Rodriguez Social Media
Laura Shields
Contributors
Diane Armitage, Veronica Aronson, Joshua Baer, Ester Barkai, Davis K. Brimberg, Jon Carver, Kathryn M Davis, Jordan Eddy, Jennifer Esperanza, Marina La Palma, Titus O’Brien, Michele Relkin, Roger Salloch, Richard Tobin, Lauren Tresp, and Susan Wider Cover
Agnes Martin, 1993 - Photograph: Guy Cross
Advertising Sales
THE magazine: 505-424-7641 Lindy Madley: 505-577-6310 Distribution
Jimmy Montoya: 470-0258 (mobile) Gone, Not Forgotten
This issue is dedicated to the extraordinary life of Arthur Laub. THE magazine is published 10x a year by THE magazine Inc., 320 Aztec St., Santa Fe, NM 87501. Corporate address: 44 Bishop Lamy Road Lamy, NM 87540. Phone number: (505)-424-7641. Email address: themagazinesf@gmail.com. Web address: themagazineonline.com. All materials copyright 2015 by THE magazine. All rights reserved by THE magazine. Reproduction of contents is prohibited without written permission from THE magazine. THE magazine is not responsible for the loss of any unsolicited material, liable, for any misspellings, incorrect information in its captions, calendar, or other listings. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policies of THE magazine, its owners, or any of its employees, members, interns, volunteers, agents, or distribution venues. Bylined articles represent the views of their authors. Letters to the editor are welcome. Letters may be edited for style and libel. All letters are subject to condensation. THE magazine accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be of good reputation, but cannot guarantee the authenticity of objects and/or services advertised. THE magazine is not responsible for any claims made by its advertisers for copyright infringement by its advertisers and is not responsible or liable for errors in any advertisement.
NOVEMBER
2015
TO THE EDITOR: Some thoughts on Richard Baron’s Santa Fe Photo Rodeo piece and the ongoing conflict between the elitist/ art world forces and we photographers: Although photography was invented by the upper middle class, it was quickly hijacked by the businesspeople, entrepreneurs, journalists, illustrators, and the great unwashed masses in general. The elitists then tried to separate the world into fine art photography and vernacular photography. However, photographers and the equipment itself won’t cooperate. While Stieglitz and his friends were busy being artsy fartsy, fuzzy wuzzy, and semiprecious—and setting a horrible example for Santa Fakes—Eugène Atget walked through old Paris producing documents for artists and inventing modern photography. Furthermore, thanks in part to publishers like Dust-to-Digital, vernacular photography is now one of the hottest trends in photography books and the enjoyment of photography in general. Anyhow, would most of us rather look at photographs of American Civil War soldiers or pictures of cracks in the sidewalk that somebody is trying to pass off as Fine Art? Also, consider that a three-year-old can take a great photo if he/she happens to aim the lens in the right direction. Also, for every Susan Sontag or Lucy Lippard, there are a hundred million teenagers snapping selfies and thousands of tourists taking the same damn picture from the same scenic overlook, and sometimes one of them gets it right, and if they don’t, the photo still gives them pleasure. Helmut Newton, a brilliant photographer who truly didn’t give a shit, said, “Those who write about photography write only for those who write about photography.” And Dylan said, “The princess and the prince discuss what’s real and what is not.” I avoided the Lucy Lippard lecture when I found out that they were charging admission. If somebody is going to spew verbiage at me, I’m the one who deserves to be paid. I went to the portfolio review instead and spent a delightful evening with friendly and gifted men and women who are dedicated to the art and craft of photography. Ms. Lippard’s name never came up. We photographers are winning. —Ed Fields, via email
TO THE EDITOR: I would liike to commend Richard Baron for his review of Tradición, Devoción y Vida. Not only for his thoughful content, but for his sensitivity toward an issue that is occasioning considerable debate in Santa Fe and Taos art circles of late. I especially appreciate his reference to a “colonial, condescending perspective.” In using this language he helps to provoke a deeper conversation about the impact of non-Hispanic curators, collectors, critics, dealers, anthropologists, and academics on the perception of what is “authentic” Hispanic art. New Mexico is a petri dish of cultural influence and conflict. This disparity is our real wealth. It feeds our pocketbooks and our souls. Our dense cultural diversity, our mestizaje, is a complex chorus of many voices, different historical experiences, and a goldmine of stories that can only be truthfully told in the voices of those who have lived them. I say “goldmine” deliberately, because I think that the de-colonization of the arts would stimulate a renaissance of creativity and suffuse the market and collections with new vitality and genuinely “authentic” art. As a Hispanic painter and writer, I therefore welcome Baron’s pre-emptive defense against critics of Anglocentricity as just one more indication among many that the time has come to have this healthy conversation. It’s in the zeitgeist. Bien venido. —Anita Otilla Rodriguez, Rancho de Taos TO THE EDITOR: The Santa Fe Photo Rodeo, by Richard Baron, in October’s THE, begins with an offensive paragraph. Whereas Baron is reviewing three photography exhibits quite favorably, he has labeled the three female artists stereotypically as “…seasoned Yiddishe female photographers” because, given the surnames, he assumes we’re all Jewish. Any stereotyping is offensive, especially the first sentence which reads “If one hears the names Rubenstein, Myers and Block, one might assume he’s getting sued…” We three artists would appreciate a retraction and an apology from both the writer and its editor, as well as a promise to be more sensitive in the future. —Gay Block, Joan Myers, Meridel Rubenstein, via email
THE magazine | 5
A SEA Gallery presents Drawings by European artist
Friedrich Geier
Opening Celebration: Saturday, November 21, 3 to 6 pm. 836-A Canyon Road Santa Fe - 505-988-9140 aseagallery.blogspot.com msteinhoff@cybermesa.com
SFAI 140
An evening of creativity + conversation 1 Evening 20 Inspiring Talks 140 Seconds Each 1 Evening 20 Inspiring Talks 140 Seconds Each
NOVEMBER 18, 2015 7PM 1600 ST. MICHAELS DR JULY 23, 2015WWW.SFAI.ORG 7PM WWW.SFAI.ORG
16 OCTOBER 21 NOVEMBER 2015
JACK BALAS: GUY’D BOOK
RECEPTION FOR THE ARTIST FRIDAY OCTOBER 30 5-7 PM
JAMES KELLY | CONTEMPORARY 1611 PASEO DE PERALTA | SANTA FE | JAMESKELLY.COM ON THE GROUND (MUSE /MUSEUM SERIES #1188) 2015, WATERCOLOR & INK ON PAPER, 23 × 15 INCHES UNFRAMED
Mark White Fine Art
414 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe, NM
Visit us at www.markwhitefineart.com
Mark White, Shadow on the Beach, acrylic gesso and bone black on panel, 36� x 24� Ma
Randolph Laub studio
This holiday season may I suggest a present that your friends and family may use through the years.
Hand-turned bowls & vesssels from New Mexican woods. Salad bowls, dinnerware, serving platters and decorative vessels are available for your consideration. Please take a moment online to view many samples at www.laubworkshop.com. I look forward to seeing you soon in the workshop at 2906 San Isidro Court, 720 272-5510.
UNIVERSE OF
INSPIRED BY THE ARTISTS OF ANTIQUITY,
FRANCISCO BENÍTEZ
CONSIDERS HIMSELF TO BE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST WHO EXCAVATES LOST AND FORGOTTEN STYLES OF PAINTING TO REVEAL THE EVER-TRANSIENT NATURE OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE. BENÍTEZ’S WORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED AT MUSÉE D’ART MODERNE ET D’ART CONTEMPORAIN DE NICE. HE ALSO CO - ORGANIZED, CURATED, AND PARTICIPATED IN AN EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY ART FROM NEW MEXICO AT THE MUSÉE DENYS-PUECH, IN RODEZ.
USING A LIMITED PALETTE OF COLORS
THE PLACE OF MEMORY IN MY WORK
Pliny said that the great Greek artists of Antiquity
Of course, when we speak of memory, we think
FROM THE VISIBLE TO BEAUTY, TO THE MORAL EXPRESSION OF THE SOUL
used only four colors—white, black, red, and
of both the individual and collective memory. At
The “to tès psychès ethos,” or moral expression of
yellow. One finds evidence for this in the many
times they overlap, at times they don’t as much.
the soul, was an inherent aspect of Greek painting. In
painted copies at Pompeii, and the mosaic copies,
When I was an art student I felt the need to flesh
all ancient painting you find a sequence of narrative
which exist around the Mediterranean. I was afraid
out the memories my father had transferred to me
steps that have been compressed into a kind of
to work with this highly restricted palette at first,
of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. As
aesthetic fourth dimension—an image embodying
but then, upon experimenting with it, realized
a child, when I would listen to him, I would conjure
a scene, with all that precedes and follows. This
it possessed an amazing chromatic complexity.
up the images he was describing, and make them
was called the “crucial moment”—Medea about to
Its Zen simplicity is deceptive. For the Greeks
my own. I would dream about them. Finally, when
kill her children, Achilles in his wrath and immobile
were astute—in simplicity there is an inherent
they were part of my own memory, I needed to do
before a great war, Agamemnon contemplating
complexity. Aristotle and Plato knew this well.
an act of catharsis and expel them somehow. I did
whether to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order
paintings about Guernica—where my grandfather
to have the winds take his ships to Troy. In effect,
was from—of the Siege of Madrid, the Ebro. His
painting is a compression of time and space, a
memories had become mine. I had never seen
visible snapshot imploding upon a single point of
those places as a child. Yet, I had been there,
infinite gravity and tension. Philosophers like Plato
through his eyes. When we speak of memory,
hated the painters and sculptors. They thought
it is the transference of images and feelings from
they had corrupted the minds of society and were
one generation to another. As artists we often feel
“sophists of the visible.” For this reason, Plato did
the need to process the images of our immediate
not want artists in his city, in the Republic. They
families and traumatisms of the larger society,
were obsessed with “mimesis” or imitation. What
in order to re-establish our place in the wake of
he wanted was a complete divorce from the real
those ruptures.
world and a focus on the “ideal spheres.” There was little place for these visual sophists who were obsessed with earthly beauty and messiness. Perhaps if Plato lived today, he might open up his Republic to the likes of Agnes Martin. Is not Agnes Martin a moral painter in the end?
Photograph
NOVEMBER
2015
by
Dana Waldon
THE magazine | 11
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ART FORUM
T H E M AG A Z I N E A S K E D A C L I N I C A L P S YC H O LO G I S T A N D T W O P E O P L E W H O LOV E A RT F O R T H E I R TA K E ON
THIS
1985
O I L- O N - C A N VA S
PA I N T I N G — M A N I N A B OX — BY J A M E S G . DAV I S . T H E Y W E R E S H O W N O N LY T H E I M AG E A N D W E R E G I V E N N O O T H E R I N F O R M AT I O N . This work represents the life and death instincts. The man and woman above seem to have just had sex. However, she also looks like she is birthing a child. Could the man below be this couple’s grown son, represented in two stages? First, the central man is cocooned inside a brown box. He appears like a human parcel. Psychologically, the cocoon symbolizes transformation, protection, and reincarnation. The box, of course, also represents a casket. In the second image, this man is mummified in a body cast. He is labeled “US Navy,” as if his body is nothing more than a human machine gun. Both figures’ basic life statuses are also unclear. Their muscle tone is strong, implying they are alive, yet their pallor and sunken eyes suggest they are deceased. Lastly, none of the figures in this work look at each other or toward the viewer. They are all emotionally disconnected. Such detachment adds to the work’s general dark tone. Throughout his career, Freud wrote extensively on the life and death instincts. He called these drives Eros and Thanatos, respectively. Indeed, we see our fascination with life, death, afterlife, and rebirth here.
—Davis K. Brimberg, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist What do caterpillars experience in the cocoon? I like to imagine they have luminous green visions during their transformation, but perhaps the process is terrifying, as pillowy flesh rips under the pressure of spindly legs and antennae, and scaly wings fill the claustrophobic space to the bursting. Kafka’s protagonist in The Metamorphosis awoke from “unsettling dreams” to find that his nightmares had come true: he was a monstrous insect. True change is
refusing to fade into murky memories when peacetime
coming from a hidden source. As an artist, I go on great
always shadowed by our terror of the unknown.
comes. The pure horror of the scene is broken by a
archaeological digs, and so did this artist. The presentation
In this painting, two corpses rise mid-transformation
twisted joke. Printed on one end of the coffin, like a
of this piece tells a story, is a message and a calling for us
to realize that their next phase isn’t triumphant unfurling,
serial killer’s sardine can, are the words OPEN THIS
to dig into the depths of our psyche. The metamorphosis
but slow decay into splintery piles of bones. They are
SIDE. This is not a contingency plan akin to the bell pulls
from a coffin-like box into the wrapped body screams of
cast-off cogs from a war machine, surprised by the
that sat atop graves during the cholera epidemics. If we
great bondage and holdings. The mystery of this work
ignoble nature of their violent deaths. The glory and
were to follow the command, we would find only rotting
sends one on a journey that has open beginnings and
immortality they were promised is lost, but they have yet
feet and a toe tag with a cryptic warning scrawled on it.
thought-provoking endings. As an artist, one must always
to surrender. The figure at left claws through his coffin
—Jordan Eddy, Santa Fe
have an eye open to the mystery of life. We bring our own history and experiences when we interact with the creative
like an electrified Frankenstein’s monster, exposing a face out of a Francis Bacon painting. His vampiric companion
Seeing through the eyes of the artist—my eyes—many
element. What one acknowledges today can be enhanced
peers slyly from the folds of a tight shroud, picking at
layers appear, flat-out and potent. Reveal and conceal
at a later time and seem quite different. One must remove
the crusty, yellowed hide with slender fingers. These
comes to mind, with the figure emerging from a box-like
the mask and go on that “archaeological dig.”
zombies will rise to reenact their dark denouements,
construction, stating OPEN THIS SIDE. The direction is
—Michele W. Relkin, Artist, Santa Fe
14 | THE magazine
NOVEMBER
2015
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㔀㐀 ⼀㈀ 攀愀猀琀 匀䄀一 昀爀愀渀挀椀猀挀漀 猀琀爀攀攀琀 ⠀漀渀 琀栀攀 瀀氀愀稀愀 愀戀漀瘀攀 栀愀愀最攀渀 搀愀稀猀⤀ 㤀㈀㠀ⴀ㐀㘀 ⴀ㈀㘀 猀琀愀渀䀀猀琀愀渀戀攀爀渀椀渀最⸀挀漀洀 眀眀眀⸀椀渀琀栀攀猀琀甀搀椀漀瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀椀漀渀猀⸀挀漀洀
NOVELIST RAY ROBERTSON SAID, “THE CREATIVE BLOCK IS AN ENTIRELY IMAGINARY, SELF-INFLATING DISEASE AFFLICTING BOTH NOTHING-TO-SAY PROFESSIONALS AND NOT-KNOWING-HOW-TO-SAY-IT AMATEURS.” TWO ARTISTS RESPOND TO HIS STATEMENT.
STUDIO VISITS
Harsh, but partially true. We all aspire to logic while carrying our emotional luggage from one place to another. Shit happens. Few of us react perfectly and perfectionism is the surest way to creative block. Creative block is in a city you don’t want to be in, so call a cab. Get outta there. Living up to external expectations, we stiffen with fear. Our courage falters. When frightened, it is comforting to hide under the creative-block blanket. Many great writers and artists have been under that blanket. Financial necessity usually brings us to our senses, that is, unless alcohol is involved. Most of us know what little time we have to make art. To accomplish. My work, for example, examines the complexity of Joan of Arc. There was no time for her to hide under any blanket. Prescient, Joan knew she only had a year to do what she had to do and she did it. She met resistance every step of the way. It was illogical for a nineteen-year-old to save France but she did.
—Sandra Filippucci In 2015, Filippucci’s work was shown at Linda Durham Collected Works and she participated in the Morrison Gallery Group Show. SandraFilippucci.com
The idea of “creative block” is a left-brain concept. Amateur or expert, we are constantly taking in information. How we choose to use the fruits of our curiosity might result in doing something creative or not. And how long we need to integrate and process information is personal and different in everyone. The unreasonable pressure to constantly be delivering creative product is the real “entirely imaginary and self-inflating disease” afflicting many artists.
—Lauren Mantecon Mantecon’s work was on view in July 2015 at Wheelhouse Art, Santa Fe. Upcoming shows in 2016: Group Show at Chase Young Gallery, Boston in January; Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, Oregon in April; and the Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown in September. laurenmantecon.com
photographs by
NOVEMBER
2015
Audrey Derell
THE magazine | 17
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ANCIENT CITY APPETITE
Ancient City Appetite by Joshua
Baer
The Beestro 101 West Marcy Street, Santa Fe Mondays through Fridays 9 am - 4 pm Saturdays 11 am – 4 pm 505 629-8786 If you live here, you’ve heard the complaints about Santa Fe. There’s no place to
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park downtown. The galleries are full of expensive knock-offs. The galleristas live
Reuben Panini. Corned beef brisket on traditional Jewish rye bread with fresh
in a bubble. The restaurants are over-priced. People who work in the restaurants don’t know the meaning of service because all they do is sell margaritas to tourists. The tourists dress like clowns on vacation. The plaza has lost its soul. I have a complaint about locals who complain about Santa Fe. Rome, Paris, New
sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and Jarlsberg cheese. $8.45. Achiote Green Chile Chicken Panini. Chicken breast marinated in achiote, cinnamon, and garlic, on a baguette with New Mexico green chile, pepper jack cheese, pineapple citrus cilantro slaw, and blackened jalapeño aioli. $8.25.
York, San Francisco, and Tokyo are five of the greatest cities on earth. They’re also
Red Chile Honey Salmon Salad. Atlantic salmon glazed with New Mexico red
full of tourists, and full of locals who make a living selling atmosphere to tourists.
chile and honey, served on a bed of greens with a side of red onion vinaigrette.
Santa Fe is one of the last American cities that acts, feels, and looks like no other
$11.95.
city in the world. If the price we pay for living here is sharing downtown with people from out of town, that’s a small price to pay for all this beauty.
Cookies, including the Brookie, the Chocolate Chip, and the Oatmeal Raisin. Fresh, homemade, understated cookies. $1.16 a cookie.
One of the best places to eat downtown is The Beestro. Locals who work
The Beestro’s espressos are made with Agapa’o coffee. Their teas are made
downtown flock to The Beestro because the food is delicious and the people
with Stash teas. Beestro’s latte runs neck-and-neck with Holy Spirit Espresso’s
behind the counter are authentic. Ignore the catty remarks on TripAdvisor and
latte (on San Francisco Street) in the race for best latte downtown.
Yelp about Beestro’s sandwiches being made “at another location.” What would you rather eat? A mediocre sandwich made right in front of you or a great sandwich made in another part of town? These are the items you do not want to miss. NOVEMBER
2015
Congratulations to the people who work at The Beestro. You make it a pleasure to live here. Photograph by Guy Cross. Ancient City Appetite recommends places to eat, in and out of Santa Fe. Send your favorites to places@ancientcityappetite.com.
THE magazine | 19
“Santacafé always feels chic, yet causal— like “Cheers” with class.” – John Vollersten, Santa Fean
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photo: Kitty Leaken
ONE BOTTLE
O ne B ottle
The 1947 Château Climens Haut-Barsac by J oshua We interviewed Jonah at his house on the outskirts of Nineveh. With the exception of the sign over the door, there was nothing remarkable
B aer . In the glass, the 1947 Château Climens is an old story. Seeing through it is difficult. There are too many layers. But after you stop trying to
about his house. After he let us in, my translator and I sat with Jonah at
see through it, the story invites you to follow it. As you follow it, its
the table in his kitchen for the better part of an afternoon. Before we
layers coalesce into a prism of overcast gold. The bouquet is a lesson,
started, Jonah uncorked a stoneware cask and poured wine into three
a reflection, and a temptation. If you spend the better part of an
wooden cups. The wine was a dark amber. It was old and sweet, with
evening inhaling the 1947 Climens but not tasting it, you’ll still
just enough spirit to keep it from being too old and just enough soul to
experience everything this wine has to offer. On the palate, its flavors
keep it from being too sweet.
go back and forth between freedom and peace—the freedom to ask
“Thank you for changing your mind,” I said.
questions, the peace that answers them. The finish is a surprise.
“You’re welcome,” said Jonah.
Nothing about the Climens’s complexity prepares you for the direct
“Any particular reason?”
nature of its finish. You expect a sixty-eight-year-old Haut-Barsac
“For changing my mind?
to be complicated. What you don’t expect is a simple finish.
“For finally deciding to say yes.” Jonah shrugged. “When I got your requests, I thought, Just what I need. Another interview. So I said no. But then I had my doubts.”
“When you were in there,” I said, “what did you see?” “Darkness,” said Jonah. “Nothing but darkness.” “So you were just alone in the dark for three days?” “I didn’t say I was alone. Other beings were in there. Little
“About doing another interview?” “About not doing one.” “So, you had your doubts, and that changed your mind?”
fish, mostly. But they were all dead. Or in the process of dying.” “But you couldn’t see them.” “No.”
“I have doubts about everything. I have doubts about my own doubts.” “Do you get a lot of requests for interviews?” “It comes and goes. When people find out I’m still here, it’s only natural for them to ask questions.” “Do you dislike doing interviews?”
“Then how do you know they were there?” “When you’re in death’s presence, you can feel it doing its work.” “What else did you feel?” “Mercy.” “God’s mercy?”
“When people ask me about God, no, I don’t mind.
“Who’s to say whose mercy it was? I like to think it was
That’s a prophet’s job, to answer questions about
God’s. You’re a man. Something keeps you alive, through
God. But when they ask me about me, and about what
thick and thin. Don’t you hope it’s God’s mercy?”
happened, I never know what to say.”
“So, you felt the presence of death, and maybe the
“Because you’d rather talk about God?”
presence of God. What about the whale? Did you feel his
Jonah touched his eyebrow with his index finger,
presence?”
then he pointed at me. “You need to understand how
Jonah laughed. “I always assumed she was female,” he said.
this works,” he said. He waited for the translator before
“Okay,” I said. “I guess what I’m asking is, did he—or she,
he continued. “When I was inside the whale I made
if she was a she—ever send you a message, let you know you
a promise. I told God, if he let me live, I’d speak the truth
were going to make it?”
through my prophecies, even if I disagreed with him.
“Why would she have done that?”
When you ask me questions, I don’t give you my answers.
“I don’t know. You’re the one who was inside of her.”
I give you the only answer that matters, because I am the son of the truth.”
Jonah moved his lips but we heard nothing. My guess is, he whispered a prayer. Then he said, out loud, “The sailors
“Can you explain what that means?”
who threw me off the ship wanted me to die, so they could
“When you knocked on my door, did you see the sign?”
live. When the whale swallowed me, I thought I’d been killed,
“The whale with the man in his mouth?”
but I was wrong.”
“The whale, the man, and the word above them.”
“Wrong in what way?”
“We saw the word, but neither of us can read Hebrew.”
“She kept me inside of her for three days, but she never
“The word is amitai,” said Jonah. “Hebrew for ‘truth.’”
digested me. I never passed into her blood. She saved me
“And Amitai was your father’s name,” said the translator.
from drowning. Then she swam to a beach and delivered me
“Was, is, and always will be,” said Jonah.
onto the sand. Her protection was her message.”
“What happened to you inside the whale?” I said. “Life and death. Death and birth. Birth and life.” Which brings us to the 1947 Château Climens Haut-Barsac.
NOVEMBER
2015
One Bottle is dedicated to the appreciation of good wines and good times, one bottle at a time. You can write to Joshua Baer at jb@onebottle.com.
THE magazine | 21
DINING GUIDE
VINAIGRETTE 709 Don Cubero Alley 820-9205
$ K E Y
INEXPENSIVE
$
up to $14
MODERATE
$$
EXPENSIVE
$15—$23
$$$
$24—$33
VERY EXPENSIVE
$$$$
Prices are for one dinner entrée. If a restaurant serves only lunch, then a lunch entrée price is reflected. Alcoholic beverages, appetizers, and desserts are not included in these price keys. Call restaurants for hours.
$34 plus
EAT OUT OFTEN
...a guide to the very best restaurants in santa fe, albuquerque, taos, and surrounding areas... 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar 315 Old Santa Fe Trail. 986-9190. Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: French. Atmosphere: An inn in the French countryside. House specialties: Steak Frites, Seared Pork Tenderloin, and the Black Mussels are perfect. Comments: Generous martinis, a terrific wine list, and a “can’t miss” bar menu. Winner of Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence.
Café Fina 624 Old Las Vegas Hiway. 466-3886. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner (Fri.to Sun.) Wine/Beer soon in 2015 Cash/major credit cards. $$ C uisine : We call it contemporary comfort food. A tmosphere : Casual. H ouse specialties : For breakfast, both the Huevos Motulenos and the Eldorado Omelette are winners. For lunch, we love the One for David Fried Fish Sandwich.
Andiamo 322 Garfield St. 995-9595. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Italian. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: Start with the Steamed Mussels or the Roasted Beet Salad. For your main, choose the delicious Chicken Marsala or the Pork Tenderloin are our choices. C omments : Great pizza.
Café Pasqual’s 121 Don Gaspar Ave. 983-9340. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Multi-ethnic. Atmosphere: Adorned with Mexican streamers and Indian posters. House specialties: Hotcakes got a nod from Gourmet The Huevos Motuleños is a breakfast that you will really love. Comments: they’ve been doing it right here for over thirty-five years.
Arroyo Viono 218 Camino La Tierra. 983-2100. Dinner (Tuesday-Saturday) Full bar. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Progressive American. Atmosphere: Warm and welcoming. House specialties: The Charcuterie Plate, the Grapefruit and Almond Salad, the Prosciutto Wrapped Norwegian Cod, and the N.M. Rack of Lamb. Comments:. Superior wines in the restaurant and wine shop.
Chez Mamou 217 E. Palace Ave. 216-1845. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Artisanal French Bakery & Café. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: Start with the Prosciutto Melon Salad. For your main, try the Paillard de Poulet: lightly breaded chicken with lemon and garlic sauce, or the Roasted Salmon with white dill. Comments: Pasta dishes rule.
Bang Bite 502 Old Santa Fe Trail & Paseo de Peralta. 469-2345 Breakfast/Lunch Parking lot, take-out, and catering. Major credit cards Cuisine: American.Fresh, local & tasty. Atmosphere: Orange food truck in parking lot. House specialties: Burger and fries and daily specials. Lotta bang for the buck here.
Chopstix 238 N. Guadalupe St. 982-4353. Lunch/Dinner. Take-out. Patio. Major credit cards. $ Atmosphere: Casual. Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. House specialties: Lemon Chicken, Korean barbequed beef, and Kung Pau Chicken. Comments: Friendly owners.
Beestro 101 W. Marcy St. 629-8786 Breakfast/Lunch No alcohol. Patio. Cash/ Major credit cards. $ Cuisine: Standard coffee-house fare. Atmosphere: Casual. H ouse specialties: Chef-made Panini, salads, sanwiches, Soups, coffee drinks. Comments: Take-out or dine-in.
Counter Culture 930 Baca St. 995-1105. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Patio. Cash. $$ Cuisine: All-American. Atmosphere: Informal. House specialties: Burritos Frittata, Sandwiches, Salads, and the perfect Grilled Salmon are our favorites. Dinners are terrific. Comments: Nice selection of beer and wine. Very casual, friendly, and very reasonable prices.
Bouche 451 W. Alameda St 982-6297 Dinner Wine/Beer Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: French Bistro fare. Atmosphere: Intimate with an open kitchen. House specialties: Start with the Charcuterie Plank. The Bistro Steak and the organic Roast Chicken are winners. Comments: Chef Charles Dale is a pro.
Cowgirl Hall of Fame 319 S. Guadalupe St. 982-2565. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Good old American. fare. Atmosphere: Patio shaded by big cottonwoods. Great bar. H ouse specialties : The smoked brisket and ribs are the best. Super buffalo burgers. Comments: Huge selection of beers.
Coyote Café 132 W. Water St. 983-1615. Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Southwestern with French and Asian influences. Atmosphere Bustling. House specialties: Main the grilled Maine Lobster Tails or the 24-ounce “Cowboy Cut” steak. Comments: Great bar and good wines. Dr. Field Goods Kitchen 2860 Cerrillos Rd. 471-0043. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: New Mexican Fusion. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Faves: the Charred Caesar Salad, Carne Adovada Egg Roll, Fish Tostada,, and Steak Frite. Comments: You leave feeling good. Downtown Subscription 376 Garcia St. 983-3085. Breakfast/Lunch No alcohol. Patio. Cash/ Major credit cards. $ Cuisine: Standard coffee-house fare. Atmosphere: A large room where you can sit, read periodicals, and schmooze.. House specialties: Espresso, cappuccino, and lattes. El Faról 808 Canyon Rd. 983-9912. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Spanish Atmosphere: Wood plank floors, thick adobe walls, and a small dance floor for cheek-to-cheek dancing. House specialties: Tapas. Comments: Murals by Alfred Morang. El Mesón 213 Washington Ave. 983-6756. Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Spanish. Atmosphere: Spain could be just around the corner. Music nightly. House specialties: Tapas reign supreme here as well as vegetarian dishes. Comments: Music nightly. Fire & Hops 222 S. Guadalupe St. 954-1635 Dinner - 7 days. Lunch: Sat. and Sun. Beer/Wine. Patio. Visa & Mastercard. $$$ Cuisine: Sustainable local food. A tmosphere : Casual and friendly. House specialties: The Green Papaya Salad and the Braised Pork Belly. Fave large plates: the Cubano Sandwich and the Crispy Duck Confit. C omments : Nice selection of beers on tap or bottles. G eorgia 225 Johnson St. 989-4367. Patio. Dinner - Full bar. Major credit cards. $$$$ C u i s i n e : Clean and contemporary.
A t m o s p h e r e : Friendly and casual. H o u s e s p e c i a lt i e s : Start with the Charcuterie Plate or the Texas Quail. Entrée: Try the Pan-Roasted Salmom—it is absolutely delicious. C o m m e n t s : Good wine list, a sharp and knowledgeable wait-staff, and a bar menu that you will love. G eronimo 724 Canyon Rd. 982-1500. Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: We call it French/Asian fusion. Atmosphere: Elegant and stylish. H ouse specialties: Start with the superb foie gras. Entrées we love include the Green Miso Sea Bass and the classic peppery Elk tenderloin. C omments : Wonderful desserts and top-notch service. Harry’s R oadhouse 96 Old L:as Vegas Hwy. 986-4629 Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner 7 days Full bar. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: American and New Mexican. A tmosphere: Down home House specialties: For breakfast go for the Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese. For lunch: the out-of-this-world Buffalo Burger. Dinner: the Hanger Steak. C omments : Friendly folks and reasonable prices. Il Piatto Italian Farmhouse Kitchen 95 W. Marcy St. 984-1091. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Italian. A tmosphere: Bustling. House specialties: Our faves: the Arugula and Tomato Salad, the Lemon Rosemary Chicken, and the Pork Chop stuffed with mozzarella, pine nuts, and prosciutto. Comments: Farm to table. Izanami 3451Hyde Park Rd. 428-6390. Lunch/Dinner Sake/Wine/Beer Major credit cards. $$$ C uisine : Japanese-inspired small plates. A tmosphere : A sense of quietude. House specialties:. The Nasu Dengaku, eggplant and the Pork Belly with Ginger BBQ Glaze. C omments : Great selection of Sake. Jambo Cafe 2010 Cerrillios Rd. 473-1269. Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$ C uisine : African and Caribbean inspired. A tmosphere : Real casual. H ouse specialties : Jerk Chicken Sandwich and the Phillo, stuffed with spinach, black olives, feta cheese, and roasted red peppers. C omments : Truly fabulous soups reign supreme here.
Joseph’s Culinary Pub 428 Montezuma Ave. 982-1272 Dinner. Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Innovative. Atmosphere: Intimate. H ouse specialties : Start with the Butter Lettuce Wrapped Pulled Pork Cheeks. For your main, try the Crispy Duck, Salt Cured Confit Style. Comments: The bar menu features Polenta Fries and the New Mexican Burger. Many really wonderful desserts to choose from. Great service is the standard here. Kai Sushi and Dining 2720 St. Michael’s Drive. 438-7221 Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Japanese. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: The Sashimi is amazing as are the Sushi Rolls and the Salmon Teriyaki Combo. Comments: Great Bento boxes and excellent sake. Kohnami Restaurant 313 S. Guadalupe St. 984-2002. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine/Sake. Patio. Visa & Mastercard. $$ Cuisine: Japanese. Atmosphere: Easygoing. House specialties: Miso soup; Soft Shell Crab; Dragon Roll; Chicken Katsu; noodle dishes; and Bento Box specials. Comments: Love the Sake. La Plancha de Eldorado 7 Caliente Rd., La Tienda. 466-2060 Highway 285 / Vista Grande Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner. Beer/Wine. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: An Authentic Salvadoran Grill. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: The Loroco Omelet, Pan-fried Plantains, and Tamales. Comments: Sunday brunch rules. La Plazuela on the Plaza 100 E. San Francisco St. 989-3300. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full Bar. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: New Mexican and Continental. Atmosphere: Casual House specialties: Start with the Tomato Salad. Entrées we love are the Braised Lamb Shank with couscous. Comments: Wonderful breakfasts and a really beautiful courtyard for dining. Located in the La Fonda Hotel, just off the Plaza. Loyal Hound 730 St. Michael’s Drive. 471-0440 Lunch/Dinner. Beer/Wine. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Real comfort food. Atmosphere: Unpretentious. H ouse specialties : Fried Rosemary Olives, Shrimp and Grits, Beer Battered Fish and Chips, Braised Bison Short Rib Nachos, and Southern Fried Chicken. Comments: The homemade salsas are delicious. Nice selection of beer, wine, and aperitifs. Teriffic desserts.
continued on page 25 NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine |23
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DINING GUIDE
THE SEARED PROSCIUTTOWRAPPED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH WARM POTATO SALAD, BABY BOK CHOY, AND FRESH PLUM SAUCE AT MIDTOWN BISTRO: 901 WEST SAN MATEO. RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED: 505-820-3121
Masa Sushi 927 W. Alameda St. 982-3334. Lunch/Dinner Sake/Beer Major credit cards. $$ C uisine : Japanese. A tmosphere : Low-key. H ouse specialties : For lunch or dinner: Start with the Miso soup and/or the Seaweed Salad. The spicy Salmon Roll is marvelous, as are the Ojo Caliente and the Caterpiller rolls. The Tuna Sashimi is delicious. C omments : Highly recommended. Midtown Bistro 910 W. San Mateo, Suite A. 820-3121. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine/ Patio. Major credit cards. $$ C uisine : American fare with a Southwestern twist. A tmosphere : Beautiful open room. H ouse specialties : For lunch: the Pacific Blue Crab Cakes or the Baby Arugula Salad or the Chicken or Pork Taquitos. Dinner: Seared Pork Tenderloin or the Alaskan Halibut. C omments : Nice desserts. Mu Du Noodles 1494 Cerrillos Rd. 983-1411. Dinner/Sunday Brunch Beer/Wine. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Pan-Asian. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Green Thai Curry, Comments: Organic. New York Deli Guadalupe & Catron St. 982-8900. Breakfast/Lunch Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: New York deli. Atmosphere: Large open space. House specialties: Soups, Salads, Bagels, Pancakes, and gourmet Burgers. Nexus 4730 Pan American Fwy East. Ste. D. Alb. 505 242-4100 Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. Patio. Cuisine: Southern-New Mexican. Atmosphere: Brew-pub dive. House specialties: Lots of suds and growlers, not to mention the amazing Southern Fried Chicken Recomendations: Collard Greens, Mac n’ Cheese with green chile, Gumbo and Southern Fried Fish n’ Chips. Comments: Fair prices. Oasis Cafeé 7 Caliente Rd.-A3. Eldorado. 467- 8982. Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American and Greek. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Gyros, Falafel, and the the best Cubano we’ve ever had. Comments: Friendly waitstaff. Plaza Café Southside 3466 Zafarano Dr. 424-0755. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner 7 days Full bar. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: American and New Mexican. Atmosphere: Bright and light. House specialties: Breakfast: go for the Huevos Rancheros or the Blue Corn Piñon Pancakes. All of the burritos are great. Patty Melt is super. Comments: Green Chilie is perfect.
NOVEMBER
2015
Rio Chama Steakhouse 414 Old Santa Fe Trail. 955-0765. Brunch/Lunch/Dinner/Bar Menu. Full bar. Smoke-free dining rooms. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: All-American. Atmosphere: Easygoing. House specialities: Steaks, Prime Ribs, and Burgers. Haystack fries rule. Recommendations: Excellent wine list. S an F rancisco S t . B ar & G rill 50 E. San Francisco St. 982-2044. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$ C uisine: Good bar food. Atmosphere: Casual, with art on the walls. House specialties: Lunch: the San Francisco St. hamburger or the grilled Salmon filet with black olive tapeade and arugula on a ciabatta roll. Dinner: the flavorful twelve-ounce New York Strip steak, with chipotle herb butter, or the Idaho Ruby Red Trout with pineapple salsa. Comments: Visit their sister restaurant at Devargas Center. Santacafé 231 Washington Ave. 984-1788. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Southwest Contemporary. Atmosphere: Minimal, subdued, and elegant House specialties: Their world-famous calamari never disappoints. Favorite entrées include the grilled Rack of Lamb and the Pan-seared Salmon with olive oil crushed new potatoes and creamed sorrel. Comments: Happy hour special from 4-6 pm. Great deals: Half-price appetizers. “Well” cocktails only $5. Santa Fe Bar & Grill 187 Paseo de Peralta. 982-3033. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American and New Mexican. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Cornmeal-crusted Calamari, Rotisserie Chicken, or the Rosemary Baby Back Ribs. Comments: Easy on the wallet. Santa Fe Bite 311 Old Santa Fe Trail. 982-0544 Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: American and New Mexican. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Lunch: the juicy 10 oz. chuck and sirloin Hamburger or the Patty Melt. Dinner: the Ribeye Steak is a winner. The Fish and Chips rivals all others in Santa Fe. C omments : Try any of the burgers on rye toast instead of a bun. Their motto” “Love Life. Eat good.” We agree. Santa Fe Capitol Grill 3462 Zafarano Drive. 471-6800. LuLunch/Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: New American fare. Atmosphere: Contemporary. House specialties: Tuna Steak, ChickenFried Chicken with mashed potates and bacon bits, and the New York Strip with a yummy Mushroom-Peppercorn Sauce. Desserts are on the mark. Comments: Nice wine selection.
Saveur 204 Montezuma St. 989-4200. Breakfast/Lunch Beer/Wine. Patio. Visa/Mastercard. $$ Cuisine: French meets American. Atmosphere: Casual. Buffet-style service for salad bar and soups. H ouse specialties : Hot daily specials, gourmet sandwiches, Get the Baby-Back Ribs when available. Second Street Brewery 1814 Second St. 982-3030. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Pub grub. Atmosphere: Real casual. House specialties: We enjoy the Beer-steamed Mussels, the Calamari, and the Fish and Chips. Comments: Good selection of beers. Shake Foundation 631 Cerrillos Rd. 988-8992. Lunch/Early Dinner - 11am-6pm Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: All American Burger Joint. Atmosphere: Casual with outdoor table dining. House specialties: Green Chile Cheeseburger, the Classic Burger, and Shoestring Fries. Amazing shakes made with Taos Cow ice cream. Comments: Sirloin and brisket blend for the burgers. Shohko Café 321 Johnson St. 982-9708. Lunch/Dinner Sake/Beer. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Authentic Japanese Cuisine. Atmosphere: Sushi bar, table dining. House specialties: Softshell Crab Tempura, Sushi, and Bento Boxes. Comments: Friendly waitstaff. Sweetwater 1512 Pacheco St. 795-7383 Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner. Sunday Brunch Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Innovative natural foods. Atmosphere: Large open room. House specialties: The Mediterranean Breakfast—Quinoa with Dates, Apricots, and Honey. Lunch: the Indonesian Vegetable Curry on Rice; C omments : Wine and Craft beers on tap. Terra at Four Seasons Encantado 198 State Rd. 592, Tesuque. 988-9955. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: American with Southwest influences. Atmosphere: Elegant House specialties:. For dinner: start with the sublime Beet and Goat Cheese Salad. Follow with the PanSeared Scallops with Foie Gras or the Double Cut Pork Chop. Comments: Chef Andrew Cooper brings seasonal ingredients to the table. Excellent wine list. The Artesian Restaurant at Ojo Caliente Resort & Spa 50 Los Baños Drive. 505-583-2233. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Wine and Beer Major credit cards. $$ C uisine : Southwest and American. A tmosphere : Casual, calm, and
friendly. H ouse specialties : At lunch we love the Ojo Fish Tacos and the organic Artesian Salad. For dinner, start with the Grilled Artichoke, and foillow with the Trout with a Toa ste Piñon Glaze. C omments : Nice wine bar. The Compound 653 Canyon Rd. 982-4353. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: American Contemporary. Atmosphere: 150-year-old adobe. House specialties: Jumbo Crab and Lobster Salad. The Chicken Schnitzel is always flawless. All of the desserts are sublime. Comments: Chef and owner Mark Kiffin, won the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef of the Southwest” award. The Palace Restaurant & Saloon 142 W. Palace Avenue 428-0690 Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio Major credit cards $$$ Cuisine: American Atmosphere: Victorian style merges with the Spanish Colonial aesthetic. House Specialties: For lunch, the Prime Rib French Dip or the Lemon Salmon Beurre Blanc. Dinner: go for the Lavender HoneyGlazed Baby Back Rib, or the Prime Rib Enchilada Comments: Super bar. The Ranch House 2571 Cristos Road. 424-8900 Lunch/Dinner Full bar Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Barbecue and Grill. Atmosphere: Family and very kid-friendly. House specialties: Josh’s Red Chile Baby Back Ribs, Smoked Brisket, Pulled Pork, and New Mexican Enchilada Plates. Comments: The best BBQ ribs. The Shed 113½ E. Palace Ave. 982-9030. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: New Mexican.Atmosphere: A local institution located just off the Plaza. House specialties: If you order the red or green chile cheese enchiladas. Comments Always busy., you will never be disappointed. The Teahouse 821 Canyon Rd. 992-0972. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Fireplace. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Farm-to-fork-to table-to mouth. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: For breakfast, get the Steamed Eggs or the Bagel and Lox or the Teahouse Oatmeal. All of the salads are marvelous.. Many, many sandwiches and Panini to choose from. A variety of teas from around the world available, or to take home make The Teahouse the best source for teas in the great Southwest. Tia Sophia’s 210 W. San Francisco St. 983-9880. Breakfast/Lunch Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Traditional New Mexican. Atmosphere: Easygoing and casual. House specialties : Green Chile Stew,
and the traditional Breakfast Burrito stuffed with bacon, potatoes, chile, and cheese or the daily specials. C omments : The real deal. Tune-Up Café 1115 Hickox St. 983-7060. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: All World: American, Cuban, Salvadoran, Mexican, New Mexican. A tmosphere : Down home. H ouse specialties : Breakfast:We like the Buttermilk Pancakes. Lunch: Great specials C omments : Easy on your wallet. Vanessie
of
Santa Fe
434 W. San Francisco St. 982-9966 Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: American. Atmosphere: Piano bar and oversize everything, thanks to architect Ron Robles. H ouse specialties : New York steak and the Australian rock lobster tail. C omments : Great appetizers. Vinaigrette 709 Don Cubero Alley. 820-9205. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American. Atmosphere: Light, bright and cheerful. House specialties : Organic salads. We love all of the salads, especially the Nutty Pear-fessor Salad and the Chop Chop Salad. Comments: Seating on the patio. When in Albuquerque, visit their sister restaurant: 1828 Central Ave. SW. Verde 851 W. San Mateo Rd.. 820-9205. Gourmet Cold-Pressed Juice blends Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Just Jjuices. Atmosphere: Light, bright, and cheerful. House specialties: Eastern Roots: a blend of fresh carrot and apple juice with ginger and turmeric juice, spinach, kale, and parsley. Zacatecas 3423 Central Ave., Alb. 255-8226. Lunch/Dinner Tequila/Mezcal/Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Mexican, not New Mexican. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. H ouse specialties : Try the Chicken Tinga Taco with Chicken and Chorizo or the Pork Ribs. And more then 65 brands of Tequila for your drinking pleasure. Zia Diner 326 S. Guadalupe St. 988-7008. Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine American A tmosphere : Real casual. House specialties: The perfect Chile Rellenos and Eggs is our breakfast choice. Lunch: the Southwestern Chicken Salad, the Fish and Chips, and any of the Burgers C o m m e n t s : A variety of delightful pasteries and sweets are available for take-out.
THE magazine | 25
Re-Op: ‘The Responsive Eye’ Fifty Years After - Visual Perception Today Through - November 21, 2015
Curated by David Eichholtz and Peter Frank. Featuring: Richard Anuszkiewicz, Karl Benjamin, Francis Celentano, Peter Demos, Fred Eversley, Gabriele Evertz, Beverly Fishman, John Goodyear, Christian Haub, Matthew Kluber, Tom Martinelli, Ed Mieczkowski, Ruth Pastine, Paul Reed, Richard Roth, Oli Sihvonen, Jack Slentz, Julian Stanczak, Robert Swain, Tadasky, Leo Valledor, Stephen Westfall, Sanford Wurmfeld, Mario Yrisarry and Eric Zammitt.
CHRISTIAN HAUB Float
Christian Haub, Float for Gilberto Perez, 2015, Cast acrylic sheet, 24” x 24” x 2.5”
November 13 - December 31, 2015
DavidrichardGALLEry.com DAVID RICHARD GALLERY
The Railyard Arts District 544 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 983-9555 | info@DavidRichardGallery.com
OPENINGS
NOVEMBERARTOPENINGS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30
Gerard Vachez Gallery, 418 Montezuma Ave., Santa Fe. 577-8339. Grand Opening: 5-8 pm. photo-eye Gallery, 541 S. Guadalupe St., Santa
Fe. 988-5152. Two Landscapes—England and Peru: black-and-white photographs by Edward Ranney. Reception and book signing: 5-7 pm. S anta F e C lay , 545 Camino de la Familia, Santa Fe. 984-1122. 3 New Mexico Artists: ceramic works by HP Bloomer IV, Eddie Dominguez, and Michelle Goodman. 5-7 pm. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31
Pastel Society of New Mexico, Expo NM in Hispanic Arts Center, 300 San Pedro NE, Alb. National Pastel Painting Exhibition: 24th annual show. 2 pm. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Freeform Art Space, 1619 C de Baca Ln., Santa Fe. 692-9249. Tales from the Middle Class: solo exhibition of Jody Sunshine’s works. 5-8 pm. Gallery 901 at the Encaustic Art Institute, 632 Agua Fria St., Santa Fe. 7808390. Angel Wynn in Retrospect: a broad range of the artist’s work. 5-7 pm.
Las Cruces Museum of Art, 491 N. Main St., Las Cruces. 575-541-2137. Paul Outerbridge—New Photographs from Mexico and California, 1948-1955: 35 images that were never printed during the artist’s lifetime. 5-7 pm. Marigold Arts, 424 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 982-4142. Southern New Mexico Artists: new works by Robert Highsmith, Carolyn Lankford, and Jim McClain. 5-7 pm. R ight B rain G allery , 3100 Menaul Blvd. NE, Alb. 505-816-0214. Perforated Hook Shafts and Triangular Cylinders: sculptures by Jeff Laird. Ultra Drones, Etc.: sculptures by Augustine Romero. 5-8 pm. Sorrel Sky, 125 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 501-6555. Deep Into Nature: landscape paintings by Jim Bagley. Figurative bronzes by Gerald Balciar. 5:30-7 pm. Weyrich Gallery, 2935-D Louisiana Blvd. NE, Alb. 505-883-7410. Variation in Sets: contemporary works in porcelain by ten art students. 5-8:30 pm. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Santa Fe Collective, 1114-G Hickox St., Santa Fe. Tom Appelquist: paintings and collages in the Abstract Expressionist tradition. 6-8 pm.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Newmark, George Maloof, Barbara Bally, Elizabeth Pinson, and Vickie Deane. 4-8 pm.
David Richard Gallery, 544 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 983-9555. Float: new acrylic wall constructions by Christian Haub. 5-7 pm.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Exhibit 208, 208 Broadway SE, Alb. 505-4606884. Painter’s Desert: paintings by Richard Thomson about his “love affair with the arid west.” 5-8 pm. Nisa Touchon Fine Art, 1925-C Rosina St., Santa Fe. 303-3034. Exquisite Corpse—The Surrealist Tendency in Collage: works by Hope Kroll, Sherry Parker, and Frank Whipple. 5-7 pm. Patina Gallery, 131 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 986-3432. Heavy Metal: richly imagined digital photographs of trash by Arthur Drooker. Anthracite: urban-inspired jewelry by Daphne Krinos. 5-7 pm. Verve Gallery of Photography, 219 E. Marcy St., Santa Fe. 982-5009. In the Looking Glass: photographic portraits by Maggie Taylor, Aline Smithson, and Micky Hoogendijk. 5-7 pm. Gallery talk and book signing: Sat., Nov. 14, 2 pm.
Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, 7 Paseo de San Antonio, Placitas. 505-867-8080. Artists Series November Reception: acrylic paintings, collages, watercolors, and mixed-media works by Elizabeth Bogard. Mixed-media works and paper arts by Vicki Bolen. Mosaics and cast glass works by Laura Robbins. Drawings by Dennie York. 2-3 pm. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21
516 ARTS, 516 Central Ave. SW, Alb. 505-2421445. Bewilderness: landscapes by Scott Greene. Rise: landscapes by Beau Carey. Part of HABITAT— Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts. 6-8 pm. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe. 476-1200. Flamenco—From Spain to New Mexico: more than 150 objects, including items used by renowned artists, Encarnación López y Júlvez “La Argentinita,” José Greco, Vicente Romero, and María Benítez. 1-4 pm.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Lauren Mantecon Studio, 123-A Camino Teresa, Santa Fe. 503-473-2786. The Alchemy of Mixed Media: group show for seven emerging artists: Sara Mckenzie, Julia Meeks, Laura
Two Landscapes: England & Peru, an exhibition of photographs by Edward Ranney on view at photoeye Gallery, 541 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe. Reception: Friday, October 30 from 5 to 7 pm. Show runs through Saturday, December 5. Image: Cumbria, England.
continued on page 30 NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 27
WHO WROTE THIS? “If art, all art, is concerned with truth, then a society in denial will not find much use for it.�
Andre Gide or Jeanette Winterson or William Blake or Bertolt Brecht
THE REAL DEAL
For artists without gallery representation in New Mexico. Full-page B&W ads for $750. Color $1,000.
Reserve space for the December/January Double Issue by Wednesday, November 18.
505-424-7641 or email: themagazinesf@gmail.com
The Big Show with Honey Harris and THE magazine Thursday, November 12 10:30 am 98.1 FM KBAC
OUT & ABOUT photographs by Mr. Clix Audrey Derell
SPECIAL INTEREST
Adobe Gallery, 221 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 955-0550. Fine Native American Art from a Private Collection: paintings from the Marvin and Betty Rubin collection of the post–Indian School style. Through Tues., Nov. 10. adobegallery.com Art House, Thoma Foundation, 231 Delgado St., Santa Fe. 995-0231. Luminous Flux 2.0: technological artworks including computer, lightbased and electronic artworks from pioneering experimenters and contemporary innovators. Also on view is Tom Joyce’s massive Aureole I, a 6,492-pound forged stainless steel sculpture. Through Spring, 2016. thomafoundation.org ARTScrawl, Alb. Citywide, self-guided arts tour: Fri., Nov. 6, 5-8 pm. The Heights Artful Saturday: Sat., Nov. 21, afternoon hours. Create your own tour: artscrawlabq.org AVA, A Virtual Art Space, 316 Read St., Santa Fe. 795-8139. The 3D Print: a look at the mercurial object behind the print. Gallery talk and interactive demonstrations with Tony Buchen on three Saturdays in November: 7, 14, and 21. 2 pm. Axle Projects, Inc., Santa Fe Botanical Garden, 715 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe. Stone Soup: community soup-making and fundraiser for Axle Projects. Sun., Nov. 1, 3-5 pm. axleprojects.org Canyon Road Art Brokerage, Santa Fe. 9951111. Harry Fonseca: through Mon., Nov. 30. canyonroadartbrokerage.com Corrales Bosque Gallery, 4685 Corrales Rd., Corrales. 898-7203. Anniversary Show: works by current members and three new artists, Melba Bushmire, Steve Feher, and Edward Gonzales. Through Wed., Nov. 18. corralesbosquegallery.com David Richard Gallery, 544 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 983-9555. New Paintings: abstract landscapes by Stephen Hayes. Through Sat., Nov. 7. davidrichardgallery.com
Taos. 575-758-9826. Pressing Through Time: an exploration of 150 years of printmaking in the Taos Valley. Through Sun., Jan. 24, 2016. harwoodmuseum.com Institute of American Indian Arts, 83-A Van Nu Po Rd., Santa Fe. 424-2300. Library Readings: with Helga Schimkat, MFA candidate in creative writing. Tues., Nov. 17, 4 pm. More events: iaia.edu JoyceGroup Santa Fe, Santa Fe Public Library, 145 Washington Ave., Santa Fe. Reading and discussion by lovers of the works of James Joyce. Led by Adam Harvey, creator of the acclaimed one-man show, Don’t Panic—It’s Only Finnegans Wake. Enthusiasts with all levels of knowledge are welcome. Free, Saturdays, from 10 am-12:30 pm. joycegeek.com Las Cruces Museum of Nature and Science, 411 N. Main St., Las Cruces. 575-522-3120. Following in the Footsteps: Family Science Saturdays, every Saturday at 10 am in Nov. More info: las-cruces.org/museums LewAllen Galleries, 1613 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 988-3250. Group Show: works by Christopher Benson, John Beerman, David Hines, and Kurt Solmssen. Through Sun., Nov. 1. lewallengalleries.com MoCNA, 108 Cathedral Pk., Santa Fe. 4242300. An Evening Redness in the West: group exhibition reimagining the Apocalypse. Meryl McMaster—Wanderings: photographs of McMaster’s personal journey through familial heritage and contemporary indigenous identities. Both on view through Dec. More exhibitions: iaia.edu/museum Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, 710 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe. 476-1269. Oblique Views—Archaeology, Photography, and Time: the story of the Southwest told through aerial photographs by Charles and Anne Lindbergh and Adriel Heisey. Through May 2017. indianartsandculture.org
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 217 Johnson St., Santa Fe. 946-1000. Modernism, Abstraction, and the Natural World: an evening of investigation in the galleries and discussion with curator Carolyn Kastner. Tues., Nov. 17, 6 pm. Reservations and more events: okeeffemuseum.org
National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1704 4th St. SW, Alb. 505-242-1445. Cultural Perspectives in the Global Quest for Water: talk with filmmaker Rubén Arvizu. Presented with 516 ARTS as part of HABITAT—Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts. Thurs., Nov. 12, 6 pm. 516arts.org
Harwood Museum
New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln
of
Art, 238 Ledoux St.,
Top: The Alchemy of Mixed Media: 7 Emerging Artists on view at Lauren Mantecon Studio, 123-A Camino Teresa, Santa Fe. Reception: Saturday, November 14 from 4 to 8 pm. Image: Laura Newmark. Bottom: The Suicide Girls will present Blackheart Burlesque Charity Event at the Jean Cocteau Cinema—418 Montezuma Avenue—on Monday, November 16 at 7 pm. The girls will perform sexy striptease numbers, filled with pop-culture references. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. Tickets: BlackheartBurlesque.com
OPENINGS
Ave., Santa Fe. 476-5200. “Taco Bell They Ain’t—Short Histories of TexMex, Mexican and New Mexican Cuisines”: Brainpower and Brownbags Lecture Lunch Series with Dale Rice. Wed., Nov. 25, 12-1 pm. nmhistorymuseum.org
Suicide Girls, Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave., Santa Fe. 466-5528. Blackheart Burlesque: sexy striptease numbers by the girls, filled with pop-culture references, including Game of Thrones. Mon., Nov. 16, 7 pm. Tickets: blackheartburlesque.com
Nisa Touchon Fine Art, 1925-C Rosina St., Santa Fe. 303-3034. Collage Party: bring your own beverage and snack. Collage materials and tools supplied. Sat., Nov. 7, 6-9 pm. Collage Workshop with Hope Kroll: two-day workshop for all skill levels. Sat. and Sun., Nov. 14 and 15, 10 am-5 pm. Registration: nisatouchon.com
Taos Chamber Music Group, Harwood Museum of Art, 238 Ledoux St., Taos. 575758-9826. American String Quartet: worldrenowned quartet will perform two different programs. Sat. and Sun., Nov. 7 and 8, 5 pm. Tickets: taoschambermusicgroup.org
photo-eye
Bookstore + Project Space, 376A Garcia St., Santa Fe. 988-5159. Baobab— Tree of Generations: exhibition accompanying a photo-book of the same title by Elaine Ling. Through Sat., Nov. 7. photoeye.com Pressing through Time: 150 Years of Printmaking in Taos, Taos. Multi-venue set of exhibitions, workshops, and educational programs devoted to prints and printmaking. Through Jan. 2016. Calendar of events: pressingthroughtime.com/calendar1
UNM Art Museum, 1 University of New Mexico, Alb. 505-277-4001. Necessary Force—Art in the Police State: works addressing the systemic forces in our history and our society that continue the violation of civil rights. Sowing Seeds in the Garden: the Mulvany Family Collection of African Art. Through Sat., Dec. 12. unmartmuseum.org PERFORMANCE
Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival, Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St., Santa Fe. 603-0558. The country’s oldest recycled-art market. Trash Fashion and Costume Contest: Fri., Nov. 20, 7 pm. Festival hours: Sat., Nov. 21, 9 am-5 pm and Sun., Nov. 22, 10 am-5 pm. recyclesantafe.org Santa Fe Clay, 545 Camino de la Familia, Santa Fe. 984-1122. Handbuilding with Soft Slabs: weekend workshop with Kari Smith. Sat. and Sun., Nov. 7 and 8, 9:30 am-4:30 pm. Call to register or visit santafeclay.com/studio/ weekend-workshops-2.
november
2015
New Mexico School for the Arts, Lensic Center for the Performing Arts, 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. 988-1234. Mara Robinson Tribute Concert: second annual concert featuring classical, romantic, and baroque music. Tues., Nov. 17, 6 pm. Tickets: ticketssantafe.org Popejoy Hall, 203 Cornell Dr., Alb. 505277-8010. National Dance Company of Siberia: vivacious display of music and dance in traditional costumes. Fri., Nov. 13, 8 pm. Tickets: popejoypresents.com
R io G rande T heatre , 211 N. Main St., Las Cruces. 575-523-6403. Malagueño Varieté: contemporary aerial and tap dance show created by Mexican dancer Rafael Gonzalez. Fri., Nov. 6, 7 pm. Tickets: riograndetheatre.com S anta F e P layhouse , 142 E. De Vargas St., Santa Fe, 988-4262. Playwright’s Workshop: dramatic reading of four new full-length plays by New Mexico playwrights in Nov. This program is dedicated to supporting local playwrights and encouraging the creation of new works. Details and tickets: santafeplayhouse.org or contact Jennie Lewis at playhouse@ santafeplayhouse.org. S inging for S helter , Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Main St., Las Cruces. 575-642-4334. Singing for Shelter: concert to benefit homeless youth via not-forprofit Casa Q. Sat., Nov. 14, 7:30 pm. Tickets: holdmyticket.com
Theater Grottesco, 474-8400. Pigeon Show—A Play of Fools: featuring Ronlin Foreman, one of America’s foremost clowns. Tues., Nov. 10, 7:30 pm at Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie, Santa Fe. Blessed Unrest: work-in-progress showcase with Bandelion Ensemble and Paufve|dance. Sat., Nov. 7, 3 and 7:30 pm at the New Mexico School for the Arts, 275 E. Alameda St., Santa Fe. theatergrottesco.org CALL FOR ARTISTS
3045 Variations on The Feast of Venus: an ongoing project by contemporary artist, Inga Krymskaya, involving adaptations and reinventions of the Flemish Baroque painting by Rubens. All materials and mediums welcome. Submit by Fri., Feb. 26, 2016. info@curzonpr.com Top: Angel Wynn: Past, Present, Future—a range of Wynn’s work—will be on view at Gallery 901 at the Encaustic Art Institute’s front gallery, 632 Agua Fria Street, Santa Fe. Reception: Friday, November 6 from 5 to 7 pm. Image: Coat of Many Colors. Bottom: Paul Outerbridge: New Photographs from Mexico and California, 1948-1955 on display at the Las Cruces Museum of Art, 491 North Main Street, Las Cruces. Reception: Friday, November 6 from 5 to 7 pm. Image: Roadside Drink Stall, Mexico.
THE magazine | 31
PREVIEWS
Jack Balas: Guy’d Book James Kelly Contemporary 1611 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 989-1601 Reception: Friday, October 30, 5 to 7 pm Through Monday, November 16 Jack Balas has reacted to the female figure in art with his paintings of Everyman—athletic, youngish men. These males are his current muses and he features them in series that include hand-drawn advertising layouts appropriated from the art magazines he peruses as a daily pleasure. There are also works that are his tributes to artists such as Lynda Benglis, Bruce Nauman, and Georgia O’Keeffe, artists who created work that he claims to have carried around in his head for years. Balas taught figurative drawing, and whether he is working in watercolor (as Charles Demuth did in his sailor paintings) or in his own oils of hunky Hawaiian surfers, these figures are exceptionally well executed. Balas states that given the daily glut of images we are inundated with his goal is to create an interesting, memorable, or even a transcendent image. A catalogue, GUY’D BOOK, accompanies the exhibition and contains one hundred fifty pages of paintings, photos, drawings, sculpture, and writing on his manly quest for gender equality in art. At his mid-show reception he hopes to bring along On Canyon Road, a suite of drawings begun several years ago based on the sculptures found on the art road of Santa Fe. Currently, Balas has work in an Art in Embassies Program exhibition at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna and in permanent collections throughout the country, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, San Francisco MOMA, and the Albuquerque Museum. Bruce Nauman, Sixpact (Muse/Museum Series #1201), watercolor, acrylic and ink on paper, 30” x 23”, 2015
Black Magic: Max Cole and Constance DeJong Charlotte Jackson Fine Art 554 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe. 989-8688 Through Monday, November 16 Approaching essence is a quest that artists have found compelling for the last century. Stripping away the decorative to find, at the core, beauty in sheer form, light, and the primal relationship of black and white is at the heart of this exhibition that features the work of minimalists Max Cole and Constance DeJong. The two artists provide viewing pleasure that resonates in harmony while contrasting in resolution and materials. Both utilize the square, the penultimate shape of Malevich and other early Constructivists. Cole’s paintings are created by drawing rows of horizontal and vertical lines with the paint applied layer by layer, emphasizing the rhythm of the lines, albeit as seen through a completely smooth surface. Contemplation of the elemental perfection of the Greek Cross form created by the interaction of black and white, at times creating a gray scale, affords the viewer an opportunity to enter into the still point of the painting and self in turn. DeJong works with exacting precision to create the square housings that support curved, arced and other copper shapes, which appear to glow, casting soft metallic shadows. Her Grids feature rectangular, folded copper sheets that are drilled with minute holes in fine grid patterns that release light onto the background of the structures in infinitesimal globes that seem to glimmer and move as the viewer observes the work. The effect is one of luminous energy, while the works contain the rigor of precision as well as spontaneity in the play of light. Max Cole, Untitled, Greek Cross Series 3, acrylic and acrylic washes, 13 ¾” x 13 ¾” on 20” x 20” rag paper, 2015
32 | THE magazine
NOVEMBER
2015
FLASHBACK 1994
NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine |33
SMALL SMALLSCALE, SCALE,BIG BIGIDEAS IDEAS
Featuring FeaturingNew NewWorks WorksByByCharla CharlaKhanna Khanna A selection A selection of smaller-scale of smaller-scale works works from from gallery gallery artists artists
LINO LINO TAGLIAPIETRA TAGLIAPIETRA
LARALARA SCOBIE SCOBIE
NOELNOEL HART HART
LEWISLEWIS KNAUSS KNAUSS
CHARLA CHARLA KHANNA KHANNA
KRISTA KRISTA HARRIS HARRIS
SHERYL SHERYL ZACHARIA ZACHARIA
CHRISCHRIS HILL HILL
GUGGER GUGGER PETTER PETTER
November November 28 28 - January - January 8, 2016 8, 2016
Opening Opening Reception: Reception: Saturday Saturday November November 28, 28, 1-3pm 1-3pm 652 Canyon 652 Canyon Road, Road, Santa Santa Fe, NM Fe, 87501 NM 87501 | www.tanseycontemporary.com | www.tanseycontemporary.com
F E AT U R E
THE LIFE OF SAINT AGNES OF TAOS
by
D iane A rmitage
The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality…. The more perfect the artist, the more completely separate in [her] will be the [woman] who suffers and the mind which creates. —T. S. Eliot, from “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” 1917
Agnes Martin, Ledoux Street Studio, Taos, NM,1954. Photograph by Mildred Tolbert © Mildred Tolbert Family. Courtesy Harwood Museum, Taos, NM.
continued on page 36 NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 35
Agnes Martin
did not believe in the importance of dwelling on the facts of an artist’s life when dealing with an artist’s work, but this past June the writer Nancy Princenthal published the first biography of Martin. The arrival of Princenthal’s book coincided with the opening of a major retrospective of the artist’s work at Tate Modern in London, an exhibition that will eventually travel to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2016, and close at the Guggenheim in New York in early 2017. The biography, Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art, is a welcome companion to the Tate’s scholarly, richly illustrated catalogue, with its spectrum of outstanding contributors, all deeply conversant in Martin’s extensive body of work—from her representational paintings done in the late 1940s, to her final startling images. These last paintings, particularly Homage to Life (2003), don’t function as a summation of previous work so much as present a doorway thrown open to the gravitational pull of her impending death, in late 2004 at the age of ninety-two. I might add that one of the writers for the Tate book is Richard Tobin, a Santa Fe resident and contributing writer to this magazine, who wrote about the artist in Agnes Martin: Before the Grid, the catalogue that accompanied an exhibition presented by the Harwood Museum in Taos in 2012. Tobin’s essay was cited frequently in the Tate book for its expertise on Martin’s early work.
in the process of preparing a meatloaf. We know, however, even though Tolbert’s image depicts Martin looking radiant and unselfconscious, a suburban housewife she definitely was not. Yet, this photograph suggests a kind of transcendent moment, an uncluttered happiness, a state of innocence, or even one of clairvoyance about the success that lay ahead in a career that would span another fifty years (in truth, her career still continues to expand well after her death). But Martin was only fortythree then, she hadn’t returned to New York to study at Columbia Teacher’s College, and she hadn’t yet found the grid, or the grid hadn’t found her. Anyway, looks are deceiving because Martin suffered from periods of extreme emotional instability throughout her life, coupled with audio hallucinations that would incapacitate her at times and require her to be hospitalized.
On the cover of Princenthal’s book, there is the
of Martin appears in the Harwood catalogue and is rarely
The photograph of Martin in her apron, however,
often-reproduced image of Martin, photographed in her
shown, and it too is by Tolbert from 1955. In this one,
doesn’t really suggest how robust she actually was—as a
studio in Taos by Mildred Tolbert in 1954. That image is
Martin doesn’t look like a deer in the headlights as she
young adult Martin was a champion swimmer and nearly
the same one that her older self is holding on the cover
does in the image with a cigarette. In the second image,
qualified for the Canadian Olympic swim team in 1936.
of this issue—the younger Martin looks pensively at the
she is standing, smiling broadly as if just told a joke, her
And if she was very good looking in 1955, she must have
camera and there is one detail easily overlooked because
eyes beaming with light, and she has on what presumably
been exceptionally attractive when she was younger,
her penetrating eyes hold the viewer on her face. Martin
is a painting smock but looks more like a kitchen apron.
beautiful really, and, in fact, Princenthal’s book quotes
is smoking a cigarette, casually held in her fingers that
Here, Martin looks for all the world like a pretty
the artist as having said, “When I was in high school, I
rest in shadow in her lap. Another striking photograph
suburban housewife, totally at ease with herself, perhaps
don’t know what struck me. I guess I was promiscuous.
F E AT U R E
But I got over it.” Martin in her maturity, though earthy,
As a former athlete serious enough to try for the
sturdy, sensual, and disciplined, was essentially a loner—
Olympics, Martin’s physical and mental rigor served her
all qualities that came in and out of her life and her art
well throughout her career. She might have turned her
in varying degrees as she periodically dove into the life of
back on the world every chance she got once she left
an artist in Manhattan, followed by cycles of retreat. She
New York, but it was because she was self-possessed
eventually left New York for good in 1967, then came a
enough in her understanding of the adamant needs of
vagabond journey across America, then a return to New
her internal genius loci. “You can’t be an artist if you
Mexico where she settled into an isolated existence on a
can’t be alone,” she stated in Lance’s film. Martin was
mesa in Cuba. Martin leased fifty acres because her voices
like a two-fisted time traveler who journeyed in and out
told her not to own any property. At first she lived in her
of her own mythic labyrinth, like a female Theseus who
camper but gradually she built an adobe house, “using
could slay the minotaur without having to commit to
skills she had developed in Albuquerque in the 1940s…
the desires of another person, as Theseus had had to do
and living on a diet of homegrown tomatoes, hard cheese,
in order to acquire his lifeline. Martin’s iconic grids and
and preserved walnuts.”
lines were the threads that got her into and out of the
Yes, Martin heard voices and she had visions too,
labyrinthine pathways of her strange inner landscapes,
but the visions she readily acknowledged, at least the
where inspiration met at right angles to mental illness.
constructive ones, the ones that appeared as completed
From her process of the determined reduction of the
paintings in her mind that she would then attempt to
superfluous and the threatening arose Martin’s visions
recreate as mirror images. Martin’s rapturous visions—
of happiness, purity, innocence, and beauty—all states
springing from the ongoingness of her inspirations—
of being that she saw in her mind with the clairvoyance
would form the artist’s index of signs and signals that, in
of lovers. Indeed, Martin could bank on her visions
effect, controlled her life, kept her in balance, and seemed
remained in place for her survival as an artist above
without really being a visionary—her inner life was too
to perpetuate a continual state of wonder. Yet, what
everything else? How much Martin struggled to align her
guarded for that, too overly determined by the strict
Martin actually “saw,” no matter what she said and wrote
interior emotional spaces with her abstract visions only
parameters of her ideas for the artist to engage in the
through the years, is still shrouded in mystery. That she
her closest friends would have known, if even they did.
wildness of the visionary way. A cascade of uncertainty
experienced her first vision of the grid as an embodiment
And if she had to repeatedly hammer the interior and
was intolerable for Martin as she did the numerical
of total innocence—in that case it was the vision of a tree
the exterior into place so they would align, what resulted
calculations for her paintings—the ratio of lines to
that inspired the grid—is a well-known anecdote. But
were paintings of uncommon grace and intelligence, and
painted space—keeping her safe from an ever-present
always there was a veil around her aphoristic words, and
inflected with intensely delicate emotional resonance.
chaos lurking in the shadows.
she used them as a form of hyper-negotiation, as intangible
Whatever the disparity between valleys and peaks of
The Life of Saint Agnes of Taos can be reconstructed
grids of vertical and horizontal thoughts that kept access
inner chaos and the strength of Martin’s outer framework
one adobe brick at a time. And like adobe, which can
to her psyche within acceptable boundaries. Her personal
of existence, the art that was born in Martin’s studio took
easily make curves as well as straight lines, it is prone to
metaphysics also directed those who followed her work
on the halo of the sublime.
weathering as soon as it is put in place unless you cover
along certain highly charged paths that she laid out
Martin’s
graphite
lines,
repeated
in
various
it with a veneer of something less susceptible to erosion.
carefully, lest her viewers go astray and project onto her
configurations over the years, were never twice the
Adobe lends itself to a potential for shape shifting and
art ideas that she most often refused to support.
same and, strangely enough, they look anything but
this applies to the history of Martin as well. She was both
The eyes that look out at us on both the cover
mechanical. From repetition sprang lines like deities
firm and fragile; clear about her own objectives, opaque
of Princenthal’s biography and this issue are the same
and, in her paintings from the 1970s onward, they held
about the nature of her inner demons; and in the end, she
stunning blue eyes that we see in Mary Lance’s wonderful
in check subtle and shimmering blushes of color, spaces
was her own sturdy avatar of an aesthetic vision that was
documentary on the artist, Agnes Martin: With My Back
between the lines that hovered between concealment and
like no other in the art world of the twentieth century.
to the World, completed in 2003. Martin was in her late
revelation—a seemingly infinite variety of dances between
While aspects of the history of Modernism lay claim to her
eighties when Lance began her project, yet even into her
the two that are part of the way one experiences Martin’s
extraordinary body of work, Martin’s ghost will always turn
nineties, Martin was proud of saying that she had twenty-
work. How did she know with such assurance that each
its back on any exegesis no matter how well intentioned,
twenty vision; she still drove her white Mercedes, and
work was its own infinite world and an endless incantation
astute, fine-tuned, or scholarly. All you have to do is look
her eyes had the clarity of a child or a mystic—someone
about the purity of intent? The writer, philosopher, and
into her face and realize her eyes were always on a distant
who filtered (or seemed to) only the purest of thoughts
mystic Simone Weil wrote, “Above all our thought should
plateau of mirrors unanchored to the things of this world.
and perceptions—eyes that radiated Martin’s dearly
be empty, waiting, not seeking anything, but ready to
Or so she would have had us believe.
prized and much trumpeted innocence. Or was it only
receive in its naked truth the object that is to penetrate
a sense of certainty, when the verticals and horizontals
it.” Weil’s thoughts seem so apropos to Martin, who never
of life have been squared away by disciplined repetition
stopped trying to empty her mind, and she never stopped
and a drastic simplicity, woven and recombined over
waiting to be penetrated like Saint Teresa of Avila, whom
Left: Agnes Martin’s worktable in Taos, 2001. Photograph by Guy Cross.
and over again until only the precepts that she desired
Martin admired.
This Page: Agnes Martin in Taos, 1998. Photograph by Guy Cross.
NOVEMBER
2015
Diane Armitage is an artist, writer, and instructor of Art History at the Santa Fe Community College.
THE magazine | 37
Me tal
Heavy
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Arthur Drooker Photographs
Grapple, Digital pigment print, 30 x 20”
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CRITICAL REFLECTION
Irina Zaytceva
Tansey Contemporary 652 Canyon Road, Santa Fe
IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT SEVERAL OF THE WORKS BY IRINA ZAYTCEVA ON DISPLAY at Tansey have already been bought by collectors or museums. They seem to spring forth
china in English, while the origin of the word porcelain is from the Italian porcellana for the
directly from the imagination via the artist’s fingers. Made of hand-built porcelain with
cowrie shell, which has a lustrous appearance. So the making of porcelain objects, which
overglaze and gold luster, each piece feels like a little world unto itself. They allude to
has taken many forms and embodied a range of functions and uses, continues to evolve.
Russian folk tales, with titles such as Knight of the Forest Vase. Most of the pieces are placed
Zaytceva, who worked as an illustrator of children’s books in Russia, seems to have
in front of a mirror so that their equally complex backs, often featuring a bird, may be
an intimate relationship with this material; her astonishing craftsmanship delights us
seen. The style of the pale, youthful faces and their coiffure or head covering suggests
with coral, flowers, vines, and tendrils as the surface design moves ever so fluidly from
the European Middle Ages, but there is often a twist of some kind, a sly subversion of
painted surface to three-dimensional sculpted form as if this transition were the most
the theme of innocence, as in the smooth-faced boy collecting opium in Poppy Lover Vase
natural thing in the world. She does not abandon the origins of clay and hand building,
(Poppy resin collector), and Kiss Vase, with its impressive corolla of porcelain “coral” that
beginning with the very basic notion in ceramics of a form, often a vessel. Hence the
would certainly interfere with any actual lip contact.
word “cup” or “vase” as part of the title of most of her pieces. One particularly complex
Tansey Contemporary is filled with work by artists who use materials that are
piece, Flapper After the Party, consists of four distinct containers which nestle together
associated with more traditional objects or a craft-related ethos (fiber, glass, paper,
into a single form that represents (again, sliding seamlessly between painted image and
porcelain) but who explore the limits or the very history of their materials, sometimes
three-dimensional extension) a couch with a 1920s-garbed young woman lounging upon
radically changing their structure to produce original and tantalizing works. While clay
it, her drooping hand holding an empty wine glass; the scenario then extends outward to
objects have been with us for millennia, the formula for porcelain, for instance, was
include discrete, realistically rendered items such as a small side table, phonograph player,
rediscovered, copied, or stolen numerous times in its complex history. It requires
and several records in sleeves strewn about the floor. Madame Butterfly Chio Chio San (four
a combination of petuntse and kaolin (along with a variety of other materials to bring
cups) works the same structural operation as Flapper—transition between painted surface
out particular desired qualities)—which accounts for its marvelous plasticity while being
and extended form—but uses the famous Japanese-themed operatic trope instead of a
worked—and then is fired at extremely high temperatures, which vitrifies the vessel and
modern party girl.
yields its precious non-porosity. The glazing process may involve several stages as well.
Rose, Bird & Butterfly Cup and Cranach Butterfly Cup feature handles in the form of the
Marco Polo returned to Europe from thirteenth-century China with many tales, among
beautifully painted wings of a butterfly or dragonfly, and of course the ubiquitous birds on
which was that of bowls of incomparable beauty; he had seen porcelain and was fascinated
the reverse side, visible in the mirror. It would be intriguing to ask the artist more about
by the artistry of the makers but also by the unique strength, fragility, whiteness, and
the importance of these semi-hidden birds in her personal mythology and her artistic
sometimes translucency of the rare and precious material. Soon it was highly prized and
process. This show once again teaches me that I can never dismiss artwork simply because
widely traded; starting in the seventeenth century various centers of production including
I assume it is not to my taste. Here is work that at first glance struck me as looking a bit
France, Dresden and Meissen, Cornwall, and later North Carolina became famous for
too precious and decorative; but upon close examination I discovered it to be complex
their wares. Having been first observed by Europeans in China, it was often simply called
and intriguing. —Marina La Palma Irina Zaytceva, Knight of the Forest Vase, hand-built porcelain, overglaze painting, 24k gold luster, 7” x 7” x 3”, 2015
NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 39
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CRITICAL REFLECTION
An American Modernism, Georgia O’Keeffe in Process, and Looking Forward/Looking Back
New Mexico Museum of Art 107 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe
THE EXHIBITIONS AN AMERICAN MODERNISM AND O’KEEFFE IN PROCESS are part of an expansive project in Santa Fe called
is Edward Weston’s Coolidge Dam, Arizona (1937).
In O’Keeffe in Process there are quite a few
“Fall of Modernism: A Season of American Art” that
Here Weston has visually isolated essential structural
familiar paintings by O’Keeffe and some not so
also includes work at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
elements of the dam and assigned them to another
familiar. One piece in particular is instructive and
Modernism established its American presence mainly
realm that defies explanation. This is a work about the
fascinating—a traditional portrait of her younger
in and around New York, but in due course Mabel
virtues of formal beauty and the mystery at the heart
sister Claudia when she was a little girl, done
Dodge Luhan’s beckoning finger brought a covey of
of the quotidian world. “Modernity is the transient, the
in 1905 by O’Keeffe at the age of eighteen. It’s
artists and writers to New Mexico to work, study,
fleeting, the contingent; it is one half of art, the other
a work that belongs more to the world of John
and play under the aegis of her magnetic personality
being the eternal and the immovable,” wrote Charles
Singer Sargent or Robert Henri than to the radical
and her modern, iconoclastic ways. Stuart Davis,
Baudelaire in 1859, when the concept of modernity
explosion that art underwent in the early twentieth
John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Dorothy Morang, Ansel
was being born in the exhaust, energy, and disillusion
century in Europe. Certainly, the painting of Claudia
Adams, and of course Georgia O’Keeffe were some of
of the Industrial Revolution, with all its mechanical
isn’t what you would call an example of Modern
the most influential of the early Modernists to become
inventions and its impressionistic blowback.
Art but it gives you a glimpse of O’Keeffe’s skill
inspired by intoxicating landscapes, santos, bultos, and Native American ritual dances.
Jan Matulka (1890-1972) is an artist I had never
as a precocious young painter and what she was
heard of before this exhibition, and I was riveted by
subsequently willing to relinquish in order to start
What were the Modernists after? For one thing,
his small painting Pueblo Dancer (Matachina) (1917).
all over again and reinvent herself as an artist. A
artists sought to extricate a form from its function.
He was born in Bohemia (now part of the Czech
decade after she did that portrait, she would pick up
They investigated, for example, corrugated metal
Republic) and moved with his family to the Bronx as a
some sticks of charcoal on the Texas Panhandle, dive
siding, concrete walls, smokestacks, a white picket
young man, and he was the first recipient of a Joseph
into her subconscious, and make those remarkable
fence, or, in the case of a Walker Evans photograph,
Pulitzer National Traveling Scholarship which brought
breakthrough drawings that would prove unlike any
properties
him to the Southwest. Matulka was considered one of
other graphic work being done in the early days of
of commercial signs and produce displayed in a
the first artists to capture qualities of Native American
Modernism in America.
predetermined geometrical harmony. In this exhibition
dance and transform the color and movement into a
A tangential show at the Museum, Looking
there is also the iconic photograph by Charles Sheeler,
decidedly modern kind of pictorial reality. The painting
Forward/Looking Back is an exhibition of work by
Side of White Barn, Bucks County (1917), that helps to
of Pueblo Dancer (Matachina) draws its influences
women artists, some of whom would become iconic
anchor not only the history of early twentieth-century
from European art at the beginning of the twentieth
figures on the art-historical continuum as Modernism
photography in particular, but also the unique focus
century—specifically Fauvism and Cubism. In this
gave birth to Postmodernism—Eleanor Antin, Faith
of much of American Modernism in general. There
work, you can’t tell the head of the dancer from the
Ringgold, Ana Mendieta, Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois.
is an elevation in this image of visual signifiers that,
dance of early Modernist inventions. Matulka drew
Two small pieces in this show are especially talismanic
once extricated from their original context, can be
upon the work of Matisse and Picasso because he had
in their intensity. Hesse’s Untitled (1967), an ink-
celebrated as examples of formal abstraction.
not only spent time in Europe, he had a studio in Paris
and-wash drawing on cardboard, is an intimate and
as well as one in New York.
delicate work of repeated circles in a grid formation
Roadside
Stand
(1936),
the
formal
Another work that reveals a focus on the abstract
that loosely ties her to the PostMinimalist movement. Femme Pieu (Stake Woman) by Bourgeois (1970) is a sculpture made from wax and old rusty needles. The work is small, dense, spooky, and pathological in its overtones. Femme Pieu could be viewed as a skewered torso, floating in an existential nightmare, waiting to have its darkness deconstructed in the deepening night. —Diane Armitage Left: Edward Weston, Coolidge Dam, Arizona, gelatin silver print, 7½” x 9½”, 1937. Courtesy Collection Center for Creative Photography. © 1981 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents. Right: Jan Matulka, Pueblo Dancer (Matachina), oil on board, 12” x 8½”, 1917. Collection of the Museum of New Mexico. Museum purchase 2005. Photograph by Blair Clark.
NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 41
TAOS MODERNS: Postwar Modern Art, 1940s & Beyond
203 Fine Art 203 Ledoux Street, Taos
THIS YEAR MARKS THE HUNDRED-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING of the Taos Society of Artists in 1915 by six American
The thirty or so small works in the show are
that is the underlying aesthetic that runs through the
artists from the East. They were drawn to the area
largely representative of each artist’s style. Those
entire tradition of Taos modernism. In this show,
by tales of the stunning southwestern landscape and
styles range from abstracted figuration to biomorphic
that aesthetic links such diverse formal and pictorial
its native peoples told by the likes of Ohio-born artist
and geometric abstraction. What these diverse
approaches as can be seen in Stu’s Mesa, a jewel of a
Joseph Sharp, who traveled in New Mexico in 1893.
manners have in common with other regional styles
watercolor by Wesley Rusnell, and a similar landscape
The Society’s founding members formed the core
is a tendency to eschew the dominant aesthetic
view in Keith Crown’s Little Intersections of Arroyo
group of what would become the Taos art colony,
and shifting trends of mainstream modernism while
Miranda, Near Taos.
initially referring to artists who had migrated to the
embracing its formal approaches in the pursuit of a
203 Fine Art was a sponsor of the recent Paseo
area during that period (the Society disbanded in 1927),
highly personal aesthetic, one that is often shaped by
Taos 2015, an outdoor arts festival in late September
over time embracing successive incursions of expatriate
local ethos. A case in point is Beatrice Mandelman,
that featured thirty-one installations presented at
artists from both coasts, and finally referring to today’s
whose move to New Mexico from New York in 1944
various Taos venues by some seventy-five artists “near
Taos area artists, galleries, and museums. The second,
was, in part, a reaction to the retreat of Social Realism
and far transforming historic downtown Taos.” Many
postwar influx occurred in the mid-1940s and 1950s
before the advance of the New York School. And while
of those selected by jury were from out of state,
and came to be known as the Taos Moderns, a term
both Mandelman and Ribak would soon assimilate the
and several hailed from different countries—visiting
that can be traced to the title of a 1956 exhibition at
Abstract Expressionist vocabulary and syntax, the
artists whose sojourn in northern New Mexico was
the University of New Mexico Art Gallery curated by
AbEx lexicon would always remain in the service of
far briefer than those of the earlier Taos modernists.
Raymond Jonson. It featured, along with earlier Taos
her abiding concern with the local Taos landscape.
If at first sight the installation art of the Paseo festival
modernists such as Ward Lockwood, Howard Cook,
Mandelman’s rapprochement with mainstream
seemed almost alien to the traditional legacy of
Andrew Dasburg, and Thomas Benrimo, a loose
modernism is, more often than not, one that is
Taos modernism on view at the local museums and
association of mostly postwar artists who moved to, or
encountered among most of the emigrant artists who
in galleries like 203 Fine Art, it can be argued that,
spent time in the area by mid-1950, largely from New
have defined the local dialect since its inception with
in its own way, Paseo and its artists continue that
York and San Francisco, including Beatrice Mandelman,
the Taos Society of Artists. And if isolation from the
tradition and the enduring aesthetic of the high desert
Louis Ribak, Clay Spohn, Edward Corbett, Agnes
major urban art centers came at a cost, it was a price
landscape.
Martin, Ted Egri, John De Puy, Louise Ganthiers, Robert
that the modernists in Santa Fe and Taos were willing
—Richard Tobin
Ray, and Emil Bisttram.
to pay as a trade-off for the region’s unique sense of
All these artists were included in the recent Taos Moderns: Postwar Modern Art show at 203 Fine Art, as were their contemporaries Earl Stroh, Cliff Harmon, and Oli Sihvonen. In line with the 1956 exhibition at the UNM Art Gallery, the recent show further broadens the “Taos Modern” appellation beyond its more historical reference to the core group of transplanted postwar modernists of the 1940s and 1950s (Mandelman, Ribak, Corbett, Sihvonen, and Spohn) to embrace several artists dating to the earlier modernist period in Taos and Santa Fe—Ernest Blumenschein, Raymond Jonson, and Florence Miller Pierce, as well as several later modernists who settled or spent significant time in Taos in the following decades, such as Wesley Rusnell, Michio Takayama, Lawrence Calgano, R. C. Ellis, and Keith Crown. A look at the artist biographies and the diversity of their modernist styles suggests why Taos continues to sustain one of the oldest art colonies in the country. And the desire to form an association of artists was not limited to the Taos Moderns. In 1938, Emil Bisttram invited Miller and husband Horace Pierce to join the Transcendental Painting Group, which he cofounded with artist Raymond Jonson. Bisttram was also a founding member of the Taos Artists Association, and in 1947 Ribak founded the Taos Valley Art School.
place. For it is the northern New Mexico landscape
Wesley Rusnell, Stu’s Mesa, watercolor on paper, 14” x 16”, 2003
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Elliott McDowell—New Mexico Photographs: 1975-2015
Webster Collection 54½ Lincoln Avenue (on the Plaza), Santa Fe “To compose a subject well means no more than to see and present it in the strongest manner possible.” —Edward Weston
AROUND 1964 ELLIOTT MCDOWELL BEGAN MAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF HIS FRIENDS using a Polaroid Land Camera. Several years later he began to do serious photography.
while pretty much abandoning his black-and-white work. This body of work—represent-
His subject matter at the time was decidedly direct: a lone cactus in the desert, the fins
ed by just one photograph in the exhibition—gave visual form to McDowell’s thoughts,
of a 1960 Fleetwood Cadillac, and powerful portraits of the many characters that peo-
feelings, memories, dreams, and fantasies. Although attractive, colorful, thought provok-
pled the streets of Santa Fe and Taos in the seventies. His photographs were immaculate,
ing, and technically excellent, it lacked the potent presence of the earlier work, with its
thoughtful, and displayed an unmistakable crispness. His compositions were formal and
melancholic whites and dark, moody blacks.
pure. McDowell was not a snapshot shooter, nor a photographer who made hundreds of
The exhibition at the Webster Collection is a showcase of stunning works by Mc-
exposures to get the shot. He took the time needed to investigate his subject matter, to
Dowell—photographs that focus on artists and landscapes, and span more than forty
carefully look, and then compose before taking his picture. He was not one to depend on
years of image making. His portraits of artists—R.C. Gorman, Tony Price, Fritz Scholder,
luck or the happy accident. Instead he trusted his eye, his intuition. Many of his portraits of
to name but a few—capture the essence of each subject, which is the main objective
artists are downright iconic. And his print technique was always impeccable.
of portraiture and also its main difficulty. Gesture and refinement are characteristically
McDowell’s source of inspiration was the work of Edward Weston. He studied
present in each of McDowell’s portraits. Included in the show are his marvelous Boots and
Weston’s photographs and read his books. He was also, as were many photographers,
Wurlitzer and Moonrise Over Rolls Royce—a play on Ansel Adams’s famous 1941 Moonrise,
influenced by Ansel Adams’s approach to black-and-white photography—the zone sys-
Hernandez, New Mexico. Other standout photographs in the exhibition are too numerous
tem, which, simply stated was that there is just one color in black-and-white photogra-
to mention. If one enjoys the sheer beauty of the gelatin silver print, this is one exhibition
phy that is interesting: gray. Black is the darkest gray tone, stripped of all light. White is
not to be missed.
the lightest gray tone, pure light. There’s just one pure black tone and there’s only one
—Veronica Aronson
pure white tone, but there are two hundred and fifty-three shades of gray. Therefore, gray rules and dominates black-and-white photographs. “Gray rules” became McDow-
Left: Elliott McDowell, Tony Price: Yucca Flats, gelatin silver print, 16” x 16”, 1982
ell’s photographic mantra.
Right: Elliott McDowell, Boots and Wurlitzer, gelatin silver print, 20” x 16”, 1977
It was in 1996 that McDowell took a detour from straight photography. He discovered and fell madly in love with Photoshop, with the world of digital photography, and with Surrealism. In the darkroom, he used various printing techniques to create images that resembled a cross between a watercolor and a photograph. He experimented with layering of images, double and triple exposures—making dreamlike montages in color,
NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 43
Larry Bob Phillips: Paintings of the Electric Night
Phil Space 1410 Second Street, Santa Fe
L ARRY B OB P HILLIP S I S A MA I N STAY O F A L B U Q U E RQU E’S A LT SC EN E, as oxymoronic as that statement may be. Having
with how it serves to deflect the eye and mind of the
together with such succulent explosiveness that Clement
graduated with his MFA from the University of New
viewer away from the artist’s masterful ways with pencil
Greenberg must spin in his grave with every new issue.
Mexico in 2006, Phillips has been around the block a few
and brush on paper, panel, and the walls that serve as
(And you have, by the way, seen Phillips in Juxtapoz.)
times. For example, he cofounded
The way that Phillips uses
the legendary Donkey Gallery in
space and surface in his drawings
2003. Way too cool to survive for
is complex, too, in a delightfully
long as a commercial venue, the
awkward manner. It’s as if his
Donkey’s doors have long since
subjects are twisting in and out of
been kicked shut, but I caught the tail
three-dimensionality,
end (apologies) of its four-year run
post-Mannerist
during a period when Santa Fe felt
pose. The longer you sit and the
as dried up as an old arroyo in terms
longer you look, the more his best
of its ability or willingness to offer
work reveals a constantly shifting
much in the way of opportunities for
reality—the
emerging contemporary artists. The
the cumbersome to a delicate
Railyard Arts District was struggling
containment, from full-on boogers
to prove itself, and SiRuDi (the Siler-
and farts to the pathos of love under
Rufina district) was beyond anyone’s
a starry sky.
writhing
in
impossibilities
of
drawings
go
from
ken as an upcoming arts corridor.
All of his methods add up to
Nope, in the late aughts, Santa Fe
more than the sum of their parts,
had Canyon Road and the state
and perhaps the deepest joy to
museums, and they were no match
be found in looking at Phillips’s
for Donkey.
work is the poetry of it. There
Regardless
of
any
past
is
something
dreamy
behind
successes real or perceived by those
all those black and white lines,
of us on the outside looking in, the
something that sparks with the
best thing about Phillips is that he’s
fire of life itself. Although I chose
a born draftsman with an authentic
to run the image Drinking Bather
talent. He eschews any overt
in this review as a terrific example
showboating of his skills for a shape-
of several of the elements Phillips
shifter’s kind of approach. Just as a
employs in his work, I was quite
Velázquez painting can break your
taken with the mystical, and comic,
heart with the beauty of a shadowy
drawings Night Tree, BrainBow,
passage within what seems like
Bear Falls, and Shimmering Bather
straightforward
so
in the exhibition at Phil Space.
do Phillips’s drawings emerge out
Regardless of their orientation,
of their baroque backdrops and
they read horizontally to me,
veer into a dizzying combination
and are nearly as romantic as
of looping line and stippled form.
Western landscapes; in fact, the
Some of the items in his bag of
transcendent
tricks include a deep understanding
look great in the Sistine Chapel in
of graphic illustration within the
a parallel universe. Just before his
history of art. There is an easily
drawings tilt toward the precious,
recognizable comic-book aesthetic,
Phillips reels them back into the
as if a very young Phillips sat at R.
twenty-first century with some
portraiture,
Crumb’s knee and learned how to
BrainBow
would
cartoonish caricature that makes
draw pizzas, moons, and eyeballs that pop like juicy zits.
a mural’s surface. Speaking of murals, you might know
me think of Disney’s alter ego, Steamboat Willie on
Certainly he learned irreverence for “fine” art from the
Larry Bob Phillips as the “Alburquerque” artist whose
the mighty Mississippi.
likes of Crumb and other underground maestros.
work covers one of the walls of Artisan, the art supply
—Kathryn M Davis
Another deceptive tactic Phillips takes great
store in Nob Hill. Or, you might imagine you’ve seen his
advantage of is his use of negative space. I am intrigued
work in Juxtapoz magazine, where high and low come
Larry Bob Phillips, Drinking Bather, ink on paper, 68” x 42”, 2015
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Eric Garduño: Gravity’s Delta
Peters Projects 1011 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD “ARTWORK” IS THAT WORK WAS DONE by an artist, and the art exists as a result of that work. In the
mathematical symbol delta, a variable representing change),
working out answers to the same ontological question:
case of Eric Garduño’s solo exhibition at Peters Projects,
feels like a badge or seal, especially when inverted as in
where does the artwork begin and end?, or, what is “inside”
Gravity’s Delta (through December 26), the pieces are doing
Square Root (2015). A triangular piece of paper, covered
the artwork and what is “outside” of it?
work of their own. In constant dialogue with space, these
with organic patterns in graphite, is creased with smaller,
Across this body of work, we see various iterations of
works are also in continuous dialogue with one another,
root triangles, and results in a three-dimensional wall
blurring this definition. In Perimeter Drawing I (2014), a frame,
and project their presence beyond their discrete contours.
hanging—a metaphysical arithmetician’s delicate shield.
traditionally seen as “outside” of the work or containing
The seven pieces reflect strong formal considerations:
A careful “constructedness” characterizes the artist’s
it, is implicated in the piece and is drawn “inside” of the
a particular study of the unique geometry of the triangle,
aesthetic, and it is especially striking in Equilateral and
work. The exhibition also implicates and adopts gravity as
and an investment in space and gravity. Stripped down to
Untitled (Corner Shadow), both from 2015. These works
internal to its work: when it is handled or manipulated, it
essential outlines and shapes, but comprised of a variety
make use of antique wooden levels. The worn and rustic
would become something else entirely. Point A, B and C
of media and materials, the exhibition invites viewers to
surfaces of the levels recall their past lives as tools for
(apple triptych) (2015) pushes this boundary even outside of
indulge in a fascination with clean linearity, a minimalist
carpentry, construction, and creation, yet they supercede
the visible space of the gallery. Three double photographic
métier, and a repetitious definition and redefinition of form
their original use and intention with deliberate and
portraits of a single apple exist as three components of one
and shape.
thoughtful manipulation. Corner Shadow consists only of a
work. As the three objects head in separate directions (to
The Santa Fe–based artist is drawn to the triangle, he
level placed across the corner of the room and the shadow
collectors’ homes, or other galleries), the artist will track
says, partially for its economy. Triangles have considerable
it casts onto the walls below: a triangle. Craft and creation
their movements, creating yet another triangle, and again
and efficient strength despite their minimalism: to state
is again echoed in Ghosts Eyes (2015), which consists only
blurring the boundary of how and where the piece may be
the painfully obvious, they only require three lines. In
of sewing needles looped with thread. Two needles pierce
framed.
other words, the path from two lines to triangle is short
the wall, while the third hangs on the thread below, creating
The “work” of this work feels slippery and unfixed.
and direct. Throughout Garduño’s work, the same direct,
another equilateral triangle with the help of gravity. Gravity
Stepping into the light-filled space of the gallery feels like
minimalist practice is echoed and reverberates through
is also co-opted in Perimeter Drawing I (2014). A triangular
entering a world of aesthetic alchemy and coded visions.
his medium, construction, and content. His work is
piece of paper, framed with a loose piece of charcoal, is
The force of gravity, the ulterior motives of shadow, and
aesthetically clean and uncomplicated. The route from raw
marked as the piece is moved, meaning that the work of
the echoing histories of found objects are just out of
or found material to finished artwork is direct and overt. In
the artwork is done again and again as the piece lives on.
sight; like the feeling of a name on the tip of your tongue.
terms of beholding their objectness, nothing is hidden or
These objects expand into the exhibition space
Garduño’s work is compelling, and through the reduction
mysterious. In contrast, the body of work is conceptually
and speak to one another through a constellation of
of variables and repetition of select elements, viewers are
rich, layered with intimate, connotative inflections
referents. Viewers can ping around the gallery, tracing
asked to disrupt their own habits of viewing and to critically
and inquiries into aesthetics. Emblematic symbolism,
diverse connections and viewing and reviewing these
reapprehend art and the space it occupies.
materialism, geometries, and associations with craft and
intimate formal and conceptual relationships. The work
—Lauren Tresp
construction are all elements that show up in each of the
is intertextual, each informs and affects the reading of
pieces. The repetition of the equilateral triangle (also the
the next. And each makes a unique offering in service of
NOVEMBER
2015
Eric Garduño, Untitled (Corner Shadow), antique level, 2 ½” x 26 ¾”, 2015
THE magazine | 45
Stephen Hayes: Unpredictable Landscapes
David Richard Gallery 544 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe “I could spend the rest of my life in copying a chair.” —Alberto Giacometti
ON OPENING NIGHT AT THE DAVID RICHARD GALLERY A WOMAN ASKED ARTIST Stephen Hayes how he knew when his paintings were fin-
piction of a mountain but was later covered by gestural
not expected to appear again for thirty years. How do we
ished. It is a seemingly simple question. But the practice
marks. The marks are light in values so it appears as if
know? Because science predicts events, like, for example,
of knowing when to recognize a finished artwork is a skill,
an atmosphere has come over the landscape. Hayes ex-
lunar eclipses.
as much as knowing how to use perspective is a skill. And
plained it was nothing so literal. He had painted a typi-
Art and science both describe nature. A good sci-
though both are related to making art, you could say one is
cal foreground meant to give the viewer an impression
entific model should be predictable. If it is unable to
less scientific than the other. Perspective is based on conven-
of depth. But it was predictable, he said. So he went
predict, it is not considered successful. In art, though,
tion and predictability. Knowing when to stop working on a
over it with these marks, ridding the landscape of the
we talk about representational styles. Whether a style
painting is often unpredictable and different in each case. It
expected perception of space and adding movement in
is more abstract or realistic relates to which type of
is this unpredictability that makes working on art feel like a
a way that brought color to the surface. The finished
reality an artist is interested in describing: reality seen,
scavenger hunt, or an adventure. Though scavenger hunt is
landscape of A Congregation is the result of setting out
felt, imagined, or some other process we cannot yet
more accurate because the artist, like a hunter, either comes
to rid the painting of predictability.
explain. Artists like Stephen Hayes seek out the oppo-
back empty handed or with plentiful bounty. It is this hunt, this process, which so many artists refer to and enjoy.
Taking a break from writing this review one evening,
site of predictability. How does an artist know when a
I stepped outside and saw something red in the sky. Not a
painting is successful? When it is finished? Alberto Gi-
The modern artist Alberto Giacometti, probably best
barn. It was a red moon covered in shadow with a highlight
acometti might say, never! Asking Stephen Hayes, the
known for his gestural, elongated sculptures of the figure,
around one side. It was beautiful. Afterward, when I went
answer seems to be, when it surprises him.
was famously troubled by the question of finishing a work
inside and Googled, I found out that what I saw was a Super
—Ester Barkai
of art. Though he seemed to enjoy speaking of it—he often
Moon Lunar Eclipse, also referred to as a Blood Moon. It is
Stephen Hayes, Enclave, oil on canvas over panel, 60” x 60”, 2015
did so—he referred to it as “the terrible thing.” “That’s the terrible thing… the more one works on a picture, the more impossible it becomes to finish it.” Stephen Hayes tried to explain it to the woman with the terrible question (actually a good question about the terrible thing) while standing in front of his painting Enclave. Enclave is a painting of a barn. The barn is red, the grass is green. The colors are conventional, in that they are connected to reality, inspired by the Pacific Northwest where the artist lives. But then Hayes did something unconventional, dragging the green grass down so it appears more like paint than nature. The effect leaves the viewer with a barn that seems to have been lifted off the earth. It and the green underneath it hover in the atmosphere somewhere between ground and sky. Enclave could stand for all of Hayes’s work currently on view at the David Richard Gallery, a series of landscapes that drift between representational styles. Some are closer to realism, to the ground, while others move away from reality toward abstraction. Standing in front of this painting, the woman wanted to know: What’s the story behind the lines in Enclave? How did they get there? The artist told her. He used a straight edge to get the clean line where the barn meets the grass. Underneath the barn and grass are other lines. Those were the result of an unplanned event. They were not purposefully made, Hayes said, but when he saw them he decided to let them be—decided to stop. That’s when the woman asked: How did he know? How did he know to let those lines be? How did he know when the artwork was done? “It’s a process.” We walked over to A Congregation, as I was now a part of their group. This painting only hints at a reference to a horizon line. It looks like it started as a de-
CRITICAL REFLECTION
The Land Mark Show
Center for Contemporary Arts Muñoz Waxman Gallery 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe Art, when it is most successful, functions to move its viewer; inform and confront our consciousness; create a social change that is never static. —Grace Kook-Anderson, independent curator
GRACE KOOK-ANDERSON HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE THE ABILITY of nearly two hundred artists from the western United
Taylor’s photographs of what she calls “real landscapes,”
blended from the thirty-two scents used by orchid bees to
States to achieve all three of these elements in her role
those left behind by human construction, mines, and
attract mates.
as juror for the Center for Contemporary Arts’ juried
quarries. “She brings grandiosity to piles of rocks,” says
Walter Robinson offers two multimedia sculptures
exhibition The Land Mark Show. The call for submissions
Rizzo. Sharing an alcove with Taylor’s work is a weaving by
to articulate his capitalism satires. Teeter is made of wood,
requested “recent artworks that examine the relationship
Margaret Leininger called The Whole 9 Yards. Leininger uses
human hair, and roulette wheels. It resembles a giant pull
between mark-making and the contemporary landscape.”
naturally dyed yarns and hand weaves her pieces, working
toy, mounted with a cannon, which in turn is mounted with
“Several themes emerge,” writes Kook-Anderson in the
intentional, hemmed holes into the fabric that represent
two wooden seats and handlebars. Blond hair hangs from
exhibition guide, “which provide a view of our current
what she terms “the carving away of the desert.” The piece
one set, dark hair from another, just like the sparkly plastic
ecology: documentation of marks on the land and land use;
measures twenty-four inches by three hundred twenty-four
streamers on tricycle handlebars. The mood turns somber
the fractured reality of utopian visions; working toward
inches and hangs in a V-shape that extends from a corner
when it becomes clear that the teeter-totter in question
remediation and sustainability; and expanding the notion of
and along two walls.
is the cannon itself, complete with a wooden cannonball
community.”
Roxane Hopper uses in-camera double exposures to
that is on the brink of firing. Exodus blends another set of
The work of the twenty-eight artists selected for the
create impressionistic scenes that blend human and animal
elements: wood, taxidermy, fiberglass, leather, and glass.
show is distributed very successfully in intimate alcoves
figures with nature-scapes where neither overpowers
And the messages here are equally disturbing. The head
throughout Muñoz Waxman Gallery’s bright, open space.
the other, an inspiring take on being at one with nature.
of a wild boar is mounted onto a fabricated body. His left
There are paintings, works on paper, photography, videos,
Hopper shares her mood room with collaborative artists
forefoot pierces a human skull but his gait does not appear
sculpture, and multi-media installations. Co-curated by
Carla Bengtson and Peter Wetherwax, who operate
deterred. A weathered cowbell swings from his neck. His
Kook-Anderson and Angie Rizzo, CCA’s Acting Visual
outside the camera in much the same way that Hopper
leather harness is adorned with a Blackberry for navigation
Arts Director/Curator, the art reads both horizontally and
operates within it. Bengtson and Wetherwax place objects
and communication; a flugelhorn for emergencies; a well-
vertically. Three six-foot-by-ten-foot flags (archival pigment
and media into natural environments in ways that allow for
worn pair of red boxing gloves for self-defense; and a rifle in
on Jet Flag fabric) by The Legacy Project hang above the
interspecies communication. Mimetic Excess (video plus
a leather sheath that drags on the ground like a fifth leg. And
alcoves—or “mood rooms” as Rizzo calls them. Each flag
installation) includes a video loop that shows live bees that
the rider? A tall red and gold hourglass whose pristine-white
is covered with themed images from the Marine Corps
have been filmed “interacting” in a natural setting with bees
sand has run out.
Air Station in El Toro, California. The flags echo visual
from a second loop playing on a tablet. The double buzzing
The exhibition also features a solo show for Catherine
characteristics in the art on the walls below them. The
is intense, and it is mesmerizing to watch the live bees
Harris, selected from the larger group for this honor. Her
V-shape in splayed footprints on one flag creates a mirror
“communicating” with the tablet bees. On a nearby shelf
installation is called Trans-Species Repast and looks at non-
image of the hill-like piles of road-building debris in Kathleen
stand hand-blown fragrance bottles that contain perfumes
hierarchical relationships to landscape. Harris will host three performances at CCA where human visitors can share meals with other species. One of the quietest works in the exhibition arguably contains the most powerful emotional message. It is by Nina Montenegro and is called Against Forgetting. The split image depicts a wax rubbing of tree rings on the left and an oversized, inked fingerprint on the right. At first glance they could be a single image of rings, but they are not. Instead, they are nature robbed of a tree by our disproportionately large human imprint. Montenegro is also suggesting that the bearers of fingerprints can remediate with those same hands. The entire show feels like an insider’s guide to how artists see. “In this exhibition,” writes Kook-Anderson, “the arid West, in keeping with the vision of the frontier, is made up of diverse artists bringing a fecund set of ways to influence and move us, to help us see, and perhaps to compel us to be more engaged with our land.” —Susan Wider Nolan Preece, Willow Lake Carson Sink, Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada, digital archival pigment print, 16” x 24”, 2013
NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 47
Magician’s Table
Richard Levy Gallery 514 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque
MAGICIAN’S TABLE IS AN ELEGANT AFFAIR, FULL OF HUMBLE BUT SOPHISTICATED PLEASURES. The three artists, Jay Kelly, Jenna Kuiper, and Matt
causing the elements to pitch forward to the picture
Orange Progression have the same format, and as in
Magee, vary considerably in style, media, and stage of
plane as if to say, “See, it’s just painting. No tricks.”
Albers’ squares, each work investigates the emotional
career, but find shared ground in an obvious affection
Kuiper does something similar in this piece, disturbing
effects of different colors and serial takes. Caracas,
for High Modern forebears. The works play off each
illusionistic space, exposing the lie. She shows how
Six Weeks, and Xantrion each stylishly reexamine
other’s respective strengths, covering quite a bit of
photography is, after all, essentially just one big magic
non-objective grid painting, but aren’t so uptight to
aesthetic territory. If there are weaknesses, one is so
trick.
mind oblique allusions to calendars, street maps, and
charmed and relieved by the abundance of small joys in
Like Kelly, painter Matt Magee generally works
the pieces themselves, and the conversations they’re
at an intimate scale, and oblique references to art
In recent years, formalism has often felt the need
engaged in with each other and their influences, that
of the last century abound. Albers comes to mind,
to excuse itself as merely a design tactic to present
it feels ungenerous to quibble. And unnecessary.
Mondrian, and in certain works, early Frank Stella.
life-as-art performances or activism. If that’s true
defunct computer punch cards.
Kelly’s sculptures feel like maquettes of lost sets
Like Stella’s vector paintings, Magee paints his fixed
for any of Magee’s paintings, it’s a relief to not be
in a Beckett play, or oversized chess pieces crafted
geometries free hand. This human touch, combined
in on it. His concise visual arrangements lyrically
for Duchamp by a young Giacometti, with help from
with the paintings’ moderate sizes, lends the work a
get at something pre-verbal. They sing. The tunes
Isamu Noguchi. This is to say they play freely in the
gentility and vulnerability that was almost anathema to
seem straightforward enough, but the effects are
fields of the mod. Happily, we exist out here well
art fifty years ago (and often enough now). The work
redemptive in their clarity.
beyond the manifestos and the heated rhetoric of
is adamantly abstract and flat, reasserting the power
—Titus O’Brien
the last century, or the postmodern impetus to kill
of painting for painting’s sake. It’s easier to see these
off hypocritical parents. Loving the moderns is maybe
days how that is not such a negligible victory. Magee
Jenna Kuiper, Prima Materia, silver gelatin photogram, 20” x 22”, 2015.
like loving drunk family members despite their bad
often starts with a simple visual premise, following
Courtesy of Richard Levy Gallery and Jenna Kuiper.
behavior and abusive tendencies. It’s complicated. It’s
through with variations on the theme. Blue U 2 and
fun to have Kelly bring to mind the aforementioned artists, and Paul Klee, and the knobbly, stately little bronzes of Julio González, the great Spanish modernist who taught Picasso how to weld. There is a lot of subtle humor here, too, especially in the way the work courageously alludes to Mad Men–era commercial sculpture: those cheesy abstract clouds of welded brass squares and raku-fired beatnik weed pots. The pieces distill the good, the bad, and the ugly from the past, compacting them into punchy little powerhouses rife with fascinating formal details. The show takes its title from one of Jenna Kuiper’s large-scale photographic prints. Most pieces appear at first glance to be realistic value studies of classic Platonic forms. Despite their naturalistic appearance, rough edges reveal they are photograms: illusions, hand-built from light. Some don’t go far beyond that, and act more as the record of an investigation into darkroom techniques. Risking greater complexity, pieces like Temple of Three and the title work carve out more room for reverie and narrative, and you feel privy to some kind of moonlit alchemical ritual, replete with crystals and philosopher’s stones. A devout classicist, Cézanne said you could break all of nature down to cube, cone, and sphere. Kuiper is obviously starting from there. Prima Materia takes the Cézanne allusion one step further. He was among the first European artists to begin to fracture the acceptable conventions of Renaissance perspective. In his still lifes he would, say, split the table so that it entered a bottle at the neck and exited at the base,
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Necessary Force
University of New Mexico Art Museum 203 Cornell Drive, Albuquerque The International Association of the Chiefs of Police describes necessary force as: “the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance in an unwilling subject.” — International Association of the Chiefs of Police, 2001 “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” —Newton’s Third Law of Motion
THE EXHIBITION TITLE BEGS THE QUESTION, NECESSARY FORCE FOR WHAT? The answer is: maintaining unprecedented wealth disparity
driven, this is a powerful exhibition, though there is not
and income inequity, and the runaway profits of prison
much here that qualifies as a pretty picture.
The driving (unnecessary) forces of ethnic hate and big business unite in Begley’s Profiling.Is (Locations of Concern and
privatization, militarizing cops, and staging weaponizer and
Much of the work is photo-based and documentary
Information of Note). Begley composes a pretty convincing
banksters’ wars around the world. The Necessary Force in
in nature, chronicling police brutality against individuals
picture of (anti-Semitic) xenophobia run rampant using
this woe-begotten epoch of war-terror, state sponsored
and activist groups over the last half century plus. William
images, texts, and documents from the “Demographics
and the rest, is the police and military authority required
Karl Valentine, Anita Lutrell Fields, Larry Clark, Charles
Unit,” a secret operation within the NYC Police department
to wage the class war that is at the greedy heart of early
Moore, and Danny Lyon—a SNCC (Student Nonviolent
that meticulously (and unconstitutionally) infiltrated and
twenty-first century capitalism. Where we need a “peace
Coordinating Committee) staff photographer in the 1960s—
mapped the private lives of the city’s Muslim community.
on poverty” we find instead a war on the impoverished.
all present powerful black-and-white images within this
Raising similar concerns, though with different tribal
But the bounce-back is underway, as the Black Lives
context. The Selma to Ferguson show at Santa Fe’s Monroe
affiliations, Charlene Teeters’ portion of It Was Only An
Matter movement and Occupy have shown, and curators
Gallery was conceived in conjunction with Necessary Force.
Indian, her 1994 mixed-media installation documenting the
Karen Fiss and Kimberly Pinder so aptly demonstrate
These images not only vitally document important historical
police killing of Larry Caruse merges perfectly with the cop
through this eloquent exhibition. Heavy on research and
moments, but also speak to the universality of the struggle
car tableau. The artist recreates the image of the crime
meaning, the show has an academic rigor that makes the art
for egalitarianism against manipulative and oppressive social
scene as it appeared in a local paper, employing life-size, 2-D
spaces in Santa Fe seem fluffy. Conceptually and politically
authorities.
cut-out figures of police officers painted in grisaille, propped
The installation’s centerpiece—We Did It For Love—is a genuine cop car, lovingly flipped by collaborators Jamal
Other highlights include Mel Chin’s interactive, free-
Cyrus, Kenya Evans, and Dawolu Jabari Anderson and
style rap nightstick, and Dread Scott walking against a fire
endowed with crackling audio of civil unrest from Selma
hose blast in The Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded
in 1965, and from Ferguson and Baltimore more recently.
on Slavery and Genocide video. Two decades ago Nick
These tracks are interspersed with pieces of popular
Cave’s first “soundsuit” composed of twigs was created
culture; Sergeant Joe Friday from the Paleolithic TV series
in response to feelings of marginalization experienced by
Dragnet complains, “What are they even talking about?
the artist as he watched the Rodney King beating videos. A
Police brutality? What does that even mean?”
near life-size c-print of the twigged-out artist confronts the
From Abu Ghraib to Chicago’s Homan Square,
upturned cop car, supposedly safe in his skin. Jeremy Mende
from Gitmo to the nation’s many Immigration and
ponders 3-D printable handguns and national homicide
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Facilities, the
rates in a series of three algorithm-induced engravings,
necessary forces required by policing, surveilling, and
and Hito Steyerl’s video interviewing museum guards with
incarcerating to keep America and her empire churning
military and law enforcement pasts at the Art Institute of
are greater than any ever required by any entity in the
Chicago is a must-see.
world, and they come at enormous social and fiscal cost.
Bringing us finally to my favorite (succinctly sad)
Million Dollar Blocks courtesy of Columbia University’s
piece in this strong show: Phantom Negro Weapons, by
Spatial Information Design Lab will tell you just how
Nafis M. White, in which twenty-four photographs and an
much, while Josh Begley’s Prison Map allows viewers to
accompanying dossier document twenty-four mundane
peruse a digitally projected database of aerial imagery of
objects which police took for handguns resulting directly in
our country’s 4916 prisons, most of which Wall Street,
the deaths of twenty-four African Americans. In the U.S. of
and too-big-to-jail banks underwrite. The geometry
A. you can die today for a pair of jeans, a crushed pack of
of incarceration has a chilling beauty and efficiency. I
cigarettes, headphones, Skittles, a set of keys, a cell phone,
was suddenly reminded of the Nazi detention facility at
a spoon, or a dollar and some change.
Dachau, and the gutter there for directing blood away
—Jon Carver
from the wall used for executions. The mechanization and privatization of incarceration through the bogus “War on Drugs” is one of the clearest contemporary signifiers that a systemic “white supremacy” still haunts America.
NOVEMBER
2015
up around chalk marks delineating Caruse’s corpse.
Nick Cave, Untitled, digital c-print on metallic paper, 2006. © Nick Cave. Courtesy of Nick Cave and Jack Shainman Gallery, NYC.
*International Association of the Chiefs of Police, Police Use of Force in America, Alexandria, Virginia, 2001.
THE magazine | 49
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C H R I S P O O L E EDUCATION ANIMAL CURATOR AND FACILITIES MANAGER AT THE NEW MEXICO WILDLIFE CENTER WITH RED-TAILED HAWK SIENNA.
“Ten years later, blessed with a great job. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to be part of a great team that helps to inspire
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people to love wild animals. Learn more about the Wildlife Center: thewildlifecenter.org
Photographed at Spur Ranch by Jennifer Esperanza NOVEMBER
2015
THE magazine | 51
Recycle Santa Fe val Art Festi
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Rural New Mexico Road NOVEMBER
2015
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THE magazine | 53
WRITINGS
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD by
R oger S alloch
A word on the setting: The place is called Bocanda Copalita, About a thousand miles south of Texas. Off shore a couple of surfers stretch weightlessness to the breaking point While on the riverbank a young sculptress frames her reverence with thick lipped petals mud molded from the sand and the sea, from bird shit, Fish leavings, and The carcasses of ill-starred Pelicans. Mouthing words like a Deaf-mute, She shuts her eyes and Sculpting blood letters from the Sand draws a mound around them “Dios es Amor” it now says where the river wets the rose And two egrets In gray tights and yellow Spats stalk minnows with Darwinian restraint. Everything is new. What whispers in the water Hasn’t found its voice Yet. Her back is the color of The beach, Her Aztec forms are those of Rocks. She has been shaped by the Water and the wind, Her soul Crafted by the pristine, Untouched natural history of her own desires. Her expression speaks for centuries, For tribes, for a musical score whose sounds lift her smile up out of the shadows of all things past. When she takes my hand, I know We are at some end of the earth and That she is the reason I have come this far. She leads me into the Sea.
54 | THE magazine
Laughter is spindrift, Innocence the undertow. Even the fish Swim slowly around our waists. And a sea turtle Lingers by our feet considering what from its Point of view must be the strange possibilities of Toes. Countless minutes, but they pass. A fisherman is standing there. He is short, And dark, with a roll to his hips. He pauses on one leg coiled like eternity Before the big bang, then casts his line with the eye of a poet. His meter is perfect, it curls above the surf, An eyelash on the horizon, blinking In the sunlight. A moment later the line goes taut with a fish. (Has a poet ever known so precisely How to pull a feeling from the deep?) But that is only the beginning. A wave has washed her Initial offering away. But back on the beach, the girl has begun to Draw another vulva up from the sand: Once more, above the labia, it says “Dios es amor” And when like Adam, the fisherman offers his catch to Eve, laying it down perfectly in the middle of that Primordial parenthesis. Hearts stop and the moon steals a kiss on the other side of the planet. So castles begin, And wars of Religion. And love and longing and the language of belief.
Photograph by Roger Salloch Roger Salloch is a writer and photographer who lives in Paris, France. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Fiction, The North Atlantic Review, THE magazine, and L’Atelier du Roman. He has had photography exhibitions in New York City, Paris, Hamburg, Vologda (Russia), and Turin, Italy.
NOVEMBER
2015
The SouThweST’S LargeST aucTion of cLaSSic weSTern arT
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Auction PrevieWS f r i day, n o v e M B e r 13 f r o M 10 : 0 0 a M – 8 : 0 0 P M M ST | S aT u r day, n ov e M B e r 14 f r o M 9 : 0 0 a M – 1 : 0 0 P M M ST P e T e r S P ro j e c TS , 1011 Pa S e o d e P e r a LTa , S a n Ta f e , n e w M e x i c o
v i e w a u c T i o n h i g h L i g h TS a n d r e g i ST e r To B i d o r aT T e n d T h e a u c T i o n aT S a n Ta f e a rTau c T i o n . c o M f o r a d d i T i o n a L i n f o r M aT i o n P L e a S e c o n Tac T a da M v e i L , e x e c u T i v e d i r e c To r
S a n Ta f e a r T a u c T i o n , L L c | 9 2 7 Pa S e o d e P e r a L Ta | S a n Ta f e , n e w M e x i c o | 8 7 5 01 T e L e P h o n e : 5 0 5 9 5 4 - 5 7 71 | fa x : 5 0 5 9 5 4 - 5 7 8 5 | e M a i L : c u r aT o r @ S a n Ta f e a r Ta u c T i o n . c o M v i S i T S a n Ta f e a r Ta u c T i o n . c o M f o r a d d i T i o n a L i n f o r M aT i o n
Eric Garduño | Gravity's dElta Now through December 21, 2015
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William FrEj | día dE los muErtos Now through December 21, 2015