Santa Fean Magazine June-July 2012

Contemporary Art in the Railyard • Painting the Southwest • 100+ Artists to Watch

June/July 2012

art issue

the

LocaL ExpErts WorLdWidE

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Residential paradise and/or impressive gallery with spacious grounds, sculpture garden, walled courtyard and separate guest residence. Centrally located in a historic Eastside compound walking distance to Canyon Rd. galleries/restaurants. #201105751 $3,650,000

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3101 old pecos trail #602

Search for the unique

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122 Estrada redonda (La tierra)

A property offering an extra measure of what people look for in a home: ease and elegance, light-filled, single-level, open living and outdoor areas, 3 large and complete bedroom suites. Plus all the amenities of Quail Run. #201200386 $1,200,000

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K.C. Martin 505.690.7192

New construction 4BR, 3BA single-level in La Tierra on approx. 14 acres with exceptional Sangre de Cristo and Jemez Mountain views and lots of natural light. Gallery hallway and stained concrete floors with radiant heat, 2-car garage. $1,150,000

K.C. Martin 505.690.7192

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326 GRANT AVENUE 505.988.2533 231 WASHINGTON AVENUE 505.988.8088

Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark. The Yellow House by Vincent Van Gogh used with permission

417 EAST PALACE AVENUE 505.982.6207

“PROMETHEUS THE AWAKENER RETURNS” ~ Oil on canvas ~ 57" x 36"

Saints, Heroes and Corporations

Patrick McGrath Muñiz

May 25 - June 19, 2012 Opening Reception The artist will be present F r i d a y, M a y 2 5 , 5 - 7 p m

JANE SAUER 652 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501 505 - 995 - 8513

j s a u e r g a l l e r y. c o m info@jsauergallery.com

GALLERY

F orrest Moses s y l va n wa t e r s

June 29 - July 29.2012

Inner Banks, 2012, oil on canvas, 50" x 52"

LewAllenGalleries Downtown: 125 West Palace Avenue

Santa Fe, NM

(505) 988.8997

Please also visit our Railyard location: 1613 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM (505) 988.3250 www.lewallengalleries.com

info@lewallengalleries.com

R O G E R H AY D E N J O H N S O N

Red Window, Oaxaca, oil, 48” x 64”

One Oaxaca, oil, 46” x 40”

Two Oaxaca, oil, 44” x 40”

Windows from Oaxaca and Other New Works Opening June 1, 5-7:30pm at our West Palace location

MANITOUGALLERIES

123 W. Palace Ave. · Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 225 Canyon Rd. 505.986.0440 (Palace) · ManitouSantaFean.com · 505.986.9833 (Canyon)

and introducing the ultimate 3 book box set:

Release date: August 17, 2012 - (orders now being taken)

.“Pablita Velarde: In Her Own Words” by: Dr. Shelby J. Tisdale

.“Helen Hardin: A Straight Line Curved” by: Kate Nelson

.“Teaching My Spirit To Fly” by: Margarete Bagshaw

201 Galisteo St., Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 - 505-988-2024 - www.goldendawngallery.com Exclusive Estate Representative for Helen Hardin and Pablita Velarde

JOHN AXTON

“Cheyenne Skies”

24" x 24"

Oil

DOUG DAWSON

“Fountain of Light”

34" x 38"

Oil

Two Man Show Friday, July 27, 2012 • 5 to 7 pm

VENTANA FINE ART 400 Canyon Road

•

Santa Fe, NM 87501

•

505-983-8815

•

800-746-8815

•

www.ventanafineart.com

J I M V O G E L and G U S T A V O V I C T O R G O L E R July 27 – August 11, 2012 Artist Reception: Friday, July 27, 5 – 7 pm

Kokopelli, oil on canvas panel with wood frame, 49.5" h x 36.5" w

Santa Lucia Carved wood, gesso, watercolor and varnish 18" h x 8" w x 6.5" d

Blue Rain Gallery | 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite C Santa Fe, NM 87501 | 505.954.9902 Blue Rain Contemporary | 4164 4164 N Marshall Way Way Sco sdale, AZ 85251 | 480.874.8110 www.blueraingallery.com

Photo Eric Swanson

CAROL KUCERA

QUICKSILVER

Acrylic on canvas

64" X 42"

CAROL KUCERA GALLERY New Art for a New Century WWW.CAROLKUCERA.COM 112 W. San Francisco St., Suite 107 Santa Fe, NM 87501 866 989-7523 kucera@carolkucera.com Open daily 10-5, Closed Tuesday

joan watts poems and more

june 1– june 30 openinG reCeption:

Friday, june 1 5–7 pM

Charlotte jaCkson Fine art 554 south Guadalupe santa Fe, nM 87501 tel 505-989-8688 www.CharlottejaCkson.CoM leFt: untitled 22, 2011, oil on Canvas, 36’’ × 36’’ riGht: poem 2, 2010, oil on board, 12’’ × 12’’

Matthew higginbotham Land as spirit

“cloudscape series ii” 60 x 60 oil

august 28 through september 10 reception for the artist friday, august 31 5 pm - 7 pm exhibition dates

Waxlander Gallery

622 canyon road • santa fe, nM 87501 waxlander.com • 505.984.2202

celebrating twenty-eight Years of excellence

JULY JULY 2012 2012

HEADS UP

The art of portraits

With With these these fine fine artists artists from from the the USA USA and and Canada Canada • • • • • • • • • • • •

Juliette Aristedes Juliette Aristedes William Barnes William Barnes Daniel Barsotti Daniel Barsotti Lyndall Bass Lyndall Bass Michael Bergt Michael Bergt Steven Boone Steven Boone

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Leah Bradovich Leah Bradovich Braldt Braldts Braldt Braldts Susan Contreras Susan Contreras Edward Fleming Edward Fleming Matthew Gonzales Matthew Gonzales Kevin Gorges Kevin Gorges

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Michael Grimaldi Michael Grimaldi David Hoptman David Hoptman Daniel Hughes Daniel Hughes Laila Ionescu Laila Ionescu Geoffrey Laurence Geoffrey Laurence Charles Pfahl Charles Pfahl

The Steven Boone Gallery

714 714 Canyon Canyon Road, Road, Santa Santa Fe, Fe, NM NM 87501 87501 505-670-0580 505-670-0580 •• info@stevenboonegallery.com info@stevenboonegallery.com Visit Visit our our website website at at http://stevenboonegallery.com http://stevenboonegallery.com

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Coulter Prehm Coulter Prehm Elias Rivera Elias Rivera Michael Bergt Michael Bergt Christopher Rote Christopher Rote Anthony Ryder Anthony Ryder David Simon David Simon

R I M I YA N G New Works, June 1 – 23, 2012 Artist Reception: Friday, June 1, 5 – 7 pm

Sun and Red Hat, oil on canvas, 48" h x 48" w

SAN T I AGO Witness, July 6 – 21, 2012 Artist Reception: Friday, July 6, 5 – 7 pm

Time Travelers II, oil on board, 27.5" h x 30" w

Blue Rain Gallery | 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite C Santa Fe, NM 87501 | 505.954.9902 Blue Rain Contemporary | 4164 4164 N Marshall Way Way Sco sdale, AZ 85251 | 480.874.8110 www.blueraingallery.com

THOM R O S S Presents Hita von Mende

Showdown

40 x 30 inches, oil on canvas

“Hang On, Life’s a Wild Ride”

Opening Reception Friday July 6th 5:00 - 7:30 there’s the New West, then there’s the True West, and now there’s Due West.

DueWestGallery Named BEST WESTERN ART GALLERY by True West Magazine

Info@DueWestGallery.com 505-988-1001 217 W. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM

W I L L I A M S I E G A L G A L L E RY ANCIENT

CONTEMPORARY

Dust Stories 0910 encaustic on panel 60 x 50” 2011

Raphaëlle Goethals

August 31 - September 22, 2012 540 S GUADALUPE STREET SANTA FE, NM 87501 505.820.3300 WILLIAMSIEGAL.COM INFO@WILLIAMSIEGAL.COM

D A V I D

R O T H E R M E L

“Solstice”

60”x45” ac/panel

Showing at Art Santa Fe July 12-15th

575-642-4981 | 616½ Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | drcontemporary.com

N ic h o l a s h e r r e r a M ES T IZO FEATURING WORKs BY sUsAN GUEvARA

JUlY 6 - JUlY 30, 201 2 i oP eN i N G re ce P T i oN F ri daY J UlY 6, 5-7

(BELOW)

NICHOLAs HERRERA

LOs MATACHINEs

HANd PIGMENTEd WATERCOLOR / HANd CARvEd WOOd

41 X 39 INCHEs

PHOTO JAMEs HART

LEGENds sANTA FE I 125 LINCOLN AvENUE I sANTA FE NEW MEXICO 87501 I LEGENdssANTAFE.COM I 505 983 5639

John Oteri

Only in Dreams 29x18 Pastel

John Oteri Solo Exhibition 2012: Time Passages July 6 through 15

Opening Reception

Friday, July 6

5 to 7 pm

El Centro 102 E. Water Street Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 505.988.2727 info@joewadefineart.com www.joewadefineart.com

SILVIA LEVENSON LIFE STRATEGIES June 29 - August 11, 2012 Opening reception: Friday, June 29, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Still Life, 2011, Glass and metal, 6 1/2” x 14 1/2” x 8 3/4”

DAV I D R I C H A R D GALLERY

DavidrichardGALLERY.com 544 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284 info@DavidRichardGallery.com

gf

contemporar y 707 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.983.3707 art@gfcontemporary.com

gfcontemporary.com

MISHA GORDIN Shadows of the Dream 8 June - 18 August, 2012 VERVE Gallery of Photography 219 East Marcy Street, Santa Fe 505-982-5009 vervegallery.com

The Art & Soul of Santa Fe™ Luxurious Accommodations • Luminaria Restaurant Condé Nast Traveler ranked #25 Hotel Spa in the US

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the art issue june / july 2012

features

46 Making Tracks courtesy of blue rain gallery

A close-up look at the Railyard district, where contemporary art reigns

54 Local Landscape Southwestern art remains a big draw—and big business—in Santa Fe

54

David Bradley, Coyote Moon, acrylic on panel, 40 x 30"

62 The Art of It All The local scene is bursting with talent, from painters and potters to sculptors and photographers

30 Publisher’s Note

departments

34 City Different Summer art and music festivals, a new book on spooky New Mexico legends 40 Santa Favorites Beautiful, functional ceramic ware

42 Adventure Fly-fishing in Taos with guide Taylor Streit 44 Q+A Frédéric Chaslin, chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera

114 On the Market Pottery House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright 117 Dining Alfresco dining in Santa Fe and Taos, honoring local talent at Encantado Resort and Spa 126 Events June and July happenings 128 Day Trip Abiquiú Lake

Courtesy of ted larsen

81 Art SOFA West; artists David Bottini, Ben Steele, and more; gallery previews

109 Living Contemporary-art maven Linda Durham’s house of wonder

62

Ted Larsen, Referee, salvage steel and rivets, 46 x 32 x 32"

EfraÍn m. padrÓ

Brad Wilson, Mountain Lion #4, archival digital pigment print, dimensions variable

46

The Railyard district has become the heart of Santa Fe’s contemporary art scene

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Contemporary Art in the Railyard • Painting the Southwest • 100+ Artists to Watch

June/July 2012

art issue

the

ON THE COVER Misha Gordin New Crowd 50 gelatin silver print, 25 x 38" Courtesy of Verve Gallery of Photography.

publisher’s note

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when i was in art school, I had an instructor who stood in front of a pure white canvas and explained that every artist has the opportunity to create something that has never been seen or felt. New worlds could be created on that canvas—we were limited only by our imagination and skill.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be a white canvas. It can be a lump of clay or a white piece of paper that’s waiting to be filled with ideas. As I reviewed the art in this issue, it occurred to me that each artist faced a similar challenge and met it successfully, creating new worlds of imagery that move us, stimulate us, and, hopefully, make us feel something.

I see the cover of each issue of this magazine as a blank canvas, presenting us with the opportunity to surprise and engage our readers. I think the image we’ve selected this month succeeds in inviting a reaction. We may or may not like the image, but the artist has succeeded in making us feel something— which, to me, is what art is about. I’ve often found myself reacting emotionally to a piece of art that I would never hang in my home, but, nevertheless, I appreciate the artist’s message. I appreciate the opportunity I’ve been given to experience what he or she has created.

That’s how I think about art—the art in my home, in this magazine, and in the galleries that grace this beautiful city. In a society that too often shows little interest in our emotions, art allows us the singular and personal experience of getting closer to feeling and understanding who we truly are.

I hope you feel the full spectrum of emotions as you read this issue and find yourself loving or even hating the varied works of art you see on these pages.

In my mind, the miracle of art is its ability to make us feel.

And it all starts with a blank canvas.

BRUCE ADAMS

Publisher

DAVID ROBIN

In this issue, we are featuring Vueteligent. By scanning this symbol with your smartphone, you will immediately be connected to Santa Fe’s best online calendar and our website.

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O V ERHE A R D

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Q. Why has Santa Fe become such a key destination for art buyers?

“There are a couple of reasons. The variety of art is amazing. Your taste can run from ultra-contemporary to western or traditional, and you can find high quality art in that genre. Second, the art community is vibrant. There are world-class events that attract art buyers not only from the United States but from around the world—the International Folk Art Market and Indian Market, to name a couple.”

—Bonnie French, gallery director, Waxlander Art Gallery & Sculpture Garden 30

santafean.com

june/july 2012

“Art buyers come to Santa Fe for an all-encompassing experience centered on one of the largest selections of art in every category.

They find high standards of artistry and craftsmanship in the galleries and boutiques.

Their visits are enhanced by plentiful top-tier dining, superb spas and accommodations, and the clarity and drama of our natural light, all within a compact and charming high-desert setting.”

—Connie Axton, owner, Ventana Fine Art

“There is something special about Santa Fe that brings artists here and encourages their passion for art. So many artists have made their reputations through the work they accomplish here while still remaining ‘under the radar’ in their personal lives.

This includes artists from Georgia O’Keeffe to Bruce Nauman to the person down the street who loves making whatever it is he or she creates. Every visitor, whether buying or not, feels it when they arrive.”

—Sandy Zane, owner, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art

RE-PRESENTING THE NUDE II RE-PRESENTING RE-PRESENTING THE THE NUDE NUDE ’ IIII RE-PRESENTING THE NUDE ’ ’ II ’ GROUP SHOW CURATED BY JOHN O HERN GROUP GROUPSHOW SHOWCURATED CURATEDBY BYJOHN JOHNOO HERN HERN GROUP SHOW CURATED BY JOHN O HERN

Jamie Adams Jamie Jamie Adams Adams Daniel Barkley Jamie Adams Daniel Daniel Barkley Barkley Tamie Daniel Beldue Barkley Tamie Tamie Beldue Beldue Francisco Benitez Tamie Beldue Francisco Francisco Benitez Benitez Michael Bergt Francisco Benitez Michael Michael Bergt Bergt David Catalano Michael Bergt David David Catalano Catalano Carol David Coates Catalano Carol Carol Coates Coates Brian Carol Booth CoatesCraig Brian Brian Booth Booth Craig Craig Richard Thomas Brian Booth CraigDavis Richard Richard Thomas Thomas Davis Davis Teresa RichardElliott Thomas Davis Teresa Teresa Elliott Elliott Pamela Frankel Fiedler Teresa Elliott Pamela Pamela Frankel Frankel Fiedler Fiedler Michael Freed Fiedler Pamela Frankel Michael Michael Freed Freed Cia Friedrich Michael Freed CiaCia Friedrich Friedrich Kevin Gorges Cia Friedrich Kevin Kevin Gorges Gorges F. Scott Hess Kevin Gorges F. F. Scott Scott Hess Hess Elodie F. ScottHolmes Hess Elodie Elodie Holmes Holmes Carl Austin Hyatt Elodie Holmes Carl Carl Austin Austin Hyatt Hyatt Amy Kann Hyatt Carl Austin Amy Amy Kann Kann Richard Maury Amy Kann Richard Richard Maury Maury Carol Mothner Richard Maury Carol Carol Mothner Mothner Peter Muehlhausser Carol Mothner Peter Peter Muehlhausser Muehlhausser Vala PeterOla Muehlhausser Vala Vala Ola Ola Colin Poole Vala Ola Colin Colin Poole Poole Coulter Prehm Colin Poole Coulter Coulter Prehm Prehm Lee Price Coulter Prehm Lee Lee Price Price Paul Rahilly Lee Price Paul Paul Rahilly Rahilly Roger Reutimann Paul Rahilly Roger Roger Reutimann Reutimann Scherer + Ouporov Roger Reutimann Scherer Scherer + Ouporov + Ouporov David Simon Scherer + Ouporov David David Simon Simon Daniel Sprick David Simon Daniel Daniel Sprick Sprick Gary DanielWeisman Sprick Gary Gary Weisman Weisman Kent Gary Williams Weisman Kent Kent Williams Williams Pamela Wilson Kent Williams Pamela Pamela Wilson Wilson Pamela Wilson

EvokeContemporary.com EvokeContemporary.com EvokeContemporary.com EvokeContemporary.com

Daniel Daniel Daniel Sprick Sprick Sprick | tho | tho in | tho chair, in chair, in chair, oil oil onoil on panel, on panel, panel, 5555 x 43 55 x 43 x 43 Daniel Sprick | tho in chair, oil on panel, 55 x 43

participating artists participating participatingartists artists participating artists

06 July 5 – 7 pm | opening reception friday evening through July 31 2012 0606July July5 5– –7 7pm pm| opening | openingreception receptionfriday fridayevening eveningthrough throughJuly July31312012 2012 06 July 5 – 7 pm | opening reception friday evening through July 31 2012

RiCK StevenS Perpetual Unfolding June 22 – July 8, 2012

PUBLISHER

bruce adams

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Opening Reception: ASSISTANT EDITOR

amy hegarty

samantha schwirck

FOOD+DINING EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER OPERATIONS MANAGER

b.y. cooper

dianna delling

EDITOR

FRiday, June 22, 5 – 7pm

anne mulvaney

john vollertsen sybil watson michelle odom

ginny stewart-jaramillo

SALES REPRESENTATIVES

robbie o’neill, david wilkinson HOME+DESIGN DIRECTOR

emilie mcintyre

WRITERS

gussie fauntleroy, mendy gladden staci golar, miranda merklein, zélie pollon craig smith, eve tolpa, barbara tyner PHOTOGRAPHERS

kirk gittings, amadeus leitner gabriella marks, carrie mccarthy douglas merriam, efraín m. padró sergio salvador A PUBLICATION OF BELLA MEDIA, LLC FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

215 W San Francisco Street, Suite 300 Santa Fe, NM 87501 Telephone 505-983-1444; fax 505-983-1555 info@santafean.com santafean.com Spacious Aspect of Being, 2012, oil on canvas, 48 × 48 inches SUBSCRIPTIONS

$14.95. Add $10 for subscriptions in Canada and Mexico, $25 for other countries. Single copies: $4.95 Subscribe at santafean.com or call 800-770-6326 Monday–Friday, 8:30 am–5 pm PST santafean@pcspublink.com Also available on your tablet from iTunes for $9.99.

Hunter Kirkland Contemporary 200 – B Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 phone 505.984.2111 fax 505.984.8111 www.hunterkirklandcontemporary.com

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santafean.com

june/july 2012

Copyright 2012. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. CPM#40065056 Santa Fean (ISSN 1094-1487) is published bimonthly by Bella Media, LLC, 215 W San Francisco Street, Suite 300, Santa Fe, NM 87501. Periodicals postage paid at Santa Fe, NM, and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Santa Fean P.O. Box 469089, Escondido, CA 92046-9710.

Photography by Wendy McEahern

405 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | 505.983.3912 | www.vrinteriors.com Design Services and Retail Store. Convenient Parking in rear of building.

hot-weather high notes

the buzz around town

by Samantha Schwirck

around the world in a weekend art and culture Delicate silk scarves from Kyrgyzstan, colorful beaded baskets from South Africa, intricately embroidered quilts from China and beyond. You’ll find amazing art and crafts by 150 artists from nearly 50 countries at the ninth annual Santa Fe International Folk Art Market (folkartmarket.org), July 13­­–15 at Museum Hill’s Milner Plaza. The largest folk art market anywhere, its success (participating artists enjoyed more than $2.3 million in sales last year) helps, in various ways, to improve communities around the world.

viva la tradición Traditional Spanish Market (spanishcolonialblog.org), held July 27­–29 on the Santa Fe Plaza, highlights the talents of more than 350 Hispanic artisans who create tinwork, retablos, furniture, and other art and crafts using centuries-old techniques. Add to your collection, meet the artists, and celebrate New Mexico’s Spanish Colonial heritage with food and live music at the oldest and largest juried Spanish market in the United States. art and culture

clockwise from top: LISA LAW; COURTESY OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL ARTS SOCIETY; COURTESY OF MUSIC ON THE HILL

m u s i c You know it’s summer when Santa Fe’s music festivals kick into high gear.

The Santa Fe Bandstand series (santafebandstand.org) brings free outdoor concerts to the Plaza Monday through Thursday, beginning at 6 pm, from July 5 through August 16 (and at noon on Mondays and Wednesdays). Regional musicians are spotlighted and styles vary, with everything from norteño to Japanese drumming to zydeco swing having been featured in the past.

The seventh season of Music on the Hill at St. John’s College (st.johnscollege.edu/events/SF)—also free—kicks off June 13 and continues every Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 pm through July 25 (excluding July 4). This year’s lineup includes Bert Dalton’s Brazil Project, jazz vocalist Lori Carsillo, and R&B singer Hillary Smith with Soul Kitchen. Food and drinks from Walter Burke Catering are on sale, and picnicking is encouraged—bring a blanket and relax on the grassy fields while taking in the tunes.

If jazz is your genre, get ready for the New Mexico Jazz Festival (newmexicojazzfestival.com), July 13­–July 29. Launched in 2006, the festival brings local and world-renowned artists—including, this year, Ravi Coltrane, Dianne Reeves, Jon Hendricks, and Sheila Jordan—to venues in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, with many performances being held at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.

The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival (sfcmf.org) celebrates its 40th season July 15–August 20, bringing top-tier musicians to the City Different for dozens of intimate concerts at the Lensic and at St. Francis Auditorium in the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Jam es

Havard S tay ing a hea d of the Bea S t

Pain ti n gS, W o r k S o n PaP e r , ar chi v e Box e S

June 29 through July 20, 2012

435 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 T: 505 982-8111 www.zanebennettgallery.com

Only in New Mexico.

Only at The Santa Fe Opera.

2012 SEASON June 29 - August 25

FIVE NEW PRODUCTIONS!

TOSCA

PUCCINI

THE PEARL FISHERS BIZET

MAOMETTO II ROSSINI

KING ROGER

SZYMANOWSKI

ARABELLA STRAUSS

T I C K E T S S TA R T AT $ 3 2 Arrive early with a tailgate supper to enjoy the mountain and sunset views!

Enjoy video and audio selections online at www.SantaFeOpera.org • 800-280-4654 PREFERRED HOTEL PARTNERS

Ask about a special offer for Opera guests.

Opening Nights Sponsor

877-262-4666 www.encantadoresort.com

800-210-6446 www.hotelsantafe.com

800-727-5531 www.innatloretto.com

855-278-5276 www.laposadadesantafe.com

800-419-0493 www.bishopslodge.com

grape expectations festivals Most people don’t immediately associate grapes with New Mexico, but we live in the oldest wine-producing area in the United States, according to vintner Raymond Vigil, owner of Casa Abril Vineyards and Winery in Algodones. “In the past 10 years, [the local wine industry] has re-energized,” he says. “The success is because of passionate, hardworking individuals who love the art of growing grapes and making outstanding wine.” Casa Abril is one of more than 15 wineries participating in the 19th annual Santa Fe Wine Festival (santafewinefestival.com), July 7 and 8 at El Rancho de las Golondrinas—an event where exploring new flavors is strongly encouraged. “Normally you might choose what you like to drink, but that lacks adventure,” Vigil says. “Be adventurous! This should be the first reason you participate in a wine festival—to learn and expand.”

TOP TO BOTTOM: DAVID GEARY; COURTESY OF THE HISTORY PRESS

tales from our scary side books The Land of Enchantment has a centuries-old history that’s filled with stories of the spooky and inexplicable, from the headless horseman who’s said to gallop through the streets of Santa Fe to the mysterious fireball that may lead viewers to buried treasure near Arroyo Hondo. Author Ray John de Aragón presents these and other spine-tingling tales— many of which he heard while growing up in this state’s Las Vegas—in Enchanted Legends and Lore of New Mexico: Witches, Ghosts & Spirits ($17, The History Press).

New Concept Gallery 610 CANYON

610 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.795.7570 • newconceptgallery.com

M

A free and family-friendly summer concert series at St. John’s College

JULY

Enjoy great music in the open air.

JUNE

Wednesday evenings 6 - 8 p.m. on the athletic field.

13

Your own picnic and adult beverages are welcome.

20

18

JAZZ VOCALS

JAZZ TRUMPET

Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Catering by Walter Burke. Beverages from Sunflower Market.

No pets.

Bert Dalton

THE BRAZIL PROJECT

Lori Carsillo

11

Janice & Vinnie Zummo JAZZ VOCALS & GUITAR

Bobby Shew

27

25

JAZZ FLUGELHORN

R&B

Ron Helman

Hillary Smith with Soul Kitchen

fa i r Mo n t h e r i ta g e p l a c e , e l c o r a z o n d e s a n ta fe, new M exico

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| S A N TA FA V O R I T E S |

amazing glaze a dd s om e fla ir to your t able wit h lo cally craf t e d pot t e r y

by Sa ma n t h a Sch w i rck photo graph s by Gabri ella Ma r k s

Santa Fe’s clay scene is thriving, and functional pottery is an impressive part of it. The exquisite pieces are certainly art, but they’re art that can, and should, be used—from tableware to teapots and even tortilla warmers—and they’re available in every color of the rainbow, with any type of glaze, in almost every possible variation.

Named for a multi-hued entrance at the Pecos home of its owner, potter Allan Walter, Rainbow Gate (320 Sandoval, rainbowgate.com) is known for its collection of colorful ceramic dinnerware. The space, just a few blocks off the Plaza, is filled with pieces in bright, striking shades, each created by carefully firing the glazed clay at just the right temperature.

“Getting this kind of color is difficult,” says sales associate Mary Kodis.

“Everything is unique, and there are small imperfections, but we do it all—greenware all the way through to the finished product.” Customers can find plates, bowls, cups, teapots, and vases in nearly every hue, with many of the items featuring handpainted depictions of birds, fruit, botanicals, and butterflies.

If you’re missing a piece from a set of dinnerware purchased 20 years ago at Paseo Pottery (1424 Paseo de Peralta, paseopotterysf.com), chances are good that owners Janet Williams and Mike Walsh can replace it for you.

It won’t be exactly the same, but that’s part of the charm. “Everything is related but never identical because it’s all handmade,” Williams explains.

“I like to say it rhymes.” In addition to plates, cups, and bowls in designs

Clockwise from top: Pieces from Roger Allen’s Striped Ware line at Santa Fe Pottery at Double Take, Rainbow Ware at Rainbow Gate, vases by Theo Helmstadter at Green River Pottery.

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old and new, Paseo Pottery carries Williams’s tortilla warmers and pie plates, Walsh’s large-handled platters and chopstick bowls, and collections from six other local potters.

Also carrying work by a variety of local artists—more than 20 of them—is Santa Fe Pottery at Double Take (323 South Guadalupe, santafepottery.net). Along with classic porcelain and stoneware in natural tones by Frank Willett, who founded Santa Fe Pottery back in 1971, there’s Lynn Hull’s chile-decorated items and Luisa Baldinger’s white stoneware with blue mountain and red mesa designs. Other highlights include serving pieces, mugs, and table accessories by potter Bill Campbell, who combines two glazes to create colorful yet elegant porcelain with unexpected and unique patterns.

Across town at Green River Pottery (1710 Lena, greenriverpottery.com), owner and resident artist Theo Helmstadter, who uses words like “rugged” and “stony” to describe his pieces, creates Japanese-inspired dinnerware, teapots, and lidded jars in muted desert tones. “I like to think of my work as a kind of beauty that you notice over time,” he says. Helmstadter often works with clay he digs up himself in Abiquiú. “I like connecting with the earthy origins of ceramics,” he says.

Santa Fe Clay (545 Camino de la Familia, santafeclay.com), a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in the Railyard district, is part studio space, part supply shop, and part gallery. While the gallery regularly hosts rotating fine-art exhibitions, it also offers a nice selection of tableware and other functional pieces created by some 20 resident clay artists. If what you see there inspires you, sign up for a private lesson, group class, or weekend workshop offered in the well-equipped studio.

Heidi Loewen, who creates fine-art porcelain vessels and plates, offers private and small group classes at Heidi Loewen Porcelain Gallery and School (315 Johnson, heidiloewen.com). Experience clay-throwing with Loewen’s guidance; she’ll color-glaze the pieces you create and, when they’re finished, ship them to your home.

Clockwise from top: A handcrafted vase at Paseo Pottery, functional pieces at Santa Fe Clay, and handpainted ceramic dinnerware at Rainbow Gate. june/july 2012

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| ADVENTURE |

on the fly fi s hing a nd f e a st ing in Tao s wit h Taylor St re it photo graphs by Kir k Gittings

Legendary fly-fishing guide Taylor Streit has been leading people knee-deep into Northern New Mexico’s waters since 1980, when he founded the Taos Fly Shop. A member of the Fresh-Water Fishing Hall of Fame since 2001, Streit continues to guide clients and teach fly fishing, but he also finds time to get out on the river with friends. On a recent Rio Grande adventure, he met up with Taos-based painter Jim Wagner and Jim’s partner, Mary Shriver, to give Shriver her first fly-fishing lesson. Shriver, who owns Country Furnishings of Taos, quickly found her bearings in the tugging of the current, and, with the help of a Royal Stimulator fly, landed a wild trout, which she eventually released. Wagner kept the fish he caught on the outing, later grilling it up for a laid-back dinner with Shriver, Streit, and a few other good friends.

Streit Fly Fishing, 575-751-1312, taosflyshop.com

Fly-fishing legend Taylor Streit offers his friend Mary Shriver a lesson on the Rio Grande. Above: Shriver at her shop, Country Furnishings of Taos.

“Being surrounded by nature in its rawest form, at any time you expect a section of cliffs to crash into the river, or a huge trout or pike to attack you.”—Taylor Streit

Clockwise from top left: Streit selects just the right fly for the job; artist Jim Wagner at work in his Taos home studio; Wagner grills his fish to flaky tenderness; the friends enjoy dinner in the charming comfort of Wagner and Shriver’s home; Shriver, Streit, and the catch of the day.

Painter Jim Wagner is represented by Parks Gallery in Taos, 575-751-0343, parksgallery.com.

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| Q + A |

high-desert maestro Frédéric Chaslin makes summertime magic as chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera interview by Craig Smith

When he’s not living and working in the City Different, Frédéric Chaslin, the Santa Fe Opera’s chief conductor—who this summer leads productions of Puccini’s Tosca and Rossini’s Maometto II—has the distinction of living on a Seine-moored houseboat near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Here, he talks about life on the water, in Santa Fe, and at the forefront of some of the world’s best music-making.

You conduct, compose, cook, play piano and organ, do chamber music, travel . . .

You forget my strongest passion: flying planes.

I intend to resume my training and activity in Santa Fe this summer, if my Opera activities allow me the free time. There is much similarity between conducting and flying. In the first place, watching all the instruments!

But, of course, my dedication to music is the priority. At some point it is a devotion, like a religion. You have to become obsessed by the task you are being assigned to, and composition is the most demanding master. The beauty of a monomania like music is that every other activity tends to become connected. Like cooking. There is orchestration in the way you combine ingredients, and there is composition in the way you create a new dish. But, creating a new melody or a new dish: That is the highest challenge.

Do you have a favorite opera and symphony?

Favorite opera? I will be immodest and say the opera I am currently writing. If favorite 44

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means the piece that gives me the biggest thrill, then, of course, nothing can override the happiness of creating. That said, I love the operas that have a very good theatrical substance, like the operas of Mozart, Strauss, and Britten. And my symphonic favorites are among the Slavic ones, probably because of some family roots.

What work would you like to conduct here?

Now, if we talk about an opera not mounted yet in Santa Fe, I would probably think of Romeo and Juliet by Gounod, which I have done a lot. Or something that would definitely be too big for the stage, like [Prokofiev’s] War and Peace! But, more realistically, probably one of my favorite bel canto operas by Bellini, IPuritani.

Santa Fe is known as a true festival city.

Is it, to you?

I haven’t heard the Desert Chorale and I really want to find the time to see and hear more of the local talents. I am doing my

best at being at each possible concert of the Chamber Music Festival and of the Concert Association, but I cannot always attend all of them. That said, Santa Fe has the level of an international festival. The Opera's level is incredible and I would say, especially because of the level of the apprentice program, that is unique in the world. The only element that is missing to complete the picture of a festival is a symphonic series that would run parallel to the Opera and the Chamber Music Festival.

Have you developed a taste for Northern New Mexico cookery?

I am more and more into pleasure combined with health. . . . Organic has become an absolute rule, fish has overtaken meat. Although in Santa Fe I enjoy the buffalo steaks. . . . What is always exciting me, since I am such a big traveler, is to combine and mix different cultures on my plate.

Since 2009 and [my Santa Fe Opera debut in Verdi’s] La Traviata, I have cooked my adapted bouillabaisse in Santa Fe with great success!

Douglas MERRIAM/SANTA FE CVB

Do you miss the Seine when you’re in Santa Fe? I believe human beings originate from the water, and all of us feel happy near the water. But there are unique landscapes and treasures in Santa Fe and New Mexico that you would never find anywhere else. That said, since someone already created an opera house here, if I were a multibillionaire, I think I would choose a ring in the hills, like [Santa Fe Opera founder] John Crosby did, and create the Santa Fe Lake, where people would come and sail—and maybe bring my houseboat from Paris.

making tracks

Santa Fe’s contemporary art scene thrives in the Railyard district

by Eve Tolpa

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Efraín M. Padró

I

n recent years the Santa Fe Railyard has become synonymous with contemporary art. The increasingly vibrant area—which, after years of being reimagined and renovated, was relaunched to much fanfare in 2008—is well on its way to joining Canyon Road and downtown as one of the city’s major art districts.

The neighborhood’s had a lot going for it from the start. It’s anchored by SITE Santa Fe, the world-class contemporary exhibition space that’s been drawing the international cultural elite to town since 1995. And, as a terminus for the railroad, the area tends to have more warehouse-type buildings with open spaces conducive to exhibiting larger—and sometimes more interactive—works of art.

These were some of the elements that attracted gallerist Jim Kelly to the Railyard. “I liked the scale of the building, the industrial feel,” he says of the Hansen-Sears Building, where he opened James Kelly Contemporary in 1997. “It’s something you can’t find in Santa Fe closer to the center of the city.” In 2006, when the building was remodeled as a space tailor-made for showing contemporary art, other galleries followed his lead. Now the Hansen-Sears Building is home to three contemporary galleries—James Kelly, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, and TAI Gallery—with many others nearby. In May, David Richard Gallery—a second location for David Richard Contemporary, on Lincoln Avenue—became the newest to join the scene.

LewAllen Galleries, which has a space on West Palace, opened its Railyard location in 2009. LewAllen owner/director Bob Gardner saw the expansion as an opportunity to create a “museum-like space.” He and partner Ken Marvel designed their gallery from the ground up, and the result is both gorgeous and functional, with soaring ceilings, concrete floors, basement storage, and an outdoor sculpture deck.

“The restrictions on architecture in the Railyard are different from the ones downtown,” says Gardner. “You can use corrugated metal, all

Santa Fe’s Railyard district, south of downtown, is quickly becoming the heart and soul of the city’s contemporary art scene.

TAI Gallery

Tom Waldron, Bramble, welded steel, 9 x 29 x 9", at William Siegal Gallery june/july 2012

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Efraín M. Padró

kinds of different exteriors, stucco that isn’t brown.”

Having opened her own gallery on Marcy Street in 1989, Charlotte Jackson, of Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, relocated to the Railyard about a year and a half ago. “We’ve seen more and more contemporary galleries come into this area,” she says, “and SITE Santa Fe has been great for validating that.” Jackson, whose 2012 summer roster includes a show by local painter Joan Watts, notes that contemporary art in Santa Fe has evolved tremendously over the last 20 years, and that the city is “very much on the radar of collectors who come here to see contemporary art.”

Although it’s certainly not new to Santa Fe, contemporary art has, like so many other things, taken on its own character here. Trailblazers like Linda Durham, who exited the gallery world in 2011 after 33 years representing artists, laid some of the groundwork for what contemporary art in Santa Fe has become. Yet the town’s tricultural history also plays a part in shaping the Railyard scene. “Up until the 1980s, the ethnographic market was larger; historic art was very dominant,” says Steve Halvorsen, collections manager of TAI Gallery, which carries contemporary Japanese bamboo arts and photography. (Owner Robert Coffland is recognized internationally as an expert in the former.) A handful of the Railyard galleries display ethnographic work alongside contemporary ones, recontextualizing both in the process.

William Siegal Gallery’s collection, for example, gracefully bridges the two worlds. “The ancient material we show is minimal, not fussy—it has a direct relationship to what we show in the contemporary category,” says Director of Contemporary Art Ylise Kessler. To illustrate her point, she gestures to a striped Incan textile, dated from 1400 to 1532, which could easily be mistaken for a Jasper Johns. In June, the gallery is exhibiting work by New Mexico–based sculptor Tom Waldron, who, in Kessler’s words, creates “elegant, simple, meticulously crafted sculptures.”

Similarly, Jay Etkin Gallery displays a mix of contemporary and African tribal art, as well as some Native and Latin American work. “I like to bring those thoughts together,” Etkin says, adding that to juxtapose different styles automatically creates a relationship between them.

About a third of the artists he shows are from Santa Fe, and Etkin finds his Railyard location to be ideal. “The energy of the look and the proximity to other galleries attracts people,” he says.

Nonetheless, contemporary art represents a small sliver of the art market in general.

Large-scale sculptures dominate the entryways to LewAllen Galleries (top) and William Siegal Gallery.

Opposite: Woody Shepherd, Honey Blue, oil and acrylic on panel, 84 x 71", at LewAllen.

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Change is a constant in the world of contemporary art. And so it is at SITE Santa Fe, the not-for-profit contemporary arts organization that’s been a Railyard-area landmark since 1995.

From the start, SITE’s focus has been its biennials, international exhibitions of varying themes “that always had a distinct character people could rely on,” says SITE’s Phillips Director and Chief Curator Irene Hoffman. But while biennials were rare in the 1990s, today there are more than 200 of them worldwide.

This July, a collaborative exhibition with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts called More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness occupies the biennial’s time slot, breaking the mold and prepping viewers for SITE’s new plan, to be announced later this year. “It will signal a new era for us,” Hoffman says, noting that SITE also produces year-round exhibitions, a fact that tends to get overlooked. “It’s critical that we, as an institution, show what we are without a biennial.”

The other thing SITE is establishing is a greater tie to New Mexico artists.

“There’s a lot of work that doesn’t have a venue,” Hoffman says. “We want to be supportive of local artists, and the way we can do that is to spread the word about what’s happening here.” Hence, SITE’s SPREAD initiative.

The concept is simple. SITE hosts a cash dinner event, during which nine artists (narrowed down from 40 to 70 applicants by a panel) each give a five-minute pitch for a project they’d like to complete. Diners are given a ballot and vote on which artist gets the money. At the end of the night, the winner walks away with cash (recent “insta-grants” have totaled upwards of $7,000). Other potential payoffs for all who participate include exposure, education, press coverage, commissions, and opportunities for collaboration. “It’s our own reality TV show,” says Hoffman.

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out of SITE

Above: Jay S. Etkin, Subdivisions, ink, pencil, wax, and alkyd on paper, 6 x 10', at Jay Etkin Gallery. Opposite: A museum-goer sits in SITE Santa Fe’s Time Capsule Lounge. The lounge was designed by SITE’s chief preparator, David Merrill, and was part of an exhibition called Time-Lapse, which ended in May.

“People have to be fairly sophisticated and educated to appreciate it,” says Sandy Zane of Zane Bennett Contemporary Art. Yet it is precisely this element that is also the source of the genre’s appeal: “The viewer has to get involved, they have to find the story,” Zane adds. “It’s not laid out on a platter. You have to invest something of yourself in the work.”

Gardner posits that another attractive aspect of contemporary art is that it possesses an aesthetic neutrality that makes it look good “in New York, in Europe, in Santa Fe—anywhere in the world.” This factor carries a bit of weight in a city where the majority of the clientele is from out of town. Though LewAllen represents the so-called holy trinity of Santa Fe artists—Forrest Moses, John Fincher, and Woody Gwyn— at least half of what the gallery sells is abstract.

A remarkable aspect of the Railyard’s contemporary art scene is the degree to which the players involved are so dedicated to collaboration and mutual uplift. The Railyard Arts District, or RAD, was formed about a year ago by Zane and encompasses the galleries in the area as well as SITE. One of the group’s proudest achievements has been bringing visibility to the neighborhood with their Last Friday Artwalks, held (appropriately) on the last Friday of every month.

There’s a sense that sticking together benefits not only the Railyard but also all the arts in Santa Fe, especially in a sluggish economy. “I think art, in general—it’s something that’s not needed,” says Jackson, noting that other cities often jettison the arts when times are tough. “But because our community is built around art, and the history that we have is so rich in art, we are able to sustain it.”

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NIC NICOSIA IN THE ABSENCE OF OTHERS

JUNE 29 – AUGUST 4, 2012 / OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 5– 7 PM PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE OPENING IN OUR NEW SPACE IN THE SAME BUILDING IN THE RAILYARD

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local landscape Southwestern art remains a big draw —and big business—in Santa Fe

by Barbara Tyner

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B

eauty is in the everyday here in Santa Fe, but it’s something we don’t take for granted. Lilacs spilling over sun-warmed adobe walls? We’re never too hurried to breathe in the fragrant loveliness. Fiery fall foliage along the Aspen Vista Trail? We think cadmium yellow paint was invented, maybe, just to capture the dazzling display.

The reason we don’t take this kind of beauty for granted is because, for many of us, it’s what lured us here in the first place.

And it’s what lures us, also, into the evocative, nostalgia-filled world of Southwestern art.

Visitors fall hard for the area’s beauty as well—just look at the Taos Society of Artists and Santa Fe’s own Cinco Pintores, who plunked down easels in early 20th-century Northern New Mexico and gave rise to our modern-day artist colony. Hillside-drenching sunsets are heady and addictive at high altitude, no matter the century, and today, from our first glimpse of painted light on chamisa-studded hills, we flock as much to the work of artists as to the landscape itself. Because sometimes experiencing all that beauty once just isn’t enough.

“People love New Mexico. They come here from cramped cities and suddenly feel so open and free,” says Sande Sievert, co-owner of Sage Creek Gallery on Canyon Road. “They’re inspired by the landscape. They want to be a part of it somehow, so they bring it back home with them.” How do they do that? They buy a painting or a sculpture, perhaps one of Sage Creek’s breathtaking works by Bill Gallen or Marilyn Yates, which serve as touchstones reuniting them with memories of languorous sunny mornings scented with clover and sage.

The diverse and abundant assortment of galleries in Santa Fe representing Southwestern art ranges from the museum-like Nedra Matteucci, Zaplin-Lampert, and Mark Sublette Medicine Man galleries—all of which feature forebears of Southwest painting like Joseph Henry Sharp, Oscar Berninghaus, and Bert Geer Phillips—to Blue Rain Gallery, which showcases the playful postmodern musings of artists like Jim Vogel and David Bradley.

But what, exactly, is this ever-booming genre? It’s not cowboy art, although it might feature cowboys. It’s not Native American art, although it might feature Native subjects. It’s not just landscape, although landscape, of course, is just about everything in the Southwest. The “Southwest” in Southwestern art is a feeling conveyed, a sense of longing for a time, place, and sensation we may have met only in a dream. And that magic factor is purely a product of light. Ask any Caravaggisti, noir filmmaker, or horror-movie makeup artist: Light is the mood-maker, the nostalgia machine.

Dreamy, evocative, and timeless, Southwestern art asks one to relax her collar, slip off her shoe, and slow her heartbeat a pace. And that’s not a bad thing.

Left: Bill Gallen, Summer Thunderhead, oil on panel, 10 x 13", at Sage Creek Gallery

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Above: Irby Brown, Midday Magic, oil on linen, 24 x 18", at Wadle Galleries Opposite: Matthew Higginbotham, Canyon Cliffs, oil on canvas, 12 x 12", at Waxlander Art Gallery & Sculpture Garden

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Local painter Irby Brown, who’s shown his work at Wadle Galleries on West Palace Avenue for more than 30 years, uses light the way poet Robert Frost uses words, conjuring simple snowy scenes, intimate landscapes, and magic alleyways for your dreams and projections. His images of Santa Fe’s east side depict the storied neighborhood the way it looked 100 years ago—or maybe the way it looks today, as Brown has removed all temporal references such as cars, power lines, and people. With these works the 84-year-old painter creates more than scenic snapshots. “I am after communication,” he says.

“Not verbal communication—something that communicates to the viewer’s mind and to their heart.” But why do we respond to these images with such deep sighs and nostalgic recognition? “It has to do with color relationships, harmonies, shapes, spaces,” he says. “Though

the viewer may not know it, they respond to it.”

Brown is particularly passionate about painting Southwestern landscape en plein air. “It’s one of the most exciting things an artist can do,” he says. “To go out and capture something quickly—you capture substance. It has truth to it.” Three loaded brushstrokes and a few staccato scrubbings yield a peachy landscape caught in its morning blush.

Brown’s work is as deceptively simple as a good poem.

Newer-fangled Southwestern artists Maurice Turetsky and Thom Ross of Ross’s Due West Gallery on West San Francisco Street enjoy turning nostalgia on its ear with their depictions of iconic characters a little heavy on the “West”’ side of Southwestern art. (Don’t expect sun-washed lilacs here.) Both artists have a penchant for Billy the Kid, a Southwestern symbol of a more notorious vein. “Since I moved to New Mexico in 1995, Western history has become my major artistic interest,” Turetsky says. His work finds him chasing archetypes— ghosts of heroes and antiheroes.

“Somehow, phantom figures of the past move around in my studio and inspire me to bring them back to life.” He works in both sculpture and paint, and his lively, fresh-faced Billy the Kid acrylic-on-steel cutouts capture “The Kid” at his sauciest.

When it comes to the people who buy Southwestern art, Jennifer Gentry, manager at Joe Wade Fine Art on Water Street, says, “Our collectors are not dictated to by outside forces. They are well-educated, informed, and confident. They collect what they want to be surrounded by, what they love, what speaks to them.” Joe Wade artists create work that fits that bill. Painter Dan Bodelson’s landscapes feature the great faraway, the wistful sense of the Southwest’s unknown. His meditative works evoke collective memories that we don’t necessarily have on a first-hand basis. Jack Sorenson, who was raised on a ranch, grew up with working horses, and his affable tableaux reflect a sense of

The “Southwest� in Southwestern art is a feeling conveyed, a sense of longing for a time, place, and sensation we may have met only in a dream. june/july 2012

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Above: Glenn Dean, Vermillion Cliffs, oil on canvas, 30 x 40", at Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery Right: Joseph Henry Sharp, Taos Valley from Studio Yard, oil on canvas, 16 x 24", at Nedra Matteucci Galleries

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the easy (and dusty) union between land, horse, and rider. Buck McCain, who’s been a success at Joe Wade for 41 years, captures what everyone loves about the Southwest with lush, jewel-like pigments sparkling with clean, pure light.

Santa Fe is the City Different, so it’s not unusual to find a compelling artist in an unlikely place. Canyon Road’s Jewel Mark, known for high-end sparkly gems, watches, and fine pens (as well as a new café), also features a few treasures in painting form, namely the work of artist Rush Cole. Among other subjects, Cole paints beautiful horses and fun, fantastical images of the Santa Fe Plaza that honor the city’s rich culture and storied past.

One of the most satisfying things about Southwestern art is that it reminds us to stop and smell the flowers. “In August, our painters bring hollyhock paintings,” says Gentry, recalling the bright bell-like flowers on tall stalks, abundant in the vaguely melancholy light of late summer.

Southwestern art is more than Santa Fe genre paintings; it’s the season’s pulse. “Our artists are painting what they’re seeing right then, right there, reminding us all to open our eyes to the magic that is Santa Fe, to the beauty we walk by every day.” Hollyhocks and sunshine, fresh from the vine. That’s Southwestern art, Santa Fe–style.

Above: Rush Cole, Rush Cole’s VIVA SANTA FE!, oil on canvas, gallery-wrapped, 48 x 72", at Jewel Mark Above, right: Maurice Turetsky, Billy the Kid, acrylic on steel cutouts, 17 x 17", at Due West Gallery Right: Buck McCain, American Icon, oil on panel, 16 x 12", at Joe Wade Fine Art Below: O. E. Berninghaus, A Fresh Mount, oil on canvas, 10 x 14", at Nedra Matteucci Galleries

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the art of it all

from the new and avant-garde to the timeless and traditional— Santa Fe’s art scene is still bursting at the seams

William Haskell

One look at any of William Haskell’s evocative watercolors and you immediately know they’re his. The swirling moodiness, the hauntingly familiar settings, the strength amid isolation—the themes and subjects may be familiar, but the presentation is unique. “I have artists from the past that influence my work,” Haskell says, “but the important thing is to not imitate them. Capturing an atmosphere or mood has to come from within the artist.”

Using a drybrush technique, which can involve “up to 40 layers of paint carefully laid on top of each other,” Haskell works in what he calls a Magic Realism style, making images “that look like actual places but have many imaginative qualities that have been added to create [one’s] own world, so to speak.”

When it comes to what he paints, Haskell is drawn to “a particular element of descriptive history.” The American landscape—“a vanishing land,” he says— features prominently in his portfolio. From July 6 through July 20, an exhibition at Manitou Galleries called Western Regionalism showcases new works by Haskell (as well as works by painter Kim Wiggins and sculptor Liz Wolf) that celebrate local imagery. The new paintings “embrace the strength and colors of the Western landscape,” Haskell says, “in addition to the narratives that are abundant in the area that I live in.”—Amy Hegarty Manitou Galleries, manitougalleries.com

William Haskell, Northern Homestead, drybrush, 22 x 30"

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Enchanting sunsets included

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Kevin Tolman, Balancing Act/Morning Intervention, acrylic/mixed media on canvas, 36 x 36"

Kevin Tolman

In Kevin Tolman’s acrylic and mixed-media paintings, organic shapes inhabit large blocks of color, floating in between drips, scratches, and loosely rendered brush strokes. By abstracting forms to an almost cellular level, Tolman constantly reinterprets the environment in his work, finding inspiration, he says, in “the amazingly profuse, everything-happening-at-once beauty of nature.” He works without sketches or plans in order to allow himself “the pleasure of meandering around the canvas to enjoy what is still the rather mysterious process of seeing a painting unfold.”

Tolman, who says he moved to New Mexico in 1981 by chance, in order to join a friend who was teaching on the Navajo Reservation in Ramah, ended up staying and now resides in Corrales and has a studio in Albuquerque. From June 22 through July 5 his work will be featured in a group show at Karan Ruhlen Gallery on Canyon Road.—Staci Golar Karan Ruhlen Gallery, karanruhlen.com

Destiny Allison

The language of shape propels Destiny Allison’s striking abstract sculpture, which explores life’s challenges and questions through fluid forms in fabricated steel. The artist’s high-powered creativity has been fueled by a curious, probing mind since her Santa Fe childhood, when her parents—her father a writer and her mother a painter—would frequently debate the subject of art. As she developed a visual language of geometric symbolism, the artist also learned to cut, weld, and grind steel and apply color through acid patinas and heat. In recent years she has also begun expressing her inner landscape through paintings in acrylics and patinas on steel. “Art is an ongoing exploration,” she says. “The media and techniques I work with open doors to new understanding and, most especially, new questions.”

Allison, whose award-winning work is on view locally at Winterowd Fine Art and Destiny Allison Fine Art, is also co-owner of La Tienda at Eldorado, a retail, art, and community-gathering complex.

Her memoir, Shaping Destiny: A Quest for Meaning in Art and Life, was recently published.—Gussie Fauntleroy Winterowd Fine Art, fineartsantafe.com; Destiny Allison Fine Art, destinyallisonfineart.com

Destiny Allison, Pendulum, steel, 84 x 16 x 14"

Sara Shawger

Sara Shawger’s career began nearly 30 years ago when, as a child, she painted on the drywall in the basement of her family’s home in Pittsburgh. A lot has changed since then. For one thing, Shawger now paints landscapes and works on canvas. For another, she’s developed an instantly recognizable style characterized by her unique, geometric brushstrokes and their ability to form a sweeping and organic whole. The artist describes her landscapes as expressionistic but admits they sometimes tend toward the abstract, thanks to her interest in both space and movement.

“When I moved here and saw the sky, I thought, this is what I’ve been looking for to try and describe space,” Shawger says. “The brush stroke gives off a shimmering effect and kind of keeps the momentum and movement of the landscape going.”

Shawger’s work can be seen at Beals & Abbate Fine Art on Canyon Road where, from June 5 through June 18, her paintings will be featured in a one-woman show called Point of View.

—Samantha Schwirck Beals & Abbate Fine Art, bealsandabbate.com Sara Shawger, Anticipation, oil on canvas, 30 x 40"

Peg Denney, Westward Ho, ceramic, wood, metal, and paint, 11 x 39 x 31"

Peg Denney

When you see Peg Denney’s tiny bronze houses and life-sized food items—from cupcakes to candy—the urge to live in one and eat the others is tempting beyond belief. Then you take a second look and realize that the spookily symmetrical structures are devoid of openings, and that the goodies will break your teeth should you munch on them. In their perfection, and their often fantastical installation settings, they remain iconically everlasting and always beyond human reach.

“Both [houses and food are] everywhere, but how often do you really look at them?” says Denney, whose work can be seen at Eileen Braziel Fine Art. “Most of us experience them every day. They’re considered necessities of life. Objects of sexual desire take countless forms, but just about everyone wants a piece of chocolate when they see it.”

Denney’s childhood in Washington, D.C., during which she would see a family home in a development go up week after week, has cemented her fascination with “a prototypical image of a house that crosses culture and geography. Mass production, consumer culture, and the concomitant illusion of choice—these are themes which still interest me.”—Craig Smith Eileen Braziel Fine Art, eileenbraziel.com

Christopher Benson, Man Reading in an Imagined Interior, oil on canvas, 50 x 44"

Christopher Benson

Christopher Benson loves what light shows him, from the purest realism to ways into realms of the imagination. The Rhode Island native, whose work is shown locally at Gerald Peters Gallery, enjoys persuading those extremes into partnership in his oil paintings. He will move a doorway here, limn a person there; and in the process, he tunes in to a magical wavelength. “I’ll take a photograph of something I think I can make a painting from,” he explains, “then I’ll go back and draw it. In the process, I change a lot. I alter the perspective, I move things around, I add things, I take away.”

That might be called a reductive approach, but certainly not in a negative sense.

Benson doesn’t add and subtract and make a new truth to mock the viewer, but to help him celebrate a vision; help her repose in a special reality.

“In a way I paint the way writers write,” he says with a grin. “I have one thing I do over and over again. I just try to do it better and better.”—CS Gerald Peters Gallery, gpgallery.com june/july 2012 santa fean 65

Click here for Part 2 of the June/July 2012 Santa Fean Magazine