THE magazine December - January 2010

Santa Fe’s Monthly

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of and for the Arts • Dec. 2010 / Jan. 2011

BEST BOOKS

SANTA FE

53 Old Santa Fe Trail Upstairs on the Plaza Santa Fe, NM 505.982.8478 shiprocksantafe.com

c o n t e n t s

5

Letters

20

Universe of artist Pierre Delattre

25

Studio Visits: Karina Noel Hean and Paul Bloch

27

One Bottle: The Paul Bara Champagne “Grand Rosé,” by Joshua Baer

29

Dining Guide: Max’s, Il Piatto, and Josh’sBarbecue

33

Art Openings

34

Out & About

40

Previews: 18th Annual Art of Devotion at Peyton Wright Gallery; Dimitri Kozyrev at David Richard Contemporary Art; and Joshua Suda and Rodrigo Cifuentes at Skotia Gallery

43

National Spotlight: Art / Basel / Miami Beach

49

Feature: Best Books 2010

55

Critical R Reflections: Charles Arnoldi at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art; Critical Santa Fe at the Santa Fe Convention Center; Eva Hesse Spectres 1960 at the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles); Katherine Lee at Eight Modern; Michelle Cooke at box Gallery; Noel Hudson at Ledger Gallery (Truth or Consequences); and Péter Korniss at Skotia Gallery

63 Green Planet: Beth Ferguson: Inventor and Designer of the Solar Pump Charging Station, photograph by Jennifer Esperanza 65

Architectural Details: Dead Tree, Lamy, NM, photograph by Guy Cross

66

Writings: Pig’s Heaven Inn, by Arthur Sze

“I want to find a formula that enables us to have complete control over the incomprehensible, the horrible, without it being our undoing. Painting is a grand, controlling gesture. I’m trying to establish control over the uncontrollable things of this world.” So says artist Neo Rauch, who began his career in East Germany before the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Rauch’s paintings seem to defy definition: They have been described as “premodern,” “transrealistic,” and even “Pop-Surrealist-Social Realist.” His work portrays stiff, puppet-like men and women laboring at oftentimes bizarre tasks. The tone is simultaneously dreamlike and tense. Rauch is now one of the most recognized and sought-after artists in the world. Neo Rauch: Paintings (Hatje Cantz, $75) is the accompanying monograph to a retrospective of his work shown in 2010, which featured paintings dating from 1982 until the present. The book also contains writings on Rauch’s work from fellow artists, art critics, museum directors, and art historians. No library of contemporary art is complete without this comprehensive collection of Rauch’s work.

Wednesday 15 December

Charles Bowden with Avi Lewis Tickets on sale now

Wednesday 19 January

Lorrie Moore with Kate Moses Tickets on sale Saturday December 4

Wednesday 2 February

Tom Engelhardt with Jeremy Scahill Tickets on sale Saturday January 8

Wednesday 16 February

John D’Agata with Ben Marcus Tickets on sale Saturday January 8

Wednesday 16 March

Tickets on sale Saturday February 5 Wednesday 13 April

Kay Ryan with Atsuro Riley Tickets on sale Saturday March 5

Wednesday 4 May

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Binyavanga Wainaina Tickets on sale Saturday April 2

Tuesday 17 May

Chris Hedges on the work of Sheldon Wolin Tickets on sale Saturday April 2

Wednesday 18 May

Joe Sacco with Chris Hedges Tickets on sale Saturday April 2

Wednesday 15 June

John Pilger with David Barsamian Tickets on sale Saturday May 2

211 W. San Francisco St, Santa Fe, NM. Tel 505.988.1234

Everything and More: A Tribute to David Foster Wallace with Michael Silverblatt, Rick Moody and Others

www.lannan.org

R E A D I NG S & CON V E R SAT I O N S

WINTER /SPR I N G 2 011

TICKETS: $6 general / $3 student + senior with ID. Lensic Performing Arts Center

Conversations. The series of public events 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, as well as writers, thinkers, and activists whose work celebrates the human right to freedom of imagination, inquiry, and expression.

Lannan is podcasting Readings and Conversations! Please visit http://podcast.lannan.org, to learn more, listen, and subscribe to have the events automatically downloaded to your computer.

L A N NAN FOUNDATION announces the 2010 — 2011 public program series, Readings &

LETTERS

magazine

VOLUME XVIII, NUMBER VI WINNER 1994 Best Consumer Tabloid SELECTED 1997 Top-5 Best Consumer Tabloids SELECTED 2005 & 2006 Top-5 Best Consumer Tabloids P U B L i S h e R / C R e At i V e D i R e C t O R Guy Cross PUBLiSheR / FOOD eDitOR Judith Cross ARt DiReCtOR Chris Myers COPy eDitOR edGar sCully PROOFReADeRS JaMes rodewald KenJi Barrett S tA F F P h O t O G R A P h e R S dana waldon anne staveley e D i t O R i A L A S S i S tA N t elizaBeth harBall WeBMeiSteR

Jason rodriGuez CONtRiBUtORS

diane arMitaG ita e, Joshua Baer, itaG Kristin Barendsen, susanna Carlisle, Jon Carver, Guy Cross, Kathryn M davis, Jennifer esperanza, elizaBeth harBall B Ball , david rhodes, JaMes rodewald, alex ross, edGar sCully, Kathleen sloan, arthur sze, and riChard toBin COVeR

froM Neo Rauch. Courtesy of hatJ at e Cantz

ADVeRtiSiNG SALeS

the MaGazine: 505-424-7641 edie dillMan: 505-577-4207 vinCe foster: 505-690-1010 Cynthia Canyon: 505-470-6442 DiStRiBUtiON

JiMMyy Montoya: 470-0258 (MoBile) THE magazine is published 10x a year by THE magazine Inc., 1208-A Mercantile Rd., SantaFe,NM87507.Corporateaddress:44BishopLamyRoad,Lamy,NM87540.Phone: (505) 424-7641. Fax: (505) 424-7642, E-mail: themagazineSF@gmail.com. Website: www.TheMagazineOnLine.com. All materials are copyright 2010 by THE magazine. All rights are reserved by THE magazine. Reproduction of contents is prohibited without written permission from THE magazine. All submissions must be accompanied by a SASE envelope. THE magazine is not respon sible for the loss of any unsolicited materials. THE magazine is not responsible or liable for any misspellings, incorrect dates, or incorrect information in its captions, calendar, or other listings. The opinions expressed within the fair confines of THE magazine 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 and editorials represent the views of their authors. Letters to the editor are welcome. Letters may be edited for style and libel, and are subject to condensation. THE magazine accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be of good reputation, but cannot guarantee the authenticity or quality of objects and/or services advertised. As well, 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.

| december 2010 / january 2011

The Mandelman Ribak Exhibition, 203 Fine Art, 203 Ledoux Street, Taos.

Reception: Saturday, December 11, from 4 to 7 pm. Image: Bea Mandelman.

TO THE EDITOR: Thank you for publishing Josh Baer’s article (August 2010) on how to stay within the law when collecting Indian art.

I think you will be interested in some recent developments.

The New Mexican’s August 20, 2010 Pasatiempo focused on southwestern art and artifacts, and stated that federal officials claimed that there is a worldwide black market in southwestern artifacts, worth billions, centered in Santa Fe (p. 6). No evidence was offered to support this statement.

Since the entire art market of Santa Fe is estimated to be around a billion dollars, it’s hard to imagine that there could be an underground market of at least equal value in illegal artifacts. After twenty-five years in the Indian art business, I am unaware of any active commercial looting operations. They were effectively shut down by the passage of the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) in 1979. Commercial looters transporting backhoes on flatbed trucks to dig Indian sites on public and tribal lands became conspicuous and were properly busted. No collectors or dealers who I know approve of looting. There is no black market of Indian art in Santa Fe. Pasatiempo also quoted an unidentified federal official as saying he “wanted the [Indian art] trade to dry up.” At a public seminar on October 21, 2010 sponsored by New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, FBI Art Agent David Kice boasted that he was the federal agent who had been quoted. When questioned about his logic, he stated that it would make his job easier to just dry up the Indian art business because there was no written provenance on many pieces, historic, or prehistoric, and it was “too difficult” to figure out which pieces might be illegal. When asked which law gave him the authority to close down an art market, he indicated that he didn’t really care about the law, that this was his personal agenda.

It is helpful to recall at this point that the government has the “burden of proof ” in such situations. All people, and art objects, are rightly judged innocent or legal until proven otherwise. It is certainly illegal for the government to simply close down an entire industry, the overwhelming majority of which is operating within the law, because there might be some illegal artifacts being sold somewhere. After all, there are bad apples in every industry. Further, Mr. Kice went on to claim, in his Power Point presentation, that 30% of all the art being sold in Santa Fe is bogus, for one reason or another.

Again, no solid evidence was presented; this is something he had “gleaned” from an art seminar in New York City. He assured the audience that the FBI was now here in Santa Fe with an Art Crime Task Force to solve the problems of rich people buying illegal Indian items and other galleries selling alleged fake art.

I have been working with a group of collectors, dealers, and lawyers for a year researching federal laws which govern the collection and trade in Indian art, looking carefully at recent government activity aimed at the trade in artifacts, and trying hard to understand the rationale behind recent government statements and activities. We have gathered a lot of information which we would be happy to share with interested individuals. We are deeply concerned that the constitutional rights of citizens have been routinely ignored

and that legal requirements for search and seizure are lacking.

For example, federal affidavits for search warrants have lacked probable cause. If we consider the federal artifact raids of June, 2009, we find that people were busted over surface finds of arrowheads, which are perfectly legal under ARPA. A highly paid informant worked to entrap many innocent people with lies. Three people committed suicide including a sixty-yearold family doctor and the government informant himself. Over what? What significant art object was all this about? Agent Kice actually boasted of confiscating two entire collections by intimidation, without legal due process. The busts and the false propaganda seem intended to create fear and confusion about the antique Indian art market itself.

It is unfortunate that most of the local press has been so willing to swallow the government’s propaganda on these issues. The Santa Fe Reporter published an inaccurate and biased story written by a disguised archeologist in August 2009. (Mr. Kice has an M.A. in archeology.) When a group of local Indian dealers and collectors met with editors and reporters at the New Mexican to present our evidence that there was no black market in Indian art in Santa Fe, they refused to correct their claim, stating, in part, that the articles were only “entertainment,” and that they had read it on the Internet. Where would Santa Fe be without its Indian art market—antique and contemporary? What would happen to all the restaurants and hotels and art galleries without the draw of Indian art? The livelihood of many contemporary Native American artists will also, again, be damaged by the federal government exceeding its legal authority.

I think I understand some of what is going on. Federal agencies, principally the FBI and BLM, are putting out false propaganda about a billion dollar black market in Santa Fe to justify their budgets in Washington and to demonize innocent collectors and legitimate dealers in the press. I’d like to see a federal internal investigation into the three suicides and the into the raids; into the false propaganda about a billion dollar black market in Indian art in Santa Fe; and into the government’s demonstrably illegal agenda to dry up our art market. Stay tuned.

—s teve e lMore , s anta f e

TO THE EDITOR: I’m the FBI spokesman for New Mexico: Special Agent Kice said you inquired whether we would be interested in commenting on a letter you plan to run in your publication. Here is our statement: The FBI is proud of the work of Special Agent David Kice and the other members of the FBI Art Crime Team. Art and cultural property crime, which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines is a booming criminal enterprise with billions of dollars in estimated losses. Since its inception, the Art Crime Team has recovered more than 2,600 items valued at more than $142 million. Further information about the Art Crime Team and the other ways that the FBI fights crime can be found at www. fbi.gov.

—franK a. fisher, puBliC affairs speCialist, fBi, alBuquerque apoloGies to Jason poole for oMittinG his weBsite address noveMBer studio visit: www.Jasonrussellpoole.CoM

in the

THe magazine | 5

GLASS + KILN = ART

203 fine art

Bullseye Resource Center, Santa Fe

In celebration of The Harwood Museum’s grand opening of The Mandelman Ribak Exhibition, 203 Fine Art, in cooperation with the Artists’ Foundation, will be exhibiting a fine collection of works by both Bea Mandelman (1912 - 1998) and Louis Ribak (1902-1979), available for viewing and purchase.

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Drawing wi t h G l a s s Ja nuar y 19

is te r a il to r e g m e r o ll a C 4–25 cember 2 C lo s e d D e Mandelman (1912-1998), circa 1980’s 805 Early Street, Building E 505- 467-8951 santafe@bullseyeglass.com www.bullseyeglass.com/santafe

Exhibitions open Saturday, December 11, 4 – 7 pm, the evening of the “Lighting of Ledoux”, hanging through February 20, 2011.

Press printing :quarter page ad THE 11/18/10 1:09 PM Page 1

saint

“My Art, My Message” Paintings and sculpture by visionary Taos artist Ann Saint John Hawley, as well as black and white photography of the Artist in Butoh Dance by Ylonda Viola.

Artist Reception: Saturday, December 18, 4-7 pm December 18 - January 8, 2011

Artist’s Books/Folios and Prints

307 Camino Alire, Santa Fe, NM, Phone: (505) 984-9919 – Web: http://thefisherpress.com/

203 FInE ART 203 Ledoux Street, Taos, NM

575.751.1262 www.203FINE ART.com

DAVID SIMPSON: INTERFERENCE BLUES

DEC 17 - JAN 16 / OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, DEC 17, 5 - 7 P.M.

CHARLOTTE JACKSON FINE ART Railyard Art District, 554 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.989.8688 / www.charlottejackson.com To p r o w : “ S u n d a y, ” 2 n d r o w : “ S h i f t i n g S a n d s , ” 3 r d r o w : “ Ta n g e r i n e , ” 4 t h r o w : “ B e n e a t h t h e S e a ”

Emi Ozawa & Jeff Kellar January 7 February 23

Happy New Year

Richard Levy Gallery www.levygallery.com

FREE SPIRIT: CHRISTINE M C HORSE & DIEGO ROMERO 12/17/10 — 2/19/11 OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY 12/17 5 — 7 PM

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MONROE GALLERY of photography

Sidney and Michelle Monroe Wish You Joyous Holidays and All The Best For 2011

Edward Steichen, Foxgloves, 1926 This vintage silver print arrived for framing at the studio this week. What a privilege to create frames for such exquisite photographs. I’ ll make frames for your collection and return them post paid.

Ida Wyman: Atlas Carrying a Snowy World, Rockefeller Center, New York, 1946

Open Daily

Randolph Laub Studio

112 DON GASPAR SANTA FE NM 87501 992.0800 F: 992.0810 e: info@monroegallery.com www.monroegallery.com

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Jerry Garcia, 1969 © Baron Wolman

• 505.984.1234 • www.AndrewSmithGallery.com

Untitled #13, archival pigment print on canvas , 54 x 42

Jared Antonio-Justo Trujillo | While you were sleeping 03 december 5 - 7 pm | opening reception friday evening

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Liquid Light Glass Studio and Gallery • Glass Art • Glass Classes • Glass Demos Hours: 10am-5pm Monday-Saturday For more information call 505-820-2222 Liquid Light Glass • 926 Baca Street #3 • 505-820-2222 Santa Fe, NM 87505 • www.liquidlightglass.com

New Work Stacey Huddleston Stems and Colored Dresses SATURDAY DECEMBER 18 Art Opening 4-8 pm Bent Street Block Party Art, Music, Food, & Gifts Shops and galleries will be open until 8pm. holiday shopping and indulgent treats will make for a decadent evening.

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UNIVERSE OF

Delattre

has worn many hats—first as a nondenominational street priest in San Francisco’s North Beach area during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Delattre served coffee, spaghetti, bread, and wine nightly to around three hundred people who came to his coffee house for spiritual exploration, to listen to music, participate in poetry readings, and talk. Delattre also wears the hat of writer and artist. He is the author of many books, including Coming Home to Beauty, Woman on the Cross, Walking on Air, and Tales of the Dalai Lama. Delattre has lived in New Mexico for over twenty-five years. His career as a visual artist runs parallel with his career in writing fiction. He was also the lead essayist on art for THE magazine from 1992 to 2000. His current acrylic paintings incorporate earth elements—adobe earth, pine needles, and anthill pebbles. Delattre’s work can be viewed at Ortenstone Delattre Fine Art, 115 Bent Street, in Taos.

My Quest for Beauty Beauty, the central focus of art for millennia, has been swept to the sidelines in modern times, replaced either by prettiness or ugliness. The repression of beauty in every phase of life makes it easier to exploit the Earth. If art makes me feel really bad and guilty, then I must be very good to feel so bad.

We’ve looked at ugly art, now let’s go reward our pious selves with a hot fudge sundae. Give me a break.

Transformational Moments I asked myself a simple question: What do I want most in my own life? The answer: happiness, beauty, and love. So that’s what I want to bring into the lives of others through my art. How to do that? A lot has to do with preparation before painting. I immerse myself in nature, listen to great music, meditate, dance, sing, celebrate. I don’t create the art until I’m in that kind of mood. If I’m down or depressed, it’s usually because I forget that I’m creating the circumstances around my art, not subject to what’s happening out there in the all too frequently ugly-focused fearful world.

Incorporating Earth Elements in the Work For years my focus was on integrating the masculine and feminine, animus/anima—hence paintings with narratives about love between man and woman or the transcendent (spiritual), and the immanent (nature). In the last few years I’ve so fallen in love with the natural colors of New Mexico earth that I’ve been incorporating it directly onto my canvases. I feel a need to integrate myself and others with the beauty of this Earth that is being so despoiled; to help people fall in love with the beauty of the Earth is the only way to keep them from blasting it all away.

The Sacred in the Commonplace There is nothing more beautiful, more spiritual or more sacred to me than everyday ordinary life immersed in loving and caring for earthly things. No high-flying spiritual journey for me. The journey is an easy one lived without ado. The Tao.

Love is the Answer I don’t want people so much to love my art as to have my art inspire them to love one another. I see art as a sustaining, peripheral presence, almost the secret source of love, beauty and happiness emanating into a room and touching whomever happens to be around it. D

photograph by

december

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january

2011

Dana Waldon THE magazine 21

Books of Interest

Photo: Elizabeth Cook–Romero

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STUDIO VISITS

WiLLiAM FAULkNeR WROte: “AN ARt R iSt Rt iS A CReAt A URe DRiVeN By DeMONS— At he USUALLy DOeSN’t kNOW Why they ChOSe hiM AND he’S USUALLy SUALLy tOO BUSy SUALLy tO WONDeR Why.” We ASkeD tWO ARtiStS tO COMMeNt. Faulkner, an educated iconoclast, was probably well aware of demon’s Greek root, daimon, which signifies a divine and effective spirit. Ineffable inclinations run parallel to the spiritual, and often steer one’s work: forms repeat, patterns reappear, or subjects take on inordinate significance. When working, I’m extremely grateful for the obsessions that captivate and possess my attention; that leave the sink full of dishes, friends ignored, and laundry piled high. When not in attendance, they are severely missed.Though imbalance is present in this obsession, all is somehow right in the world; nothing more is wanted. In this, there is dedication—perhaps one of the hallmarks of an artist. Like love, this unquestioned drive is enduring passion or care, a little inexplicable, embarrassing, enviable, honest, and rather excellent.

—Karina noel hean Hean is a drawing artist who lives and works in Santa Fe. She has taught at the University of Montana, Fort Lewis College, New Mexico State University, and several non-profit art centers.

Recent solo and group exhibitions include the Krause Gallery in RI, Yavapai College in AZ, Fort R Lewis College in CO, Haydon Art Center in NE, 211 Gallery in WY, University of Texas Gerald and Stanlee Rubin Center for the Visual Arts in TX, Gaddis Geeslin Gallery in TX, University of Montana Gallery of Visual Arts in MT, and 222 Shelby St. Gallery in NM. Hean has been the recipient of several artist residencies: Ballinglen Foundation, Kimmel Harding Nelson Foundation, Jentel Foundation, Lerman Charitable Trust, I-Park, Vermont Studio Centers, and several national parks artist-in-residence programs. www.karinanoelhean.com

photoGraphs By B

anne staveley

William Faulkner would have needed at least three narratives to rationalize and give substance to his own statement. Thomas Mann wrote in The Confessions of Felix Krull, “All artists are prisoners either by themselves or society.” Given Faulkner’s and Mann’s dismal perceptions of what compels an artist to create, I guess it is better to keep producing work and ignore the demons that haunt us.

—paul BloCh Bloch shows with Riva Yares Gallery, at Santa Fe Complex, at Santa Fe Community College’s campus gallery, as well as the Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA, and was represented at the Los Angeles 2010 Art Fair. www.paulbloch.com

december

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january

2011

THe magazine | 25

Photo Š Douglas Merriam

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ONE BOTTLE

One Bottle:

The Paul Bara Champagne “Grand Rosé”

by Joshua Baer

I got a letter from the future. “Foolish child,” it began, “your world is

“People disappear. One day they’re living next door, mowing their

about to change in ways that will terrify you. When the changes occur,

lawns and feeding their hummingbirds. The next day they ’re gone.

you will feel like your life has been stolen from you, turned inside

Everyone has a theory about where people go after they disappear.

out, stripped of its meaning, and returned to you—all in a matter of

One theory says that the disappeared are being held in remote prisons

seconds. If you read it and take what it says to heart, this letter will

built during the Bush years, and that they will be released after martial

protect you. If you ignore it, or choose to think of it as a prank, you will

law is lifted and the new identity cards are distributed. Another theory

lose everything.”

says that the disappeared are gone for good, and that their absence is

The letter was handwritten in dark blue ink on a sheet of white paper.

the price the rest of us have to pay for the end of martial law and the

It was delivered to my mailbox on Halloween, in a manila envelope with

revival of a free society. The advisors tell us not to worry. Freedom is

my name written on the outside. The handwriting of the letter matched

a work in progress. If you want perfection, talk to God.

the handwriting on the envelope. The letter was not signed.

“Things are not so bad,” the letter continued. “For a while, none of us thought the riots would end. The gangs and the militias fought with such intensity, it seemed like they would rather eat each other alive than agree to a truce, but then, after martial law was

“Speaking of God, it’s a great time to believe in Him. Everyone talks about God. It’s like overnight He became everybody’s invisible uncle. ‘I did what God told me to do’—you hear that all the time. That and, ‘I took God’s advice and never looked back.’

“Here is my advice. Go buy some canned food and some distilled

declared, both sides put down their guns, shook hands, and agreed

water. Buy a first aid kit, plenty of kerosene lamps, and six months’

to stop fighting. Of course, the police, the National Guard, and

supply of vitamins. Buy a rifle. Buy ammunition. Buy morphine.

the ‘advisors’ had something to do with the truce. As soon as

Learn how to be patient. Learn how to stay up all night, watching

the uniforms arrived, the gangs and the militias knew they were

the shadows for the shadow that turns out not to be a shadow.

overmatched.

“In her speeches, President Sarah refers to the riots as ‘growing pains.’ Like a lot of what President Sarah says, the term is open to multiple interpretations but the message is

And buy some Champagne. If you don’t celebrate the bad times, you don’t deserve to celebrate the good times.”

Which brings us to the Paul Bara Champagne “Grand Rosé.”

In the glass, the Grand Rosé is a quiet, cautious,

specific: Your job is to obey the law. Law enforcement’s

meticulous pink. The bouquet is exhilarating, the way the

job is to enforce it. As long as you do your job, law

smell of a woman’s hair can be exhilarating. On the palate,

enforcement will leave you alone. As soon as the criminals

the Grand Rosé is simultaneously orthodox and pagan.

and the terrorists are off the streets and behind bars,

Each sip sets certain limits but those limits set you free.

martial law will be a distant memory. America is still

The finish celebrates the art of the slow, soft farewell.

a great country. It just needed to be saved from itself.

I took the letter and the envelope to a graphologist.

“At first, you will have a hard time with President

After she read the letter, the graphologist smiled.

Sarah. Because of where you grew up and what you

“The handwriting is feminine. So is the non-linear,

were taught in school, you will think that President

free-associative, protective tone. This letter was

Sarah is a nitwit, and that she does not deserve to be

written in a hurry and the writer was at risk when

president. When you have those thoughts, ask yourself

she wrote it.”

this question: If President Sarah is a nitwit, then why did Time name her ‘Person of the Year’ two years in a row and describe her as ‘the most calculating president to ever sit in the Oval Office?’

I asked the graphologist if the letter could be from the future.

“Look at the consonants,” she said. “See how they slant to the left, like trees in a fierce wind?

“After you admit that you were wrong about

We call that a regressive slant. It means that the

President Sarah, you will see how lucky you are to

writer has acute emotional cravings and that she is

have a president who does not hold grudges. Saving

haunted by a deep-seated longing for the past. So,

a country from itself is not easy. Just ask Barack

yes, I would say that this is a letter from the future,

Obama. After he lost the election, he lost his temper,

and that the writer is someone who wants you

and his anger was there for everyone to see. But

to survive.” D

after the outages and the shortages and the riots, even Barack Obama had the decency to admit that the country was in the right hands. That’s why he offered his support to President Sarah. That’s why he went on Fox News and asked all of us to pray for her.

He knew what was at stake. Barack Obama did not survive by underestimating his opponents.

| december 2010 / january 2011

One Bottle is dedicated to the appreciation of good wines and good times, one bottle at a time.

The name “One Bottle” and the contents of this column are ©2010 by onebottle.com. For back issues, go to onebottle.com. You can write to Joshua Baer at jb@onebottle.com

THE magazine | 27

DINING GUIDE

Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops at

Max’s 403½ South Guadalupe, Santa Fe Reservations: 984-9104

$ KEY

INEXPENSIVE

$

up to $14

MODERATE

$$

$15—$23

EXPENSIVE

$$$

VERY EXPENSIVE

$24—$33

$$$$

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 MORE OFTEN!

Photo: Guy Cross

...a guide to the very best restaurants in santa fe and surrounding areas...

315 Restaurant & Wine Bar 315 Old Santa Fe Trail. 986-9190.

Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free inside. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: French.

Atmosphere: Reminiscent of an inn in the French countryside. House specialties: Earthy French onion soup made with duck stock; squash blossom beignets; crispy duck; and one of the most flavorful steaks in town.

Comments: Recently expanded and renovated with a beautiful new bar. Superb wine list.

Amavi Restaurant 221 Shelby St. 988-2355.

Dinner/Sunday Brunch Full bar. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Mediterranean Atmosphere: Elegant. House specialties: The tapas appetizer thrills and the pollo al mattone, marinated for two days and served with pancetta, capers, and house preserved lemon, may be the best chicken dish you’ve ever had. Also try the tiger shrimp.

Comments: Farm to table. Chef Megan Tucker is doing it right.

Anasazi Restaurant Inn of the Anasazi 113 Washington Ave. 988-3236 .

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Smoke-free. Valet parking.

Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Contemporary American cuisine. Atmosphere: A casual and elegant room evoking the feeling of an Anasazi cliff dwelling. House specialties: We suggest any of the chef’s signature dishes, which include blue corn crusted salmon with citrus jalapeno sauce, and the nine spice beef tenderloin.

Comments: Attentive service.

Andiamo!

322 Garfield St. 995-9595.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. 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. Comments: Good wines, great pizzas, and a sharp waitstaff.

Bobcat Bite Restaurant Old Las Vegas Hwy. 983-5319.

Lunch/Dinner No alcohol. Smoking.

Cash. $$ Cuisine: American. Atmosphere: This is the real deal—a neon bobcat sign sits above a small, low-slung building. Inside are five tables and nine seats at a counter made out of real logs. House specialties: The enormous inch-and-a-half thick green chile cheeseburger is sensational. The 13-ounce rib-eye steak is juicy and flavorful.

Body Café 333 Cordova Rd. 986-0362.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Organic. Atmosphere: Casual.

House specialties: In the morning, try

| december 2010 / january 2011

the breakfast smoothie or the Green Chile Burrito. We love the Asian Curry for lunch or the Avocado and Cheese Wrap. Comments: Soups and salads are marvelous, as is the Carrot Juice Alchemy.

Cafe Cafe Italian Grill 500 Sandoval St. 466-1391.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Italian. Atmosphere: Casual.

House specialties: For lunch, the classic Caesar salad; the tasty specialty pizzas or the grilled eggplant sandwich. For dinner, we loved the perfectly grilled swordfish salmorglio and the herb-breaded veal cutlet. Comments: Very friendly waitstaff.

Café Pasqual’s 121 Don Gaspar Ave. 983-9340.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Sunday Brunch Beer/Wine. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Multi-ethnic.

Atmosphere: The café is adorned with lots of Mexican streamers, Indian maiden posters, and rustic wooden furniture. House specialties: Hotcakes get a nod from Gourmet magazine. Huevos motuleños, a Yucatán breakfast, is one you’ll never forget. For lunch, try the grilled chicken breast sandwich with Manchego cheese.

The Compound 653 Canyon Rd. 982-4353.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Contemporary American.

Atmosphere: 150-year-old adobe with pale, polished plaster walls and white linens on the tables. House specialties: Jumbo crab and lobster salad. The chicken schnitzel is flawless. Desserts are absolutely perfect. Comments: Seasonal menu. Chef/ owner Mark Kiffin didn’t win the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef of the Southwest” award for goofing off in the kitchen.

Copa de Oro Agora Center at Eldorado. 466-8668.

Lunch/Dinner 7 days a week. Take-out.

Beer/Wine. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: International. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: Start with the mussels in a Mexican beer and salsa reduction. Entrees include the succulent roasted duck leg quarters, and the slowcooked twelve-hour pot roast. For dessert, go for the lemon mousse or the kahlua macadamia nut brownie. Comments: Worth the short drive from downtown Santa Fe. Corazón 401 S. Guadalupe St. 424-7390.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Pub grub. Atmosphere: Casual.

House specialties: You’ll love the thincut grilled ribeye steak topped with blue cheese, or the calamari with sweet chili dipping sauce; or the amazing Corazón hamburger trio. Comments: Love music?

Corazón is definitely your place.

Counter Culture 930 Baca St. 995-1105.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Cash. $$ Cuisine: All-American. Atmosphere: Informal. House specialties: Breakfast: burritos and frittata. Lunch: sandwiches and salads. Dinner: flash-fried calamari; grilled salmon with leek and Pernod cream sauce; and a delicious hanger steak. Comments: Boutique wine list.

Cowgirl Hall of Fame 319 S. Guadalupe St. 982-2565.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: All-American. Atmosphere: Popular patio shaded by big cottonwoods.

Great bar. House specialties: The smoked brisket and ribs are fantastic. Dynamite buffalo burgers and a knockout strawberry shortcake. Comments: Lots of beers Coyote Café 132 W. Water St. 983-1615.

Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Southwestern with French and Asian influences. Atmosphere Bustling.

House specialties: For your main course, go for the grilled Maine lobster tails or the Southwestern Rotisserie, or the grilled 24-ounce “Cowboy Cut” steak.

Comments: Good wine list.

Downtown Subscription 376 Garcia St. 983-3085.

Breakfast/Lunch No alcohol. Smoke-free. Patio.

Cash. $ Cuisine: Standard coffee-house fare.

Atmosphere: A large room with small tables inside and a nice patio outside where you can sit, read periodicals, and schmooze.

Over 1,600 magazine titles to buy or peruse.

House specialties: Espresso, cappuccino, and lattes.

El Faról 808 Canyon Rd. 983-9912.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Spanish. Atmosphere: Wood plank floors, thick adobe walls, and a postage-stamp-size dance floor for cheekto-cheek dancing. Murals by Alfred Morang.

El Mesón 213 Washington Ave. 983-6756.

Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Spanish. Atmosphere: Spain could be just around the corner. Music nightly. House specialties: Tapas reign supreme, with classics like Manchego cheese marinated in extra virgin olive oil; sautéed spinach with garlic and golden raisins.

Geronimo 724 Canyon Rd. 982-1500.

Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free dining room. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$$

Cuisine: French–Asian fusion fare.

Atmosphere: Kiva fireplaces, a portal, and a lovely garden room. House specialties: Start with the superb foie gras. Entrées we love include the green miso sea bass, served with black truffle scallions; and the classic peppery Elk tenderloin. Comments: Tasting menus are available.

Il Piatto 95 W. Marcy St. 984-1091.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Italian. Atmosphere: Bustling.

House specialties: Arugula and tomato salad; grilled hanger steak with three cheeses, pancetta and onions; lemon and rosemary grilled chicken; and the delicious pork chop stuffed with mozzarella, pine nuts, prosciutto, potato gratin, and rosemary wine jus. Comments: Prix fixe seven nights a week.

Jambo Cafe 2010 Cerrillios Rd. 473-1269.

Lunch/Dinner Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: African and Caribbean inspired.

Atmosphere: Basic cafe-style. House specialties: We love the tasty Jerk chicken sandwich. Try the curried chicken salad wrap; or the marvelous phillo stuffed with spinach, black olives, feta cheese, roasted red peppers and chickpeas served over organic greens. Comments: Obo was the executive chef at the Zia Diner.

Josh’s Barbecue 3486 Zafarano Dr., Suite A. 474-6466.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Barbecue. Atmosphere: Casual, House specialties: Delicious woodsmoked meats, cooked low and very slow are king here. Recommendations: We love the tender red-chile, honey-glazed ribs, the tender brisket, the barbecue chicken wings, the smoked chicken tacquitos, and the spicy queso. Comments: Seasonal BBQ sauces.

Josh’s was written up in America’s Best BBQs. Kohnami Restaurant 313 S. Guadalupe St. 984-2002.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine/Sake. Smoke-free. Patio.

Visa & Mastercard. $$ Cuisine: Japanese. Atmosphere: Casual.

House specialties: Miso soup; soft shell crab; dragon roll; chicken katsu; noodle dishes; and Bento box specials.

Comments: The sushi is always perfect.

Try the Ruiaku Sake. It is clear, smooth, and very dry—like drinking from a magic spring in a bamboo forest. Comments: New noodle menu. Friendly waitstaff.

La Plancha de Eldorado 7 Caliente Road at La Tienda. 466-2060 Hiway 285 / Vista Grande Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/ Beer/Wine Smoke-free Major credit cards. $$

Cuisine: Salvadorian Grill. Atmosphere: a casual open space. House specialties: Loroco omelet and anything with the panfried plantains. Try the Salvadorian tamales and the poblano del dia. Everything is fresh. Recommendations: The buttermilk pancakes are terrific. Comments: Chef Juan Carols and family work hard to please—and it shows.

Lamy Station Café Lamy Train Station, Lamy. 466-1904.

Lunch/Dinner/Sunday Brunch Beer/Wine.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American. Atmosphere: 1950s dining car. House specialties: Fantastic green chile stew, crab cakes, omlettes, salads, bacon and eggs; and do not forget the fabulous Reuben sandwich. Sunday brunch is marvelous. Comments: For your dessert, order the apple crisp.

Lan’s Vietnamese Cuisine 2430 Cerrillos Rd. 986-1636.

Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Vietnamese.

Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Start with the Pho Tai Hoi, a vegetarian soup loaded with veggies, fresh herbs, and spices. For your entree, we suggest the Noung—it will rock your taste buds.

La Plazuela on the Plaza 100 E. San Francisco St. 989-3300.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full Bar. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: New Mexican and Continental.

Atmosphere: A gorgeous enclosed courtyard with skylights and hand-painted windows exudes Old World charm. House specialties: Start with the Classic Tortilla Soup or the Heirloom Tomato Salad with baked New Mexico goat cheese. For your entrée try the Braised Lamb Shank, served with a spring gremolata, roasted piñon couscous, and fresh vegetables.

Comments: Seasonal menus created by Chef Lane Warner.

Luminaria Restaurant and Patio Inn and Spa at Loretto 211 Old Santa Fe Trail. 984-7915.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Sunday Brunch Smoke-free. Valet parking.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: American meets the Great Southwest.

Atmosphere: Elegant and romantic.

Recommendations: Start with the awardwinning tortilla soup If you love fish, order the perfectly prepared coriander crusted kampache or the Santa Fean paella—it is loaded with delicious shrimp, salmon, clams, mussels, roasted peppers, and onions.

Comments: Organic produce when available.

Mangiamo Pronto!

228 Old Santa Fe Trail. 984-2002.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine/Sake. Smoke-free.

Visa & Mastercard. $$ C uisine : Italian A tmosphere : Casual.

Great pizzas—we suggest the Pesto pizza, with roasted H ouse specialties : Great pizzas—we suggest the Pesto

continued on page 31

THE magazine | 29

Let us Cater Your Holiday Parties!

…succulent, tender babyback ribs…

3486 ZAFARANO DRIVE · SANTA FE 505 474 6466 NEXT TO LOWE’S AND TO REGAL CINEMAS VISIT US AT WWW.JOSHSBBQ.COM

BEST LOCAL CATERER WINTER HOURS:

TUES - THURS, SUN 11:30 AM - 8 PM · FRI, SAT 11:30 AM - 9 PM · CLOSED MON

For December, how about Gene's fabulous Filipino Style Meatloaf; a family recipe with Granny Smith Apples, onions and Thompson raisins! Dine in only.

LUNCH: Hot Filipino Style Meatloaf Sandwich w/roasted red bells, Swiss cheese and chipotle mayo on whole wheat bread with fries or salad. ($6 – $9.50) DINNER: Filipino Style Meatloaf Entrée served with brown gravy on mashed sweet potatoes, calabacitas & maple-glazed carrots with tarragon ($10 – $13) Reserve now for Christmas Eve! Closed Christmas Day and New-Years Day. NEW MENU IN 2011!

466-8668 ~ CopaDeOro.net OPEN EVERY DAY ~ Hours: 11 am – 2 pm and 5 – 8 pm AT THE AGORA IN ELDORADO OPEN HOUSE ® Consignment

Studio

Fridays in December, 4-6 pm Hor d’oeuvres and beverages Vintage Southwest interiors with selected wood accents.

10 am – 5 pm / Tuesday – Saturday | Studio B2. The Agora | 505.603.6382

Stop in and taste this month’s 3 new hearty soups and 4 new yummy sandwiches including Hot Grilled Paninis. Philly Steak & Cheese.

Carry Out 466-4206 LA TIENDA, Eldorado Monday–Saturday ~ 11 am – 7 pm

DINING GUIDE

Prawns à la Puebla. Comments: Chef Carlos Rivas is doing a yeoman’s job in the kitchen.

Saveur 204 Montezuma St. 989-4200.

Breakfast/Lunch Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio.

Visa/Mastercard. $$ Cuisine: French meets American.

Atmosphere: Casual.

Buffet-style service for salad bar and soups. House specialties: Daily chef specials, gourmet and build-your-own sandwiches, wonderful soups, and an excellent salad bar). Comments: Breakfasts, organic coffees, and super desserts. Family-run.

Second Street Brewery 1814 Second St. 982-3030.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free inside. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Simple pub grub and brewery.

Atmosphere: Casual and friendly.

House specialties: The beers are outstanding, especially when paired with beer-steamed mussels, the beer-battered calamari, burgers, fish and chips, or the grilled bratwurst.

Il Piatto

Recently renovated, but with the same great food, wine, and prices.

95 West Marcy Street. Reservations: 984-1091 pizza, with roasted chicken, basil pesto, red bell peppers, caramelized onions and mozzarella cheese or the Fritzo pizza, served with spicy sausage, capiccola ham, roasted peppers, and provolone cheese.

C omments : For dessert, choose from the pasteries, cookies, pies, cakes, and gelato.

Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen 555 W. Cordova Rd. 983-7929.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: New Mexican. Atmosphere: Rough wooden floors and hand-carved chairs set the historical tone. House specialties: Freshly made tortillas, green chile stew, and pork spareribs.

Comments: Perfect margaritas.

Max’s 401½ Guadalupe St. 984-9104.

Dinner Beer/Wine. Non-smoking.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Contemporary. Atmosphere: Intimate and caring. House specialties: Specializing in “sous vide,” a method that maintains the integrity of ingredients Start with the Baby Beet Salad. For your main, try the Pan Seared Day Boat Scallop, the Sous Vide Chilean Sea Bass.

For dessert, we love the Dark Chocolate Globe. Comments: Lots of farm to table to fork offerings. Chef Mark Connell works his magic with inovative cuisine.

Mu Du Noodles 1494 Cerrillos Rd. 983-1411.

Dinner/Sunday Brunch Beer/Wine. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Noodle house Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Salmon dumplings with oyster sauce, and Malaysian Laksa.

Museum Hill Cafe Museum Hill, off Camino Lejo. 984-8900.

Breakfast/Dinner Beer/Wine to come. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American, Mediterranean and Mexican. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: The Thai Beef Salad is right on the mark. Try the Smoked Duck Flautas—they’re amazing.

Comments: Menu changes depending on what is fresh in the market. Organic ingredients when available.

Nostrani Ristorante 304 Johnson St. 983-3800.

Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Regional dishes from Northern Italy. Atmosphere: A renovated adobe with a great bar. House specialties: For your main, try the Stuffed Gnocchetti with Prosciutto and Chicken, or the Diver Scallops. Comments: A garden where they grow produce.

European wine list. Frommer’s rates Nostrani in the “Top 500 Restaurants in the World.”

| december 2010 / january 2011

O’Keeffe Café 217 Johnson St. 946-1065.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Contemporary Southwest with a French flair. Atmosphere: The walls are dressed with photos of O’Keeffe. House specialties: Try the Northern New Mexico organic poquitero rack of lamb with black olive tapenade. Comments: Nice wine selection.

Pizza Centro Santa Fe Design Center. 988-8825.

Agora Center, Eldorado. 466-3161 Cash or check. No credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Real New York-style pizza.

Atmosphere: Counter service and a few tables. House specialties: The Central Park and the Times Sqaure thin-crust pizas are knockouts. Comments: Beer and wind coming in January.

Plaza Café Southside 3466 Zafarano Dr. 424-0755.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner 7 days Full bar. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: American and New Mexican.

Atmosphere: Bright and light, colorful, and friendly. House specialties: For your breakfast go for the Huevos Rancheros or the Blue Corn Piñon Pancakes. The Brisket Taquito appetizer rules. Try the green chilie stew.

Railyard Restaurant & Saloon 530 S. Guadalupe St. 989-3300.

Lunch Monday-Saturday/Dinner Bar menu daily Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Italian. Atmosphere: Casual.

House specialties: The appetizer we love is the Fritto Misto di Mare. For your entrée, order the Whole Cornish Game Hen, marinated in garlic and chili.

Comments: Generous pour at the bar.

Real Food Nation Old Las Vegas Hwy/Hwy 285. 466-3886.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $ Cuisine: Farm to table with an on-site organic garden. Atmosphere: Cheery, light, and downright healthy. House specialties: A salad sampler might include the red quinoa, roasted beets), and potato with dill. Muffins and croissants are baked in-house. Wonderful soups.

Divine desserts Recommendations: Inspired breakfast menu.

Restaurant Martín 526 Galisteo St. 820-0919.

Lunch/Dinner/Brunch Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Contemporary American fare. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: For your main course we suggest you try the grilled Berkshire pork chop with shoestring tobacco onions and peach barbecue jus, or the mustard-crusted Ahi tuna.

Comments: Chef-owned.

Rio Chama Steakhouse 414 Old Santa Fe Trail. 955-0765.

Sunday Brunch/Lunch/Dinner/Bar Menu.

Full bar. Smoke-free dining rooms.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: All-American classic steakhouse.

Atmosphere: Gorgeous Pueblo-style adobe with vigas and plank floors. House specialities: USDA prime steaks and prime rib. Haystack fries and cornbread with honey butter. Recommendations: For dessert, we suggest that you choose the chocolate pot.

Ristra 548 Agua Fria St. 982-8608.

Dinner/Bar Menu Full bar. Smoke-free. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Southwestern with French flair. Atmosphere: Elegant bar with a nice bar menu, sophisticated and comfortable dining rooms, and a lovely outdoor patio. House specialties: Mediterranean mussels in chipotle and mint broth is superb, as is the ahi tuna tartare. Comments: Ristra won the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2006.

San Francisco Street Bar & Grill 50 E. San Francisco St. 982-2044.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: As American as apple pie.

Atmosphere: Casual with art on the walls. House specialties: At lunch, do try the San Francisco Street hamburger on a sourdough bun or the grilled yellowfin tuna nicoise salad with baby red potatoes. At dinner, we like the tender and flavorful twelve-ounce New York Strip steak, or the Idaho Ruby Red Trout served with grilled pineapple salsa. Comments: Visit their sister restaurant at the DeVargas Center.

Santacafé 231 Washington Ave. 984-1788.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Contemporary Southwestern.

Atmosphere: Minimal, subdued, and elegant. House specialties: For starters, the calamari with lime dipping sauce never disappoints. Our favorite entrées include the perfectly cooked grilled rack of lamb and the pan-seared salmon with olive oil crushed new potatoes and creamed sorrel. Comments: Key Lime Semifreddo and Chocolate Mousse with Blood Orange Grand Marnier Sauce are perfect desserts. Appetizers at the bar during cocktail hour rule.

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: Start with the delicious cornmeal-crusted calamari. For your main course, we love the Santa Fe Rotisserie chicken, the Rosemary and Garlic Baby Back Ribs, and the

Second Street Brewery at the Railyard 1607 Paseo de Peralta.

989-3278.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free inside. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Simple pub grub and brewery.

Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: The beers are truely outstanding, especially when paired with beersteamed mussels or the beer-battered calamari, burgers, fish and chips, or the truly great grilled bratwurst.

The Shed 113½ E. Palace Ave. 982-9030.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: New Mexican. Atmosphere: This local institution—some say a local habit—is housed in an adobe hacienda. House specialties: We suggest the stacked red or green chile cheese enchiladas with blue corn tortillas.

Comments: Great chile here. Try their sister restaurant, La Choza.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner 7 days Beer/Wine. Fireplace.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Farm-to-fork. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: We love the Salmon Benedict with poached eggs, the quiche, the gourmet cheese sandwich, and the amazing Teahouse Mix salad. Add a wonderful selection of soups, and the Teahouse Oatmeal— “the best oatmeal in the world.”

Tia Sophia’s 210 W. San Francisco St. 983-9880.

Breakfast/Lunch No alcohol. Smoking/non-smoking.

Major credit cards. $ Cuisine: New Mexican. Atmosphere: This restaurant is absolutely a Santa Fe tradition. House specialties: Green chile stew and the huge breakfast burrito stuffed with great goodies: bacon, potatoes, chile, and cheese. Tia Sophia’s is the real deal.

Tree House Pastry Shop and Cafe 1600 Lena St. 474-5543.

Breakfast/Lunch Tuesday-Sunday Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Only organic ingredients used.

Atmosphere: Light, bright, and cozy.

House specialties: You cannot go wrong ordering the fresh Farmer’s Market salad, the soup and sandwich, or the quiche.

Tune-Up Café 1115 Hickox St.. 983-7060.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American, Salvadorean, Mexican, Cuban, and New Mexican.

Atmosphere: Down home baby, down home. House specialties: Our breakfast favorites are the scrumptious Buttermilk Pancakes with bananna and blueberry and the knock- your-socks-off Tune-Up Breakfast—chile relleno with tomato salsa, two eggs al gusto, refried beans, and a corn tortilla. Lunch is easy—the Yucatan Fish Tacos are always perfect and the El Salvadoran Pupusas are a favorite of many locals. Burgers and sandwiches are perfect. Comments: Guy Fieri of the TV show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” visited the Tune-Up recently.

S teaksmith

Vinaigrette 709 Don Cubero Alley. 820-9205.

Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Call it farm-to-table-tofork. Atmosphere: Light, bright and cheerful. House specialties: All of the salads are knockouts— fresh as can be. We love the Nutty Pear-fessor salad—it totally rocks!

Comments: Only organic greens are used, delivering the freshness that slow food promises.

Teahouse 821 Canyon Rd. 992-0972.

Zia Diner 326 S. Guadalupe St. 988-7008.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. PatIo. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: All-American. Atmosphere: Down home. House specialties: meat loaf, chicken-fried chicken, Possibly the best fish and chips in town.

Comments: Friendly waitstaff. The hot fudge sundaes are always perfect and there are plenty of dessert goodies for take-out.

Shohko Café 321 Johnson St. 982-9708.

Lunch/Dinner Sake/Beer. Smoke-free.

Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Authentic Japanese Cuisine.

Atmosphere: Sushi bar, table dining.

House specialties: Softshell crab tempura; sushi, and Bento boxes. at El Gancho Old Las Vegas Hwy. 988-3333.

Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free dining room.

Major credit cards $$$ Cuisine: American.

Atmosphere: Family restaurant with full bar and lounge. House specialties: Aged steaks; lobster. We suggest you try the pepper steak with Dijon cream sauce.

Comments: One thing for sure, they know steak here.

Josh’s Barbecue

Eat-in, Take-out, and Catering 3486 Zafrano Drive • 474-6466 THE magazine | 31

Haessle

Jean Wells

Group show

Jean-marie haessle

Jean Wells

steven alexanDer

Detail: crisscross, 2010 68" x 54", Oil on canvas

ruby liPstick, 2010 36” x 7", mosaic tiles and glass

ChrOmatin, 2009 26” x 20”, acrylic on canvas

Jean-marie haessle

Jean Wells

mark emersOn

Detail: red, 2010 66" x 66", Oil on canvas

gAgA, 2010 24” x 12” x 9”, mosaic tiles and glass

Detail: Pussywiggle stomP, 2008 20" x 20", Polymer on panel

in the corner of my eye

re-Pop

december 14, 2010 - january 15, 2010 OpeninG reception friday, December 17, 5:00-7:00 pm Artist Talk: Saturday, december 18, 2010 2:00-3:00 pm

oP, PoP & geo-AgAiN

steven alexander Jerrold Burchman alex Couwenberg Peter Demos mark emerson Beverly Fishman Greg harris Chris kahler

rae mahaffey Beatrice mandelman matthew Penkala Paul henry ramirez richard roth leon Polk-smith sidney Wolfson

130 lincoln avenue, suite D, santa Fe, nm 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284 www.DavidrichardContemporary.com | info@DavidrichardContemporary.com

ART OPENINGS

DECEMBER /JANUARY

ART OPENINGS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5

mariPOsa sa Gallery, 3500 Central Ave. SE, Alb. 505-268-6828. Group Show. 5-10 pm.

museum Of inTernaT erna iOnal fOlK arT ernaT r , on Camino Lejo off Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe. 476-1272. Winter Celebration. 1-4 pm.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3 105 arT Gallery, 105 4th St. SW, Alb. 505238-3491. The Giftie Gie Us, The Gift of Art: small works. 5-8 pm. arrOyO, 241 Delgado St., Santa Fe. 9881002. Fade to Black: recent paintings by Pedro Surroca. 5-7 pm. briGHT rain Gallery, 206 1/2 San Felipe NW, Alb. 505-843-9176. New paintings by Travis Bruce Black. 6-9 pm.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9

isaac’s Gallery, Nesselrodt Building, 309 N. Virginia Ave., Roswell. Studies and Sketches, 1968-1977: work by Willard Midgette. 5-7 pm.

1968-1977 vivO iv cOnTemPOrary, 725 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 982-1320. About Face: photographs and stories

by Jane Rosemont. 5-7 pm.

Holiday Fiber Market Market. Through Sun. Dec. 12, 9 am-4 pm. Info: evfac.org caT a e GOederT eder sTudiO, 6 Sabroso Ct., Santa Fe. ederT 670-6649. Fourth Annual Studio Sale. Through Sun., Dec. 12, 11 am–4 pm.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11

el zócalO Gallery, 212 Plaza, Las Vegas. 505454-9904. Fire and Ice: works by Alex Ellis. 2 pm.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10

203 fine arT r , 203 Ledoux St., Taos. 575-7511262. The Mandelman Ribak Exhibition: work by the late Bea Mandelman and Louis Ribak. 4-7 pm.

G cOnTemPOrary, 707 Canyon Rd., Santa Gf Fe. 983-3707. Holiday Group Show: small-scale works by gallery artists. 3-5 pm.

Gallery Tribal arT r , 312 Read St., Santa Fe. 699-7810. Holiday Opening Exhibition: African and tribal antiques. 5-7 pm.

arT r THrOuGH THe lOOm and esPañ P Ola valley Pañ fiber arT r s cenTer, Santa Fe Women’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe. 471-1746.

mariGOld arTs, 424 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 982-4142. Annual Gallery Artists Group Exhibition. 5-7 pm.

Exhibition

launc launcHPrOjecTs, 355 E. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 670-9857. The Rapture Project: installation by Jennifer Joseph and Chris Collins. 6-7 pm.

evOKe cOnTemPOrary, 130 Lincoln Ave., Ste. F. Santa Fe. 995-9902. While You Were Sleeping: work by Jared Antonio-Justo Trujillo. 5-7 pm. jane sauer Gallery, 652 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 995-8513. “Poetic Landscapes” by Barbara Lee Smith. 5-7 pm. maniTOu Galleries, 123 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 986-0440. Holiday Miniature Group Show. 5-7:30 pm. masley Gallery, Masley Hall at UNM Campus, Alb. 505-277-4112. Graduating MA Exhibition Fall 2010 2010: 5-7 pm. neW GrOunds PrinT WOrKsHOP & Gallery, 3812 Central Ave. SE, Alb. 505-268-8952.

Annual Holiday Sale Sale. 5-8 pm.

PaT a ina Gallery, 131 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 877-877-0827. Circlings: mobiles by Ivan Barnett. 5-7:30 pm.

PeTersOn-cOdy Gallery, 130 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 820-0010. Fresh Paint Competition Exhibit: winners announced. 5-7:30 pm.

Exhibit PeyTOn-WriGHT Gallery, 237 E. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 989-9888. 18th Annual Art of Devotion: Catholic devotional images. 5-8 pm. sanTa T fe cOmmuniTy Gallery, 201 W. Marcy Ta St., Santa Fe. 995-6705. BIAS, Going Against the Grain Grain: work by New Mexico fiber artists.

5-7 pm.

WeyricH Gallery/THe rare visiOn arT Galerie, 2935-D Louisiana Blvd. NE, Alb. 505883-7410. The 28th Annual Invitational Theme Show–Connections: group show. 5-8:30 pm.

Show–Connections WOOden cOW Gallery, 7400 Montgomery Blvd., Alb. 505-999-1280. Clayworks: featuring Angie Klesert. 5-8 pm.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4 GeneraTO GeneraTO enera r, 723 Silver Ave. SW, Alb. 505463-3995. Muffin Top Rotunda: sculptures by Scott Krichau and John Robert Craft. 3-5 pm.

THe TaO aOs Gallery, 133 Bent St., Taos. 575-7583911. First Saturday ArtWalk 3-5 pm.

| december 2010 / january 2011

Painting Groucho’s Duck—new Duck paintings by David Kearns at 222 Shelby Street Gallery, 222 Shelby Street.

Reception: Friday, December 17, from 5 to 7 pm.

continued on page 36

THe magazine | 33

WHO SAID THIS? “Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter?”

1. David Fahey 2. Chuck Close 3. Pablo Picasso 4. Richard Avedon 5. Charles Baudelaire

HERE’S THE GREAT DEAL! $500 B&W full-page ads ($800 for color) in theFeb./March double issue for artists without gallery representation in New Mexico. Reservations by Friday, Jan. 14. 505-424-7641

OUT & ABOUT

Photos: Mr. Clix, Dana Waldon, Lisa Law, Wyatt Meade, Savoy Rath, Wyatt Meade, Edie Dillman & Jennifer Esperazana

ART OPENINGS

neW W GrOunds PrinT WOrKsHOP & Gallery, 3812 Central Ave. SE, Alb. 505-268-8952. New Work by New Gallery Artists and New Year’s Celebration. 5-8 pm.

Celebration venTana T Tana fine arT r , 400 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-8815. Colors of Joy: Tom Noble’s 2010 solo exhibition. 1-3 pm.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 THe TaO aOs Gallery, 133 Bent St., Taos. 575-7583911. Praise to Guadalupe: Amy Cordova and friends. 2-5 pm.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 222 sHelby sTreeT Gallery, 222 Shelby St., Santa Fe. 982-8889. Painting Groucho’s Duck: large-scale works on paper and small paintings on panel by David Kearns. 5-7 pm. cHalK farm Gallery, 729 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-7125. Equanimity: work by Tomasz Alen Kopera. 5-8 pm. cHarlOTTe jacKsOn fine arT r , 554 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 989-8688. Interference Blues: work

by David Simpson. 5-7 pm. david ricHard cOnTemPOrary, 130 Lincoln Ave., Suite D, Santa Fe. 983-9555. In the Corner of My Eye Eye: abstract paintings by Jean-Marie Haessle; Re-Pop: works by Jean Wells; Op, Pop & Geo Again Again: holiday group show of gallery artists.

5-7 pm. eiGHT mOdern, 231 Delgado St., Santa Fe. 9950231. Solo Show: musically inspired drawings made with colored pencils by David X Levine.

5-7 pm.

artist Elliot Wall. 5-7 pm.

TaylOr a. dale, fine Tribal arT rT/j /jOHn ruddy TexTile and eTHnOGraPHic arT r , 129 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. 989-9903. Grand Opening. 5-8 pm.

Opening THe darKrOOm, 901 W. San Mateo Rd., Suite 0, Santa Fe. 820-7777. Light! Film! Print!: local photographers’ group exhibition. 5-7 pm.

William r.. TalbOT fine arT r , 129 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. 982-1559. Winter Offerings: 20th century regional art and antique Offerings maps. 5-8 pm.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18 203 fine arT r , 203 Ledoux St., Taos. 575751-1262. My Art, My Message: works by Ann Saint John Hawley. The Artist in Butoh Dance: photographs by Ylonda Viola. 4-7 pm.

Human line sTudiO, 127-D Bent St., Taos. 575-751-3033. Stems and Colored Dresses: new mixed-media works by Stacey Dresses Huddleston. 4-8 pm.

OrT r ensTOne delaTT ela re fine arT r , 115 Bent St., Taos. 575-737-0799. Grand Opening at New Location: new work by Carla O’Neal, Nancy Location Ortenstone, and Pierre Delattre. 4-7pm.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21 Human line sTudiO, 127-D Bent Street, Taos.

575-751-3033. Solstice, Taos Historic District: celebrating theCancelled “sun-standing” with art, food, and friends. 11am-8pm.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30

james Kelly cOnTemPOrary, 1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 989-1601. Diego Romero & Christine McHorse McHorse. 5-7 pm.

THe cHmar mar Gallery, 125 Lincoln Ave., Suite 114, Santa Fe. 992-1491. Gallery Artists Group Show: gala grand opening reception. 4-7 pm.

Show

meyer easT Gallery, 225 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-1657. New Works: pastoral landscape paintings by Michael Workman. 5-7 pm.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31

mOnrOe Gallery Of PHOTOGraPHy, 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe. 992-0800. Holiday Book Signing and Exhibition: The LIFE Guide to Digital Photography (Everything You Need To Shoot Like The Pros) by Joe McNally. 5-7 pm. nüarT üar Gallery, 670 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 9883888. Juan Kelley: transfigurations. 5-7 pm.

PW cOnTemPOrary, 129 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. 983-7658. Half-Chinese/Half-Tibetan: works by contemporary Tibetan artist Gade.

5-8 pm. sKOTia ia Gallery, 150 W. Marcy St., Suite 103, Santa Fe. 820-7787. Two-Man Show: Works by Joshua Suda and Rodrigo Cifuentes, with guest

brad smiTH Gallery, 714 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-1133. Bigger is Better: new work by Brad Smith. 5-8 pm.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 7 maniTOu Galleries, 123 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 986-0440. Calendar Art Show: artwork presented in 2011 Manitou Galleries Calendar.

5-7:30 pm. mariGOld arT r s, 424 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 9824142. Annual Gallery Artists Group Exhibition: work by gallery artists. 5-7 pm. maT a rix fine arT r , 3812 Central Ave. SE, Suite 100-A, Alb. 505-268-8952. Wave Mechanics: group show of video art. 5-8 pm. neW W GrOunds PrinT WOrKsHOP & Gallery, 3812 Central Ave. SE, Suite 100-B, Alb. 505268-8952. New Work by New Gallery Artists and New Year’s Celebration Celebration. 5-8 pm.

WeyricH Gallery/THe rare visiOn arT Galerie, 2935-D Louisiana Blvd. NE., Alb. 505-883-7410. Everything to You: works by Jean & Tom Heffernan, preview artist reception.

5-8:30 pm.

Half-Chinese/Half-Tibetan work by Tibetan artist Gade at PW Contemporary, 129 West San Francisco Street.

Half-Chinese/Half-Tibetan: Reception: Friday, December 17, from 5 to 8 pm.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 la Tienda arT r sPace P , 7 Caliente Rd., Suite A-6, Santa Fe. 428-0024. Plein Air Painting with No Rules: group exhibition. 5-7 pm.

Rules

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28 Gallery, 1611-A Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 989-4897. afterglow: works by New Mexico artist Ted Laredo. 5-8 pm.

david ricHard cOnTemPOrary, 130 Lincoln Ave., Suite D, Santa Fe. 983-9555. Lost Landscapes by Dmitri Kozyrev. Through Sat., Dec. 11.

bOx x

SPECIAL INTEREST arT r Of russia Gallery, 200 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 466-1718. Russian Christmas: contemporary winter scenes and native treasures. Mon., Dec. 20 – Fri., Jan. 7. cenTer fOr cOnTemPOrary arT r s, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe. 982-1338. More Than Mary Cassatt: lecture series on women artists. Thurs., Cassatt Dec. 2 and Thurs., Dec. 9, 10-11:30 am. Info: ccasantafe.org cHalK farm Gallery, 729 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-7125. Jingle Dog Christmas: benefit for Used Pets of New Mexico. Fri., Dec. 24, 6 pm. cHiarOscurO cOnTemPOrary arT r , 702½ Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 992-0711. Mix & Match: holiday group show. Fri., Nov. 26 – Fri., Dec. 31.

Writer, curator, and activist Lucy Lippard is the final lecturer of SFAI’s Elemental: Earth Air Fire Water Water— —Art — Art and Environment.

Santa Fe Art Institute, Tipton Hall, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive. Thursday, December 9, 6 pm.

36 | THe magazine

cOnverGence Gallery, 219 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. 986-1245. Solo Show: ceramic vessels

by Heather Bradley. Through Fri., Dec 17.

GeberT eber cOnTemPOrary, 544 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 992-1100. Ron Slowinski: Systemic Paintings 1966-1973 1966-1973. Through Sun., Jan. 16.

HarWOO ar d museum Of arT r , 238 Ledoux St., Taos. 575-758-9826. Ribbon-cutting ceremony for new expansion and Lighting of Ledoux. Sat., Dec. 11. 12-7 pm. Info:harwoodmuseum.org Hulse/Warman Gallery, 222 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos. 575-751-7702. Petro Hul: sculptures. Through Sun., Jan. 30.

Human line sTudiO, 127-D Bent St., Taos. 575751-3033 Solstice, Taos Historic District: art, 751-3033. food and friends.

Tues., Dec. 21, 11 am–8 pm.

Cancelled iaia LTC Building, 83 Avan Nu Po Rd., Santa iaia, Fe. 424-5704. 4th Annual IAIA Holiday Art Market.

Sat., Dec. 4, 9 am-4 pm. iaia, Primitive Edge Gallery, 83 Avan Nu Po Rd., iaia Santa Fe. 424-5745. Student Winter Exhibition. continued on page 38 december

2010 /

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2011 |

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ART OPENINGS

Thu., Dec. 9 through Fri., Jan. 21. las cruces museum Of arT r , 491 N. Main St., Las Cruces. 575-541-2221. Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection Collection: works created by artists of the African diaspora. Exhibition begins Fri., Dec. 3. Info: las-cruces.org/museums linda durHam cOnTemPOrary arT r , 1807 Second St., #107, Santa Fe. 466-6600. Graphite Works: recent graphite paintings by Victoria Works Laszlo. Through Fri., Dec. 31. linda durHam cOnTemPOrary arT r , 1807 Second St., #107, Santa Fe. 466-6600. Living Paintings: live tattoo art by tattoo artist Dawn Furlong. Fri., Dec. 10 and Sat., Dec. 11, 7-9 pm. livinG liGHT GHT Gallery, 107 Kit Carson Rd., Taos.

575-737-9150. Live remote broadcast with KTAO radio with Teotihuacan Mariachi group and Taos Gospel choir. Sat., Dec. 11, 6-8 pm. museum Of cOnTemPOrary naT a ive arT r s, 108 Cathedral Pl., Santa Fe. 424-5922. Various exhibitions beginning Fri., Jan. 14. Opening reception: 5-7 pm. Info: iaia.edu museum Of cOnTemPOrary naT a ive arT r s, 108 Cathedral Pl., Santa Fe. 424-5922. Private Practice: lectures by Richard Cutshall and Kenneth Practice Williams. Sun., Dec. 5 & Sun., Dec. 12, 2-3 pm. neW mexicO HisTOry museum, 113 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe. 476-1141. Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country: Marsha Weigner on her award-winning Country book. Wed., Dec. 1, 12 pm. naT a iOnal nal HisPanic P Panic culT ul ural cenTer, 1701 4th St. SW, Alb. 505-246-2261. December performances include Nutcracker on the Rocks & Feast of Guadalupe Celebration and Concert. Info: nhccnm.org naT a iOnal nal HisPanic P Panic culT ul ural cenTer, 1701 4th St. SW, Alb. 505-246-2261. Dec./Jan. book signings by Michael Trujillo, Renny Golden, LeanLuc Carton, and José Rivera. Info: nhccnm.org PHOTO-eye

bOOKs OOK and mOss OuTdOOr, 530 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 988-5152. Herb Ritts:

The Golden Hour: A Photographer’s Work and His World World: lecture and book signing by Charles Churchward. Thu., Dec. 16, 6-8 pm. railyard PerfOrmance cenTer, 1611 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 982-8309. The Lake of Nine Devotions: A Photographic Journey Through India to Benefit the Mudslide Victims of Ladakh Ladakh. Sat., Dec. 11, 7-8:30 pm. ricHard levy Gallery, 514 Central Ave. SW, Alb. 505-766-9888. Emi Ozawa & Jeff Kellar: sculptural boxes with kinetic elements by Emi Ozawa; paintings on aluminum by Jeff Kellar. Opening Sat., Feb. 19, 6-8 pm. sanTa T fe arT Ta r insTiTuTe, 1600 St. Michael’s Dr., Santa Fe. 424-5050. Elemental: Earth Air Fire Water—Art and Environment Environment: lecture by Lucy Lippard. Thu., Dec. 9, 6 pm. Info: sfai.org sanTa T Ta fe arT r insTiTuTe, 1600 St. Michael’s Dr., Santa Fe. 424-5050. December Open Studio.

Thurs., Dec. 16, 5:30 pm. Info: sfai.org sanTa T fe cOmPlex, 632 Agua Fria St., Santa Fe. Ta 471-2727. Notions of Time: musical events, talks, video, film, and photography on the theme of time. Fri., Dec. 3, 6 pm and Sat., Dec. 4, 10 pm.

Info: sfcomplex.org sanTa T fe desiGn disTricT aT Ta aT PacHecO ParK, 1512 Pacheco St., Santa Fe. Holiday Gathering.

Fri., Dec. 10, noon-7 pm. sT. jOHn’s cOlleGe, 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe. 984-6000. Dean’s Lecture and Concert Series; Worrell Lecture Lecture: Music, Meanings, and Gods in Greek Tragedy Tragedy. Fri. Dec. 3, 8 pm. Info: sjcsf.edu Turner carrOll ll Gallery, 725 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 986-9800. Rojo: new works by Hung Liu, Rex Ray, and Deborah Oropallo. Mon., Dec. 13 through Mon., Jan. 17.

WebsTer cOllecTiOn, 54 ½ Lincoln Ave. On the Plaza, Santa Fe. 954-9500. Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera by Eminent Photographers Photographers: photographs of Kahlo and Rivera. Original drawings by Diego Rivera. On view through Fri., Dec. 31.

Holiday Group Show of Small Works.

Works GF Contemporary, 707 Canyon Road. Reception: Saturday, December 11, from 3 to 5 pm.

Image: Eric Reinemann.

Wells farGO banKK Gallery, 241 Washington Ave., Santa Fe. 984-0442. Diverse Roots, Shared Future: Children of the World World: work by Carol Hartsock. Wed., Dec. 1 through Fri., Dec. 31.

WHeelW eel riGHT eelW museum Of THe american indian, 704 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe. 982-4636.

Wheelwright Treasures Holiday Sale Sale. Sun., Dec. 5.

2-4 pm. Info: wheelwright.org

PERFORMING ARTS albuquerque THeaT ea re Guild, 712 Central Ave. SE, eaT Alb. 505-341-9590. December performances— performances—A Christmas Carol Carol, Merry Christmas Caper, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas Christmas—at various locations.

Info: abqtheatre.org THe arden Players, South Broadway Cultural Center, 1025 S. Broadway SE, Alb. 505-501-1709.

The Lion in the Lamb Lamb. Sat., Dec. 4, 7:30 pm; Sun., Dec. 5, 2 pm. eldOradO cHildren’s THeaT ea re and Teen Players, eaT James A. Little Theater, NM School for the Deaf,

BIAS, Going Against the Grain: work by New Mexico fiber artists at the Santa Fe Community Gallery, 201 West Marcy Street. Reception: Friday, December 3, from 5 to 7 pm. Fiberwork: Elliebeth Scott.

38 | THe magazine

1060 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe. The King and I. Fri., Sat., Sun., Dec. 3, 4, & 5; Fri., Sat., Sun., Dec. 10, 11 & 12. Info: eldoradochildrenstheatre.org THe lensic, 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. 9881234. Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Sat., Dec. 11, 2 pm & 7:30 pm; Sun., Dec. 12, 1 pm & 5 pm.

CALL FOR ARTISTS masTer erWOrKs Of neW mexicO is seeking submissions from New Mexican artists for the 13th Annual Spring Art Show. Info: masterworksnm.org neW mexicO creaT rea es and neW mexicO cenTennial fOundaT unda iOn are seeking New undaT Mexico artists’ proposals for pieces to commemorate the upcoming New Mexico statehood Centennial. Deadline Fri., Dec. 10.

Info: newmexicocreates.org

lisTinGs fOr THe february/marcH issue due by Wednesday, january 19. adverTisinG reservaTiOns due by THursday, january 20.

Transfigurations: new work by Juan Kelley. Nuart Gallery, 670 Canyon Road. Reception: Friday, December 17, from 5 to 7 pm.

Transfigurations

december

2010 /

january

2011 |

RO U N DSTON E STUDIO

GALLERY

2nd St Studios SANTA FE NM 505.919.9354 Photography of Norman F.Carver Jr. normancarver.com Architecture of Mitch Witkowski roundstonedesign.com Artifacts of the Ancient World

PREVIEWS

Joshua Suda, Recycling Metaphysical Debris, oil on canvas, 6” x 14”, 2010

Two Man Show: Joshua Suda and Rodrigo Cifuentes, with guest artist Elliot Wall December 17 through mid-January Skotia Gallery, 150 West Marcy Street, Suite 103, Santa Fe. 820-7787 Opening Reception: Friday, December 17, 5 to 7 pm.

Dimitri Kozyrev, Lost Edge #25, acrylics and oils on canvas, 60” x 48”, 2008

make us stand up straighter and catch our breath. Two technically skilled and highly

Dimitri Kozyrev: Lost Landscapes David Richard Contemporary, 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe. 983-9555 Exhibition runs to December 11, 2010. No reception.

imaginative artists at Skotia Gallery achieve this effect in their paintings, each using his

Dmitri Kozyrev paints unsettling composite landscapes—colorful ruins that confuse

own distinctive methods. Joshua Suda’s work cleverly displays a catalogue of emotions

perspective and time. Kozyrev’s paintings seek to merge a shattered physical world

in his subjects. The characters in Suda’s paintings seem to resent the barrier between

marred by war and a disquieted mental state that fills in the area between the splinters—

themselves and the viewer, sometimes peering or even bursting from the multiple layers

his geometries seem to shift before our eyes. However, there is a sense of healing in

he imposes upon them. “[Suda’s] paintings seem to constantly refer to, yet firmly reject,

his work, as he often uses nature to soften the jagged scars in his paintings. Kozyrev

the Renaissance ideal of painting’s role as a ‘window ’ into another world,” states the

was born in Leningrad in 1967 under Soviet rule, and is inspired by photographs of the

press release. The work of Mexican artist Rodrigo Cifuentes is equally whimsical, but

Mannerheim Line—fortifications used by Finland against the Soviet Union in the 1930s—

his paintings also contain a touch of the nightmarish. Animals pose amid piles of bones,

as well as by photographs taken from a swiftly moving car. Kozyrev is also interested in

objects are frozen in the act of falling, and a sense of discontent is eerily palpable.

what he believes to be the lost edge of the avant-garde in the contemporary art world.

Cifuentes grew up hearing his grandparents’ grisly stories about the Spanish Civil War,

The exhibition at David Richard Contemporary will include works from four different

which, along with his anguished feelings about “the Latin American myth versus the

series by Kozyrev, including Lost Landscapes and Lost Edge.

When reality becomes banal, photo-realistic art has a special ability to accost us—to

American Dream,” strongly affect the tone of his works. According to Cifuentes, “My main concern when creating artwork is to always surprise the observer, using everything possible within my grasp, whether it is morbid, serene, humorous or personal.” Both Suda and Cifuentes have a knack for the dramatic, and those attending the show can

18th Annual Art of Devotion December 3, 2010 to March 25, 2011.

Peyton Wright Gallery, 237 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe. 989-9888 Opening: Friday, December 3, 5 to 8 pm.

Fortunately for the art world, the Catholic Church has long eschewed the commandment “Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above” (Exodus 20:4). The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate.” With this rationale, Catholic missionaries in New Mexico used devotional art to illustrate the stories of their faith to the native peoples. These sculptures or paintings came to be known as santos, and their creaters as santeros. They were often kept in private homes, and became important parts of their owners’ lives. Peyton Wright Gallery’s 18th Annual Art of Devotion exhibition will feature a variety of Catholic devotional images, including works by master santeros José Rafael Aragón, Pedro Antonio Fresquís, and Frey Andrés García. These beautiful works are rich in history and meaning, representing the human need for art to marry the earthly and the divine.

40 | THE magazine

Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth, Cuzco, Peru, oil on canvas, 753/ 8 ” x 531/ 8 ”, ca. 1700

hope for more than a viewing—they can expect an interaction.

| december 2010 / january 2011

ROBERT NICHOLS GALLERY s a n ta f e

Historic, Classic, and Innovative Native American Pottery

Glen nipshank

Robert tenorio

Diego Romero

alan e. Lasiloo

William a. Pacheco

Ivan Lewis

nathan Begaye

Ortiz family

Les namingha

ZUnI - new Directions: recent work by alan e. Lasiloo & Les namingha December 27–January 8 artists reception: December 30th, 4–6 p.m.

419 Canyon Road, santa fe, nM 87501 | 505.982.2145 www.robertnicholsgallery.com | gallery@robertnicholsgallery.com

Mexican Modernist Jewelry Antonio Pineda

gallery

paintings

Introducing our Fabulous Spanish Colonial Collection

MATTHEW FREDRICK

520 Canyon Road, Santa Fe 505-986-8191 marcnavarro925@aol.com

231 Canyon Road marjigallery.com 505-983-1012

N AT I O N A L S P O T L I G H T

Art / Basel / Miami Beach untitled film still

#27 by cindy sherman

courtesy of skarstedt gallery, new york city

The sharpest of cutting-edge contemporary art can be seen in Florida at Art Basel Miami Beach. Considered by many to be the most important art show in the United States, the event features art from leading galleries around the world—over 2,000 celebrated artists will participate. After perusing the exhibits, the well-sated art connoisseur may also attend films, architecture and design shows, and discussions with distinguished members of the international art community. For a respite from “the most prestigious art show in the Americas,” there are a plethora of luxury hotels, clubs, and fine dining opportunities. Consider Prime 112 Restaurant, a celebrity hotspot, and the Sagamore Hotel in South Beach as two “must-go-to” destinations. Art Basel Miami Beach runs from December 2nd to December 5th. www.artbasel.com D | december 2010 / january 2011

THE magazine | 43

ZAPLIN LAMPERT GALLERY

twenty-three years on historic Canyon Road

The Art and Soul of Santa Fe

Robert Gribbroek (1906-1971) Portrait of Seated Indian with Drum, 1937, Oil on canvas, 36 x 28 inches

Classic art of the American West, Taos Society of Artists, Santa Fe Art Colony and Edward S. Curtis 651 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 • 505.982.6100 • www.zaplinlampert.com

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F E AT U R E

BEST BOOKS Reviews

by

2010

Each year THE magazine receives many books from publishers for review consideration. Here we showcase the top twenty books of 2010.

Diane Armitage, Jon Carver, Guy Cross, Elizabeth Harball, David Rhodes, James Rodewald, Alex Ross,

and

Edgar Scully.

“The mind-boggling contradictions of American culture are nowhere as obvious as in its constantly shifting attitudes toward the naked human body,” begins Bram Dijkstra in Naked: The Nude in America (Rizzoli $75) Naked is a thorough exploration of America’s sometimes puritanical and sometimes perverse relationship with the nude in the visual arts. Dijkstra brilliantly Heaven

to

quality of light. Herb Ritts The Golden Hour: A Photographer’s Life and His World (Rizzoli, $65) is essentially a book of remembrances and tributes by those closest to Ritts—his family, friends, and those who worked with him.

The book is compiled chronologically, beginning with comments by family members and friends about Ritts as a youngster and continuing to Ritts’s death from AIDS in 2002. Biographical notes alert the reader to the cast of characters and how they fit into Ritts’s life. Christy Ritts: “Herb knew when something was hot, and when it was not.” Ingrid Sischy: “His understanding

interprets more than four hundred Sally Mann’s latest book, Proud Flesh

both

portraying the naked body in a

(Aperture, $80), once again focuses

brash and sexy. LaChapelle

myriad of manifestations. The book

on the realm of the family. This time

was

art

reads like an incisive lecture, sparing

the artist trained her camera on her

history and street culture,

no criticism for American culture

husband of many years—a man in

often

subject

and its hypocrisies. The book

middle-age—still handsome and

matter from the Bible to

features gorgeous artworks long

fit. Yet Mann has positioned him in

pornography, questioning our

hidden in museum vaults for fear

a dense and moody light that tilts

dubious

with

of offending conservative patrons.

toward a realization of mortality

gender, glamour, and status.

From Andrew Wyeth to racy comic-

and the imperfections that the

What makes this book so

book covers, Naked reveals the

human body is destined to inherit.

compelling is that LaChapelle

hidden history of the American nude

The more abstract the image, the

uses

celebrities—Leonardo

in the first comprehensive book to

more Mann has tinkered with her

DiCaprio, Pamela Anderson,

be published on the subject in more

negatives

David Bowie, Angelina Jolie,

than thirty-five years. This is more

a print after the paper has been

Courtney Love, Hugh Hefner,

than just an art book—it is a long-

torn or punctured. It’s as if Mann

and Michael Jackson, among

overdue statement about America’s

is saying that no matter how much

many others—as models in

peculiar attitude towards the naked

a body is diminished by time, it is a

this outrageous book.

human body.

subject worthy of close study, not

—D.R.

—E.H.

to mention veneration. However,

David

sunrise—the best times of the day to take photographs because of the special

(Taschen,

works

$39.95),

The term “The Golden Hour” refers to the hour before sunset and after

Hell

by

photographer

LaChapelle, inspired

is by

referencing

relationships

and

twenty

American

or

re-photographed

of light was innate.” David Fahey: “Herb had this ability to convince people

these photographs are neither life

he knew what was best for them.” Richard Gere: “Herb certainly had an eye

studies nor a form of death mask,

for beauty.” Kevin Bobolsky: “Herb captured the love between Marky Mark,

although death seems to weigh

the mamma’s boy, and Kate Moss—the scared-nervous-wreck-supermodel-

heavy in the atmospheric space of

waif.” Tony Ward: “Herb shot in black-and-white… he was very much about

each image. The work is more like

working with shadows.” Bruce Roberts: “As soon as someone was hot

a series of question marks as Mann

or on the verge of being hot… Herb would go schmooze them.” Classic

interrogates the perpetual failure

photographs by Ritts are included, as well as many behind-the-scenes snaps

of

of Ritts and pals partying. Author Chaim Potok once wrote, “A blink of an eye

in its quest for literal truths. The

in itself is nothing. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span,

suggestion here is that only the

he is something, he can fill that tiny span with meaning.” The Golden Hour—

most profound abstract metaphors

compiled and wonderfully designed by Charles Churchward—is an intimate

even begin to scratch the surface

look at Ritts’s short but meaningful time on this earth: his own Golden Hour.

when the topic is enduring love.

—G.C.

—D.A.

photographic

representation

continued on page 50 december

2010 /

january

2011

THE magazine | 49

Paris Vogue Covers 1920-2009 (Thames

&

Hudson,

$45)

celebrates

the

magazine’s

ninetieth

anniversary

by

displaying eighty of its iconic covers.

The

early

covers

show the influence of the Art Deco, Cubist, and Surrealist

In New York during the sixties and seventies, Max’s Kansas City was the

In this landmark encounter between one of the twentieth century’s

movements.

second

place where everybody—artists, poets, musicians, dancers, models, actors,

most perceptive theorists and an artist integral to the inauguration of the

half of the twentieth century,

photographers, teenyboppers, rock stars, groupies, dope dealers, and

modern world, Manet and the Object of Painting (Tate Publishing, $21.95)

a host of photographers and

celebrities—went to see and to be seen. Max’s had it all: booze, food, music,

offers the first English translation of Michel Foucault’s assessment of a

artists contributed cover shots,

and an endless stream of amazing characters. It was the counterculture

profound rupture in the history of visual representation. Adapted from a

including

Avedon,

clubhouse for the hip aristocracy and friends. It was in the back room

lecture delivered in Tunis in 1971, the text investigates thirteen paintings

Cecil Beaton, Guy Bourdin,

where the “in-crowd” was found—Andy Warhol and his entourage, along

that eschew the diversionary ideological devices grounded in painting’s

Salvador Dalí, Bruce Weber,

with those very, very special people who were given (mostly temporary)

relationship to monocular perspective. Foucault demonstrates that the

Man Ray, Patrick Demarchelier,

admission into Andy’s circle. Upstairs is where you would hear music by the

“reinsertion of the materiality of the canvas in that which is represented”

Robert

Helmut

likes of Patti Smith, Lou Reed, and the Velvet Underground. Max’s Kansas

is precipitated by Manet’s explicit display of his canvases’ rectilinearity,

Newton,

Steichen,

City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll (Abrams Image, $24.95) is a time capsule.

frontal lighting, and an ambiguated spatial coordination between viewer and

Andy Warhol, and Irving Penn.

Turn the pages and see many icons: Taylor Mead, Larry Poons, Bebe Rubell,

In

the

Richard

Doisneau, Edward

subject matter. As explicated by Foucault, and explored further in Nicolas

The book is divided into nine

John Waters, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Kinky Friedman, Johnny

Bourriaud’s incisive introduction, Manet’s refusal to define a normative

chapters

comments,

Thunder, Joey Ramone, Brigid Berlin, and Nico, among others. In 1981,

space in which statuses are frozen and viewpoints are fixed in the service of

anecdotes, and interviews. A

Max’s closed for good; today it is but a memory. This volume is a fascinating

a general idea would explode the boundaries that had curtailed abstraction.

gorgeous book.

footnote from that era.

—A.R.

—D.R.

—G.C.

with

Eva Hesse is known for rethinking the terms of Minimalism. In her sculptures, she took the movement’s reductivist procedures and worked with unusual materials like fiberglass and latex rubber, thereby helping to rewrite Minimalism’s narrow agenda with her slant towards the emotional, the tactile, and the decidedly personal. Eva Hesse Spectres 1960 (Yale University Press, $40) presents another largely unknown chapter in Hesse’s art production. The gestural paintings featured in this book were made by Hesse when she was only twenty-four, right out of art school, and struggling to authenticate her sense of self along with her ideas of what a painting could be or say. To call an art book perfect may seem like hyperbole, but E. Luanne McKinnon, curator of the exhibition, is to be congratulated for this elegantly realized monograph. Both Hesse’s originality and her indebtedness to Willem de Kooning’s refusal to abandon the figure resonate in images that never feel dated or overworked. Their importance in the always-resurgent world of contemporary painting is undeniable. This exhibition is a must-see, and as McKinnon is the director of the University of New Mexico Art Museum, we will have the opportunity to see for ourselves Hesse’s heart-stopping dance with the brush, as it revealed not only facets of her complex persona but also her immense gifts as a young artist who had the courage to say, “The hell with them all. Paint yourself through and through…” And that is exactly what she did in this amazing body of work.

—D.A.

F E AT U R E

Rachel Whiteread is a minimalist sculptor who generally works Buy Chinati: The Vision of Donald Judd (Yale University Press, $65) because

on a large scale, but in Rachel

you love the Marfa landscape, because you’re intrigued by Judd’s work,

Whiteread

because you don’t understand the appeal of those metal boxes, or just

$49.95) another side of the artist

because you want to see the guy’s living room. Buy it for any of those

comes to the surface. Her works

Artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel has always seemed larger

reasons and you won’t be disappointed—the photographs are stunning.

on paper are inventive, fascinating,

than life—in the eighties he was thought of as the “bad boy” of

But read a few of Judd’s writings on art, architecture, and what he felt

and various in their use of color,

the New York art scene. His paintings are filled with raw emotion,

was wrong with the art world and you will be blown away. For example:

media, and motifs. This body of

and contain an edge of brutality. Schnabel says, “I’m aiming at an

“Most of the activities which should support art, which claim to support

work is an essential component

emotional state, a state that people can literally walk into and

art, which justify themselves so, are nearly irrelevant to it. These are the

in

be engulfed by.” In Julian Schnabel: Polaroids (Prestel, $49.95), he

museums, the art bureaucrats, the critics, and the educators.” But Judd

complex worldview, and here

succeeds. Using a vintage large-format 20” x 24” Polaroid Land

didn’t just sit around and bitch, he went out in the world and bitched

we see the artist borrowing from

camera, he makes self-portraits, images of his family, friends,

and made a museum that fit his vision of the world. The result is Chinati,

many dimensions: architecture,

anonymous “crazy people,” various locales—the Old Homestead

which thanks to retiring director Marianne Stockebrand, who conceived

graphic design, collage, conceptual

Restaurant in New York City, his Brooklyn and Montauk studios—

and edited this volume, is now a world-class museum housing art installed

art, photography, and a kind of John

and a host of celebrities, including Lou Reed, Mickey Rourke, and

with the attention, intention, and care that something permanent should

Cage–like

Max von Sydow. This is a powerful book by a mythic figure. You

be given. And art, for Judd, was meant to be permanent. This book is a

These images are not working

will love it.

permanent testimony to his life’s work.

drawings for Whiteread’s sculpture;

—G.C.

—J.R.

they are fully realized pieces

Drawings

understanding

(Prestel,

Whiteread’s

chance-encounterism.

that may refer to her sculptural Two factors essential in the creation of a great bottle

work but exist outside of them

of wine are aging and storing, and the wine cellar is the

as their own spatial investigations.

place where all good bottles of wine must go to get

This book comes as a revelation

better. The Most Beautiful Wine Cellars in the World, (VdH

regarding Whiteread’s sensitivity

Books, $90) is a lavishly illustrated coffee table volume

to the nuances of color and

presenting fifty-six wine cellars from nineteen countries,

texture, particularly in the section

including France, Italy, Belgium, China, Monaco, Lebanon,

of the book called “A Visual

Hungary, and the United States. None of the cellars are

Essay” that deals with the artist’s

alike and each speaks to some aspect of our shared love

collection of found objects. These

affair and obsession with wine. In the introduction Nicolas

items hint at a pack rat’s sensibility,

Francart discusses factors that go into creating the ideal

and the essay that contains them

wine cellar: temperature, humidity, lighting, and air quality.

makes for an insightful contrast

Wine expert Jurgen Lijcops pens succinct descriptions of

to the monotone spareness of

the cellars, ranging from earth-cooled vaults to modern,

Whiteread’s

large-scale

climate-controlled sanctuaries. Like a fine wine, this book

monuments

for

is meant to be savored.

is known.

—D.R.

—D.A.

which

urban she

continued on page 52 december

2010 /

january

2011

THE magazine | 51

Imagine

Tokyo-born architect Shigeru Ban studied in the United States, but his buildings still reflect the Japanese sense of modesty. Ban is known as the “paper architect,” and is famous for his use of atypical materials such as birch plywood, paper tubes, and shipping containers. His elegant design for the Centre Pompidou Metz in France confirms his commitment to engineering, ergonomics, and simplicity. The hexagonal structure features a stunning woven timber roof that floats above a thoughtfully designed art space. Shigeru Ban: Complete Works 1985-2010 (Taschen, $150) allows the reader to comprehend the full scope of Ban’s genius, which ranges from temporary houses designed for disaster victims in India and Turkey to the surprising “Curtain Wall House” in Tokyo—the walls billow over the street below. Architectural designs complement the photographs in the book so the reader can understand the attention to detail that goes into Ban’s deceptively simple buildings. Ban’s work is undeniably innovative, but it is his practice of kenson that makes him one of the most visually appealing of today’s great architects.

—E.H.

eighteen-foot-high

Presented in the amusing format

and nearly twenty-five-mile-long

of a dossier from the files of

curtain of shimmering white nylon

the

unfurled across the hills of rural

Parachronic

Bureau,

The practice of modesty—kenson—is one of the key elements of Japanese etiquette and culture.

an

an

Observational

intergalactic

alien

northern California. This was the

agency, Startling Art (La Luz de

running fence that Christo and his

Jesus Press/Last Gasp, $25) traces

wife, Jeanne-Claude, created in the

the long, strange trip of New

mid-seventies. In Christo and Jeanne-

Mexico artist Dennis Larkins from

Claude: Remembering the Running

his en plein air roots as a painter of

Fence

New Mexican landscapes through

Press, $49.95) we are treated to

his extensive work as a poster

preliminary sketches by Christo,

artist, set designer, set builder

photographs that document the

for the Grateful Dead, and other

process of the creation of the art

major rock music acts. The book

installation, and an astute essay by

presents an extensive full-color

Brian O’Doherty. The project took

review of his present work as a

nearly four years to complete, and

“Pop Surrealist” painter of pulp

consumed 240,000 square yards of

fiction–inspired

reliefs.

(University

of

California

Aliens,

nylon, 90 miles of steel cable, 2,050

psychedelia, and atom bombs

steel poles, 350,000 hooks, and

all come together in this glossy,

13,000 earth anchors. It comes as no

hardback exposé of Larkins and

surprise that he and the late Jeanne-

his wild ride through art, rock and

Claude have been characterized as

roll, and the cosmos.

“forces of nature.”

—J.C.

—E.S.

F E AT U R E

reGeneration

During

the

sixties

and

seventies,

photographers

2:

Tomorrow’s

Sanctuary (Abrams, $60)—with forty duotone photographs and

Photographers Today (Aperture,

an introduction by New York Times film critic A. O. Scott—is a

$39.95) asks questions. What

Helmut

radical departure for Gregory Crewdson. Until now, his work

are young photographers up to

Newton, Guy Bourdin, Hans Feuer, and Jeanloup Sieff were the

has been distinguished by production crews, made-to-order

in the 21st century? How do they

rage, the darlings of the fashion world in Paris. But Sieff—who

soundstages, and actors. Sanctuary is Crewdson's take on the

see the world? Do they respect

had a fantastic eye for composition—was more then a fashion

legendary Italian film studio Cinecittà, where Federico Fellini

or do they reject tradition? This

photographer. In Jeanloup Sieff (Taschen, $14.99) we see that

shot many of his films. Crewdson came upon abandoned film

book provides visual answers,

his style over four decades—whether photographing fashion,

sets, and seeing the beauty in the decaying sets, made eerie

showcasing the originality and

nudes, landscapes, portraits, or journalistic subject matter—

portraits of the deteriorating buildings and uninhabited streets.

inventiveness of eighty up-and-

was severe. Sieff ’s choices of lighting, exposure, and the tonal

Although one thinks of his photographs as black-and-white, they

coming photographers. Standout

quality of his photographs, which contained minimal mid-tones

are really a study in shades of gray—it is hard to find more than

images in this beautifully printed

and a lot of contrast, were in direct opposition to Ansel Adams’

a touch of a true black or a pure white in any of Crewdson’s

book are by Agnes Eva Molnár,

zone system. Sieff ’s commentaries beneath each photograph

images. The bottom line is that art, like beauty, is in the eye of

Kristoffer

are witty, informative, and truthful—without a hint of pretense.

the beholder.

Doebelt.

Jeanloup Sieff was a master photographer. Buy this book—it is a

—G.C.

—D.R.

Axén,

and

Sylvia

remarkable record of the time.

—G.C. You’ve probably seen many of Frida Kahlo has become a feminist heroine and a cult figure.

Mark

In Judy Chicago’s latest book, Frida Kahlo: Face to Face (Prestel, $65),

Best known for his portraits of

Chicago plays the feminist advocate for Kahlo, but more importantly

celebrities and musicians, he

sees Kahlo as the great artist she was. Chicago collaborated with

was the chief photographer for

art historian Frances Borzello, whose academic voice complements

Rolling Stone from 1992 to 2002,

Chicago’s direct, no-nonsense approach to art. Face to Face is not a

shooting over one hundred

biography about Kahlo, although the biographical commentary in the

covers

book is essential to understand her work. Instead, the book focuses

Listen (Rizzoli, $75) displays

on important aspects of Kahlo’s life that became prominent themes in

Seliger’s personal collection of

her paintings. There are chapters on her love of Mexico, her agonizing

landscapes, nudes, close-up still

health problems, her animals, and of course, her relationship with

lifes, portraits, and spectacular

Diego Rivera. Beside each of Kahlo’s paintings is a dialogue between

photographs

Chicago and Borzello, which provides historical context, artistic

City—all capturing the essence

analysis, and personal musings. Face to Face is a revealing testimony

of light and shadow. In 2009,

of one artist’s commentary on another artist’s life and work. This

Seliger was the recipient of the

book deserves a place on the bookshelf of both the feminist and the

Lucie Award for outstanding

art historian.

achievement in portraiture.

—E.H.

—E.S. D

december

2010 /

january

2011

Seliger’s

for

photographs.

the

of

magazine.

New

York

THE magazine | 53

2011

Jan uar y E xh ibition Reception

Januar y 14th, 2011 6:30pm-8:30pm

THE-dec.qxd:Layout 1

11/12/10

4:35 PM

Page 1

ELEMENTAL: Earth, Air, Fire and Water Art and Environment

December

Writer, activist, and curator

Lucy Lippard Lecture, THURSDAY 12/9, 6pm Tipton Hall $10 general, $5 students/seniors/members Artists & Writers in Residence

December Open Studio THURSDAY 12/16, 5:30pm SFAI. Free admission

SFAI application deadline FRIDAY December 31, 2010 POSTMARK

Info and application at sfai.org/applications.html or 505 – 424 5050 WWW.SFAI.ORG, 505- 424 5050, INFO@SFAI.ORG, SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE, 1600 ST.MICHAELS DRIVE, SANTA FE NM 87505 | THE SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE EXPLORES THE INTERCONNECTIONS OF COMTEMPORARY ART AND SOCIETY THROUGH ARTIST AND WRITER RESIDENCIES, PUBLIC LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS, EXHIBITIONS, & EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH THIS PROGRAM PARTIALLY FUNDED BY THE CITY OF SANTA FE ARTS COMMISION AND THE 1% LODGER’S TAX AND BY NEW MEXICO ARTS, A DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS

W

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

Eva HEssE spEctrEs 1960 When the late eva v hesse graduated from va

Yale, in 1960, she considered herself a painter, and this series of figures and portraits is part of the body of work she completed in that year after leaving art school. Not very well known, studied, or written about, this group of paintings is yet another reminder of what a precocious artist Hesse was. The work is intensely personal and extremely compelling, and a fascinating study of painterly process. Curated by E. Luanne McKinnon, Director of

the University of New Mexico Art Museum, this exhibition is a rare gift to the art world, and it also means that this haunting and complex show will travel to Albuquerque in early 2011.

Do not miss this opportunity to see an aspect of Hesse’s work that will come as a surprise to those who are familiar only with her sculptures.

HammEr musEum 10899 WilsHirE BoulEvard, los angElEs In Eva Hesse Spectres 1960, there is a masterful handling of

Anyone interested in contemporary art has to ask: What

paint at the service of Hesse’s need to scour her psyche for signs

twenty-four-year-old artist has the ability to cogently address

of the despair that comes with feeling shipwrecked and lost.

issues pertinent to the history of Abstract Expressionist painting

Every portrait in the series could be thought of as a vessel appearing

and brilliantly comment on those issues? Hesse achieves this,

on the horizon of the artist’s consciousness only to sail away; then

but she makes painting subservient to a deeper and wider vision

comes another painting, another chance of rescuing self-knowledge

as her Spectres struggle for coherent and meaningful definitions

or experiencing another abandonment by fate. These qualities are

in the ongoing search for the self, which also happens to take

all there in this work—fully realized statements, though tenuous

place within a dialogue between abstraction and representation.

in their projections of incompleteness. Because of the tentative

This is complex terrain that could have crumbled under the weight

nature of self-exploration, each image is bound to feel like it is only

of Hesse’s investigation, but it did not. The work is fifty years old;

a transitory mask whose ghostly grip on the moment of its making

nevertheless, it feels like it could have been done yesterday or

will loosen, allowing for the next engagement when Hesse grapples

tomorrow. Hesse was a superb painter, and even if these Spectres

with the past and the present in equal measures. Hers was not an

were the only art she ever made, this series in its entirety could

easy fate.

be called a masterpiece, however ambiguous and fragile are the emotional landscapes that reside within the images. For this work to cohere within painting’s taut dialectics, Hesse had to know what she was doing each time she picked up the brush. At the same time, the phantom selves that she created were never far away from the signifiers of a corpse. Such was Hesse’s intuitive understanding of her own absurd—as she called it—drama.

Hesse used just about every painting technique at her disposal: gestural brushwork, drips, thick impasto, slabs of pigment, scumbled patches, flat areas of paint, and colors that met and sensually merged or simply collided with one another.

But every painting has its own sense of urgent process that feels absolutely right for that particular moment of self-revelation. Plate X, as it’s called in the elegant and informative catalogue (all the paintings are untitled), is especially haunting with its expanses of garish color and the pathos of the figure with its ridiculously large hat (or head of orange hair) and its vacant-eyed expression. In the otherwise undifferentiated torso, it looks like the heart has been shredded in the process of being ripped open and possibly out of the body. There are aggressive slashes of paint in and around the heart, dripping lines, and a queasy combination of reds, yellows, and olive greens; that area of the work is like its own separate painting-within-a-painting. It’s as if Hesse reached inside herself and offered up a kind of “organ recital”—the heart, bleeding and singing a ghastly song of self-abnegation, but also finding a momentary salvation through attempts at depicting an emotional honesty.

In her catalogue essay, McKinnon refers to the artist’s “pitiful non-identities,” and indeed these Spectres are uneasy spirits that deserve not only our compassion but also our admiration and intense respect. In the last analysis, Hesse’s fragile persona is transferred into riveting and potent imagery. The artist may have gone to the mat with each apprehension of a gathering mood, but in the process of giving birth to what is inside the visible, her handling of paint demonstrates a courage that belies her protracted engagement with the abject. Hesse tapped into the horror vacui vacui— the fear of emptiness, the failures to connect, the estrangements, losses, and existential dread that plagued her. These states are all there in the work as the faces and the bodies are arranged and re-arranged in images that convey not only a tremendous poignancy but also an ironic dynamism simply because Hesse was such a good painter. Each work is a plateau of mirrors in which we can see so many aspects of the human condition.

—diane armiTa TaG Ta aGe Eva Hesse, Untitled, oil on canvas, 18” x 15”, 1960. Courtesy of Museum of Modern Art, New York City, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Murray Charash.

| december 2010 / january 2011

THe magazine | 55

t

pétEr Korniss, attacHmEnt “the hungarian language is lucky in

that the verb ‘to photograph’ also means ‘to immortalize,’” writes w rites photographer Péter Korniss. Born in Romania and rraised aised in Hungary, Korniss visited a Transylvanian village iinn 1967 and found a world isolated by mountainous geography and Communism, where ethnic Hungarian peasants lived as they had a century before. Knowing this way of life might soon disappear, Korniss “immortalized” it with his camera—and his work succeeds as both document and art. More than two hundred fifty images from this body of work, including photographs taken in Romanian, Hungarian, and Slovakian villages, are collected in Korniss’s sumptuous book Attachment 1967–2008. An exhibition of forty prints traveled from the Hungarian Cultural Center in New York to Skotia Gallery in Santa Fe. Korniss exploits the strengths of black-and-white photography by rendering figures in black traditional dress starkly silhouetted against snowfields: a procession of nativity players in December, lines of women linking arms on a feast day. He often photographs his subjects from the back or side, emphasizing their folk attire rather than individual identities, so the figures become symbols of their culture.

At the Grave (1973) shows a mourner in black

N

leaning against a white tombstone, her face hidden. The background is a delicious fabric of film grain, painterly

sKotia K gallEry 150 WEst marcy strEEtt, suitE 103, santa FE and two-dimensional, a signature aspect of his work.

in an increasingly monolithic world, and to use black-and-

Other images are joyful, capturing opportune decisive

white film as a journalistic tool in an ever more digitized

moments and astutely observed details: a couple at a

profession. Inadvertently, Korniss’s images serve as

dance, their half-lit faces blending into one face; a boy

artifacts of the handmade photograph; they immortalize

astride a donkey caught in a swirl of sheepskin costumes

Central European village life and the eternally gorgeous

and wooden masks in a carnival parade. Later, Korniss

silver print.

pushed his work beyond the spectacle of feast days and

—KrisTin barendsen

into community life. He photographed villagers toiling at their agricultural jobs—herding sheep, turning hay. With a subtle hand, he brings out the humanity and humor of these scenes, and the heroic aspects of poverty.

After the Iron Curtain fell, harbingers of distant worlds—and the coming changes—arrived. In Man in His Home Decorated with Posters (1997), a man dressed like a blacksmith proudly stands below his American shampoo ads reading, “We love your hair.” In a 2008 image, an elderly woman in a hooded Slovakian folk dress is an anachronism in her IKEA-like kitchen, complete with microwave.

Korniss works in an idiom similar to that of the renowned Czech photographer Josef Koudelka, who photographed Roma (Gypsy) people in Romania and Slovakia. Although Korniss’s compositions are not quite as startling or sublime as Koudelka’s, his images are more emblematic of culture, place, and time. It’s a worthy purpose as an artist: to preserve the vestiges of diversity Péter Korniss, Man in His Home Decorated with Posters, gelatin silver print, 24” x 20”, 1997

noEl Hudson Noel hudson’s udson’s forty-six small collages are meditations, a working out of design issues arising from limiting her materials to two groups. The first group of works on paper consists of works she was originally dissatisfied with: oil and acrylic paintings, monotypes, and silk screens, which she cut up, keeping the size consistent by using a viewfinder. The second group of materials is mulberry and rice papers. The materials themselves force a meeting and resolution of Eastern and Western sensibilities.

Some of the collages have the subtle, repetitious rigor of a Japanese interior where tatami mat and shoji screen break up the background into a muted horizontal and vertical harmony so as to highlight the Western slashing diagonals.

In others, the passionate Western brushwork dominates, but translucent rice paper quells the outburst, or a pattern marches a restraining border through it.

Hudson taught art to children of U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan, and studied with a woodblock master, then traveled to Korea, Thailand, and Borneo. She learned the breadth of middle tones and textures in the East: Spring Garden is a wonder of middle tone and texture. When Hudson’s technique finely splices and marries her materials, the works become more kin to Hiroshige’s woodblock prints than to

413 BroadWay Way , t rut H Way

lEdgEr gallEry consEquEncEs

or

collage. He, too, was a bridge, studying Western perspective.

Or they can be compared to Bonnard’s Japonisme, but more so to that of Vuillard, whose chalky paint sometimes resembles paper. The constant transitions from flat to atmospheric space induce a dreamy state—ukiyo-e—the floating world. What makes Hudson’s an update from these earlier East-West bridges is her use of abstraction. The Nabis (Prophets), of which Bonnard and Vuillard were members, were tied to nature, but eschewed the Impressionist plein-air technique—they felt nature should be painted from the mind’s eye. Hiroshige worked from memory of the landscape, too (see The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido). Just as the rise of photography inflected the Nabis’ inner eye, making memories more flash-lit, arbitrarily captured, expressing a more spedup, crowded urban life, Hudson’s collages are yet one more step removed from nature.

These abstractions are the equivalent of Bonnard’s interiors looking out over a garden, and of Hiroshige’s views of stops along a pilgrimage. Our escapist and meditative states today are inflected by media, and Hudson gives us elegant, finished pieces that echo film’s spliced, split-screen editing, undetectable Photoshop changes, and airbrushed magazine perfection.

–KaTH aTHleen slOan O Oan Noel Hudson, Spring Garden, collage, silk screen, paper, 7” x 7”, 2010

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

A

critical santa FE: dEvEloping criticism After attending

several sessions of the

National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts’ fourday symposium on art criticism in general and the state of ceramics vis a vis the art world, I came to two rather depressing conclusions: the academy is actively justifying its existence as ferociously and vituperatively as ever, and there’s a good reason that art writing takes place in the privacy of one’s home office—writers speaking with other writers about writing is not pretty. As Dave Hickey put it during his morning lecture, “Writing is a crappy job.” This, after a free-for-all of an opening panel the evening before, consisting of the ever-disingenuous Hickey; Garth Clark, founder of the Ceramic Arts Foundation and arguably the preeminent expert on ceramics; Janet Koplos, guest editor for American Craft Magazine; Donald Kuspit, professor of art history and philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook; Raphael Rubenstein, senior editor at Art in America; and Tanya Harrod, professor of design at Oxford University. Any enlightenment offered by that panel dissolved into bickering, especially as played out, rather amusingly, between Kuspit (representing academia) and Clark (the real world). The rancor was real; the entertainment consisted chiefly in relief, at least on my part, that I am neither a tenured professor of art history nor an art dealer, and that any danger of my becoming either of those things remains minimal. The fracas began when Kuspit posited that there is no difference

in

cEramics

la Fonda HotEl 100 East san Francisco strEEtt, santa FE

with acuity, “I’m hearing a dialogue about turf.” It was

worldwide, do not have to supplement their incomes with

nearly impossible, in this setting of mostly professors and

other employment.

their earnest graduate students, with a smattering of “real”

Undaunted, I seated myself for the last panel on

studio artists, to pin anyone down about the subject of

“Strategies for the Writer, Maker, Gallery, and Publisher

criticism and/or art. “What is the ‘art’ in art?” asked Hunt

for the Future of Criticism” and moderator Jim Romberg’s

Prothro, who, as a writer and an artist, really should have

wrap-up on “The Future.” Despite Robert Atkins’ hopeful

known better. Hickey explained, patiently, that art “exists,

blather about some “Infrequently Asked Questions,” neither

ever-changing, within the object,” a position that, despite

session revealed anything close to strategic for a future of

its rationality, was not taken lying down by the rest of the

any sort. In fact, the last entry in my voluminous notes is

symposium’s members. Ceramists, at least those who make

this scribbled passage: “Art crit serves the fundamental

something other than functional pieces, apparently want

needs of the institution.” True enough, but as a strategy it

very badly to be involved in the critical discourse.

lacks substance. Finally, I couldn’t help but wonder about

The “critic in the gallery” portion of the symposium

the obvious, but barely alluded to, exclusion of indigenous

seemed promising. I was assigned to Roberta Smith’s

clay practice in NCECA’s format, despite more than two

critique of Stephen De Staebler’s work at Zane Bennett

thousand years of clay art history right here in Santa Fe.

Contemporary Art, but last-minute schedule changes

Hickey got one thing right, at least: writing about

prevented my being there. I understand it was a short,

art is a crappy job. The pay is atrocious—usually nothing

sweet gathering at which the artist was praised for his

at all for bloggers—and it’s lonely work imbuing your

“sincerity,” and not much else. Smith’s lecture the following

words with the meanings you actually intend for them.

morning was pithier, and proved her to be unencumbered

Writing is almost as bad as being a visual artist. But

by the trappings of a Ph.D. in poststructuralist theory; she is

thank god they don’t stop doing what they do. When

the poster girl for art criticism as inspirational, humbling, and

artists do their work well, it makes what I do worth

difficult—that is, a real-life endeavor. She observed that “art

the low pay and the agony of struggling with words to

gets the criticism it deserves.” Would that were true for the

describe the ineffable.

Academy. She also offered a footnote to Hickey’s “crappy

—KaTH aTHryn m davis

job” quote: according to Smith, only twenty-four art critics,

in the critical discourse about ceramics and that of other art mediums. Clark inquired as to what planet the former inhabited and proceeded to suggest that there is rather a quantum gap between the methodology of academia and the “freedom” of the commercial world. Them’s fightin’ words for the Ivory Tower crowd, and Kuspit assumed the role of knight gallant in service to his distressed damsels, Art History and Theory. As noted, the (s)wordplay was entertaining in its vigor; even Hickey knew to stay out of this one, after commenting laconically that, “as a member of the public,” he had “no concern with parochial politics.” Never mind that he recently took up a teaching post at the University of New Mexico, having left his position as English instructor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas—which institution, pointedly, would not comment about his departure. Maybe the fact that Hickey isn’t tenured—it’s his wife who bears that burden—and doesn’t hand out a syllabus in class makes him a “member of the public.” Whatever, Dave, and good luck slipping under the Academy’s radar. I highly doubt he’ll be enjoying, at the dean’s parties, what Hickey called the “freedom of speech” that survives outside of academia.

The above leads us back to Hickey’s performance the morning after Kuspit and Clark’s scuffle, in which Hickey admitted, “If you do [write about art] well, you have some power.” He warned against abusing that power—and apparently at least one member of the audience felt that Hickey had, indeed, taken advantage of his position. “Why am I listening to you?” queried the studio potter, adding

Roberta Smith lecturing in La Fonda’s William Lumpkins’ Ballroom on October 30, 2010 .

Photo: Joshua Romberg

| december 2010 / january 2011

THe magazine | 57

M

micHEllE cooKE:

nEW WorKs in glass & inK on papEr 1611- pasEo 1611-a

dE

Box g allEry pEralta, santa FE

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath

wall. The slides are attached vertically along one thin edge

also challenges my psychological and visual flexibility. Illusion

of a buffalo in wintertime. It is the little shadow that runs across

in modular linear or curvilinear patterns. The pipettes are

evokes a curious energy. These pieces are alive.

the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

arranged in circles. Like architect Louis Kahn—a master

The artist began her explorations by mounting slides

of sculpting form and space with light—Cooke takes the

directly onto the wall. For this exhibition, she has placed them

—Crowfoot, Chief of the Siksika First Nation

module beyond the repetition of a motif and extends it to

in acrylic boxes. The boxes create another paradox: they expand

of work

create an expression of an architectural principle, embodying

the work, but they also contain it. The clear boxes create their

continues her quest to express the passage of time and the

Kahn’s words that “structure is the giver of light.” With

own geometries of light. Glowing daggers stretch down the sides

impermanence of all things. By exploring the many faces of light

simple square and circular glass elements, Cooke is able to

of each box, expanding patterns onto the wall that are both tactile

and shadow, she creates an optical vocabulary that becomes a

create ever-changing sculptures that evoke many moods and

and haunting—radiant, yet subtly visible. The boxes emphasize

meditation on how to see and perceive the world around us.

atmospheres. Multiple shadows of light and dark become

the symmetry of the works, but they also create asymmetry by

Using materials such as inks, Japanese papers, and thin glass,

the focus of each piece. Glass flickers and shadows play in

casting a linear shadow that stretches across the image a few

she reveals a world within a world that is equally as fragile,

relation to the shifting light and viewpoint. The light moving

inches from the top. This dark line cuts some of the overlapping

transparent, and transient as the one in which we live. And like

through the transparent glass casts multiple shadows that

shadows from the lit glass, creating a distraction and abruptly

the musings of Crowfoot, her perceptions expand our awareness.

overlap in luminous shades of black, grey, and white. Patterns

stopping the visual motion of the works. This does not happen

Four large ink drawings on Japanese papers of unusual lightness and

of parallelograms recede and come forward in space, optically

in the two unconfined sculptures, where each slide is mounted

delicacy display the sensitivity of the artist’s hand. In each of these

bringing forth the third dimension, reminding me of how Sol

directly onto the gallery wall. These permit a deeper intimacy with

Aerie works, slender lines appear to grow from tangled, vine-like

LeWitt used open modular structures to explore volume,

the created illusion, transporting the viewer into richer tempos

weavings reminiscent of a bird’s nest. The twisting tendrils sweep

transparency, and sequences. The transparent slides have a

of light and shadow in order to sense the impermanence and

upward across the image, reaching out, then terminating in soft

physical presence, yet they possess an elusive entity—the

temporal quality of all things. Heat 60 is composed of two parallel

bulbs of transparent ink. A choreography of tension and release

interplay of illumination and darkness. The glass also creates

vertical rows with thirty slides in each. A beautiful configuration

bursts forth, evoking a visual poem suggesting the presence and

a paradox of sensuality and intangibility, stasis and wonder.

of rhomboidal shadows tumbles down the wall. The left row

frail shadow of an organic world.

In Arc 9, nine pieces of glass are placed in a gentle curve. A

casts a white shadow, the right spills a duet of overlayed darkness.

Michelle Cooke’s new body

The artist also presents twelve works in glass. The

glowing field of overlapping quadrilaterals is cast below the

Cinematographer Conrad Hall once said, “There are infinite

sculptures are made of square slides, like those used in

structure. The sensuality of the image makes me forget that

shadings of light and shadows... it’s an extraordinary language.

biology for microscopic specimens; and tiny tubes, like

the artist is working with geometries and structural principles.

Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job.” Michelle

pipettes. Ten of the works are constructed on square panels

Multi-textured and flowing gestures dance in front of my

Cooke is developing a strong vocabulary.

inside clear acrylic boxes. Two are mounted directly on the

eyes, converging in time and space. Like LeWitt’s art, Cooke’s

—susanna carlisle

Michelle Cooke, Aerie Winter, ink on Kozo paper, 26” x 38”, 2010

W

KatHErinE lEE: animal violEncE What a cruel, cruel world it is.

Given Katherine Lee’s last outing at Eight Modern there was every reason to expect that her next would be every bit as subtle, spooky, and sublime, but visitors to the gallery for her opening at the end of October were in for more of a trick than a treat. The contrived nature of the lengthy exhibition title telegraphs a degree of spectacle that the work is utterly incapable of providing. While some of the small drawings growl with a certain ferocity, the larger “jam eater” pictures seem rushed, incomplete, and dully inspired by a misguided desire to shock, which they embarrassingly fail to achieve.

The line quality is insipidly unvarying and the obviousness of the tracing and transferring from photographic sources is unedifying, as the foreshortened forms become increasingly unconvincing and the resulting flatness empties the imagery

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

and

toplEss WomEn Eating Jam

EigHt modErn 231 dElgado strEEtt, santa FE

It’s a shame to see an artist as obviously talented as

more successfully. And if being completely creeped out by

Lee wasting her time. Worse than no talent at all is talent

sexualized violence is your thing, examine Melodia Fatale

squandered. The drawing in the smaller pieces is solid

by Roberto Ferri at Skotia Gallery. His Bouguereau-meets-

and some of the subjects are intriguing, but every second-

bondage approach to oil painting is something Lee truly

year BFA student worth anything has a sketchbook full of

needs to see.

similar, intense investigations. The larger drawings here,

It seems that she had grand ambitions but lacked

with their large white spaces and lifeless line, look way

the time or the will to truly realize them. Maybe

too much like “contemporary art,” and their absurdly

she got caught up in her own past successes and the

unspectacular spectacularism is sickeningly disappointing.

pressures of producing work for another gallery show.

And not in a good way. One leaves not disturbed but

Maybe she’s spending too much time and energy in

simply depressed.

pursuit of other pleasures (or pains). Whatever her

To turn your frown upside down I advise an antidote

reasons, this work isn’t really fooling anyone. And

visit to the Eggman and Walrus Art Emporium to see

more importantly, she’s smart and talented enough to

the work of Elizabeth Haidle and Caity Kennedy. These

stop fooling herself.

artists both capture the theme of animals and sensuality

— On carver —j

of any charge whatsoever.

Void of emotional impact or aesthetic interest, it left me vaguely wondering what odd impulse actually brought these limp images into being, though it is hard to really care.

The severed fingers of the naked figures suggest violence and abuse, though this is undercut since the drawing of the hands suggests flaccid balloon animals more than any real part of the human anatomy. Ouch, you severed my mostly deflated balloon animal! See, it’s not all that effective.

Quentin Tarantino doesn’t need to look over his shoulder and worry that Katherine Lee might be gaining on him.

The question of what exactly it means for a woman to deliberately create misogynistic imagery has interesting potential, but once again the extremely inauthentic quality of the drawing tends to keep the mind from going there for very long. Is she self-loathing, a victim of a victim complex?

Is this an activist objection to objectification? When drawings are as false and forced and as cheaply realized as these are, one begins to resent even wondering about it. Matching bad form to unappealing subject matter simply creates a situation sans fascination. Lee might want to go back to the Baroque and take a look at how exquisitely Artemisia Gentileschi dealt with blood and gore—in her many images of Judith beheading Holofernes—to grasp that the more truly visceral this type of subject matter is in presentation, the more powerful its grip on the imagination.

Though I’m not so sure that the theatricality of the Baroque is in fact Lee’s forte. Her older work succeeded on its craft and an uncanny sense of spatial desolation. There wasn’t much sensationalism or theater involved. There was instead a sense of abandonment that crept up on you in a way that was much more subtly sinister than anything exhibited here. There is a touch of this in the Day-Glo chandeliered, orange interior indicated in the background of one of the Topless Women Eating Jam drawings. Lee’s decisions here are strong and secure. This is the realm of her authority. Sadly we don’t get much of it, or any new realm worth visiting.

Obviously, experimentation and moving out of one’s comfort zone are to be encouraged, but these particular results aren’t in fact worthy of the gallery walls.

Katherine Lee, TWEI V. AV1 (She Dies), pencil, soot, gouache, & transfer color on illustation board, 40” x 30” , 2010

| december 2010 / january 2011

THe magazine | 59

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CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

cHarlEs arnoldi: 1998-2001 Potato mojo:

cHarlott H E J acKson F inE a rt 554 soutH guadalupE strEEtt, santa FE

Consider these selections of drawings,

tradition. It took the advent of Modernism to give vernacular art

Warhol’s Diamond Dust Shoes is no more a gloss on van

paintings, and sculptures by Charles (a.k.a. Chuck) Arnoldi from

its due. The wiry, hyperactive relief figures who cavort on the

Gogh than Arnoldi’s Potato series is a subconscious meditation

1998 to 2001 belonging to his Potato series, formal explorations

bronze cathedral doors of Hildesheim as God and Adam and Eve

on Motherwell—we’re not talking Elegy to the Spinach Republic.

of bulbous shapes inspired by solanum tuberosum, the spud.

in the Garden—they would surely have delighted Arnoldi’s young

But what is at work here is the cycle of creative entropy in

It might seem far-fetched to draw a postmodern line linking

visitors—now hold their own in dramatic import against the

Western art that continually displaces the content of visual motifs

the imagery of Arnoldi’s Potato series to the paintings of Robert

monumental treatments of the same themes from Genesis on the

and informs them anew, arriving at an old, “humanist” position

Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic, the large-scale

Sistine ceiling. Within the evolution of Western art there’s a kind

from a very new place. The obvious whimsy of Arnoldi’s tubers

horizontal canvases of stark black-on-white processional reliefs

of creative entropy in which some of the energy lost in developing

taps into the roots of the motif, going back to van Gogh’s Potato

with the iconic repeating motif of monumental ovoids floating/

a new style is less “lost” than it is diverted, only to reemerge at

Eaters and forward to Motherwell’s elegiac ovoids—themselves

engaged between vertical bands. Bear with me.

a later date to displace that style when its energy has dissipated.

the monumental residue of even more abstracted ovals by, say, Henry Moore.

Arnoldi makes no such grandiose claims. In fact, the gallery

An example much closer to home is the displacement of the

press release recounts how school children visiting the artist’s

Modernist canon with a Postmodern entropy aptly conveyed

Arnoldi’s vernacularizing of abstract form pursues a

studio in Venice, California years ago saw in the oval forms in his

in Fredric Jameson’s comparison (from Postmodernism, or the

course similar to that at work in Motherwell’s Elegy series. In

paintings the likes of Mickey Mouse (ears) and Bullwinkle (nose).

Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism) of one of van Gogh’s paintings

discussing entropy during an interview in 1973, Robert Smithson

Ex ore infantium, sayeth the Psalm. From there, Arnoldi’s next step

of peasant boots (1887) with one of Andy Warhol’s photo-

said, “Pure science, like pure art, tends to view abstraction as

with his ovoid forms—to the common potato—was not a big leap.

based acrylic-on-linen paintings from his Diamond Dust Shoes

independent of nature; there’s no accounting for change or the

The anecdote resonates with an experience I had when

series (1980-1982). Discussing the two works, Jameson cites

temporality of the mundane world. Abstraction rules in a void,

I first began teaching art history to college students. On seeing the

Heidegger’s grounding of van Gogh’s image in the peasant soil

pretending to be free of time.” Arnoldi’s Potato Series invests his

crudely carved figures of the Late Roman reliefs on the Arch of

it embodies: “In [the boots] there vibrates the silent call of the

oval forms much as his earlier stick sculptures re-materialized

Constantine depicting senators whose squat proportions, block-

earth, its quiet gift of ripening corn and its enigmatic self-refusal

Action Painting’s gestural abstraction.

like shapes, and cookie-cutter bodies were in marked contrast

of the fallow desolation of the wintry field.” The boots “belong

The monochrome potato paintings in the Arnoldi

to the graceful, idealized classical forms they had studied in the

to the earth… Engraved in the intimate obscurity of the hollow

exhibition evolved into large, multi-colored lateral canvases

Early Empire, my students branded these Late Antique figures

of the boot is the weariness of the steps of work.” On the other

(e.g. Moving Pictures, 7 ½’ x 50’, 2001), recapitulating the

“the potato-head people.” Fresh from grad school, steeped in the

hand, Warhol’s image of women’s shoes is reduced to a “text,”

monumental relief format of the most expansive paintings of

Western legacy, I was not amused.

a simulacrum in which the Modernist expression of individual

Motherwell’s Elegy series (e.g. Elegy to the Spanish Republic 100,

But the little wankers were onto something. That something

alienation and anomie is displaced by a Postmodern response

7’ x 20’). You could call this connection a stretch. But “stretch”

was built into the evolution of Western art from the start, denoted

of utter detachment—a liberation from anxiety at the cost of

is one way to denote the continuity of change in the entropy of

much later by the elevated term “vernacular art” to give it some

“a liberation from every other kind of feeling as well”—what

Western art that ensures its abiding link to contemporary life.

footing against the dominant “classical” peaks of the Western

Jameson terms the new era’s “waning of affect.”

—ricHard ard TObin

Charles Arnoldi, Tasty Spuds #1, cast bronze, 5” x 5” x 4¾”, 1997

| december 2010 / january 2011

THe magazine | 61

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THe magazine |63

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THE magazine | 65

WRITINGS

PIG’S HEAVEN INN Red chiles in a tilted basket catch sunlight— we walk past a pile of burning mulberry leaves into Xidi village, enter a courtyard, notice an inkstone, engraved with calligraphy, filled with water and cassia petals, smell Ming dynasty redwood panels. As a musician lifts a small xun to his mouth and blows, I see kiwis hanging from branches above a moon doorway: a grandmother, once the youngest concubine, propped in a chair with bandages around her knees, complains of incessant pain; someone spits in the street. As a second musician plucks strings on a zither, pomelos blacken on branches; a woman peels chestnuts; two men in a flat-bottomed boat gather duckweed out of a river. The notes splash, silvery, onto cobblestone, and my fingers suddenly ache: during the Cultural Revolution, my aunt’s husband leapt out of a third-story window; at dawn I mistook the cries of birds for rain. When the musicians pause, Yellow Mountain pines sway near Bright Summit Peak; a pig scuffles behind an enclosure; someone blows his nose. Traces of the past are wisps of mulberry smoke rising above roof tiles; and before we too vanish, we hike to where three trails converge: hundreds of people are stopped ahead of us, hundreds come up behind: we form a rivulet of people funneling down through a chasm in the granite.

Born in New York City in 1950, Arthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese-American. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley, Sze is the author of eight books of poetry, including The Ginkgo Light (Copper Canyon Press, 2009), Quipu (2005), The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970-1998 (1998), and Archipelago (1995). Other collections by Sze include River River (1987), Dazzled (1982), Two Ravens (1976; revised, 1984), and The Willow Wind (1972; revised, 1981). His poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Conjunctions, The Kenyon Review, Manoa, The Paris Review, Field, The New Yorker, and the Virginia Quarterly Review, and have been translated into Albanian, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Romanian, and Turkish. He is also a celebrated translator, and released The Silk Dragon: Translations from the Chinese in 2001.

66 | THe magazine

| december 2010 / january 2011

Emmi Whitehorse, Red Start, oil & chalk on paper mounted on canvas, 51 x 78.5

Mix & Match Holiday Group Show Featuring 12 Gallery Artists

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