Santa Fe’s Monthly
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of and for the Arts • October 2010
Geometric Abstraction
CL A S SIC NAVA JO WE AV INGS 53 Old Santa Fe Trail Upstairs on the Plaza Santa Fe, NM 505.982.8478 shiprocksantafe.com
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c o n t e n t s 5 Letters 16 Universe of artist Grant Hayunga 21 Studio Visits: Jax Manhoff and Judy Asbury 23 One Bottle: The 2005 Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella, by Joshua Baer 25 Dining Guide: Amavi, The Compound, and 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar 29 Art Openings 30 Out & About 36 Previews: Critical Santa Fe at La Fonda Hotel; Joshua Rose, Roger Atkins, Ron Pokrasso, and Stephen De Staebler at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art; and Teo González at Eight Modern 39 National Spotlight: India: A Pilgrimage, by Marilyn Bridges at Throckmorton Fine Art, New York City 41 Person of Interest: Dogsbody (aka Henry Darger), by Roger Salloch 45 Critical Reflections: Ann Gaziano at Generator (Alb.); Joanne Lefrack at box Gallery; Johnnie Winona Ross at the New Mexico Museum of Art; Kent Williams at EVOKE Gallery; Nolan Winkler at Rio Bravo Fine Art (Truth or Consequences); Ron Nagle at James Kelly Contemporary; Stephen Auger at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art; and Turner to Cezanne at the Albuquerque Museum 55
Green Planet: Michael Franti: poet, musician, composer, producer, and director, photograph by Jennifer Esperanza
57
Architectural Details: Near Embudo, photograph by Guy Cross
58
Writings: Dreams on the Wind, by Steven Deo
Photographer Péter Korniss was born in Romania in 1937, but in 1949 his family moved to Budapest. After being expelled from the university for political reasons, he worked for thirty years as a photographer for Nök Lapja, a Hungarian women’s magazine. Korniss has won various national and international awards for his photographs—the most recent being the Pulitzer Memorial prize, awarded to him in 2004. Péter Korniss Attachment (Helikon, Budapest, distributed by Fresco Fine Art Publications, $75) is a record of the disappearing peasant way of life and culture in Hungary and Transylvania. Korniss has spent over forty years photographing villagers, industrial workers, children, and the elderly using black-and-white film to “preserve a way of life that will soon disappear.” His photographs are dynamic and beautifully composed, and he captures the humanity of his subjects. An exhibition of his work will be on view at Skotia Gallery, 150 Marcy Street, Suite 103, Santa Fe. Opening reception on Friday, October 1, from 5 to 7 pm.
LETTERS
magazine
VOLUME XVIII, NUMBER IV WINNER 1994 Best Consumer Tabloid SELECTED 1997 Top-5 Best Consumer Tabloids SELECTED 2005 & 2006 Top-5 Best Consumer Tabloids P ublis h e r / C r e a t iv e D ir e c t or Guy Cross P ublis h e r / F ood Edi t or Judith Cross A r t D ir e c t or Chris Myers C op y Edi t or Edgar Scully P roof R e ad e r S James Rodewald Kenji Barrett s t aff p h o t ograp h e rs Dana Waldon Anne Staveley C al e ndar Edi t or Liz Napieralski Edi t orial A ssi t an t Elizabeth Harball W E B M E I S TE R
Jason Rodriguez C on t ribu t ors
Diane Armitage, Joshua Baer, Chris Benson. Susanna Carlisle, Kathryn M Davis, Steven Deo, Jennifer Esperanza, Anthony Hassett, Alex Ross, Patricia Sauthoff, & Richard Tobin This issue is dedicated to Annabelle J. Moreau CoVER
Péter Kornish
A D V e r t ising S al e s
THE magazine: 505-424-7641 Edie Dillman: 505-577-4207 Cynthia Canyon: 505-470-6442 Katherine Maxwell: 505-920-0415 Vince Foster: 505-690-1010 D is t ribu t ion
Jimmy Montoya: 470-0258 (mobile) THE magazine is published ten times a year by THE magazine Inc., 1208-A Mercantile Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507. Corporate address: 44 Bishop Lamy Road, Lamy, NM 87540. 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.
| october 2010
New work by Kathleen McCloud at Ernesto Mayans Gallery, 601 Canyon Road. Reception Friday, October 15, 5-7 pm.
TO THE EDITOR: For nearly twenty years Burning Man has been taking place in the Black Rock Desert. Among the many themes associated with Burning Man one hears about “radical inclusion” (as long as one can afford the $210-$360 ticket), “decommodification” (see previous parenthetical), “building a temporary city of tens of thousands of people ‘in the middle of nowhere,’” and “leave no trace.” “The middle of nowhere” is often associated with areas of sparse habitation instead of places such as the local mall or a suburb, and the introduction of people and/or art to these places is assumed to be an addition rather than a subtraction. Two of the rarest qualities in modern life are silence and darkness. I’ve visited the Black Rock Desert and cringe at the idea of 50,000 self-expressing city dwellers with all their noise and bright lights. Several months after I took a European friend of mine out into the desert he wrote back to me telling me that his strongest memory by far was hearing silence for the first time. I have yet to see a piece of environmental art that enhances its setting instead of becoming a distraction. The extra-urban environment has usually been a place to go to be impressed rather than a place to be expressive; it’s a place where human expression is cut down to size. As for “leave no trace,” a playa is the last place to bring 50,000 people. The playas and surrounding springs are exactly the places where one finds the most diversity in the Great Basin. The hot springs are especially susceptible to pollution and disruption. The salt pan itself is home to a group of organisms called phyllopods whose eggs lie dormant for a decade or more waiting for the occasional flooding of the playa, at which point the dry lake suddenly erupts with a true celebration of life. Those eggs lie close to the surface and are pulverized during each Burning Man event. Furthermore, this pulverizing of the salt pan seems to be leading to the appearance of structures called minidunes. If Burning Man were truly forward-thinking and had a modicum of peripheral vision it might consider holding the event at a reclaimed mining site (Nevada is full of them) where humans had already expressed themselves in another form. —David Kowloski, Santa Fe, via Email TO THE EDITOR: Spare me the tired and predictable paeans to the “artist’s” utopia of Burning Man. What is it, 1993? Gosh, did you guys just “discover” this cousin to Zozobra or has Burning Man, hallowed by time and innumerable articles in the mainstream press, now become a right of passage for Hunter S. Thompson wannabes in search of something “alty” and “arty” enough to get the juices flowing? It’s like this: I used to go and did like it when it was like you said it was, but then the Internet came and rather than facilitate the tight interconnection of likeminded souls, it made it possible for everybody to see everything and it gave everything the same value. In short, it ain’t like you said it is anymore. You want to see two donkeys fucking… how about a donkey and a dude… how about an art party in the middle of the night under a tent with spinning glow lights and an “art installation”
made to sync up with your wide-awake X-induced REM… ‘cause you can on the Internet, ‘cause we’re a global village now, dude. Hey, you wanna go to Pattaya in Thailand and get our Burning Man on there? Hey, you wanna go to Ibiza for the Space Music festival and we can do Burning Man again there? The Internet made voyeurs of us all and all it did for Burning Man was serve to bring “artcarloads” of tourists to the desert for a stop on a worldwide tour devoted to a certain breed of hedonism—the North American tour stop of a louche carnival of X-fueled fucking masquerading as liberation or enlightened communitarianism or blah blah blah. —Paul McConnell, Las Vegas, Nevada, via Email TO THE EDITOR: Thank you Jon Carver so much for the absolutely beautiful review of Matterings. I truly appreciate your insight and your intuitive wording concerning my installation. In absolute humble appreciation, —Rose B. Simpson, via Email TO THE EDITOR: I wanted to bring to your attention that in the September issue review on page 47, which covered our exhibition It Wasn’t the Dream of Golden Cities (Postcommodity), the author credited the piece If History Moves at the Speed of Its Weapons solely to Cristóbal Martínez and Andrew McCord—twice. The fact is that Cristóbal and Andrew are not members of Postcommodity—they helped the Postcommodity artists bring the piece to fruition. —Guin White, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe TO THE EDITOR: Thanks for the three reviews of the exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in your September 2010 issue. I say thanks because after reading the reviews I went to the museum to see those shows, carrying my copy of THE as a way of referencing the work. I cannot even begin to tell you what an asset the reviews were in terms of my understanding and enjoying the shows. —Martin Manheim, via Email Apologies to Adam Perry for not crediting his photograph Letters Page in the September issue.
below, which ran on the
Letters: themagazineSF@gmail.com or 1208-A Mercantile Road, SF 87507. Letters may be edited for clarity or for space consideration.
THE
MAGAZINE
| 5
Daniel Bethune
laubs onwazee g.wahl gallery paintings & prints
randolph laub picture frame specialist digital archival pigment prints furniture be on our mailing list send info to: laubwork@mac.com Sunlit Rocks, Pecos Ruins, NM, Oil on Linen, 16” x 20”
“Expanding on the Primary Palette” - Recent Oils by Daniel Bethune Exhibition on Display Through October 3, 2010
Gallery J
1408 Wazee Street suite 200 (upstairs on the street) Denver, CO 80202 303 825-9928 •
Chartreuse
216 Washington Ave | Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.992.3391 | gallerychartreuse.com
www.gwahl.com www.laubworkshop.com
CRITICALCHAOS
An exhibition of contemporary ceramics
In Conjunction with the NCECA Symposium: Critical Santa Fe, October 27 through 30, 2010
School of Arts and Design | Visual Arts Gallery Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 6401 Richards Ave., Santa Fe • (505) 428-1501 • www.sfcc.edu
Monica Van den Dool, With Daisies, 32” x 23” x 12”, Glazed Ceramic
Heidi Kreitchet, Totem #3, 17” x 10” x 10”, Woodfired Ceramic
Public Reception: October 26, 5 to 7 p.m. | October 14 through November 2, 2010
Diego Romero, Perfect Balance, 8.5” x 4”, Low Fire Ceramic Courtesy of Robert Nichols Gallery
TONY DELAP
R E C E N T PA I N T I N G S A N D M A G I C D R AW I N G S
OCTOBER 1 - OCTOBER 31
Artist Reception / Friday, October 1, 5 - 7 P.M.
O c t o b e r 2 , 3 P. M . / D i a l o g w i t h T o n y D e L a p a n d J a n A d l m a n n , a r t h i s t o r i a n , a u t h o r, A s s o c i a t i o n o f A r t M u s e u m D i re c t o r s / e m e r i t u s
CHARLOTTE JACKSON FINE AR T
Railyard Art District 554 South Guadalupe, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Tel 505.989.8688 / www.charlottejackson.com Gorky with “Summer Seance,” 2010, 40 x 41 x 1.5 inches. linen, acrylic paint. black, white, green. Photo: Wes Hatfield
O’KEEFFIANA: Art & Art Materials S E P T E M B E R
2 4 ,
2 O 1 O
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M AY
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2 O 1 1
T H U R S D AY S OCTOBER 21 & 28
6–8 PM
Experience O’Keeffe by Working with Her Materials: Charcoal Drawing Georgia O’Keeffe developed much of her organic, iconic vocabulary by creating compositions in charcoal and pastels. Develop or broaden your own visual language by working with an intuitive media — charcoal. Materials provided, or bring your own! Led by Maureen Burdock, artist. Education Annex, 123 Grant Avenue. Series, $35; Individual Class, $20. Members & Business Partners, Series $25; Individual Class, $15. Reservations required by October 18: 505.946.1039 or at okeeffemuseum.org. Georgia O’Keeffe, Horse’s Skull with White Rose, 1931. Oil on canvas, 36 x 16 1/8 in. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Extended loan, Private collection (1997.03.02L). © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
2 1 7 J O H N S O N S T R E E T, S A N TA F E OKEEFFEMUSEUM.ORG
O P E N D A I LY 1 0 A M – 5 P M
505.946.1000
1 0 A M – 8 P M F R I D AY
F R E E 5 – 8 P M 1 S T F R I D AY O F E V E R Y M O N T H
Artist Perspectives Carol Anthony Deborah Butterfield Alexander Calder Richard Diebenkorn Doris Downes Eric Ernst Michael Glier Bruce Helander Damien Hirst Roy Lichtenstein Paul Pascarella Dan Rizzie
Donald Sultan Wayne Thiebaud Andy Warhol Agnes Martin Darren Vigil Gray Karen Kitchel Michael Scott Robert Graham Raphaelle Goethals Carol Mothner Gwynn Murrill Albert Paley
October 15 - November 13, 2010 Opening Reception: October 15, 2010 from 5-7pm Donald Sultan, Black Flowers. image © 2010, courtesy Gerald Peters Gallery.
1011 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | tel (505) 954-5700
Glass + KIlN = aRt Bullseye Resource Center, Santa Fe CLASSES
•
DEMONSTRATIONS
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SUPPLIES
Ne x t C l a s s e s :
N e x t D e MOs & talKs:
Fusing & slumping Intro October 4 – 5 & 7
Catharine Newell October 2
layered assemblage October 14 –17
Martha Pfanschmidt October 15
survey of Kiln-glass October 25– 30
Printmaking for Kiln-glass October 20
Printmaking for Kiln-glass November 5–7
What Is Kiln-glass? November 10
Pâte de Verre Methods November 18–23
r to r e g is te il a m e r o C a ll 805 early street, Building e 505- 467-8951 santafe@bullseyeglass.com www.bullseyeglass.com/santafe
Exhibitions • Murals • Spoken Word Music • Film • Dance • Talks • Tours
STREET TEXT: Art From the Coasts & The Populist Phenomenon 516 ARTS • October 2 - December 11, 2010
STREET ARTS is organized by 516 ARTS with ACLU-NM & involves 25 local organizations. Visit www.newmexico.org
www.516arts.org • 505-242-1445
Martin Denker august 27 - october 15 gallery reception: Saturday, October 2, 6:00 - 8:00
Richard Levy Galler y w w w. l e v y g a l l e r y. c o m •
•
505. 766. 9888 •
Albuquerque i n f o @ l e v y g a l l e r y. c o m
October 22 - December 17 (gallery closed November 25 - December 9th)
Saara Ekström & Stuart Frost
Look for Portable Grove, a installation by Stuart Frost this fall at The Albuquerque Zoo! This project is brought to you by The City of Albuquerque Public Art Program in partnership with Richard Levy Gallery & the city’s Cultural Services Department
Fall Exhibition 2010
Nene and Friends New Work by Robbie O’Neill
October 8 December 18
Opening Reception
Mark Pomilio Fr i d a y, Jo nathan Morse Ka ren von Felten S a ra Lee D’Alessandro M i chael & Misato Mor tara
O c tober 8th, 2010
ww w. p re s to n co nte m p o rar yar t.com
Opening Reception: Friday, Oct. 15, 5-7 pm.
Santa Fe P.S. - 418 Cerrillos Road at the Design Center - 505-690-2700
geoffrey laurence
inheritance friday october 1 | 5-7pm lower gallery
1 5 0 w e s t m a r c y s t s t e 1 0 3 s a n t a f e n m 8 7 5 0 1 | 5 0 5 . 8 2 0 . 7 7 8 7 | 8 6 6 . 8 2 0 . 0 1 1 3 | s k o t i a g a l l e r y. c o m
pĂˆter korniss
attachment friday october 1 | 5-7pm upper gallery
s k o t i a g a l l e r y | 1 5 0 w . m a r c y s t s t e 1 0 3 s a n t a f e n m 8 7 5 0 1 | 5 0 5 . 8 2 0 . 7 7 8 7 | s k o t i a g a l l e r y. c o m
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In c o r t e x October 1 – 23, 2010
artist reception: Friday, October 1, 5–7 pm
b lu e r a i n g a l l e ry
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For information about web advertising call 505·245·4200 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite C 505.954.9902 | www.blueraingallery.com Oculariaous Otonaut, 36" h x 14" w x 14" d, blown glass, silver, mixed metals and materials
3408 Columbia NE Albuquerque, NM 87102 Tel 505·245·4200 www.collectorsguide.com
R O B E R T
Plumbago, oil on canvas, 66 x 48
EvokeContemporary.com
S T R I F F O L I N O
Grant Hayunga
is a musician and an artist who makes his paintings in a small studio in Santa Fe. In 2006, at Linda Durham Contemporary Art, he mounted a solo show of a series of extremely energetic red paintings of creatures with the bodies of humans and the heads of animals. Of the work, Zane Fischer wrote, “The paintings are pure, frenetic perception… they cut straight to the heart of the untamed spirit that most of us spend our lives running away from.” Two years later Hayunga had another show at Durham, this time of dark and brooding landscapes entitled Tree Skeletons. Goshen—founded in Santa Fe in 1994—is an ongoing musical project of Hayunga’s. London’s Q Magazine wrote, “Hayunga sings as if in search of Robert Johnson’s missing soul.” A solo exhibition with LAUNCHPROJECTS is planned for 2011, as well as an upcoming musical performance at SITE Santa Fe.
UNIVERSE OF
Being Brutally Honest Sounds noble, but it's a little presumptuous. You don't necessarily want to let it fly that you don't like the way my face hangs. Having said that, fuck 'em if they can't take a joke. Mixing Music and Art You can have red chile, you can have green chile, or you can have Christmas. Painting the Landscape Simply a humbling experience. You want nature to drip off the walls... but at the end of the day it’s not even trompe l’oeil. Being Surprised by Myself To quote Derek Zoolander, “The second time I went through second grade I saw my reflection on the back of a spoon.” Creative Intuition That's a nice way of saying that the voices in our heads are about to work something out. And yes, I'm all for it.
The First Responsibility of the Artist Revelry. Being Impeccable in My Work A useful sentiment as long as it's not confused with being a perfectionist. To be overly earnest is a killer. Laughter will always carry the biggest stick.
h by ograp
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| october 2010
aldon
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THE magazine | 17
Books of Interest
Photo: Elizabeth Cook–Romero
Leo and Elizabeth, Booksellers
ART BOOKS ■ Photography New Mexico ■ Music (CDs & Records) Literature ■ History ■ Movies ■ More
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STUDIO VISITS
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” two artists respond. I always work to convey the emotional and spiritual aspects of my subjects rather than just the representational elements. Since the 1970s, I’ve worked to develop a visual dialogue with vibrant color fields and expressive brushwork that transcends standard forms of imaging the natural world. My hope is that viewers experience my paintings of earth, water, and space as multi-dimensional visual portraits of the transcendent energies of a place. I would like my work to inspire and challenge viewers to see the world in new and transformative ways.
—Judy Asbury Asbury has recently shown her work at the Center of Contemporary Art and Nagasaki Peace Museum and Airport, Japan. One-person shows are scheduled at the Upstairs Gallery in Los Alamos in 2010-2011. Judyasbury.com
I think art is what you see and how you share it. I share my vision to have others see the world through my eyes—the beauty and the pain of life. We all see the world a bit differently and that is what is so unique and magical about art and life.
—Jacqueline ( Jax ) Manhoff Jacqueline ( Jax ) Manhoff’s Queer Photo Project will be included in the upcoming show: Sex, Gender, and Transgression at the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque. Reception: October 1, 6-8 pm. Exhibit runs to October 28.
photographs by
| october 2010
Anne Staveley
THE magazine | 21
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ONE BOTTLE
One Bottle:
The 2005 Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella by Joshua Baer
He was lost. He had been lost for many years but had refused to admit it. Now he had no choice. In his mind he heard a voice. The voice said, “You’re not really lost. You’ve made mistakes, and some of those mistakes were devastating, but everyone makes mistakes. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you will never recover. That’s what losers do. They fall into traps and never recover. Life is full of disappointments. Your job is to learn from your mistakes and lead a productive life. You’re not a loser. You’re just tired. Get some rest. At your age, you can’t accomplish anything when you’re tired.” The voice did not seem to have a gender. It had the same cadence as his mother’s voice and the same authoritative tone as his father’s voice but his mother and father were both dead and he did not think that they were speaking to him from beyond the grave. That would be too easy. There were times when he allowed the voice to reassure him but he had learned the hard way that allowing yourself to be reassured was just another form of false confidence. He wanted to experience authentic confidence. He wanted to wake up one morning and hear the voice say, “Guess what? That feeling of being lost? It was all a test, and you passed. You’re a spectacular human being and from now on you will know where you are at all times. Welcome to the good part of your life.” Unfortunately, the only place where he heard the voice make that statement was in his imagination, and he did not trust his imagination any more than he trusted the voice. What did he trust? He trusted the cold, hollow expression he saw on his face when he looked in the mirror. He trusted the sorrows that haunted him, the regrets that followed him into his dreams. He trusted the obvious algebra of his life: Success was something that happened to people on the other side of the equation. Failure and loss lived on his side of the equation. His tendency to quit while he was behind was a disease that had infected his past, present, and future. There was no cure for that disease. On his deathbed, he would look back on his pathetic life and ask himself, How could I have been that stupid? His only comfort was the bleak certainty of his status as a lost man. At the most primal level, being lost and knowing that you were lost was better than being lost and thinking that you were on the right track. If you knew you were lost and had the courage to admit it, then the temptation to deceive yourself would be that much easier to resist. He consoled himself with magazines. He liked the famous faces in the pictures and the famous names in the articles. Aniston, Bourdain, Clooney, Deschanel... These were life’s winners, life’s revolving Hall of Fame. The voice said, “You could be like them. Their success could be your success.” He told the voice to be quiet. He told the voice that he was The Man Who Knew He Was Lost, and that he was not going to relapse into his old patterns of self-deception.
| october 2010
One day, he read an article about the diamond district in New York. The article talked about the diamond cutters. It said the diamond cutters were under incredible pressure. If they cut a diamond the wrong way, the diamond could lose up to 99% of its value. To relieve the pressure, the diamond cutters took breaks. During their breaks, they left their cutting tables and went into small rooms where they listened to Brahms and ate roast beef sandwiches. Some of the diamond cutters went a step further. After listening to Brahms and eating roast beef sandwiches, they sat on couches, held emeralds in their hands, and stared at the emeralds. The rich, luminous green of the emeralds soothed their eyes and restored their vision. After staring at emeralds for ten minutes, they were ready to go back to work. Which brings us to the 2005 Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella. In the glass, the 2005 Zenato Amarone splits the difference between crimson and scarlet. The color sets the stage for the bouquet, which does not remind you of the aromas of fresh fruits or vegetables as much as it transports you to ancient places and times. On the palate, this wine is a restorative tonic. If you have tasted one too many clever Cabernets and are suffering from The Curse of the Jaded Palate, the 2005 Zenato Amarone will resurrect your innocence. The finish is long, luxurious, and steadfast. It is a finish for the ages, a closing argument that speaks to and from the heart. I wish I could tell you that The Man Who Knew He Was Lost bought a bottle of the 2005 Zenato Amarone, took it home, made dinner, drank the Amarone with his family and friends, and discovered, to his delight and surprise, that being lost was a trick of the mind, a false assumption he had made about himself, and that he lived happily ever after. The reason I cannot tell you that story has something—though not everything—to do with the 2005 Zenato Amarone’s ability to summon the truth and present it as a gift. The Man Who Knew He Was Lost survived, but his self image did not improve. Over time, he learned that identity itself was an illusion, and that a developed sense of loss was the only way to shatter that illusion. The voice said, “You had your doubts about me, but I never gave up on you. When you were lost, I found you. When you were tired, I gave you the rest you needed. You thought I was a figment of your imagination but I was just the opposite. I was your emerald.” D 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. To see back issues of One Bottle, please go to onebottle.com. Joshua Baer can be reached at jb@onebottle.com
THE magazine | 23
DINING GUIDE
The Goat Cheese Bruschetta
Amavi Restaurant
221 Shelby Street, Santa Fe Reservations: 988-2355
$ KEY
INEXPENSIVE
$
up to $14
MODERATE
$$
$15—$23
EXPENSIVE
$$$
VERY EXPENSIVE
$24—$33
$$$$
Prices are for one dinner entrée. If a restaurant serves only lunch, then a lunch entrée price is reflected. Alcoholic beverages, appetizers, and desserts are not included in these price keys. Call restaurants for hours.
$34 plus
EAT OUT MORE OFTEN!
...a guide to the very best restaurants in santa fe and surrounding areas... 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar 315 Old Santa Fe Trail. 986-9190. Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free inside. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ 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. New spring menu. Amavi Restaurant 221 Shelby St. 988-2355. Dinner/Sunday Brunch Full bar. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Mediterranean Atmosphere: Elegant. House specialties: The tapas appetizer thrills and the pollo al mattone, marinated for two days and served with pancetta, capers, and house preserved lemon, may be the best chicken dish you’ve ever had. Also try the tiger shrimp. Comments: Farm to table. Chef Megan Tucker is doing it right, Anasazi Restaurant Inn of the Anasazi 113 Washington Ave. 988-3236 . Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Smoke-free. Valet parking. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Contemporary American cuisine. Atmosphere: A casual and elegant room evoking the feeling of an Anasazi cliff dwelling. House specialties: To start, try the smoked chile and butternut squash soup with pulled spoon bread croutons and cumin crema. For your entrée, we suggest any of the chef’s signature dishes, which include blue corn crusted salmon with citrus jalapeno sauce, and the nine spice beef tenderloin with chipotle modelo glaze. Comments: Attentive service. Andiamo! 322 Garfield St. 995-9595. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ 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 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 ten-minute drive from downtown Santa Fe. Corazón 401 S. Guadalupe St. 424-7390. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Pub grub. Atmosphere: Casual.
House specialties: You cannot go wrong with the not-to-be-believed thin-cut grilled ribeye steak topped with blue cheese, or the flash fried calamari with sweet chili dipping sauce; or the amazing Corazón hamburger trio. Comments: Love music? Corazón is definitely your place. Counter Culture 930 Baca St. 995-1105. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Cash. $$ 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. $$ Cuisine: All-American. Atmosphere: Popular patio shaded by big cottonwoods. Great bar. House specialties: The smoked brisket and ribs are fantastic. Dynamite buffalo burgers and a knockout strawberry shortcake. Comments: Lots of beers Coyote Café 132 W. Water St. 983-1615. Dinner Full bar. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Southwestern with French and Asian influences. Atmosphere Bustling. House specialties: For your main course, go for the grilled Maine lobster tails or the Southwestern Rotisserie, or the grilled 24-ounce “Cowboy Cut” steak. Comments: Good wine list and unique signature cocktails. Downtown Subscription 376 Garcia St. 983-3085. Breakfast/Lunch No alcohol. Smoke-free. Patio. Cash. $ Cuisine: Standard coffee-house fare. Atmosphere: A large room with small tables inside and a nice patio outside where you can sit, read periodicals, and schmooze. Over 1,600 magazine titles to buy or peruse. House specialties: Espresso, cappuccino, and lattes. El Faról 808 Canyon Rd. 983-9912. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ 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. $$ Cuisine: African and Caribbean inspired. Atmosphere: Basic cafe-style. House specialties: We love the tasty Jerk chicken sandwich. Try the curried chicken salad wrap; or the marvelous phillo stuffed with spinach, black olives, feta cheese, roasted red peppers and chickpeas served over organic greens. You will love the East African coconut lentil stew. Comments: Obo was the executive chef at the Zia Diner. Josh’s Barbecue 3486 Zafarano Dr., Suite A. 474-6466. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$ 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. $$ Cuisine: Japanese. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: Miso soup; soft shell crab; dragon roll; chicken katsu; noodle dishes; and Bento box specials. Comments: The sushi is always perfect. Try the Ruiaku Sake. It is clear, smooth, and very dry—like drinking from a magic spring in a bamboo forest. Comments: New
noodle menu. Friendly waitstaff. Lamy Station Café Lamy Train Station, Lamy. 466-1904. Lunch/Dinner/Sunday Brunch Beer/Wine. Major credit cards. $$ 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. $$$ Cuisine: Vietnamese. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Start with the Pho Tai Hoi, a vegetarian soup loaded with veggies, fresh herbs, and spices. For your entree, we suggest the Noung—BBQ beef, chicken, or shrimp with lemongrass, lime leaf, shallots, garlic, cucumber, pickled onion, lettuce, and fresh herbs on vermicelli noodles—it will rock your taste buds. La Plazuela on the Plaza 100 E. San Francisco St. 989-3300. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full Bar. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$$ 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— both are absolutely delicious. 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. A good wine list and attentive service. 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. $$$ Cuisine: American meets the Great Southwest. Atmosphere: Elegant and romantic. Recommendations: Start with the award-winning tortilla soup or the Maine lobster cakes. If you love fish, order the perfectly prepared coriander crusted kampache or the Santa Fean paella—it is loaded with delicious shrimp, salmon, clams, mussels, roasted peppers, and onions. The flavorful New Mexico chile pork tenderloin is top notch. Comments: Organic produce when available.
Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen 555 W. Cordova Rd. 983-7929. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: New Mexican. Atmosphere: Rough wooden floors and hand-carved chairs set the historical tone. House
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| october 2010
THE magazine | 25
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DINING GUIDE
Saveur 204 Montezuma St. 989-4200. Breakfast/Lunch Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Visa/Mastercard. $$ Cuisine: French meets American. Atmosphere: Casual. Buffet-style service for salad bar and soups. House specialties: Daily chef specials (try the maple-glazed pork tenderloin), gourmet and build-your-own sandwiches, the best soups, and an excellent salad bar (try Dee’s salad dressing). Comments: Simply wonderful breakfasts, organic coffees, and super desserts. A family-run restaurant.
Chicken Schnitzel at
the compound
653 Canyon Road, Reservations: 982-4353 specialties: Freshly made tortillas, green chile stew, and pork spareribs. Comments: Perfect margaritas. Max’s 401½ Guadalupe St. 984-9104. Dinner Beer/Wine. Non-smoking. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Contemporary. Atmosphere: Intimate and charming. House specialties: Start with the Sweet Corn Soup, or the Heirloom Tomato Salad. For your main, we suggest the Grass Fed Beef Sous Vide, and the Organic Chicken Breast Panzanella. For dessert, try the delicious Warm Strawberry Lime Souffle Tart. Comments: Organic ingredients when available. 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. All organic ingredients used when available.
Pizza Centro Santa Fe Design Center. 988-8825. Agora Center at Eldorado. 466-3161. Lunch/Dinner Wednesday-Sunday Cash or check. No credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Real New York–style pizza. Atmosphere: Casual. Counter service and a few tables. House specialties: A variety of pizzas with names that reflect The Big Apple, a.k.a. New York City. Recommendations: The Central Park thin-crust pizza is a knockout. Plaza Café Southside 3466 Zafarano Dr. 424-0755. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner 7 days Full bar. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$$ 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. $$ Cuisine: Italian. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: The appetizer we love is the Fritto Misto di Mare (fried calamari, prawns, sardines, and oysters, presented with a spicy pomosdoro sauce and caper salsa verde). For your entrée, order the Whole Cornish Game Hen, marinated in garlic and chili. Comments: Generous pour at the bar.
Nostrani Ristorante 304 Johnson St. 983-3800. Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$$ Cuisine: Regional dishes from Northern Italy. Atmosphere: A renovated adobe with a great bar. House specialties: For your main, try the Stuffed Gnocchetti with Prosciutto and Chicken, or the Diver Scallops. Comments: A garden where they grow produce. European wine list. Frommer’s rates Nostrani in the “Top 500 Restaurants in the World.”
Real Food Nation Old Las Vegas Hwy/Hwy 285. 466-3886. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $ Cuisine: Farm to table with an on-site organic garden. Atmosphere: Cheery, light, and downright healthy. House specialties: A salad sampler might include the red quinoa, roasted beets (both vegan), and potato with dill. The roast veggie panini is perfect. Muffins and croissants are baked in house. Wonderful soups and desserts are divine. Recommendations: Inspired breakfast menu.
O’Keeffe Café 217 Johnson St. 946-1065. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ 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.
Restaurant Martín 526 Galisteo St. 820-0919. Lunch/Dinner/Brunch Beer/Wine Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Contemporary American fare. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: For your main course try the grilled Berkshire pork chop with shoestring tobacco onions and peach barbecue jus, or the mustard-crusted Ahi tuna. Comments: Chef-owned.
| october 2010
Second Street Brewery 1814 Second St. 982-3030. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free inside. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ 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 truly delicious grilled bratwurst. 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. $$$ Cuisine: All-American classic steakhouse. Atmosphere: Gorgeous Pueblo-style adobe with vigas and plank floors. House specialities: USDA prime steaks and prime rib. Haystack fries and cornbread with honey butter. Recommendations: For dessert, we suggest that you choose the chocolate pot.
Second Street Brewery at the Railyard 1607 Paseo de Peralta. 989-3278. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free inside. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ 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.
Ristra 548 Agua Fria St. 982-8608. Dinner/Bar Menu Full bar. Smoke-free. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ Cuisine: Southwestern with French flair. Atmosphere: Elegant bar with a nice bar menu, sophisticated and comfortable dining rooms, and a lovely outdoor patio. House specialties: Mediterranean mussels in chipotle and mint broth is superb, as is the ahi tuna tartare. Comments: Ristra won the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2006.
The Shed 113½ E. Palace Ave. 982-9030. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ 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.
San Francisco Street Bar & Grill 50 E. San Francisco St. 982-2044. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: As American as apple pie. Atmosphere: Casual with art on the walls. House specialties: At lunch, do try the San Francisco Street hamburger on a sourdough bun or the grilled yellowfin tuna nicoise salad with baby red potatoes. At dinner, we like the tender and flavorful twelve-ounce New York Strip steak, or the Idaho Ruby Red Trout served with grilled pineapple salsa. Comments: Visit their sister restaurant at DeVargas Center. Santacafé 231 Washington Ave. 984-1788. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. Patio. Major credit cards. $$$ 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: Pastry chef Cindy Sheptow’s Key Lime Semifreddo and Chocolate Mousse with Blood Orange Grand Marnier Sauce are perfect. Appetizers at the bar at cocktail hour rule. Santa Fe Bar & Grill 187 Paseo de Peralta. 982.3033. Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Patio. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: American and New Mexican. Atmosphere: Casual and friendly. House specialties: Start with the delicious cornmeal-crusted calamari. For your main course, we love the Santa Fe Rotisserie chicken, the Rosemary and Garlic Baby Back Ribs, and the Prawns à la Puebla. Comments: Carlos Rivas is doing a yeoman’s job in the kitchen.
Shohko Café 321 Johnson St. 982-9708. Lunch/Dinner Sake/Beer. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$$ 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 $$$ Cuisine: American. Atmosphere: Family restaurant with full bar and lounge. House specialties: Aged steaks; lobster. We suggest you try the pepper steak with Dijon cream sauce. Comments: One thing for sure, they know steak here.
S teaksmith
The Teahouse 821 Canyon Rd. 992-0972. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner 7 days
Beer/Wine. Fireplace. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Farm-to-fork. Atmosphere: Casual. House specialties: We love the Salmon Benedict with poached eggs; quiche; gourmet cheese sandwich; and the amazing Teahouse Mix salad, 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. An array of killer burgers and sandwiches are available. Comments: Guy Fieri of the TV show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” visited the Tune-Up recently. Vinaigrette 709 Don Cubero Alley. 820-9205. Lunch/Dinner Beer/Wine. Smoke-free. Major credit cards. $$ Cuisine: Farm-to-table. Atmosphere: Light, bright and cheerful. House specialties: All of the salads are knockouts—fresh as can be. We absolutely love the Nutty Pear-fessor salad. Comments: Only organic greens are used, thus delivering the freshness that slow food promises. Zia Diner 326 S. Guadalupe St. 988-7008. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Full bar. Smoking/non-smoking. PatIo. Major credit cards. $$ 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.
315 Restauarant & Wine Bar 315 Old Santa Fe Trail. Reservations: 986-9190
THE
MAGAZINE
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Leon Berkowitz Ilya Bolotowsky Hilton Brown Lawrence Calcagno Roy Colmer Howard Daum Gene Davis Thomas Downing Mario Garcia John Goodyear Hisao Hanafusa James Hilleary Paul Huxley Ward Jackson Raymond Jonson Matsumi Kanemitsu Minoru Kawabata Lyman Kipp Masatoyo Kishi James Kuo Beatrice Mandelman Howard Mehring Rakuko Naito Sumiye Eugenia Okoshi Betty Parsons Leon Polk-Smith Paul Reed Ralph Rosenborg Vivian Springford Albert Stadler Sidney Wolfson
October 15 – November 13, 2010 Curated by Gary Snyder
Opening reception Friday, October 15, 2010, 5:00 – 8:00 pm Gallery talK Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1:00 – 3:00 pm with Gary Snyder, Curator and Peter Frank, Art Historian
DavidrichardContemporary.com 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, Santa Fe, NM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284 info@DavidRichardContemporary.com
ART OPENINGS
O C T O B E r
ART OPENINGS
Friday, October 1 105 Art Gallery, 105 4th St., Alb. 505-2383491. The Grateful Dead: Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Living Dead show. 5-8 pm. 222 Shelby Street Gallery, 222 Shelby St., Santa Fe. 982-8889. Raw State: work related to color. 5-7 pm. Blue Rain Gallery, 130 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe. 954-9902. Incortex: new glass work by Rik Allen. 5-7 pm.
Meyer East Gallery, 225 Canyon Rd. Santa Fe. 983-1657. Modern Illusions: trompe l’oeil paintings by Natalie Featherston. 5-7 pm. Mirador, 616 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 995-1977. Dustin Otterbach: works in steel and enamel. 5-8 pm.
N ew G rounds P rint W orkshop & G allery , 3812 Central Ave. SE, Suite 100B, Alb. 505-268-8952. Paradise: gravure by Jorge Tristani. Morelos-Estampas de La Independencia: engravings by Mizraim Cardenas. 5-8 pm.
New Concept Gallery, 610 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 795-7570. Landscape 2010: paintings by Cecilia Kirby Binkley, Albert Hopkins, and Linda Petersen. 5-7 pm.
New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe. 476-5100 Imagining Mexico: From the Aztec Empire to Colonial New Spain: books, prints, and maps. 5:30-7 pm.
New Studio A.D., 312 Rosemont Ave. NE, Alb. 505-244-0223. Studio Opening and Reception. 5-8 pm. Peterson-Cody Gallery, 130 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 820-0010. Easily Amused: new work by Scott Paulk. 5-7 pm. Peyton Wright Gallery, 237 E. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 989-9889. Paper and Paint: A Career Retrospective: work by Clinton Adams. 5-8 pm.
Bright Rain Gallery, 206 1/2 San Felipe NW, Alb. 505-843-9176. Greatest Hits, So Far: mixedmedia paintings by Orlando Leyba. 6-9 pm. Canyon Road Contemporary Art, 403 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-0433. Jason Roberts: acrylic paintings. 5-7 pm. Chalk Farm Gallery, 729 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-7125. Taking Reality by Surprise: work by Daniel Merriam. 5:30-8 pm. Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, 554 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 989-8688. Tony DeLap: Recent Paintings and Magic Drawings. 5-7 pm. Dialogue with Tony DeLap and Jan Adlmann, art historian, and author. Sat., Oct. 2, 3 pm. Darnell Fine Art, 640 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 984-0840. Hot Wax/Cold Wax: new works by Shawna Moore and Rebecca Crowell. 5-7 pm. Harwood Art Center, 1114 7th St. NW, Alb. 505-242-6367. Lights All Askew in the Heavens: new paintings by Cedra Wood. 6-8 pm. Jane Sauer Gallery, 652 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 995-8513. New Works: mixed-media paintings by Nancy Scheinman. 5-7 pm. Manitou Galleries, 123 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 986-0440. Liz Wolf and William Haskell: sculpture by Wolf; watercolors by Haskell. 5-7:30 pm. Marigold Arts, 424 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 9824142. Pastures of Heaven: double-woven rugs by Connie Enzmann-Forneris. 5-7 pm. Mariposa Gallery, Nob Hill, 3500 Central Ave. SE, Alb. 505-268-6828. The Epicenter: collages by Maude Andrade. Vainglory: new work by Kristin Diener. 5-8 pm. Matrix Fine Art, 3812 Central Ave. SE, Suite 100-B, Alb. 505-268-8952. Thresholds: paintings by Sally Condon. 5-8 pm. New works in glass by Rik Allen at Blue Rain Gallery 130 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe. Reception: Friday, October 1, 5-7 pm.
| october 2010
continued on page 32
THE magazine | 29
WHO SAID THIS? “Does being able to live without someone you loved mean you loved them less than you thought?”
1. Marcel Proust 2. Jean-Paul Sartre 3. Georges de Lauris 4. Roland Barthes
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OUT & ABOUT
Photos: Mr. Clix, Ellie Beth, Dana Waldon, Lisa Law, and Jennifer Esperazana
ART OPENINGS
Silver Sun Gallery, 656 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-8743. The Unimaginable Play of Light, Portraits of New Mexico: landscape photographs and portraits. Book signing. 5-7 pm. Skotia Gallery, 150 W. Marcy St. #103, Santa Fe. 820-7787. Inheritance: paintings by Geoffrey Laurence. Attachment: photographs by Péter Korniss. 5-7 pm. Weyrich Gallery/Rare Vision Art Gallery, 2935-D Louisiana Blvd. NE, Alb. 505-8837410. Contrast: Porcelain, Paint & Pencil: work by Kathryne Cyman. 5-8:30 pm.
Saturday, October 2 333 Montezuma Annex, 333 Montezuma Ave., Santa Fe. 982-8889. Exquisite: the figure in print. 5-7 pm. 516 ARTS, 516 Central Ave. SW, Alb. 505242-1445. Street Text: Art from the Coasts & The Populist Phenomenon: opening exhibition for the fall Street Arts celebration. 6-8 pm. Richard Levy Gallery, 514 Central Ave. SW, Alb. 505-766-9888. Martin Decker: photographs. 6-8 pm.
Friday, October 8
Eight Modern, 231 Delgado St., Santa Fe. 995-0231. Teo González: New Work: minimalist paintings. 5:30-7:30 pm. Meyer East Gallery, 225 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-1657. Welcoming Exhibition with New Works: Melinda K. Hall. 5-7 pm. Preston Contemporary Art Center, 1755 Avenida de Mercado, Mesilla. 575-523-8713. Group Show. 6:30-8:30 pm. Artist talk: Sat., Oct. 9, 1-3 pm. Ventana Fine Art, 400 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-8815. Under the Sun: paintings by Barry McCuan. 5-7 pm.
Saturday, October 9 Dwight Hackett Projects, 2879 All Trades Rd., Santa Fe. 474-4043. Loser: Peregrine Honig: drawings and sculpture. 3-5 pm. Gallery Zipp, Glorieta. I-25 north to Valencia (exit 297). Go left under freeway pass. Turn right to green gate, #01AB. 757-6428. The Clothesline Installation: group show of art on paper. 11 am-4 pm. Ledger Gallery, 413 Broadway, Truth or Consequences. 505-231-5295. Fragments: small works on paper by Noel Hudson. 6-9 pm.
Argos Etchings and Paintings, 821 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 986-8071. Trains of Thought: memorial exhibit for Melinda Miles. 5-8 pm.
Friday, October 15
Art Exchange Gallery, 618 Canyon Rd. Santa Fe. 982-6329. Solo Show: landscape paintings by Trinon Crouch. 4-7 pm.
105 Art Gallery, 105 4th St., Alb. 505-2383491. The Grateful Dead: Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Living Dead show. 5-8 pm.
Gallery, 1611-A Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 989-4897. Michelle Cooke: new works in glass and ink-on-paper. 5-7 pm.
David Richard Contemporary, 130 Lincoln Ave., Suite D, Santa Fe. 983-9555. 1960s Revisited: group show, curated by Gary Snyder. 5-8 pm.
box
Annual New Work Group Show at Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, 200-B Canyon Road. Reception: Friday, October 15, 5-7 pm. Image: Michael Madzo
Ernesto Mayans Gallery, 601 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-8068. In A Gadda Da Vida: new work by Kathleen McCloud. 5-7 pm.
works by Joshua Rose and Roger Atkins. Paintings by Ron Pokrasso. Ceramic sculptures by Stephen De Staebler. 5-7 pm.
Gerald Peters Gallery, 1011 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe. 954-5700. Artist Perspectives: group show. Points of Balance: photographs by Will Clift. 5-7 pm.
Sunday, October 17
Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, 200-B Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 984-2111. Annual New Work Group Show. 5-7 pm.
New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe. 476-5200. Threads of Memory: Spain and the United States: rare documents, maps, illustrations, and paintings. 10 am-5 pm.
Friday, October 22
Meyer East Gallery, 225 Canyon Rd. Santa Fe. Wonderous Journey: classically inspired oil paintings by Fatima Ronquillo. 5-7 pm.
Chiaroscuro, 702 ½ Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 9920711. Guardians: paintings by Michele Mikesell. Big Game: paintings by Susan Sales. 5-7 pm.
Patina Gallery, 131 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe. 986-1879. Colourforms: works in clay by Nicholas Bernard. 5-7:30 pm.
Friday, October 29
Santa Fe P.S., 418 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe. 6902700. Nene and Friends: pencil drawings and art dolls by Robbie O’Neill. 5-7 pm. William Siegal Gallery, 540 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 820-3300. Night Voyager: photographs by Siegfried Halus. 5-7 pm. Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, 435 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 982-8111. Paintings, Sculpture, and Ceramic: new and collaborative
Fine Art Gallery, 221 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos. 575-737-0716. Frida Fractured: artists, poets, musicians, dancers, actors, and architects celebrate Frida Kahlo. 6-9 pm. Gebert Contemporary – Railyard, 550 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 983-5444. Sarah Amos: new prints. 5-7 pm. Masley Gallery, UNM campus, Alb. 505-2774112. Elementary Art Teachers Exhibition. 5-7 pm. Ventana Fine Art, 400 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe. 983-8815. Albert Handell: recent paintings. 5-7 pm.
Gravures by Jorge Tristani at New Grounds Print Workshop & Gallery, 3812 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque. Reception: Friday, October 1 from 5-8 pm.
continued on page 36
34 | THE magazine
|october 2010
Enthusiasm
N ew wo rk by G i G i G au l i N o c t 2 9 – n ov 1 4 , 2 0 1 0 flying cow gallery @ warehouse 21 1614 paseo de peralta • santa Fe
artist reception friday october 29 5–8 pm closing reception nov 14 “Ngahere” • steel, 2010
Photo: Kate Russell Photography
ART OPENINGS
Special Interest 39th Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 4401 Alameda Blvd. NE, Alb. 505-821-1000. Sat., Oct 2, Sun., Oct.10. Info: itsatrip.org/balloonfiesta 516 ARTS, 516 Central Ave. SW, Alb. 505242-1445. Street Arts: a celebration of hip hop culture and free expression. Fri., Oct 1 to Sat., Nov. 20. Schedule: 516arts.org Abiquiu Studio Tour, Abiquiu. Work by more than sixty artists. Sat., Oct. 9 toMon., Oct. 11. Info: abiquiustudiotour.org Abiquiu Workshops, Abiquiu. 505-685-0921. Abiquiu Lecture Series: weekly lectures with artists. Through Thurs., Oct. 20, 7 pm. Info: abiquiuworkshops.com Abrazos Gallery, 800 S. San Marcial, El Paso, TX. 915-532-7273. Retablos—A Cultural Legacy: work by Virginia Maria Romero. Through Sat., Oct. 23. Artist talk: Sat. Oct. 16, 1:30-2:30 pm.
Friday to Sunday, Oct. 8-10. Info: 432-7294362 or amnafziger@chinati.org Dane Smith Hall, UNM, Alb. 973-4821000. CAA National Professional-Development Workshop: seminars with career-building skills for visual artists. Sat., Oct. 9, 8 am-5:30 pm. Info: susan.schear@artisin.com El Rito Studio Tour, El Rito. 575-581-4780. Tour of 19 studios. Sat., Oct. 2 and Sun., Oct. 3. Info: elritostudiotour.org Flux Contemporary, 4801 Alameda Blvd., Space D-2, Alb. 505-504-9074. Impure Abstraction: paintings by Suzanne Marshall. Sculpture by John Davis. Through Sat., Oct. 30. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 217 Johnson St., Santa Fe. 946-1000. Lectures and workshops throughout October. Info/schedule: okeeffemuseum.org GF Contemporary, 707 Canyon Rd, Santa Fe. 983-3707. Retrospective Show 1970-2010: work by Paul Shapiro. Through Mon., Oct. 4.
Axle Contemporary. Moving Stills: stills from New Mexico Filmmakers. Fri., Oct. 15 to Wed., Oct. 27. Papel Picado: work by Catalina Delgado Trunk and Christopher Gibson. Fri., Oct. 29 to Sun., Nov. 14. Location info: axleart.com
Harwood Art Center, 1114 7th St. NW, Alb. 505-242-6367 Adobe Walls: an Anthology of New Mexico Poetry: publishing party and reading. Sat., Oct. 9, 2-5 pm.
CCA Cinematheque, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe. 982-1338. Marcia Muth: Memory Painter: documentary film by Diane Armitage. Sun., Oct 10, 11 am-12 pm.
Harwood Museum of Art, 238 Ledoux St., Taos. 575-758-9826 ext. 105. Book Arts: bookmaking classes. Sat., Oct. 9 to mid Nov. Info: harwoodmuseum.org
Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe. 982-1338. More Than Mary Cassatt: lecture series on women artists. Thurs., Oct. 7, 14, and 21, 10-11:30 am. Details: ccasantafe.org
Kit Carson Park, Taos. 27th Annual Taos Wool Festival: hand shearing, team spinning, and style shows. Sat., Oct. 2 and Sun., Oct. 3. Info: taoswoolfestival.org
Chinati Weekend, Special exhibitions, music, spoken word, and theatrical performances,
Taking Reality by Surprise by Daniel Merriam at Chalk Farm Gallery, 729 Canyon Road. Reception: Friday, October 1, 5:30-8 pm.
La Fonda Hotel, 100 E. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. Critical Santa Fe: symposium on art criticism. Wed., Oct. 27-Sat., Oct. 30. Info: nceca.net
Marcia Muth: Memory Painter, documentary film by Diane Armitage, Sunday, October 10, 11 am at the CCA Cinematheque, 1050 Old Pecos Trail. Free.
La Sala de Galisteo Gallery & Museum, 5637 State Rt. 41, Galisteo. 466-3219. 23rd Annual Galisteo Studio Tour: studio tours and art sales. Weekends, Sat., Oct. 9-Sun., Nov. 14. Info: galisteostudiotour.org
Alb. 505-766-9888. Work by Saara Ekström and Stuart Frost. Fri., Oct. 22 to Fri., Dec. 17. Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, various locations, Alb. Fri., Oct 8 to Thurs., Oct. 14. Info/schedule: closetcinema.org
National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th St. SW, Alb. 505-246-2261 ext. 148. Resolanas: discussions and presentations on social and cultural topics. Info: nhccnm.org
St. John’s College, 1160 Camino Cruz Blanca, Santa Fe. 984-6104. Rilke and Wenders: fall community seminar. Info/events: stjohnscollege.edu
New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe. 476-5200. Threads of Memory: series on Spain’s role in shaping America. Sun., Oct. 17 to Sun., Jan. 9, 2011. Info: nmhistorymuseum.org
UNM Bookstore, 201 Central Ave. NE, Alb. 505277-7494. Pat Mora will sign and discuss her book Zing! Seven Creativity Practices for Educators and Students and other titles on Thurs., Oct 7, 2 pm.
Richard Levy Gallery, 514 Central Ave. SW,
Music AMP Concerts, various locations, Alb. October Concerts. Schedule: ampconcerts.org Church of Beethoven, 1715 Fifth St. NW, Alb. 505-234-4611. October Sunday Concerts. Schedule: churchofbeethoven.org High Mayhem Studio, 2811 Siler Ln., Santa Fe. Fall Music Series. Schedule: highmayhem.org
Call for Artists Milken Archive of Jewish Music and the Foundation for Jewish Culture is seeking submissions for Eye Meets Ear: Visual Arts Competition for Emerging Artists. Deadline: Mon., Nov. 1. Info: jewishculture.org Moscow Ballet, Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington, Farmington. Audition for the Nutcracker. Sat., Oct. 2, 10 am. Info: Lori Downs, 505-325-6225. NOVEMBER LISTINGS DUE: FRIDAY, OCT. 15
36 | THE magazine
|october 2010
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PREVIEWS
Critic and writer Dave Hickey. Photo: Guy Cross
Critical Santa Fe: Developing Criticism— Interpretation and Judgment October 27 to 30 La Fonda Hotel, 100 East San Francisco Street, Santa Fe. 982-5511
Teo González, Untitled #596, acrylic polymer emulsion, pigment, and acrylic on clay board, 44” x 44”, 2010
Teo González: New Work October 8 to November 20 Eight Modern, 231 Delgado Street, Santa Fe. 995-0231 Opening reception: Friday, October 8, 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The Spanish painter Teo González, noted for square, minimalist canvases in which he allows tiny dots of wet color to mix according to their own chemistry, presents an exhibition at Eight Modern that assures greater agency on the artist’s part. That is, while continuing to present the viewer with his signature monochromatic ground of hand-mixed pigment, González is now applying his miniscule grids and dots of color one layer at a time. This small difference in process makes for “a tantalizing perception of depth by marrying the openness of organic form with the formal precision of the grid,” say his gallerists. The artist himself feels that he has “taken a step away from minimalism and toward a sort of abstract expressionism.” We’d suggest that with more control comes greater freedom, in that paradoxical way of art. However you categorize these paintings, they are indisputably alluring, exhibiting great restraint along with chaos, leaving you to wonder which plane represents the background and which the foreground. Our advice? Gaze slowly, with anticipation, as you would gaze on a starry night in contemplation of the cosmos.
A wild and wooly time is promised at the end of the month in a notto-be-missed event—registration starts at $335. Critical Santa Fe, an international symposium on issues in art criticism to be held at La Fonda, presents a series of round-table discussions on the latest “critical mess” we’ve gotten ourselves into—or as Jerry Salz puts it, “the lost art of writing real criticism.” It will feature prominent speakers, including Donald Kuspit, Dave Hickey, Roberta Smith, Paul Mathieu, Garth Clark, and Robert Atkins. Got an entry for the latest edition of ArtSpeak? Collar Atkins and have at him. Tired of beauty in art? Corner Hickey—with a cigarette and a calming cup of Joe in a Styrofoam cup, he’ll tell you why we need beauty, or not. Feel like playing the role of devil’s advocate regarding that old-school, finicky insistence on New York–centrism? Challenge the lovely Ms. Smith. And for a cultured exchange on changing media and perceptions of fine art since the seventies, sit down with the ever-elegant and articulate Clark. Make your reservations now— registration is limited to just two hundred eager minds. This occasion marks a huge opportunity to do something of worth right in our own hometown. Show up ready to rumble.
Joshua Rose, Roger Atkins, Ron Pokrasso, and Stephen De Staebler October 15 to November 13 Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, 435 South Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. 982-8111 Opening reception: Friday, October 15, 5 to 7 pm. The four artists work in a wide range of media, with an even greater divergence in process and purpose. Pokrasso may be the balancing note here, around which the others tune their instruments. His long history of working with the print medium allows his artwork to stand up to just about anything anywhere—it’s that strong—to the point of suggesting an intelligence of its own. Representing quietly fantastic organic forms in clay, De Staebler, whose figures are neither human nor alive, manages to make them seem to breathe. The other end of the spectrum offers Atkins’ nonobjective forms in wood—cooler than De Staebler’s ceramic pieces—but with a stylish manner of their own. Rose’s acrylic and glitter-on-paper paintings are the wild card—glitter and bright colors amid the rest of this crowd should stand out. We applaud Rose’s spirit and willingness to hold nothing back, and suspect that the austerity of Atkins’ work may lend equilibrium to Rose’s exuberant work. Ron Pokrasso, Marcos and The Chop Saw Landscape, digital ink jet, collage, assemblage, drawing on wood, 32” x 60”, 2010
36 | THE magazine
| october 2010
THE-oct.qxd:Layout 1
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N AT I O N A L S P O T L I G H T
India: A Pilgrimage by
Marilyn Bridges
Marilyn Bridges’ first ground-based exhibition—India: A Pilgrimage—is an intimate examination of a culture and a departure from her previous work as an aerial landscape photographer. Thirty-five black-and-white photographs portray the sacred and the everyday intermingling of people and pilgrims on the banks of the Ganges and the Gandak rivers, which sustain one of highest population densities in the world. This exhibition is important for its artistic value and for the fact that it illuminates and records cultural events in India. Bridges’ photography has been shown in more than three hundred exhibitions worldwide and is in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The exhibition is on view through November 6 at Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery, 145 East 57th Street, New York City. D
| october 2010
THE magazine | 39
Dogsbody by
Roger Salloch
A furrowed brow, a mustache, eyes that look straight at you, eyes that know
It was not a time when “his kind” received a lot of care and attention. Placed
how much more is going on than what that simple glance contains. Behind him
in a Roman Catholic home, he was then remanded to the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-
stacks of books, piles of handwritten and typed manuscripts, cut-out photographs,
Minded Children. Darger was there for seven years, escaped at sixteen, and for
pinned- up cartoon drawings of fairy-tale little girls, and a cheap portrait of Christ.
the rest of his life worked in the same hospital—scouring floors and toilets, rolling
We are in the miserable room in which Henry Darger spent his adult life, writing
bandages. On his way home from the hospital he picked through garbage cans,
an autobiography and one vast novel (In the Realms of the Unreal, some twenty
scavenged litter in the streets. When he wasn’t doing anything else he went to Mass,
thousand pages), and painting—collating and constructing some three hundred
four or five times a day.
frescoes about a Manichean combat in the magical Alice in Horrorland of Abbiennia.
Jessica Yu’s wonderful 2006 documentary about Darger, In the Realms of the
Darger didn’t sleep in a bed; he slept in a chair, bent forward like that same Christ
Unreal, does what the writings and the paintings cannot do on their own—it marries
on His cross. No matter where you pick him up, no matter which online entry you
the man to his work. More, it animates the world of his imagination and ties it to his
read, no matter which chapter in his intimate epic you choose to study, no matter
time—Chicago at the turn of the century. This was Chicago of the race riots of 1919.
which panel in his work you hold up to the light, in the end, when it comes to Henry
This was Chicago of shootouts and gang warfare. This was Chicago before and during
Darger, only questions remain. Atonement is the word that comes to mind. But
the Great Depression and Chicago before and after the Great War, when her boys
whose atonement, and for what?
went off to war and came back from the trenches crippled, or didn’t come back at all.
Darger was born in Chicago in 1892. His mother died when he was four; an older
Darger tried to enlist but was refused for military service. He tried to adopt a
sister he didn’t remember was given up for adoption. His father was infirm and couldn’t
child but was refused by the Catholic agencies. Who knows how many other things
look after him. The boy had fits. He spit, and laughed in short bursts. He might have been
Darger saw himself refused? What could he do? Probably he didn’t ask himself.
schizophrenic. Certainly bullies never let him forget how troubled he was. Nor did the
Probably he just did it. He invented a world of his own. He knew that world would
nuns and monks and other so-called “teachers” at Our Lady of Mercy Academy.
accept him because he was its lord and master—he was its creator. Not only
Henry Darger, Untitled (At Jennie Richee they came upon a large notorious picture placed there by the enemy which they destroy), watercolor and pencil on paper, 23” x 107”, nd. Copyright Kiyoko Lerner, Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York City.
PERSON OF INTEREST
(aka Henry Darger) that, he was one of its heroes. As he might have put it in his sometimes pidgin, sometimes medieval, and always touching primitive English: In his room beneath the roofs, the simple man Darger proved that pure was in the skin and from the skin could work on the heart that was praying inside. Not even on cold days did the simple Darger seek the warmth of another. He knew the traps of the heathens and the innocence of the wise. He
Henry Darger
listened all day and all night to their dreams and to protect them, he stayed away from them even as he wanted them to listen. So he went to Mass and confessed his art the way another man who enrolled little girls in his school in order to torture them didn’t confess to anything. Look at these two Chicago warlords, one with his big car and his sleeping car on the train to New York. The other with his smells because he doesn’t have a bathtub, with his cut-out papers because he cannot afford paints, with his vision because it is better to see the world with closed eyes that dream than open eyes which are blind. When Darger died, in 1973, the treasures he had buried in his closets and on his bookshelves were discovered. He was a writer and he was an artist, a cut-out master, a genius at tracing and reusing pop images of his time. He couldn’t paint, not a line, but boy could he color, and boy could he compose. In huge pieces Reconstruction of Darger’s room
continued on page 43
| october 2010
THE magazine | 41
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PERSON OF INTEREST
of paper, cut up and cut out and then taped back together, an epic slowly came
Take it from there. Take it from poverty and ignorance. Take it from being “a
together—In the Realms of the Unreal, a tale of a Manichean combat in the land
sissy,” “a weakling,” “a weirdo.” Take it from America and the rest of the world at the
of Abbiennia, of a state of permanent war between good and evil, between the
start of the radiant twenty-first century. Had he been alive today, what would Darger
evil Glandelinians and the valorous, valiant, and virginal Vivian Sisters (so virginal
have done with Iran’s insistence on whipping and stoning an “adulterous” widow? Isn’t
they don’t have vaginas, they have tiny male genitals): blond, big-eyed, twinned
Iran today a little bit of Darger’s world come true? Isn’t it the women who are singled
and then twinned again, and tripled after that (one of the problems with tracing
out for punishment? Isn’t Iran today our own Glandelinia? In an age of walls between
drawings made by other people is that a certain repetition is inevitable). Other
countries, of drones patrolling the Mexican border, of “missions accomplished,” and
little girls become Vivian Sister allies but suffer all the horrors and indignations
of trillions expended to accomplish them, suppose we discovered a man in a room
that cruel military leaders and a hideous destiny inflict on their victims: hangings,
pulling together triptychs of all the horrors he hears about everyday on the news?
burials, whippings, torrential rains, dust storms, calamitous hurricanes—the
Pulling them together with recollections of his own difficulties as a child, weaving
world in all its furious indifference to the frailty of men and women. It never
them out of colors and innocence and a vision that never says die: what would we
stops, it only varies.
say about him?
For the record, let’s look at one panel: At Jennie Richee they came upon a large notorious picture placed there by the enemy which they destroy. Flowers to the left, red, blue, and yellow bouquets lining the garden path; a low picket fence, clouds like bombers scudding in over the horizon; one little girl with a finger in her mouth, a stunned little girl, explaining what the Glandelinians are up to now; eyes wander right and come upon it too, a fresco of vicious men strangling little girls, and giggling while they are at it, and the Vivian crew viewed from behind, stunned by this foretaste of horrors to come. And already, farther right, the saviors lining up to save the damsels in distress, “Blengins” in this case, larger girls with reptilian tails—though sometimes the “Blengins” are just butterfly-winged creatures who fly in to save the nymphets in their final moments. Art for art’s sake is not what Darger is about. He is writing history and he is settling scores. A little girl in Chicago is murdered, and when he loses her photograph
Henry Darger was the world’s first performance artist Why separate the man from his art? If he was a schizophrenic, wasn’t he also a saint? Maybe Darger went off the deep end because he had the courage to do so. When Henry Darger’s landlord discovered his work, he went to see the artist on his deathbed. “How beautiful it is,” said the landlord. “Too late,” was Darger’s reply.
Darger makes her the heroine of several panels in his epic. He is refashioning his own
Even though he was a recluse who only spoke to dead little girls, the man and the
poor life and making it the stuff of universal hopes and universal sufferings. The bully
work are intricately entwined. His ambition was outspoken. Henry Darger was the world’s
at the Illinois Asylum was called Manley, and in the Realms of the Unreal the general
first performance artist. He just kept it to himself for a long time. Not too late, Henry. D
in command of the vicious Glandelinians is called General Manley. The Vivian girls oppose him, but so does a certain Colonel Darger, given to intervening when the Vivian girls have lost their ability to imagine another way out of the hell Manley is about to make them suffer. From Darger’s perspective, it is the girls who have to be saved, because it is the girls who want to save others.
| october 2010
An exhibition—Henry Darger—will be on view through October 23 at Andrew Edlin Gallery, 134 Tenth Avenue, New York City. Another exhibition—The Private Collection of Henry Darger—will be on display through October 24 at the American Folk Art Museum, 45 West 53rd Street, New York City. Roger Salloch lives in Paris. He is a writer and photographer whose stories have appeared in The Paris Review, The North Atlantic Review, Fiction, and Ploughshares, among other publications. He regularly contributes articles about the arts for the French edition of Rolling Stone. A memoir, In Germany, is currently in pre-production as a feature film.
THE magazine | 43
ROBERT NICHOLS GALLERY s a n ta f e
30 years on Canyon Road
Kathleen nez
William a. Pacheco
Diego Romero
samuel Manymules
nathan Begaye
alan e. Lasiloo
Joyce Ortiz
Glen nipshink
Virgil Ortiz
Historic, Classic, and Innovative native american Pottery 419 Canyon Road, santa fe, nM 87501 | 505.982.2145 www.robertnicholsgallery.com | gallery@robertnicholsgallery.com
H
Turner
to
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
Cézanne: Masterpieces
How often is it in Albuquerque—or anywhere else in New Mexico for that matter—that you can slowly circumnavigate a room and be in the presence of Turner, Daumier, Millet, Corot, Renoir, Cézanne, Bonnard, Whistler, Monet, Manet, and more? And, oh yes, van Gogh. Thanks to the Albuquerque Museum, the National Museum Wales, and the American Federation of the Arts in New York, this intensely enjoyable exhibition of some of the best nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century artists came our way. This exhibition provided a chance to see, for example, a piece by Berthe Morisot, one of the few women painters from the nineteenth century whose work holds its own with the other, mostly male, Impressionists. Another thing that intrigued me was a series of interesting and powerful works by artists I had never heard of: Eugène Carrière, who according to online
Berthe Morisot, At Bougival, oil on canvas, 235/ 8 ” x 28¾”, 1882
from the
Davies Collection, National Museum Wales Albuquerque Museum 2000 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque
research was very highly regarded by other French painters and whose two works in this show are outstanding. Another unknown was Belgian artist Alfred Stevens, whose small painting of a seated woman (no date) in a white smock was one of my favorite pieces. And there was Armand Seguin, who studied with Gauguin at Pont-Aven, and then did his own strange and wonderful version of Breton women at a Sunday mass. Some of the most fascinating works were by Jean-Francois Millet, best known for The Gleaners. In Turner to Cézanne, however, he is represented by lesser-known pieces that to me were just as compelling, particularly his two small paintings of peasant girls— The Goose Girl at Gruchy, who leans on a stick in a moment of dreamy introspection, and The Seated Shepherdess, with her blue shirt, white apron, red vest, dark skirt, and brown shoes all effortlessly balanced against the white sheep and the trees in the background. And then there were the more obscure artists such as Carrière, whose career ended just as art was in the process of its seismic shift from Post-Impressionism to Fauvism and Cubism. Carrière’s work has been described as being part of the Symbolist movement, but really it is in a class by itself. Maternity (Suffering), while deeply atmospheric, with its severely limited palette of beige, brown, and off-white, is a painting that is strangely photographic. It’s the veracity of the emotions captured by Carrière that rings true; a worried mother embraces her sick child, and, stripping away everything else, the artist leaves just the mother’s anguish and the child’s helplessness. Yet this painting is in no way maudlin. Carrière often used his own family as models, and so the truth of the moment shines forth, albeit in a shadowy, understated way. This work reminds me of Gertrude Käsebier’s soft-focus photographs without her manipulated and saccharine underpinnings. I do feel there was an artist missing from this exhibition. I would really love to have seen something by the Welsh painter Gwen John, the sister of Augustus John, who was included in the
show; it was the brother who wrote in 1942, “Fifty years after my death, I shall be known as Gwen John’s brother.” Indeed, Gwen turned out to be the better, if less famous, artist—a bohemian independent who went off, like her brother, to the Slade School of Art in London in the late nineteenth century. She would later become a model and lover of Rodin, as well as an artist with a unique sensibility. Gwen also introduced her brother to Dorelia McNeil, another London artist, who became the life-long lover and muse of Augustus. In Turner to Cézanne there is a portrait of Dorelia done by him in 1911. While not a particularly great portrait, it is, nevertheless, one of the signs in this exhibition that a sea change in painting had begun. In this Modernist painting, there is a flat surface embraced by the flatness of simple forms and uninflected color. Head of Dorelia also signals the introduction of the “modern woman” and her turn toward a decidedly private inner space. Art historians now consider Berthe Morisot one of the best of the Impressionists. Married to Edouard Manet’s brother, Morisot was in the thick of the new currents in painting while still being an affluent bourgeois wife and mother. In At Bougival, the artist painted her daughter and the daughter’s nanny in a plein air space of Impressionist color and light that, when all is said and done, emphasizes brushwork over content. And, last but not least, how lucky we were to have a van Gogh in our presence—one of his last paintings, Rain—Auvers, from 1890. This is a soft work, the opposite of his seething, hallucinatory last painting, done shortly after this one, and depicting the same wheat field with crows. The softness is what is so unusual about Rain—Auvers; it’s as if van Gogh took a step away from his difficult emotional edges and painted a quieter, gentler moment—his breath held in a delicate balance—before his life became unbearable again and he leaped into the abyss.
—Diane Armitage
National Museum Wales; Miss Margaret S. Davies Bequest, 1963 Courtesy American Federation of the Arts
Vincent van Gogh, Rain—Auvers, oil on canvas, 19¾” x 39½”, 1890 National Museum Wales; Miss Gwendoline E. Davies Bequest, 1951 Courtesy American Federation of the Arts
| octber 2010
THE magazine | 45
Stephen De Staebler Jim Romberg October 15–November 13, 2010
Roger Atkins Ron Pokrasso Joshua Rose
OpeNiNg ReceptiON:
October 15–November 13, 2010
Friday, October 15th, 5–7 pm
OpeNiNg ReceptiON:
Friday, October 15th, 5–7 pm
stephen De stAebleR Leg with Flared Thigh,
Fired clay, 37 x 11.5 x 10.5 inches, 2006
RogeR Atkins, JoshuA Rose Fermata, mixed media,
36 x 12 x 12 inches
ZaneBennett
ZaneBennett
contemporary
contemporary
art
435 SOuth guadalupe, SaNta Fe, NM 87501 tel: 505 982-8111 www.zanebennettgallery.com Mon–Sat 10 am–5 pm, Sun noon–4 pm
art
435 SOuth guadalupe, SaNta Fe, NM 87501 tel: 505 982-8111 www.zanebennettgallery.com Mon–Sat 10 am–5 pm, Sun noon–4 pm
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
S
Kent Williams Somebody at EVOKE
Contemporary has an eye. I don’t mean a sensibility for the coded subtleties of art-world ideology or theory, but rather an unabashed, unapologetic affection for what an artist’s materials can do in the hand. It is true that much of the work shown in this gallery fearlessly transgresses right into the thickets of what earlier modernist critics like Clement Greenberg would have gravely condemned as high kitsch. But it does so in a Bacchanalian spirit of revelry in the wine of raw virtuosic facility. All of this poses a question that generations of modernists avoided acknowledging: Why should we care? Presently on view are the works of figurative painter Kent Williams. Right off the bat, Williams draws as well as anybody I’ve run across lately. This is no mean feat. Ever since abstraction first rose to prominence in the art world, and was then supplanted by conceptualism, the ability to draw was often taken for granted, and at times even reviled. All that righteous derision conveniently overlooked the fact that drawing well is extremely hard to do. The inborn talent that must exist in the beginning is not the whole story by a long shot. It is a skill, analogous in the scale of its challenges to playing a Bach violin partita in the third position without going off tone. In the grand spectrum of manual accomplishments it rates right up at the top. Brain surgeons are plumbers by comparison. An unusual though not unheard-of confluence of inherited facility and earned ability, Williams’ draftsmanly hand is also wedded to a heartfelt symbiosis with the stuff on his brush. Few painters in any generation succeed in attaining these two skills to this degree in combination. Think of the portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence or the landscape painter Richard Parkes Bonington in Regency Britain, of John Singer Sargent in the previous Gilded Age, or the American illustrator Norman Rockwell in the 1940s. Is such stuff art? Being a devoted fan of more roughfisted painter-poets like Goya, Beckmann, and Bonnard, the kind of dazzling facility Williams wields has never quite been my own grail at the easel. Nonetheless, a lifetime of striving to learn a different but related set of skills has taught me to discount nothing that is so hardwon. These kinds of painters can, and should, entrance us on their own terms. They are the Paganinis of the brush. As a young art student in New York in the 1980s, I used to make a weekly pilgrimage to the Metropolitan Museum just to sit for a quiet fifteen minutes in front of Lawrence’s portrait of Elizabeth Farren—liquid silver satin and translucent flesh framed in fox fur and goose down. It was almost as good as sex. Having made those comparisons, I will say that Williams’ imagery has a harder-edged energy and quirkiness than that of the earlier painters I compare him to above. He is reaching for something more substantive
EVOKE Contemporary 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite F, Santa Fe than a mere display of ability. His apparent desire to connect old world aesthetics to the existential complexities of twentieth-century life feels kindred to the art of the East German painters Neo Rauch and Matthias Weischer. There is also some of the contorted psychological angst of Egon Schiele in his drawing. But even as his work reveals the breadth of those international influences, Williams remains a quintessentially American picture maker. There is a gamey, dime-novel-cover sexuality in his nudes, both female and male, which reminds me (in the best way) of Frank Frazetta’s bloodied barbarians or the art on the nose of bombers during World War II. What’s left to say? Well, nothing is perfect, and I think the artist might agree that there is always something more challenging over the next hill. I do get the feeling that Williams’ sometimes cluttered, dream-like tableaux
are struggling with a narrative that he hasn’t quite worked through, yet. My sense is that he will continue to grow and reach until he gets there. While I admire the ambition of the large canvasses, my favorite works in the show are among the simplest and smallest of his compositions, particularly the three portraits of a figure he calls Blonde Natalia. In these three paintings, his whirling fogs of paint and floating ephemera are momentarily constrained by an enclosing architectural structure anchored centrally by the figure. Everything here seems to be in a delicate, dynamic balance. Energy is yearning to burst forth, yet is perfectly contained in tension. Wherever he goes with all of this, Kent Williams is a hell of a painter, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
—Christopher Benson
Kent Williams, Ukiyo, oil on linen, 54” x 50”, 2010
| october 2010
THE magazine | 47
P
N
Nolan Winkler
Pop Surrealism
Santa Fe Community College Visual Arts Gallery 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe
Privileging invective over innovation, and rehashing the same outré humor, kitsch-laden criticality, and cartoon-inflected vernacular today as at its inception, Pop Surrealism refuses to acknowledge what even Ronald Lauder has embraced: the long-institutionalized conciliation of “high art” and “low culture.” In an age in which Juxtapoz boasts the highest circulation numbers of any U.S. arts magazine, the movement’s purported countercultural agenda rests as a de-radicalized anachronism–– expertly packaged, begrudgingly populist, and long bereft of its underground cachet. Though not exempt from such criticism, Pop Surrealism, Santa Fe Community College Visual Arts Gallery’s unoriginally titled exhibition of three local artists operating within the genre of the same name, distinguishes itself from similarly themed displays by linking the movement to a distinctly regional aesthetic. Tim Prythero’s mixed-media miniature dioramas render obsessively detailed scenes of rural decay. Reflecting contemporary economic uncertainty co-linked with unabated urbanization, the artist memorializes the disappearing mainstays of New Mexico village life. In Café, a hacienda-style gas station’s turquoise window frames corral a plethora of dilapidated signs––among them, “Under New Manager” and “For Sale.” Though eschewing clear-cut signals of art-historical referentiality, and manifesting a pronounced narrative focus bolstered by technical showmanship, the work edges in under Pop Surrealism’s delimited categoric umbrella. Max Lehman’s acrylic-painted, low-fired earthenware sculptures largely abandon the regional distinctiveness of Prythero’s art for the quintessential tropes of Pop Surrealism. Pursuing an aesthetics of alterity as a riposte to the once-seeming integrity of established modes of cultural expression, Lehman revels in grotesque bodily distortion and levels the diverse visual orders of pre-Colombian religious symbolism, celebrations of hot-rod culture, kawaii rabbits, and New Age spirituality. Perhaps not incidentally, his standout work engages with themes closer to the cultures of the Southwest: Mezcalola, a bleary-eyed sendup of La Catrina, collides the skeletal symbols of Día de los Muertos, the Aztec deity Tlaloc, and the convincingly oddball addition of undead maguey worms. Evidencing the dystopian bent of much lowbrow visual production, and informed by extensive experience creating film, television, and stage backdrops in conjunction with legendary promoter Bill Graham, Dennis Larkins renders retro-futurist allegories on acrylic-painted, three-dimensional reliefs. Enterprising in its critical scope, his painting The Nine Plans of Outer Space comments at once on the heritage of contemporary race relations, issues of gender identity, and the broken promises of 1950s American idealism. Here, a group of Caucasian American tourists gazes into the distance from the confines of a Googie architectural setting; at center, a cross-dressed Hispanic male either shields or embodies the source of alien tentacles that grasp the oblivious onlookers. As in his other works by the artist, the image’s warped surfaces and undulant frame heighten the already absurd theatricality of Larkins’ art while acting as an interface to the exhibition space and the act of viewing. Despite its ambitions, the composition proves both literally and figuratively heavy-handed; and, like the majority of the exhibition’s inclusions, Larkins’ work all too easily accomodates rather than complicates the once parvenu nature of its aesthetic. Reiterating the known in place of revealing the unexpected, it mistakes a hackneyed didacticism for a vital and investigative visual language. Ultimately, and in spite of its promising regional bent, by adhering to an overly determined model of Pop Surrealism, Pop Surrealism falls short of realizing the anti-pedantic, counter-institutional currency that an embrace of low culture once promised.
Rio Bravo Fine Art 110 North Broadway, Truth or Consequences
Nolan Winkler admits her art is
often frankly beautiful. She has a deft facility, an economy of touch—not unlike Manet’s oil sketches—that captures likenesses without a lot of fuss. Quick and decisive, Winkler’s spare use of paint discloses her épée feints and arabesques. No out-of-the-tube color either— her color sense is as refined as the desert flora she paints. Also, like Manet, she favors a dulled-off palette: the colors’ tonal cousins are stark black, providing the melody. Winkler makes a distinction between her decorative and fine art pursuits. In her current fine art series, she has decided to mortify her facility—like a bombshell starving her curves away to reveal the penitent waif of sublime beauty inside. In order to “get away from the central figure…and get to the emotional part rather than imagery…not think, just work,” Winkler did several things. First, she went abstract; second, she used repetition and pattern; third, she used a cut potato or yam instead of a brush; fourth, she started on square supports “to keep the sides from telling me what needs to be done;” and fifth, she started her work on a black ground. Like an actor absorbing their part by working outward, Winkler directed herself so that her inner eye was, in her words, “imagery exhausted.” The state of no-mind was her starting point but the real task was to get back to the elemental newness and now-ness of the paint-texture-color-smell-pattern. Winkler believes that the materials the artist uses carry the artist’s accrued feelings, intuitions, and thoughts— they are transmuted, like water into wine. Like Rothko, who was irritated when critics didn’t understand that color was only a tool, and that he wasn’t trying to evoke some aesthetic high, or push the art-history envelope, Winkler’s goal is simply to express human emotion. And in this she succeeds. The rough cut-potato shapes and textures emerging from the background are an abstract version of van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters. As van Gogh captured the circularity of the farmers’ existence, Winkler’s potato-print series captures the circularity of the artist tilling their materials until an elemental nourishing and sustaining emotion emerges as whole and organic as fruit.
—Kathleen Sloane
—Alex Ross Max Lehman, Mezcalola, low-fired earthenware with glaze and underglaze, 2010
Nolan Winkler, American Townland, acrylic and pigmented wax crayon on canvas, 40” x 40”, 2010
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
R
Ron Nagle: Spit Shine Ron Nagle’s quirky,
yet completely focused ceramic sculptures make me think of Dr. J’s amazing shot in the fifth game of the 1980 NBA finals between the L.A. Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers. Dave Hickey describes the play in Air Guitar: “Julius takes the ball in one hand, elevates, leaves the floor. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar goes up to block his path, arms above his head. Julius ducks, passes under Kareem’s outside arm and then under the backboard. He looks like he’s flying out of bounds. But no! Somehow Erving turns his body in the air, reaches back under the backboard from behind and lays the ball up into the basket from the left side!” The crowd went wild with joy. Nagle’s work also possesses intuition and mastery, awakening bursts of joy. Although his sculptures are tiny—many not taller than four or five inches—each has as much presence, uplift, and dynamic equilibrium as Dr. J’s breathtaking play. The artist is considered nobility in his field. For fifty years he has been pushing the boundaries of ceramics, taking the medium into new and risky realms of expression, while incorporating sensibilities as diverse as pop culture, California hot rods, sixteenth-century Momoyama tea bowls, musical overdubbing, and the intimate and timeless paintings of Morandi. Wabi-sabi, the Japanese concept of finding beauty in the imperfect, the impermanent, and the incomplete, also flows through his works. Each sculpture has internal integrity—imagine shaping low-fire earthenware to less than an eighth of an inch thick, creating a surface texture with the pressure of your fingers, getting the thin clay to stand up without buckling or cracking, then spraying it with forty coats of underglaze, firing between coats. Great architect/builders such as Gaudí and Piano would be impressed. Nagle’s simplicity of form and its pared down elegance also touch on architecture—think Kahn or Venturi. In addition, a rawness is present, something organic and asymmetrical, creating a paradox leading to a curious beauty that ravishes our hearts. Morandi also brought forth this paradox in his paintings of bottles and jars. Both artists’ concerns with structural honesty, beauty devoid of ornamentation, and multiple layerings of color—Morandi with paint, Nagle with underglazes—bring forth luminous forms, sculpted with light. Nagle also parallels Morandi’s passion for exploring the same subject over and over again. For many years he focused on the cup, yet the cups in this exhibition are deconstructed, opening new pathways. New Blue LaRue looks like a squashed mug with a long thin blue handle that turns to black, evoking a rat’s tail. Watusi Jenkins is a cup turned upside down, humorously mimicking a Henry Moore– like reclining figure.
James Kelly Contemporary 1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe Two thin “bookends” stand back to back in Teens of August. Red shimmers through a hole in the blue semicircle of the front form, while the play of light on the back responds with a choreography of blue and green. The colors glow intensely, like the sky just before the sun drops below the horizon. This subtle intermingling of hues is carried to further heights in Cinnamon Girl. A glossy red tongue-like shape hangs from a pink triangular opening on an upright circular form. A tiny “eye” of dark pooled glaze rests where a cinnamon hue dances across violet. A slight change of perspective erases the violet, turning the dustings of cinnamon into a blanket of rich milk chocolate. Nagle, like Morandi, understands the mystery and poetry of layering light to draw out pure essence of form, creating mood and atmosphere. Each time I visit the show it becomes a new and astonishing experience, gently transporting me from intimate landscapes to vast worlds where memory, emotion, and imagination merge. Scale expands. Tiny becomes huge. Sensuality and humor also abound. Minametti, a slender, vertical, irregular, white, leg-like shape seems an intuitive riff on Giacometti. A triangular slit appears along the right side of the calf-like part of the leg. One would expect the slit to appear up at the top of the thigh, but no, Nagle displaces it—à la Giacometti—making us laugh. Ant Candy is a luminous blue rectangle with textural and iridescent qualities reminiscent of a lunar landscape or a kimono sleeve dusted with snow. One side of the work seems pulled apart, revealing an unexpected triangular shape edged in pink. Our imaginations smile. Seven small drawings, three on vellum and four on lined yellow paper, give us a peek at the genesis of these sculptures. The artist is also a musician. He has written songs for Barbra Streisand, Michelle Phillips, and Jefferson Airplane. His sculptures sing, too. They move our bodies, awaken our mind, and carry us away, lifting us into rhythms of color, texture, and shape, while evoking vistas that become arias on art, architecture, nature, popular culture, music, and the complexity of the human psyche. We feel wisdom in the work. Although Nagle has known and worked with many of the great ceramic artists—Peter Voulkos and Ken Price among them—his original and fearless vision sets him apart. Nagle’s sculpture feels intuitive and spontaneous, yet there is also a focus, an intention. And this dynamic balance of intention and surrender, like Dr. J’s shot, is what empowers the mystery, vitality, and joy of his sensual and poetic forms.
—Susanna Carlisle
Ron Nagle, Teens of August, ceramic, 4” x 5½” x 4”, 2009; Minametti, ceramic, 63/ 8 ” x 2¾” x 2½”, 2008; Cinnamon Girl, ceramic, 5” x 5” x 7”, 2010
| october 2010
THE magazine | 49
A
Stephen Auger All that glitters.
The exhibition of works by painter Stephen Auger at Zane Bennett last month comprised some twenty-four abstract oils on canvas and thirteen high-relief impasto surfaces on 8” x 16” concrete blocks. The show draws from seven of fourteen series executed by the artist from 2002 to 2010. What is unusual about the work is the composition of the oil impasto that gives each painting its tactile surface quality. Traditional impasto’s heavy oil build-up results from repeated layering of daubs of viscous pigment with a loaded brush or palette knife, producing crests or ridges of paint between flat troughs or crevasses of impasto. Furrowed ridges bear the traces of the brush strokes while the low-relief overlapping plates in the troughs show the imprint of the palette knife. What is perhaps unique about Auger’s medium is that it is composed of oil pigment embedded with micrometric transparent glass spheres, whose diameters range from forty to one hundred microns (the width of a strand of human hair). The places where the mix is applied heavily as impasto yield ridges and raised patterns resembling the surfaces of a relief map. As the brief but informative essay on the gallery website points out, the chemistry and physics of this rich chromatic mix of oil-suspended pigment and transparent glass spheres yield work that “is as much about topography and the forces of erosion as it is about the fugitive quality of light.” So to the ability of pigment to selectively absorb wavelengths of reflected or transmitted light is added the much richer optical capacity of transparent glass spheres to refract light, at the same time as the viscosity of this rich optical medium lends itself to “complex layering…that mimics sedimentation.” In several paintings the glass-bead medium has been applied in varying degrees of viscosity that capture the look of aerial topography. Other paintings evoke the streaks and swirls of the ultraviolet light of gases and dust within some deep-space nebula. And still others move toward the more purely formal effects of color-field or gestural abstraction, where the composition is marked by an overall chromatic effect or inflected by a single biomorphic image that dominates the monochromatic shallow space that it inhabits. What is common to all the paintings is a strong visual appeal— what the thoughtful essay aptly describes as “rich perceptual phenomena…” involving “a web of chromatic harmonies, intricate textures, and a host of luminous aftereffects.” What is problematic to most of the paintings is whether that is enough to achieve formal integrity in the paintings and permanence of any aesthetic impact. I would submit that it is not. Auger’s paintings strongly reflect his interest in the neurophysiology of color perception—basically, how the brain perceives color. As such it falls within the tradition of scientific color theory dating back to nineteenth-century physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Hermann von Helmholtz, and the French chemist Michel Chevreul, whose 1839 publication on the law of simultaneous color contrast would later play a central role in the work of Neo-Impressionist painters like Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. Which brings us to Auger’s paintings, in which pervasive application of oil pigment embedded with micronic glass spheres suggests an obvious art-historical parallel with the NeoImpressionist pointillist method involving the scientific application of pure colors in small dots, or brush “points.” At the right distance it yields color effects of greater richness and subtlety than conventional application of color—e.g., the pre-Impressionist mixing of pigments on the palette and the optical mixing of colors Stephen Auger, Series 8 #24, oil and glass spheres on polyester linen, 48” x 30”, 2008
Zane Bennett Contemporary Art 435 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe by the Impressionist application of pigment in short, thick, often impasto daubs or strokes. The optical aim of Auger’s oils is not unlike that of pointillist paintings—a rich, luminous atmosphere of color bathed in light or sculpted into high relief against deep chromatic shadows. But with Auger’s technique, the visible beaded surfaces of its glass-sphere impasto subordinates the optical effects to the physicality of the painted surface. In Auger’s mixed-media concrete bricks, this tactile property of the glass medium completely voids any pictorial quality. The fundamental flaw in many of the paintings is the absence of pictorial structure—ironically the very element that
the pointillists—and later Post-Impressionists like Cezanne and Gauguin—sought to restore to the painting surface. Even in the paintings where the composition features a dominant image or pattern, the decorative effects of the glass-bead medium trump any allusive impulse. Auger’s paintings are a tour de force of technique with high decorative appeal. But the palpable effect of their micronic glass medium overwhelms any optical intent. And its subtending physiology of color, like the rigorous color theory of the NeoImpressionists, seems to make the case again that art is not science.
—Richard Tobin
B
Joanne Lefrak: Past
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
as
Presence
By scraping the surface of polymethyl methacrylate
(Plexiglas), Joanne Lefrak reveals a shadow history of often-ignored places that tell the history of New Mexico. Her exhibition Past as Presence focuses on ghost towns and the atomic testing site in southern New Mexico with drawings equally as inconspicuous as the places themselves. The placement of the pieces just a few inches from the wall makes the nearly imperceptible lines appear as apparitions, much like the people and places of the drawings themselves. In recorded interviews with several of the drawings subjects, Lefrak’s disembodied heroes manifest themselves to breathe extra life into their visual representations. Cabezon (Stan Lucero with Photograph of Benny Lucero), which shows a hand holding a photograph in front of a dilapidated house, is the most striking of these works. The accompanying audio track, “Dad’s Voice,” features Lucero remembering his father. He wanders through his memory, repeating himself as he meanders pleasantly through a reminiscence rather than a story. The aural snippet, which runs a minute and thirteen seconds, stands in stark contrast to the visual material, where the detail focuses crisply on the minute. Because Lefrak works directly on Plexiglas, there is no room for error, which makes her pieces all the more astounding. Where a drawing can be erased, a painting given a cleanup layer of paint, or a clay sculpture reshaped, the unrelenting plastic does not allow the artist to go back. A scratch too deep or an inadvertent mark on the soft surface must become part of the work. The photorealism of Past as Presence is striking. The plastic Lefrak uses is manufactured to be an inexpensive alternative to stronger, more scratch-resistant polycarbonate plastics, and is therefore too delicate to be taken to the dusty sites the canvases eventually depict. To create the drawings, which range in size from 12” x 16” to 42” x 54” Lefrak works from photographs, going back and forth between the captured moments to include intimate details. Trinity Site (On the Outskirts of Ground Zero) is the most abstract work of the series, with a flurry of grasses peeking up out of the ground. However, out of the windblown commotion
1611 Paseo
de
box G allery Peralta, Santa Fe
appears a small bunch of meticulously accurate sunflowers. The soft petals of the flowers are not the deep scratches of the grass but a delicate sanding away of the plastic. Looking directly at the canvas to the shadows creates a blur, like a passing cloud, over the image. Most of the top of the piece is left blank, which allows the texture of the wall to provide the finish of the sky. As Trinity Site hangs at box Gallery, an imperfection in the wall—possibly a filled in nail hole from a previous exhibition—adds the appearance of a late afternoon sun slowly setting on the distant horizon. Though there is no color in the works, Trinity Site exudes a vibrant life. That these flowers grow so near the nuclear testing site implies color and makes the piece ring with a rainbow of imagined colors. Not so for its partner piece Trinity Site (At the Instrumentation Bunker), a mountain landscape dominated by a devastated terrain upon which only a few outcroppings of grass peek out from the rocky fields. Lefrak’s drawings use the disintegrating now as a focal point, but the true heart of her work is in the atrophy and re-growth of the places she captures. A work such as Jail, Santa Rita, NM hints at the town’s history. Originally called Santa Rita upon its founding in the 1880s, it became known as Riley a decade later, and failed to support its population of 150 with the falling of a water table in the early 1930s. Jail, Santa Rita, NM, with its portrayal of the two remaining walls of the jail, draws its audience closer to its decay, but also begs its audience to entertain stories of who might have been held in this small cage, and for what. The ghosts of the past that haunt Past as Presence also remind us that no matter how sophisticated we feel, no matter how cutting edge the New Mexico art scene gets, this is still the Old West. Where New England has preserved some of its history and built over the rest, we have simply abandoned ours, leaving it to be rediscovered in the present and the future.
—Patricia Sauthoff
Joanne Lefrak, Trinity Site (At the Instrumentation Bunker), scratched Plexiglas, 42” x 54”, 2010. Photo: Eric Swanson
| october 2010
THE magazine | 51
I
Ann Gaziano: Patterns
from
Home
Shoptalk is the language between the insiders and the people who know the backside and the legacy of that language. —Ann Gaziano
Is there anything sweeter than coming home a wiser and more accomplished person and sharing your new self with loved ones? That’s essentially the premise upon which Ann Gaziano based her exhibition at Generator, David Leigh and Ben Meisner’s new project space in downtown Albuquerque. The aptly named Generator gallery used to be PNM’s utility shop and sits smack-dab in the middle of a sizzling parking lot. The little concrete box painted in black, white, and olive zig-zags was the perfect setting for a late-summer art opening on a cooled-down Saturday afternoon. Residents of Burque and Santa Fe mingled—artists, family, fellow alumni, curators checking out the up-and-comer—and the world was right with itself. Recent MFA recipient (Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2010) Ann Gaziano is a native of New Mexico and at press time was in between lives as a grad student, about to join the uber-army of smart and talented Brooklyn-based artists. She’s got the right stuff: Gaziano grew up under the guidance of Gary Myers at Santa Fe High School, was part of the first group of Young Curators at SITE Santa Fe, and earned her BFA at the College of Santa Fe (class of 2005, well before the institution morphed into its acronym-defying incarnation as the Santa Fe University of Art & Design) Gaziano wanted to “make something about being here, and being back.” Although she’s off and running to—she hopes—a career on the East Coast, Santa Fe will always be home. This installation at Generator allowed the artist to manifest her
and
Some Shoptalk
decision to overlap the typical art and design of her hometown with the historical “isms” of fin-de-siècle Modern, twentiethcentury Minimal, and international, time-traveling folk art with architecture from the last hundred years. Also important to the exhibition are some of the characters who personify those isms: Eliel Saarinen (father to Eero), Alexander Girard, John Gaw Meem, and Donald Judd. In a rather odd few degrees of separation, it turns out that Saarinen designed and became the president of Cranbrook in Bloomfield, Michigan; of course he deeply influenced the designers of early-modern furniture, including the Eameses among others. Gaziano’s installation, in fact, includes a found chair which she painted adobe-brown, using hand-designed and -printed fabric in place of the chrome and black leather one would expect from the Bauhaus and classic modern furniture style that the object suggests. Conversely, although Santa Feans know Girard for his incredible exhibition of folk art at the Museum of International Folk Art, he did most of his collecting while he lived in Michigan and is known there for his design and architectural flair. And then there’s Meem, without whom there might not be a “Santa Fe style”—it was largely he who worked to modify the Pueblo and Territorial styles out of which sprang the historic-building manifesto of 1957 that keeps Santa Fe confined to its traditional architecture, at least in appearance. In Gaziano’s hands, her subjects—the artists and their designs—tumble together in a structure that spins between yesterday and today in the schizophrenic and sophisticated ways that determine and defy the look and feel of Santa Fe. Drawing from Judd, along with Robert Morris, Gaziano seeks to break down the rigidity of repetition in Minimalism, using the adobe-colored chair, a hand-printed textile cushion, and a
Generator 723 Silver Avenue SW, Albuquerque long runner of fabric with concrete blocks (stuccoed to look like adobe) as inspired by The Chinati Foundation’s aluminum boxes in Marfa, Texas. (Not coincidentally, gallery co-owner Meisner worked in Marfa, the place for all things Judd, for several years.) Gaziano’s installation flows as a research object that highlights cultural traditions, interlapping between function and design. Everything the artist uses in her installation is either handmade or found; and for all its physicality, it’s really an elaborate project about coming home and unpacking the souvenirs of an extraordinary journey—from them memories are constructed. A gouache drawing in the corner of the exhibition serves as a decoder, illustrating the patterns that represent Girard and the corbels of, say, the Palace of the Governors. The installation is a reaction to the space itself; after viewing and thinking about it, this is the strategy Gaziano evolved, and it’s a fine one. The only problem with the work is that it suffers from a case of post-grad-student-itis: there’s too much “think” and not enough “see.” Having to map out the meaning of the installation points to its chief failure: Its significance isn’t likely to be evident unless you live here, know the artist, and are familiar with all parties concerned. Assuming you have all of that information in your decoder ring, you’re going to do alright, little art spy, but that is a big assumption. I want something that has all the meaning of Gaziano’s well-thought-out reaction to the places of home and away, with the smells of fresh-cut grass and the crack of the bat informing me that I’m at a baseball game. Art shouldn’t have to be played like it’s got a set of complex, secret rules (even though it pretty much does). I’m not sure I’d have known the score were I not already such a big fan of the game and, especially, of this particular player.
—Kathryn M Davis
Ann Gaziano, Patterns from Home and Some Shoptalk, stucco, wood, fabric, paint, chair, and drawing, site-specific installation within 16’ x 17’ space, 2010
J
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
Traces: Johnnie Winona Ross Johnnie Winona Ross has earned
a fair amount of praise and criticism over the past decade for courting a direct inspiration from Agnes Martin— although Martin herself, were she alive today, probably wouldn’t confuse one of Ross’s paintings for one of her own. Even so, Ross works in the same language of impersonal nuances, favoring grids and bands of white and bone white, harmonizing his palette to gypsum, zinc, and earth mineral tones. In Asia, this practice of almost total flattery is called “picking up the melody,” but in a more litigious country like our own it’s called something else. Be that as it may, the scale of a grand idea outlives the full powers of even the most violently energetic artist. We are still picking the DNA of Picasso and Bacon, among others, out of the oeuvres of dubious young art stars and ironic gasbags everywhere. The market calls it “appropriation”—but it has no purpose whatsoever beyond providing an unimaginative hack a little undeserved garnish. It is against this background that Ross’s work can be savored in all its remarkable syntax. True, he’s run Agnes Martin’s palette and form through his own reduction mill, but at the end of the purge he’s arrived at a quotable but more personal and immediate place. A survey of the dozen or so works on display underscores Ross’s particular achievement, his stand-alone integrity, which carries the fire of a specific power inherent in Ab-Ex art since its inception: its ability to expose by counter-example how ideological most art is. Individual creativity, primitive urgency, expressiveness, spontaneity, fundamental human values, the eternal human condition, and corporate spectacle are, in essence, quantities and discourses. Against the utter lack of abstract art’s explanatory potential all other categories speak a language of persuasion, cultural production, and critical defense. Clearly, Ross struggles against the impasse that relegated Ab-Ex to a period style. He wields his instinct for light as a primal theme throughout his work. More than an echo of Abstract Expressionist high-mindedness lurks in the tension-building deployment of the grid—his primary sign of intervention. Behind these bands and bars are faint signs of life, diluted runnels and thinned translucent washes that give his surfaces a sweet, frictionless power. You won’t find the worship of brutality or the sociology of popular media functioning as legitimate art folklore here. In fact, parvenu vulgarians may find themselves repelled by the delicious frisson of these demanding planes. If anything, Ross’s weaknesses are his decorative tendencies. Adding insult to injury is that these tendencies are shored up by grand, transcendental claims. This, however, has been the toxic ingredient and tendency traceable to the earliest abstract art: its troubling ability to look great over a couch while claiming autonomy of artistic meaning and conceptual priority free from descriptive or narrative content. A multitude of arguments have been made over the reasons abstract art puttered to a halt, but if we look closely at the history of post-war America, the most likely assassin was the housing market, the same (domesticating) killer stalking art to this day. Say what
New Mexico Museum of Art 107 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe you will concerning the paradoxical nature of art as a commodity, the truth of the matter is—mythmaking aside—the explosion of the art market over the past few decades has been tied to the most mundane kind of economic activity, namely, the trade in drywall. The devolution of art, from its all-encompassing valence to its more specific, even decorative application, charts a weirder history of “holding up” the increasingly secondrate suburban wall. From here, further light can be thrown on the art world’s rather deliberate blurring of the difference between art and decoration, quintupling in price the work of gifted technicians whose product is about as interesting as a nutmeg grater or the façade of a bank. Artists like Johnnie Winona Ross have had to take this into account as they struggle to recalibrate the philosophical scale of action painting to fit the living rooms of hedge-fund managers and realtors. Perhaps this is why, when Ross’s catalogue eulogists
claim that landscape plays a role in his work “not as literal representation, but as evocation”—then quickly change gears to say that his paintings are “less about analogous forms found in the natural and manmade world than they are about manifesting one’s experience and perception of them,” then change gears again to claim that the paintings do indeed “make visible the immaterial and the intangible, such as centeredness, rhythm, sound, heat, breeze…”—one suddenly catches a whiff of snake oil blowing through the clerestory windows. For artists whose specialty has been this sheetrock Parnassus, the way forward looks rather bleak. Undemanding, lavishly transcendental art has been, for the middle class, “the milk cow with 310 million tits”—as one of our disturbing politicians recently described Social Security. However, like all the cows wandering around in the housing bubble, it seems to have hit a wall.
—Anthony Hassett
Johnnie Winona Ross, detail of Salt Creek Seeps, oil and acrylic on linen, burnished, 2004.
| october 2010
Photo courtesy of Radius Books
THE magazine | 53
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| october 2010
Jennifer Esperanza THE magazine | 55
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Near Embudo photograph by | october 2010
Guy Cross THE magazine | 57
WRITINGS
Dreams on the Wind by
Steven Deo
In our dreams, there is a glimpse of a separate reality...there are many scenarios within my dreams... sometimes there is love, whose memory fades as the day into another night... there is water..and I dive into its dark depths, holding my breath as I swim to the light of the surface... there are shallows to be waded, where the water is so clear, I can see my feet as if they were embedded in glass... I have dreamed of a sunny day...on a green field...I am running to an ancient oak tree and find my relative from the sunset...sitting on a branch...beckoning me to climb the limbs of wisdom... I have traveled roads of my past and seen through the trees, dancers of the greencorn, singing songs of creation.. .the dancers move as one serpent dressed in the spirit of feathers from the sky... I have dreamed of a mother from a past life who visits me as a twin...she holds the hand of her twin who is a child… In my dreams...the trees and grass never sway in the current of life...a kite never flies on the wind... but hangs propped in the air by a single string...birds fly back to front...and never have I leaned into the breath of a storm… The doorway to the nighttime sky is the fabric where I lay my head…this platform of down is symbolic of flight and transition my spirit takes during sleep...
58 | THE magazine
| october 2010
Shoshone Wolf, 2010, oil on canvas, 36x48â&#x20AC;?
Michele Mikesell Guardians
Exotic Distractions (detail of 4-panel painting), 2010, oil on canvas, 30x40â&#x20AC;?
Susan Sales Big Game
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