The Wright Contemporary

from Taos Gallery Guide 2023-24

The Wright Contemporary

And Lucy Lippard, the internationally renowned activist, feminist, art critic and curator, will be part of an upcoming critics’ panel, Landi was excited to note. She advises interested parties to sign up on The Wright’ s website for email alerts and notices of upcoming activities at the venue. All events at The Wright are free, though an RSVP is requested.

When speaking with Landi, her passion for the gallery is palpable. “When I first moved to Taos from New York City I was writing for ARTnews and The Wall Street Journal. I had done a little homework and knew that Taos has a long history as a mecca for visual artists, from the landscape painters of the 19th century and the luminaries who later gathered around Mabel Dodge Lujan, through the Taos Modernists and the wave of Los Angeles artists who began arriving in the 1960s,” she recalled. “But I wasn’t fully prepared for the range of talent among younger and lesser-known figures.”

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As I’ve come to know more and more artists in Northern New Mexico, the frustrated curator in me — who may reside inside many art journalists — has always wanted a chance to present the artists I know and love in a dedicated space.”

Landi has also written for The New York Times, Smithsonian, Sculpture magazine and others. For six years, she was also the editor and publisher of Vasari21.com, a website for an audience of about 2,500 artists. She is the author of the four-volume Schirmer Encyclopedia of Art, and holds degrees in art history from Princeton and Columbia universities.

But “There’s no good gallery without a good curator, and The Wright has one of the best,” Landi smiled. Michelle Cooke, herself an acclaimed Taos contemporary artist, has worked as a curator for notable museums, galleries, private collections and artists since 1983. Like all of us, Cooke is thrilled with this new presence on the Taos art scene.

The Wright Contemporary is located at 624 Paseo del Pueblo Sur. Weekly operating hours are Tuesdays through Sundays from 2-6 p.m. and there is ample parking available for visitors. For further information about the gallery’s events, visit thewrightcontemporary.com or call 575-224-0530.