passione per l'arte

Eyes of the Beholder - The Gallery ABQ

2013-05-09T14:25:00.001-06:00

As many of you of know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer last November followed by surgery and chemotherapy. My surgery went well but, as you can imagine, my chemotherapy treatments were a roller coaster ride. I experienced the usual hair loss and neuropathy, however, it was the severe nausea that caused me to lose twenty pounds. Thankfully, with the love and support of so many friends, I was able to pull through. You may read my art reviews for Q CLAPS following the First Friday ARTScrawl of each month.

To get my feet wet again, I visited The Gallery ABQ last Friday, May 3rd, for their “Eyes of the Beholder” artists’ reception from 12 - 8 pm. What a treat! This gallery is beautifully appointed and the reception was well attended. The featured artists for this show were Sandra Baca, Fran Ryan and Patricia Klomborowski Williams.

Sandra uses semi-precious stones, glass, amber, antique and ethnic pieces and beads in her work. She enjoys traveling to find quality beads and unique pieces and loves the beauty and historical and cultural importance of beads. "I feel the most beautiful aspect of any wearable art is the personal made public," she says. Master watercolorist Fran Ryan has been juried into numerous shows including the New Mexico Arts & Crafts fair, New Mexico State Fair Fine Art, Bardean Miniature Show, MasterWorks of New Mexico, Guadalupe Trail Studio Tour, Lavenderfest, Cleveland Millfest, and the Pendaries Studio Tour. Patricia usually likes to start with watercolor and follows that with the medium that most lends itself to the piece. "I like to say I play with realism putting my own graphic spin on each piece to create a unique and fresh look," she says.

Also, during May, The Gallery ABQ is featuring a Salon Exhibition of Bronze Sculpture by Tim Gifford. Images of the Southwest are transformed into his exciting new work. The Gallery ABQ showcases the work of over 30 accomplished New Mexico artists and offers a wide variety of mediums, subjects and styles.

“Eyes of the Beholder” art exhibition will hang through the end of May at The Gallery ABQ, 8210 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, located in the Hoffmantown Shopping Center. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm. (505) 292-9333.

Joe Coventry & Linda Logan-Condon

2012-11-25T20:12:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, I attended the opening reception for Joe Coventry and Linda Logan-Condon at The Watermelon Gallery located in the East Mountains. I had already fallen hard for Coventry’s paintings a few months ago while visiting the gallery for another art opening. However, on this evening I had the pleasure of meeting Logan-Condon for the first time and admiring the breathtaking photography of her travels around the globe.

East mountain resident and professional travel photographer Linda Logan-Condon says, “After a long and successful corporate career as a trainer, executive coach, facilitator and organizational development consultant, I am having a love affair with travel photography. I’m an idea woman, a pioneer, a woman on the edge, a women filled with wonder and discovery. I have traveled to many parts of the world and have learned to marvel at the "firsts" in my life...the first time I saw my child's face, the first time waking up in a new country, the first time hearing an unfamiliar language, the smell of a new destination. What a gift it is to view the world anew with each turn of the head and touch of the hand.” Logan-Condon has exhibited her award winning photography both state wide and nationally since 2008.

Joe Coventry, a nurse for almost thirty years, has also been an artist since the age of four. He says, “I've painted all my life. I have to make art, it's not a choice, really. It's more like food or water, something nourishing but something I can't live without! I use color and texture and to me a painting has to elicit an emotional response, good or bad, and that really speaks to our interconnectedness as humans. I'm an expressionist and this comes through whether I'm painting a portrait or something completely abstract. Art touches us on a very deep level and reflects our spiritual nature. It creates happiness which is essential for peace. I am at my happiest when painting.” Coventry’s paintings so moved me that I simply couldn’t resist buying his piece titled, “Upon a Blue Wing.”

While your extended family is visiting for the Thanksgiving weekend, take advantage of this opportunity to share with them what New Mexico is best known for: exquisite fine art. Joe Coventry’s mixed media and Linda Logan-Condon’s photography will hang through the end of November at The Watermelon Gallery, 12220 N. Highway 14, Suite B, Cedar Crest, NM, 505.286.2164, www.thewatermelongallery.com, Fridays through Sundays.

Art & the Female Breast, part two

2012-11-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

First, I would like to thank the readers who sent me well wishes, support, and comments on the first article in my discussion of Art and the Female Breast. I would also like to thank the many friends and colleagues who sent me books, articles, clothing, food and the others who shared with me their personal journey through cancer. The surgery is now behind me and I’m awaiting the pathology report on the mass and lymph nodes that were removed last Thursday. In the meantime, I wanted to continue my discussion and share with you one particular email that I received from Nina Baldwin, an artist from Rio Rancho.

In the email, Baldwin draws a connection to the Madonna and Child paintings by William Adolphe Bouguereau, the prolific French painter from the nineteenth century who was a mainstay of the Realism art movement, when she writes, his “Madonna paintings portray the female, fully clothed . . . all full of fabulous beauty . . . full of allurement, mystery, life, power, nurturing . . . full of spirit . . . truly beautiful!” According to Wikipedia, Bouguereau was a staunch traditionalist whose genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of Classical subjects, both pagan and Christian, with a concentration on the female human body. He employed traditional methods of working up a painting, including detailed pencil studies and oil sketches, and his careful method resulted in a pleasing and accurate rendering of the human form. His painting of skin, hands, and feet was particularly admired. The idealized world of his paintings, brought to life goddesses, nymphs, bathers, shepherdesses, and madonnas. Bouguereau painted plenty of naked women, but it was the ones he painted of them clothed which were particularly striking and inspirational.

Baldwin also shared her mother’s story of a mastectomy at 48 years old and how she survived and went on to live a full life only to pass away in her 70’s from heart disease. Baldwin writes, “It is the spirit of the woman which far surpasses all beauty and goodness found in any part of the body . . . truly, it is your spirit which is beautiful, sparkly, fun, wise, miraculous, alluring, mystifying, nurturing and powerful . . . your spirit is the source of all that good.” Baldwin’s email truly touched me and uplifted me. Can you find the beauty and allure in these Madonna and Child paintings?

Gale O’Brien lives in the East Mountains of New Mexico surrounded by the love and support of her friends. Follow her blog Passione Per L’Arte at www.passionateforart.blogspot.com.

Photo credits: Barbara Longhi, google.com; William-Adolphe Bouguereau, wikipedia.com and google.com; Trent Burleson, http://burlesonart.blogspot.com

Art & The Female Breast

2012-10-31T21:17:00.000-06:00

For centuries, the female body has been the alluring subject for many painters and photographers, from Pablo Picasso to Helmut Newton. The fullness, the roundness and the attraction of the female body are simply too beautiful not to appreciate in the art form. According to Susan Rubin Suleiman, author of The Female Body in Western Cultlure, “The female body has occupied a central place in the Western imagination, its images pervading poetry and story, mythology and religious doctrine, the visual arts, and scientific treatises. It has inspired both attraction and fear, been perceived as beautiful and unclean, alluring and dangerous, a source of pleasure and nurturing but also a source of evil and destruction.”

For decades, I have recognized my feminine side with beauty products, hair color, stylish clothes, jewelry and perfumes. It wasn’t until I received a diagnosis of breast cancer two weeks ago, that I began to fully appreciate the beauty of the female body. I had been away on travel to attend my father’s wedding when I received the fateful phone call. Enjoying a coffee date with one of my sisters, my cell phone rang and the radiology technician read me the pathology report from my recent biopsy. With an impending breast surgery now scheduled for later this month, I've decided to engross myself in studying the art of the female breast.

Could I soak up all the beauty of mine own until then? One friend suggested plaster of paris. You know, make a plaster model of my breasts before the surgery so that I can remember how stunning they were before I went under the knife. I carefully considered this idea, but wondered where would I display “the breasts” in my house. Another friend hinted at doing a series of before and after photographs which could provide an artful documentary of my journey, but would I find beauty amongst all the scars? Finally, a third friend recommended a breast tattoo. I could design an artful bouquet of flowers that would bloom in abundance where there was once a nipple. Interesting. The pain of the tattoo needle would pale in comparison to the physical and emotional pain of losing breast tissue. What would Picasso or Miro or Dali suggest? Would they have considered painting a woman with no breasts?

Gale O’Brien lives in New Mexico surrounded by the love and support of her friends. If you have ideas or suggestions of how to celebrate the art of the female breast, then email her at gale2430@yahoo.com.

Photo credits: Dinh Hanh, vxartnews.com; unknown, drwlcarter.com; unknown, ebay.com.

Facing The Muse: A Portrait Exhibition

2012-10-17T10:14:00.000-06:00

What a delight it was to step inside the New Mexico Art League building for the portrait and figure exhibition, Facing The Muse, sponsored by the Portrait Society of America in collaboration with the New Mexico Art League (NMAL). This exhibition was thoughtfully and beautifully displayed throughout the newly renovated NMAL building and was well received by a large crowd which spilled out into the garden with excited talk about the show.

After talking with Cynthia Rowland, the State Portrait Ambassador for New Mexico, I learned of the connection between the two organizations. The New Mexico Art League is one of the oldest such organizations in the country. It was begun by UNM art professors in 1929 to serve as a venue for showing their work and a forum in which to interact with the local art community. The League became a thriving part of Albuquerque which lasted well into the 70's but thereafter fell onto hard times. However, over the past several years a group of professional and aspiring artists and community leaders have worked diligently toward bringing the New Mexico Art League back to its former glory. The New Mexico Art League now offers excellent workshops and classes and has recently hosted several impressive exhibitions, "Facing the Muse" being its most recent.

The purpose of the Portrait Society of America is to foster and enhance the understanding of the practice, techniques and applications of traditional fine art portraiture and figurative works. These activities are instructional in nature. By working with the New Mexico Art League as a venue, the group has been able to offer this juried exhibition to the public. Internationally known figure artist Tony Ryder will be doing a demonstration at the New Mexico Art League on Thursday, October 18, from 5:30pm - 8:00pm. Mr. Ryder is known for his book, "The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Figure" and now runs his own school in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

About midway through the opening reception, Rowland announced exhibition awards in the following categories:

Best of Show, Mimi Jungbluth, “Midsummer’s Day Dream”

First Place, Professional, Robert Kuester, “Kelsey”

Second Place, Professional, Nancy Davis, “Sarah at the Window”

Third Place, Professional, Cynthia Rowland, “Self-portrait in One Color”

First Place, Aspiring, Doretta Bendalin, “Delaney and Madison”

Second Place, Aspiring, Barbara Endicott, “Luis”

Third Place, Aspiring, Rosalyn Roembke, “Eva”

Honorable Mention, Mary Jane Manford, “Everett Lawley III”

NM Art League Award, Marilyn Drake, “Effervescent”

Facing The Muse portrait exhibition will hang through October 26 at the New Mexico Art League, 3409 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM, (505) 293-5034, www.newmexicoartleague.org, Monday - Saturday, 10am-4pm.

Remembrances - Photography & Gravure by Karl Koenig

2012-10-03T13:28:00.002-06:00

The passing of Karl Koenig in January 2012 left a huge gap in the world of photography. It was his imagery that he was most well known for: Striking shots of concentration camps, majestic trees, lonely grain elevators, remote places in New Mexico, and haunting French cemeteries. Last Friday evening, to a standing room only crowd, his beloved widow Frances Koenig led a special presentation: “Gumoil Photography Demystified” to discuss Karl’s career and his discovery of polychromatic gumoil photography.

Koenig explains the process of gumoil photography as follows, “Each gumoil image is hand-crafted after coating a sheet of 100% rag paper with sensitized liquid gum arabic and contact-exposing it to a transparent or translucent positive under intense ultraviolet radiation. The coated sheet is then developed in water, thoroughly dried, and later rubbed with a dark pigment such as lamp black oil paint. Excess pigment is wiped off and the paper is briefly dipped in a bleach bath to oxidize away (etch) some of the light-hardened residual gum arabic. This leaves the next tonal region of the picture open to a second pigment application. The sequence is repeated until the print is finished over the course of several days or weeks. It is the successive etchings and applications of oil colors which lead to the richness and dimensionality of the finished print. No two gumoil prints made from the same transparent positive can ever be truly identical; there are too many variables for exact replication.”

After a career in academic psychology at Stanford and the University of New Mexico, followed by several years in private practice, Karl Koenig pursued different interests: art, photography, lithography, silkscreen and non-silver photography. In 1990, he created a new — but old-looking — ‘alternative process’ which he called polychromatic gumoil photography. Koenig published a book, Gumoil Photographic Printing, and several articles on the discovery. Soon he found himself giving university lectures, doing demonstrations, leading workshops and exhibiting work worldwide based on the process. Perhaps, his most important work was his series of photographs taken on multiple trips to Europe to document buildings and grounds of the ten remaining camps of Nazi Germany. Many of those images are included in Koenig’s definitive book on gumoil photography, Fragments: Architecture of the Holocaust, An Artist’s Journey Through The Camps.

Karl Koenig’s memorial exhibition will hang through the October 27 at New Grounds Print Workshop & Gallery, 3812 Central Avenue, SE, Suite 100 B, Albuquerque, NM 87108, (505) 268-8952, www.newgroundsprintshop.com.

The Pilar Studio Tour

2012-09-20T18:33:00.000-06:00

Billed as the Jewel Box of art tours along the banks of the Rio Grande, the Pilar Studio Tour was decidedly small in attendance but emphatically large on talent. It was my first time visiting the town of Pilar, New Mexico. I should have known to slow down as I got closer because I blew right past this small town and ended up in Taos! After a few phone calls to the studio artists, I headed back reducing my speed through the horseshoe turn on Highway 68 and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon wandering from studio to studio.

This year marked the 15th annual Pilar Studio Tour which included artisans Meredith Garcia, Bruce Gourley, PattyMara Gourley, Carl Gray Whitkop, Kit Lynch, Patric Carter, Stephen Kilborn, Anita Bauer, Arthur Gledhill, Leslie McNamara, Sheena Cameron, Laura Ramnarace and Sunita Smith. Three artists in particular resonated with me. Kit Lynch, an international artist known as the “painter of unleashed, untamed nature,” Patric Carter, an explorative photographer, known as the “Image Alchemist,” and Sunita Smith, a mystical, spiritual painter of wood, canvas and blocks.

Kit Lynch’s paintings reflect the movement of water, wind, clouds, leaves, branches, churches and adobes that implies unity and interdependence. Her paintings of wild waterfalls and dark skies hold the promise of a storm coming on the high wind. Lynch’s paintings are big, often seen as diptychs and triptychs. Patric Carter can take an image of a sunset or an adobe wall and transform it into a world of chaos, colors and rhythmic illusion. His work is known for its “phenomenal sense of expansive healing energy.” However, it was the work of Sunita Smith that captured my heart. Her beautiful, soothing paintings calm me after a full day of driving and walking. Smith’s Lotus block, with its translucent hues of blue and orange radiates both energy and peace. Her artisan faire and market was enhanced by the soundscape music, “Enchanted Lands,” provided by her brother John Patrick Funk.

As a side bar to my review, Pilar (formerly Cieneguilla) is a small unincorporated town of just over 10,000 people located in Taos County. It is located on the Rio Grande. The name Pilar comes from the Spanish word “cienaga” which means marsh or marshy place. The swampy ground is caused by several streams running across a small flood plain formed by a bend in the Rio Grande. For more information about the Pilar Studio Tour visit pilarstudiotour.org or call (575) 758-0135.

Girls Art Night Out

2012-09-12T23:33:00.001-06:00

The sky was filled with dark, ominous clouds as I headed into Albuquerque toward Old Town. The downpour of rain and traffic couldn’t keep me away from attending the Girls Art Night Out show at Bright Rain Gallery this past Friday evening. Carolyn Carroll, the owner, had dressed the gallery with a clothesline to display the “Fancy Pants” designed by Anna Goodridge, complimented by a gorgeous display of Geri Verbal’s tribal and ethnic jewelry and Sonya Coppo’s one-of-kind canvas handbags.

Geri Verble, a Placitas, New Mexico jewelry design artist, developed a passion for collecting ethnic beads and pendants while traveling with the Peace Corps. Bead collecting not only became a passion for her, but a journey into learning about the history of beads. Having majored in Theatre Arts in college, Verble’s focus was in Stagecraft Design. This sense of design has influenced her work in creating one of a kind, exceptional designs. Verble says, “The design of each piece is a contemplative process. Each ancient bead and ethnic ornament tells a story and has a spiritual energy that flows through each piece. I carefully consider color, selection, position and arrangement in the overall design. I have found that there is energy in metal that is in harmony with the earth. My goal is to create unique handcrafted beads and pendants to add to the design of my pieces.”

Sonya Coppo is a versatile artist who has created many types of art since childhood. As part of her interior design practice, Coppo has designed and painted custom furniture, wall murals, canvas floorcloths and table runners for her clients. After moving to Placitas, Coppo began creating interpretations of the Plains Indians Parfleche envelopes as well as handbags. Coppo designs and paints with acrylics and inks on heavy weight canvas reflecting the colors, culture and spirit of the Southwest.

Anna Goodridge, also a Placitas artist, spent her career as an elementary art teacher. The designs, colors, and shapes she uses are the result of her work with children and remembering what appealed to them. Recently her journey has taken her to painting with acrylic paint on gently used denims. Goodridge likes the idea of finding gently used denim that have lost its usefulness to one person then creating wearable art for another person to enjoy. This art show is not just for girlfriends to enjoy; husbands, boyfriends and children alike will find something eye catching in the gallery, too.

The Girls Art Night Out exhibition will hang through September 30th at Bright Rain Gallery located in Old Town’s Patio Market, 206 1/2 San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104, (505) 843-9176, www.brightraingallery.com

Gordon Vanus & Melba Bushmire

2012-09-05T22:20:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, I attended the opening reception for Gordon Vanus and Melba Bushmire at The Watermelon Gallery located in the East Mountains. This beautiful gallery was packed with friends and art enthusiasts excited to see the floor to ceiling art collection, featuring the photography of Gordon Vanus and the paintings of Melba Bushmire. There’s always a certain happiness that I feel witnessing a good turnout for a local art show.

Gordon Ray Vanus’ fine art photography career began later in life after his lengthy business management career. At the age of 10, using his parents’ old box camera, Vanus photographed miniature model cars and 12 blurry images later he was hooked. Learning the mechanics and the art of photography during high school, Vanus’ interest continued through military service, college, and the start of a family. Even though there was little budget for equipment, Vanus’ eye for color and composition continued to develop. In 1998, he transitioned from film to digital which has allowed him to keep the spirit and intent of photography pure while enjoying the creative flexibility of technology.

Vanus’ main photographic theme is nature, then architecture and Americana. His desire is to witness the beauty and awe of untouched landscapes and subjects wherever he travels in the United States. Vanus’ expertise is “capturing macro images of butterflies, telephotos of birds or wide angle landscapes.” Through his photography, Vanus hopes to draw others into the beauty and experience of the great outdoors.

Equally humble in her talent, Melba Bushmire was encouraged by her husband to pursue her painting hobby more seriously. Bushmire enjoys painting arroyos, meadows, horses, ceramic pots and white water. Twenty years later, Bushmire is now an accomplished artist with a large stable of exquisite paintings.

Gordon Vanus and Melba Bushmire fine art can be viewed at The Watermelon Gallery, 12220 N. Highway 14, Suite B, Cedar Crest, NM, 505.286.2164, www.thewatermelongallery.com

Oil and Clay: Dorothy McGeorge & Judith Richey

2012-08-22T16:53:00.000-06:00

Dorothy McGeorge and Judith Richey created the recent buzz at The Old Schoolhouse Gallery in the East Mountains. Visitors were captivated with Richey’s unique pottery featuring peaceful scenes cut in to the sides of ceramic mugs and bowls, broken tree branches for teapot handles and intricate, petite pieces with slots for tiny spoons.

Judith Richey has been a clay artist for over forty years. Her goal has been to create pieces that people will enjoy and use often. Richey works both in stoneware and in porcelain and incorporate slab forms and hand built and carved addition into her work. As an avid gardener, she has recently created a series of items for garden ornamentation. Her sculptural pieces called “garden beads” are composed of individual elements stacked together in interesting arrangements. Why clay? Richey says, “Clay is a wonderful medium, perfect in every way for many uses and forms of expression. It is also one of the most enduring art forms in any culture. It lets my spirit sing.”

Dorothy McDonough McGeorge’s work is often of structures that reflect the character of a place such as the open plains of the Midwest, the urban cityscapes of Montreal, Quebec, or the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

McGeorge chooses to organize her picture plane into segments to compel the viewer to share the whole of the image through its parts. The idea of perfect proportions found in nature, supported by mathematical principles, have had a direct influence on her work. McGeorge earned her Masters of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Nebraska in 1993. At the University, she worked closely with James Eisentrager, who believed strongly in the gestalt principle that we perceive visual data in organized or configured terms and Dynamic Symmetry, a term presented in the 1920s by art theorist Jay Hambidge.

Present in McGeorge’s artwork, the same principles can be seen not only in the work of the impressionists and the post impressionists, but in contemporary, and sometimes abstract work of artists like Richard Diebenkorn and Willem de Kooning.

Oil and Clay will hang through the end of August at The Old Schoolhouse Gallery, 12504 North Hwy.14, San Antonito, NM, 505.281.1250, http://www.theoldschoolhousegallery.com

Ross Ward: Art, in the Pursuit of Happiness

2012-08-15T20:26:00.000-06:00

Ross Ward’s visual art is provocative, daring, colorful, mind-blowing, seductive, dreaming, psychedelic, and wonderful all at the same time. To really understand the depth of the genius behind his art, one must first grasp Ward’s humble beginnings.

Ross Ward was born to paint, carve and tinker. As a boy growing up in the Midwest, he was captivated by the tiny villages, farms and circuses created by “spare time carvers.” His own miniature world began with circus figures carved while in junior high school. He began carving the first figures for the turn-of-the-century general store in 1962. Ward carved and built his folk art environment as a hobby for most of his adult life but he was even more prolific in his artistic endeavors of painting, etching, drawing and sculpture. A self taught artist, most of his paintings and drawings have remained hidden from the public until now.

Ward’s last 9 to 5 job was with Walker Display Company in 1964 where he honed in his sign painting skills. He lettered trucks, did murals in bars and restaurants, painted mail boxes and spare tire covers. After being laid off from Walker Display, Ward became a show painter for carnivals for the next 25 years, traveling the country painting on all the major carnival shows and in winter quarters from Texas to Florida. He took advantage of his time on the road to collect as many antiques as possible. In 1978, Ward settled on “Tinkertown” as the permanent name for his growing collection of miniatures. His exhibit was initially shown in a sixteen foot trailer at the New Mexico State Fair. However, in the fall of 1983, with the help of his second wife Carla, Ward opened the Tinkertown Museum in Sandia Park, New Mexico to the public.

In February of 1998, at age 57, Ward was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and passed away November 13, 2002. The Ward family continues his legacy by maintaining and running Tinkertown in his memory. According to Carla, “The museum is testimony to Ross’ singular pursuit of creating a folk art environment that has joined countless other multidimensional artists around the world.”

The Ross Ward art exhibit will hang through September 30 at the Johnsons of Madrid Gallery, 2843 Highway 14, Madrid, NM 87010, (505) 471-1054, www.collectorsguide.com/johnsons

Jane Abrams: Flow and Tangle

2012-08-09T07:06:00.000-06:00

The hypnotic paintings in Jane Abrams exhibition, “Flow and Tangle,” draw viewers in, closer and closer. Then, naturally, an equal and opposite reaction occurs: the audience starts to back up, farther and farther, until the pictures come into focus again.

Despite the motif, Abrams’ artwork does not feel repetitive. Two distinct works “Capricorn Morning” and “Silvery Pond” seem only tangentially related with their tangled brushwork and pale tones of blue and green. Abrams’ labyrinths of plants deflect attention from any one thing. The rhythmic density of the flora is like a subway station at rush hour full of energy, ambiguity, and wild uproar as demonstrated in “Elijah’s Fish Tangle.” Abrams’ “Duranes Pond” echoes Claude Monet’s and Vincent Van Gogh’s appreciation for natural forms and light. Even Abrams’ energetic brushwork in the background has links to Van Gogh’s intuitive understanding of the relationship between energy and matter.

Abrams, a native of Wisconsin, for the past thirty years has lived and worked in Los Ranchos Village in the North Valley near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her travels to Mexico, Central America, Spain and Asia have introduced exotic subjects into her pulsing, colorful canvases which deal with themes of man and nature. The jungle, with its hidden wonders and mystery, is often times the setting for her work.

Abrams is Regents’ Professor Emeritus from the University of New Mexico where she taught painting and drawing from 1971 until 1993. Her work is included in public collections across the United States and in London, Costa Rica and Spain. She continues to exhibit her work and paint in her studio in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.

The Mariposa Gallery, located in historic Nob Hill on Route 66, remains one of the oldest contemporary craft galleries in the country, exhibiting the finest contemporary art, jewelry and ceramics in New Mexico since 1974.

Jane Abrams’ exhibition, Flow and Tangle, will hang through August 31 at the Mariposa Gallery, 3500 Central Ave. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, (505) 268-6828 www.mariposa-gallery.com

Tara Massarsky: Conveyance ~ part two

2012-08-01T18:18:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, I attended the closing reception and artist discussion for Tara Massarsky at The Art Salon at Inspire. Her art show, Conveyance, has been well received at the salon since it’s opening on June 1.

Massarsky, as a visual abstract painter, has been inspired by science and by alchemy, the psychological process of turning a common thought or object into a pure, or higher thought. The sheer act of painting has allowed her to discover the world. The framework for her paintings is the interconnectedness of forces, the heightened emotional connection of objects. A number of individual artists have influence Massarsky in her own development as an artist. Below is a short list of those who have and her personal comments on each:

Adolph Gottlieb

At one time after seeing a Gottlieb show at the Brooklyn museum with the Indian Space Painters, I realized I shared with them the use of a primitive pictograph like language depicting a mystical, poetic universal language.

Arshile Gorky

His incredible personal imagery is so pure it's scary. His suicide shortened what would have been a continued and sustained genius.

Wassily Kandinsky

A most likely and obvious influence. As the assistant librarian at the Guggenheim Museum, I had many a chance to study his works and writings. I admire his works more for the spirituality he imbued into his work then even his palette, his use of forms and color have inspired many of us.

Ad Reinhardt

The retrospective a few years ago at MOMA explored his incredible meditative studies of the effects of color in its purest forms. His writing's, especially when he was a member of the 1950s AAA, were incredibly witty and insightful on the art of his day, and its criticism's still hold up.

Willem De Kooning

The sheer fierceness of his stroke and appetite to deconstruct the things before him are so compelling. A master of color as well. Another major influence.

Louise Bourgeois

Her organic and metamorphic sculpture and persevering spirit I find inspiring. She has a wonderful sense of humor about the art world that I find truly refreshing, even in her 90's she could laugh at all the pretense surrounding her "late in life" retrospectives and "re-discovery".

The idea for The Art Salon at Inspire is unique. Designed for an intimate and comfortable experience by offering visitors avant-garde hair design, the Inspire Salon also provides an appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement with original artwork. For more information visit inspireartsalon.com.

Sienna Fleming: Playing Hookey

2012-07-25T16:47:00.001-06:00

Last Friday, I headed southeast toward Roswell, New Mexico not looking for any UFO sightings, but to experience the artistic talents of up and coming artist Sienna Fleming. Fleming’s exhibition, Playing Hookey, is an eclectic mix of both her past and current work including photographs, collages, hand held mirrors, bottle caps and graphic works available both as post cards and greeting cards.

Her digital photos start with a figure interacting with the landscape or architecture. After printing, cutting, layering and re-photographing the newly constructed collage, the finished artwork becomes a visual play between the narrative and imaginative as seen in her “Walls and Dolls” series. Fleming also exhibits a collection of bottle caps which have been accessorized with circular cutouts from stray encyclopedias and affixed with magnets on the back. Thinking outside the box, Fleming has found a way to use the frame of a hand held mirror to house her drawing series of animated faces which are featured tastefully next to her display of bottle caps. Fleming’s artwork is both youthful and girlish coupled with the finished and professional quality of a trained artist.

Sienna Fleming was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. She was one of the 27 students in the inaugural graduating class at the New Mexico School for the Arts (NMSA) located in Santa Fe, after having spent her first semester of high school at St. Margaret’s School in Aberdeen, Scotland, and a year and half at Roswell High School. Fleming will attend the School of Visual Arts in New York City beginning this August where she is enrolled in the Advertising Department. Fleming parents, Stephen and Nancy, have operated the Roswell Artists in Residence program for years.

Playing Hookey will hang through July 30 at The Tinnie’s Mercantile Store & Deli,

412 West 2nd Street, Roswell, NM 88201, 575.622.2031

New Mexico Veteran's Art

2012-07-18T20:12:00.001-06:00

Little did I know that my invitation to the New Mexico Veteran’s Art show at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery would be a standing room only visit. The gallery was packed with both young and old veterans and their families, buzzing with conversation and reunion hugs. What a dynamic display of art from every medium, each created by a veteran with a colorful back story to go with his or hers artwork.

Initially, I was drawn to the sculpture, In A State of Flux, by Jim McManus, the current president of the New Mexico Veteran’s Art group. This surrealist piece includes the front end of an antique car, a portion of Route 66, the shadow of a New Mexico license plate, and a scene of sand and surf complete with sand castles, shells, and a surfer on a surf board. McManus shared with me that the original veterans gallery began on Kirkland Air Force Base many years ago and was exclusive to military personnel. However, in recent years it has moved off base to Gibson & Louisiana, been renamed Kirkland Gallery and is now open to both veteran and civilian artists.

Other noteworthy artwork at the gallery include those created by Michael Christiana, Richard Troyanowski and the novelist and watercolor artist Albert Noyer. Take a moment to study the layered expression on the woman’s face in Christiana’s oil painting. He told me that he’s never finished with his paintings, always adding another nuance here or different color there. Troyanowski is currently exhibited a series of miniature paintings which he says are best viewed at a distance. He often creates a tapestry effect with his dry brush and occasional glazing similar to the Fauvism and Post Impressionistic art movements. Noyer says his paintings often “deal with the transient: the new stucco church, a crumbling adobe, the old cars and fire engines, arroyos, mountains, animals - and us - all will succumb to the Erosion of Time and eventually revert to the earth from whence all came.”

The purpose of the New Mexico Veteran’s Art group is to recognize, support, and promote the talents and skills of artists who are veterans or who are serving in the active-duty military or in the Reserve or National Guard forces. For further information regarding membership and upcoming events visit www.nmveteransart.com.

The New Mexico Veteran’s Art show will hang through the month of July at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery, 12504 North Hwy. 14, San Antonito, NM, 505.281.1250, http://www.theoldschoolhousegallery.com

Raymond Wiger: 26 years of Wire Mesh Sculpture

2012-07-12T04:43:00.002-06:00

Amid the monsoon rain, last Friday’s ARTScrawl at Sumner & Dene was the opening reception for the Taos sculptor Raymond Wiger. With a noted seven year absence from exhibiting his work due to illness, Wiger was back in perfect form and with him he brought 20 of his small and large wire mesh creations. His sculptures are both exquisite and mesmerizing. Wiger describes his sculpting process as follows, “Sculpting in wire mesh equally involves the use of the right and left halves of the brain; the creative and the analytical. Beginning with a square, rectangular, triangular or other polygonal piece of mesh, the transformation to figure occurs without the use of any tools but the hands – in essence, skin against skin. As important, the integrity of the initial geometric shape is never compromised by the removal of "excess" material. To do so would be to reduce a rather complex process to merely one of just cutting out paper dolls. The final piece must include all the original material intact.”

Wiger first started working in wire mesh as a sculpting material in the late 1980s. Beginning with screen left over from repairing a window in a cabin in a national park, after six months discovered a more workable material with the same properties while sitting in front of a fireplace screen in Seattle, Washington. He uses no models or photographs from which to work, but relies for reference on a background of anatomical studies at the anthropology and art departments of the Smithsonian. Since the 1980s, Wiger has exhibited his work in galleries throughout the Americas and Europe, and his sculptures can be found in private collections around the world.

Wiger was born in Washington, D.C. in 1960 and received his education in parochial and public schools and at the University of Maryland. From 1978 until 1992, he spent part of each year working at the Smithsonian Institution or the Library of Congress, and from 1982 through 1997 a part of each year working as a park ranger in National Parks across the United States. Each year he travels around the world living among other cultures while studying their history and art. Wiger's training in art is derived from his years of work at the Smithsonian Institution, and since the early 1980s it has been in the quiet moments and solitude of the National Parks where he has found the most conducive environment for his artistic and writing pursuits. He currently lives in Taos, New Mexico.

Raymond Wiger: 26 Years of Wire Mesh Sculptures will hang through July 29 at Sumner & Dene Creations in Art, 517 Central Avenue, NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505.842.1400, www.sumnerdene.com

New Mexico Arts & Crafts Fair

2012-07-01T18:18:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I escaped the beastly heat by visiting the New Mexico Arts & Craft Fair at the State Fairgrounds. This delightful three-day summer event included artist demonstrations, a youth art exhibition, a silent auction and, best of all, endless booths featuring over 220 established and emerging New Mexico Artisans. A big part of the show was promoting Youth in Art. The Annual Youth Exhibit has grown to over 1,000 entries from throughout New Mexico with entrants ranging from preschool through high school.

I was particularly captivated by the metalwork of Greg Gowen. His artwork is rough and weathered from the raw elements of the earth and yet refined with beauty and elegance. Brilliant sunsets explode with color over the muted tones of the desert sand and find their way into the copper plates and copper canvases that Gowen designs and paints with fire. The simplicity of Native American culture contrasts with the busy city life and emerges in the Soul Warrior statues and Traditional Southwestern pieces, which are elegant and rustic at the same time. The movement of the desert wind and the life giving waters of the Rio Grande pour forth in the peace and beauty of Grace Dance, a work that has been praised as the pinnacle of Gowen’s creations. To capture the scope of Gowen’s artwork in depth, visit his online galleries at http://www.galleryg7.com/galleries.html

The New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair started in 1962 and was held in Old Town Albuquerque as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of New Mexico’s statehood. A few years later the fair was moved to the State Fairgrounds when it outgrew Old Town, and has been held there ever since.

The Fair recognizes that the arts are a unique and intriguing part of our culture. It has provided many well-known artists with beginning opportunities for their art careers. The Fair is the only art show open exclusively to artists and craftspeople from New Mexico. For more information about the annual Fair visit http://www.nmartsandcraftsfair.org/

Duke City Darlins: Sophisticated Vandalism

2012-06-15T18:18:00.000-06:00

The opening reception for Sophisticated Vandalism is this Friday, June 15, from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM at Archetype Dermigraphic Studio/Gallery. I recently spoke with Dezy Hardin, the founder and CEO of the Duke City Darlins, about the upcoming show. Hardin described Sophisticated Vandalism as a collection of paintings, drawings, prints, designs, photography and other works by the members of the Duke City Darlins. Since most of their group events revolve around charitable fundraising for the community, this art show gives the members a chance to showcase their artistic talent to the public.

The Duke City Darlins have partnered with Archetype Dermigraphic Studio/Gallery as the venue for their art exhibition. This studio is all about promoting a high ethical standard and a sense of community and brotherhood for those who are in the tattoo industry. Not only a tattoo studio, but a place for artists of all mediums to collect knowledge from one another and to inspire each other to branch out and tap into new veins of thought. Sharing their mantra, the Archetype Dermigraphic Gallery believes, “Art is for sharing, not only imagery, but reaches to the gut and root of human experience. They invite all those who love art. Whether you produce it, like to look at it, or love to wear it.”

The Duke City Darlins are a dynamic group of women who specializes in organizing, hosting, and managing local and national charity functions in New Mexico. The Darlins are the epitome of grassroots humanitarians. They are women of the "alternative lifestyle" being tattooed or otherwise modified. The Darlins have the common goal of bettering the community as well as educating the public on safe tattoo and body modification practices. By contributing greatly to society, the Duke City Darlins hope to change the negative stigma placed on modified women and create a sisterhood of lifelong friends. For more information visit www.dukecitydarlins.com.

Sophisticated Vandalism will hang during the month of June at the Archetype Dermigraphic Studio/Gallery, 529 Adams Street, NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108, (505) 265-0972, www.archetypetattoo.com.

Tara Massarsky: Conveyance at The Art Salon at Inspire

2012-06-07T20:44:00.001-06:00

First Friday’s ARTScrawl led me to The Art Salon at Inspire in Downtown Albuquerque. The idea for this urban salon is unique. Designed for an intimate and comfortable experience by offering visitors avant-garde hair design, the Inspire Salon also provides an appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement with original artwork.

Tara Massarsky, the featured artist for June and July, opened last Friday with her exhibition Conveyance. Massarsky consciously develops her own visual language by using a restricted palette or through extravagant abstraction. She finds that these ideas are best developed through a series of paintings, allowing the viewer to witness the X and Y of creativity. This concept can be seen in her series, Solve et Coagula, which allows the viewer to “tap into places of stillness and uncomfortableness, places one naturally resists tampering with.”

Massarsky has been influenced by great artists such as Dorothea Tanning, Arshile Gorky, Egon Schiele, Ad Reinhardt, Max Ernst, Willem De Kooning, and Adolph Gottlieb for their mastery of disinclination, passion and knowledge of art making. She also admires the minds and earnestness of the American Abstract Artists for their geometric adherence to a picture’s internal structure. Massarsky was academically trained at The Art Student's League in New York City and The Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. She has been exhibiting her artwork since 1988 and has numerous works in private collections in New York, California, and New Mexico. In May 2012, Massarsky was awarded Best of Show at the New Mexico Showcase Juried Exhibit at 516 Arts.

Conveyance will hang through July 31 inside The Art Salon at Inspire, 423 Fourth Street, SW, Albuquerque, NM, 505.242.4549, inspireartsalon.com. Get acquainted with the evolving visual language of Tara Massarsky at the Artist Talk and Closing, July 28 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM, taramassarsky.com.

May Flowers at The Old Schoolhouse Gallery

2012-05-30T10:19:00.000-06:00

The Old Schoolhouse Gallery has moved their first Friday ARTScrawl to the second Friday of each

month. This month's exhibition titled May Flowers proved to be a double treat. In addition to the gallery artists who submitted various art mediums with a focus on flowers, the gallery hosted an opening for Nancy and Stephen Attaway who create one-of-a-kind jewelry designs.

Nancy has been cutting gemstones since 1987. She learned to facet colored gemstones from several master gem cutters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Steve carves gemstones and renders the gold work with hand-fabrication and lost wax casting.

Nancy and Steve's designs are true collaborations as sometimes they even work on the same gemstone. In 2004, Steve and Nancy were involved in a special project with the Smithsonian Institution studying the Hope Diamond. Nancy has three gemstones in the Smithsonian's gem collection, including a replica of the French Blue Diamond, from which the Hope Diamond was cut.

Also, noteworthy in the gallery this month are paintings by Tricia Love, Semiramis and George Howard Hayes III. Hayes, nicknamed Hauie, which often appears on his artwork, paints with vivid colors and subtle nuances; all carefully crafted with precise attention to detail. Hauie’s broad range of paintings include everything from Abstract, Fantasy, Flower, Myth to Nature and Portraits. He has a handful of visually pleasing paintings at the gallery but to really understand the breath of his work you must visit his website at www.hauieart.com.

May Flowers will hang through May 31st at The Old Schoolhouse Gallery, 12504 North Hwy.14, San Antonito, NM, 505.281.1250, www.theoldschoolhousegallery.com

Travis Bruce Black - New Kungfu

2012-05-17T09:21:00.000-06:00

Carolyn Carroll of Bright Rain Gallery invited me back to her gallery for the opening reception of Travis Bruce Black’s New Kungfu exhibition. What a treat to meet the artist behind the Chirp watercolor series that has attracted a steady stream of loyal fans since Black himself owned the Bright Rain Gallery from 2007 - 2011. His new figurative works are tightly composed and watery with the color saturation turned way up. The environment of these pieces are clouds of color with a hard edge architectural structure.

The bird portraits of Travis Bruce Black are in a category by themselves. These are not your ordinary birds. Black’s technique pulls viewers into his paintings until their reality blurs with his fantasy. Vivid colors and subtle flirtations are paired with his abstract technique, bringing a dreamy quality to his artwork.

In particular, Chirp 200, his milestone piece and largest watercolor to date at 37 x 51 inches, shows it’s domestic scene of two magnified birds perching on an oversized geranium branch. Black, a graduate of UNM, contends, “My aim is to create compelling works that bring joy, optimism, and mystery; art that expresses my lust for life and the simple exuberance of being.

He also states that, “To express the fullness and my experience of life, I try to work in paradoxes like straight lines vs. curved lines, for example the difference between architecture and plants. Even more interesting to me is how curves and lines commingle, like in the aesthetic of shoes or cars. I try to show the spectrum of difference between abstraction and naturalistic form to illustrate how layered reality is and to flesh out a more inclusive picture of what “real” feels like. An overarching theme for my work is how complex creatures are and how every living thing is a little package of total mystery.”

Travis Bruce Black’s New Kungfu exhibition will run through May 31 at Bright Rain Gallery located in Old Town’s Patio Market, 206 1/2 San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104, (505) 843-9176, www.brightraingallery.com

Frank McCulloch ~ Imagenes de mi Tierra

2012-05-10T11:36:00.000-06:00

The art show and book signing for Frank McCulloch opened Friday, May 4 to a standing room only crowd at Sumner & Dene Creations in Art. The gallery buzzed with positive energy as many locals came to meet McCulloch in person and to admire his life’s work. McCulloch, who is best known for his modernist-leaning landscapes and geometric abstract prints, was warm and welcoming to all who stopped by to visit with him.

Born in Gallup in 1930, McCulloch began his craft, painting, as a child. He then went on to earn a BFA from UNM and a Masters of Arts from NM Highlands University, along with a MFA from Instituto Allende in Mexico. He is one of the most prolific and successful artists in the state, as well as a musician and a retired teacher whose students often became successful artists themselves, such as Angus Macpherson. McCulloch has often been called the “granddaddy” of Albuquerque artists. His retrospective exhibit in 2008 at the Albuquerque Museum was a testament to his vast career and enormous talent.

A recipient of the New Mexico Governor's Award in the Arts, University of New Mexico Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, Albuquerque Arts Alliance Bravos Award, and AABA Local Treasure, is just a partial list of his recognition as a painter and an artist. McCulloch’s legacy has been covered in Southwest Art Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, Art News, and American Artist to name a few. He has a steady base of collectors who love his New Mexico landscapes, abstracts and prints. If he is not in his studio painting, you can find him somewhere in town performing with his band, Frank McCulloch y Su Amigos, keeping old New Mexican folk songs alive.

Frank McCulloch’s art exhibition will hang through May 26 at Sumner & Dene Creations in Art, 517 Central Avenue, NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, (505) 842-1400, www.sumnerdene.com

Jo Diane Kasper at Bright Rain Gallery

2012-04-29T20:18:00.000-06:00

Last Friday’s ARTScrawl led me to Old Town where I met angel artist, Jo Diane Kasper at Bright Rain Gallery. As the featured artist of the month, Jo’s mystical combinations of oils, pastels and watercolors filled an entire wall at the gallery. Each of her paintings are beautifully framed to accentuate the haunting subtlety of spirituality that runs throughout all of her artwork.

Jo grew up in the mountains of Arizona, studied fine art and photographic art at Arizona State University and the University of Iowa. She lived in New York City for many years working in fine art photography and exploring several fields including horticulture. Jo returned to the Southwest in 1997 and made New Mexico her home.

Growing up in Arizona gave Jo a deep love and appreciation for the subtle and often mysterious beauty of the land and the ancient places of the Southwest. Her angel paintings, watercolors, sepias, and oil paintings of these ancient ruins and sacred places capture the divine and mystical connections between Spirit, Nature, and Humans. Her paintings reflect these connections in a transcendent impressionistic technique; evoking a sense of the precious and eternal oneness of the universe in which we live.

Along with being an angel artist, Jo is also an angel reader. Her gifts include dream interpretation, animal communication, situational assessments and counseling with extended personal sessions of guidance in ongoing life experiences as well as business. Her understanding is that we are all connected to each other, to our planet and to our universe. She believes that the divine energy of Spirit flows through all that is. Jo's specialty is her angel reading and pastel, in which she combines an Angelic psychic reading with a pastel drawing of the Guardian Angel she "sees" with the client.

Jo Diane Kasper’s art show will hang through April 30th, at Bright Rain Gallery located in Old Town’s Patio Market, 206 1/2 San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104, (505) 843-9176, www.brightraingallery.com

Tamara Coatsworth "EYE-conic" glass art exhibition

2012-04-20T08:55:00.001-06:00

Last Friday, I was in search of a new art experience. I had reviewed watercolors, oils, acrylics, lithographs, and metal art. I wanted to find an exhibit that would literally move my heart and dazzle my mind. I found so much more when I stepped inside Palette Contemporary Art & Craft gallery to see Tamara Coatsworth’s glass art show.

JOLLY TIME, FUSED GLASS, ENAMELS, TORCHWORKED, SANDBLASTED, ACID ETCHED

Primarily inspired by nostalgic pop culture, Tamara precisely explores the iconic nature of everyday items. Observers will be amazed at her attention-to-detail spent when it comes to skillfully utilizing a wide array of glass-making techniques including torch work, fusing, sandblasting, acid-etching, and elaborate enamels to create original artwork that lovingly replicates items such as movie-theater popcorn, a box of matches, or beautifully decorated cupcakes. Tamara’s artistry will appeal to your many senses while her familiar objects are assured to evoke fond memories as she brings them to life using the medium of glass.

ENDANGERED, FUSED GLASS, ENAMELS, TORCHWORKED, SANDBLASTED, ACID ETCHED

Palette Contemporary Art & Craft, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico features a variety of contemporary fine art glass, original paintings, limited edition signed prints, ceramics, marbles, and wearable art. It searches locally and abroad to bring a collection of contemporary art and craft with a colorful edge and clean lines by both emerging and renowned artists.

CUPCAKES, CAST GLASS, 3.5 X 3.5 INCHES

Tamara Coatsworth’s show, “EYE-conic,” will hang through May 3rd at Palette Contemporary Art & Craft gallery, 7400 Montgomery Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, (505) 855-7777, www.palettecontemporary.com

Edge of Color - Tamarind artists examine color as form, from 1960s to present

2012-04-06T19:37:00.000-06:00

This week I ventured over to the University of New Mexico to view the group exhibition at the Tamarind Gallery featuring the works of Garo Antreasian, Valerie Arber, Frederick Hammersley, Robert Kelly, Nicholas Krushenick, John McLaughlin, Ruth Root, Leon Polk Smith and William Turnbull. The Edge of Color show includes a spectrum of lithographs, from the 1960s to the present, with geometric, hard edge color as a pure form in itself.

The Tamarind Lithography Workshop was established in Los Angeles in 1960 by artist June Wayne with funding from the Ford Foundation. Its goal was to bring attention to process of lithography—a method of printmaking invented in the late 18th century—and bolster its use among a new generation of artists. During its years in Los Angeles, the workshop was run by Wayne, Clinton Adams, and Garo Antreasian. In 1970, when funding had run out, Tamarind became affiliated with the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, where it remains today.

The Tamarind Institute opened in 2010 to celebrate Tamarind’s 50th anniversary. It’s gallery exhibits and sells original, limited edition lithographs and monotypes created at Tamarind by visiting artists working side-by-side with collaborative printers. Revenue from these sales partially supports the institutes’s educational and research programs, as does revenue from projects with artists who contract for pressroom service.

After viewing this provocative and cutting edge exhibit, I started to wonder where are the artists today. According to Shelly Smith of the Tamarind Institute, “Valerie Arber currently lives and works as an artist in Marfa, Texas. Frederick Hammersley (January 5, 1919 – May 31, 2009) has a show now at Los Angeles Louver, and is one of the most important artists in evolution of abstraction in post-war Los Angeles. Robert Kelly, lives and works in New York City and Santa Fe (represented by Chiarscurro Gallery). Ruth Root also lives and works in New York City. Nicholas Krushenick (May 31, 1929 – February 5, 1999), John McLaughlin (May 21, 1898 – March 22, 1976), and Leon Polk Smith (1906-1996) are all deceased. William Turnbull (born January 11, 1922, Dundee, Scotland) had a show back in 1997 at Waddington Custot Galleries in London.”

Edge of Color will run through May 25, 2012 at the Tamarind Gallery at UNM, 2500 Central Avenue SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, (505) 277-3901, http://tamarind.unm.edu