516 BLOG

New Mexico Showcase Opening Reception Photos

2012-02-07T14:14:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who braved the crowd to make the opening reception for New Mexico Showcase so successful! Over 800 people in attendance throughout the evening make for one crazy opening! Be sure and stop by to see the show if you couldn't make the opening, New Mexico Showcase will be on display through April 28th.

Vice President of the Board of Directors, David Vogel and 516 ARTS Executive Director Suzanne Sbarge present guest juror, Peter Frank during the artist/member preview. Close to 200 people came to hear him talk

Mr. Frank discussing tactics/approaches to selecting from over 1,000 artist submissions

Mr. Frank (left)

Teresa/Kaley and the boots that WEREN'T made for walking

Admirer of Esteban Bojorquez's awesome piece

Jennifer Vasher, Honorable Mention Award winner. Congrats!

Artist Marion Wasserman (right)

The Joneses

Volunteer Zil Ricker and 516 ARTS Governing Board Chair, Arturo Sandoval swapping style pointers

Leah Siegel (left) and Jack Ox (right)

Artist Celeste LaForme and family in front of her work

Dana Chodzko's Knowledge Bowl

Monique Janssen-Belitz, Honorable Mention Award winner

Great piece by Gary Wellman

The crowd

Special thanks to Gold Street Caffè, P'tit Louis Bistro, Slate Street Cafe, Whole Foods Market and the amazing Chef Billy Brown of Cuisine del Corazón for generously donating food for the opening reception.

For more opening reception/installation shots visit our Flick site here

The List!

2012-01-07T16:39:00.001-07:00

Behold! Here's the complete list of participating artists for the New Mexico Showcase exhibition which opens Saturday, February 4th from 6-8 pm. There will be a members only preview that will precede the reception from 4-5:30 with music, food and walk through with juror, Peter Frank. For you members out there, make sure you RSVP to reserve a spot or you will have to wait and brave the crowds with everyone else at 6. You can become a member here. Congrats to everyone!

Bret Aaker	Philip Augustin	Claudia Baragiola
Karen Bexfield	Michael Bisbee	Esteban Bojorquez
Michael Borowski	Marina Brownlow	Lauren Carter
Alex Chavez	Jane Chevalier	Dana Chodzko
Jill Christian	Sally Condon	Regina Corritore
Helen Cozza	Glenn Craley	Michael Darmody
Sarah Davidson	Sondra Diepen	Nina Elder
Margaret Fitzgerald	Molly Geissman	Renée Brainard Gentz
Alison Green	Gregory Horndeski	Monique Janssen-Belitz
David Koch	Bryan Konefsky	Sheldon Krevit
Scott Krichau	Celeste LaForme	Ted Larsen
Suzanne Marshall	Tom Martinelli	Tara Massarsky
Chika Matsuda	Diane McGregor	Jim McManus
Ana Medina	Jonathan Morse	Gwen Entz Peterson
Rebekah Potter	Mario Quilles	Radio Sebastian
Antonio Ramon	Luanne Redeye	Laura Robbins
Benjamin Roe	Diane Rolnick	Valerie Roybal
Harriet Yale Russell	Janet Yagoda Shagam	Michael Sharber
Danielle Shelley	Yoshiko Shimano	Leah Siegel
Natalie Smith	Debra Stark	Robert Stembridge
Bonnie Stipe	Dennis Summers	Lori Swartz
Harriette Tsosie	Jennifer Vasher	Marion Wasserman
Margi Weir	Gary Wellman	James West
Scott White	Juan Wijngaard	Cedra Wood
Susan Zimmerman

New Mexico Showcase: Preview

2012-01-03T10:57:00.002-07:00

We're pretty excited about New Mexico Showcase. Not only did we get an overwhelming response to our call for entries (almost 300 submissions!!) but we we're very pleased that Peter Frank chose nearly 80 of those artists to represent emerging and established talent from across New Mexico.

New Mexico Showcase marks the 5th anniversary of 516 ARTS and our first juried exhibition. With a history of large, challenging collaborative based projects such as Land Art, STREET ARTS, Latino Visual Imagery and now the epic, world-spanning electronic arts symposium ISEA2012 (next fall), we decided to focus a little more on the cutting edge contemporary artists living in our own backyard.

We will be updating the blog throughout the exhibition with studio visits and interviews with participating artists to give everyone insight into their processes. We have an incredibly diverse line-up that will prove exciting!

A little taste...

Valerie Roybal

Ana Medina

Yoshiko Shimano

Lauren Carter

Installation Shots

2012-01-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't stopped by to see Superheroes: Icons of Good, Evil and Everything In Between, you better get a move on! Everything will come down after January 7th to make way for NM Showcase, but for those of you who can't make it, here's some installation shots...

Esteban Bojorquez (left) Aaron Noble (right)

Aaron Noble

Mark Newport

Cullen Washington Jr

Marc Ouellette (in back) David Cudney (sculpture)

Benjamin Johnsen (left) Boneface (right)

Benjamin Johnsen (phone booth)

David Gremard Romero

Min Kim Park

Jolene Yazzie

Joel Jonientz (left) Lawrence Getubig (right)

Dulce Pinzón

Lawrence Getubig (left) Aaron Campbell (right)

Super Amigos Film Screening

2011-11-15T14:49:00.008-07:00

Saturdays in December 3:30pm

December 3, 10 & 17

Join 516 ARTS for a FREE special in-house screening of Arturo Perez Torrez's documentary, Super Amigos.

The film was originally slated for a Nov. 5th and 6th screening at the Guild Cinema, but due to technical difficulties, Super Amigos was not shown. 516 ARTS is pleased to present a special FREE, re-screening during the first three Saturdays in December to begin at 3:30pm in the gallery.

Super Amigos follows five modern-day Superheroes in Mexico City as they fight for social justice and human rights. Produced, written and directed by Arturo Perez Torres 72 minutes, Canada/Mexico 2007

New Mexico Showcase

2011-11-10T13:20:00.008-07:00

516 ARTS Anniversary Juried Exhibition Call for Entries
NM Showcase Feb 4 - Apr 28, 2012
DEADLINE: December 1, 2011

516 ARTS announces a call for entries to showcase New Mexico artists, in celebration of our fifth anniversary. The 2012 exhibitions schedule kicks off with this juried exhibition of emerging and established artists from across the state.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2011

ENTRY FEE: $30

JUROR:

Peter Frank is a curator and art critic based in Los Angeles. He is currently Associate Editor ofFabrik magazine and art critic for the Huffington Post. He has served as Senior Curator at the Riverside Art Museum in California, as Editor of THEmagazine Los Angeles and Visions Art Quarterly, and as critic for Angeleno magazine and the L.A. Weekly. He is originally from New York, where he wrote art criticism for The Village Voice and The SoHo Weekly News. He contributes articles to numerous publications and has organized many exhibitions, including for the Riverside Art Museum, Independent Curators Inc., New York's Alternative Museum; Otis/Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum, among others. Frank has taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University's School of the Arts, Tyler School of Art, University of California Los Angeles, Laguna College of Art and Design and other institutions.

ELIGIBILITY:

516 ARTS welcomes artists working in all visual media, including painting, drawing, scupture, photography, printmaking, fine craft, installation and video. Interdisciplinary work and collaborations based in visual media are also welcome. Both emerging and established contemporary artists are encouraged to apply with new or recent work. Artists must reside in New Mexico and be out-of-school, practicing artists. The focus of the exhibition is on “contemporary art”, a broad term loosely used to denote art of the present day, of an innovative or avant-garde nature. Contemporary art, collectively, is much more socially conscious than any previous era has been, often focusing on a wide range of current-day issues.

TO APPLY:

• Return completed application materials no later than midnight, December 1, 2011
• Submit non-refundable entry fee of $30 at the time of application (either by check or via PayPal)
• To submit online:
- Email application materials to: submissions@516arts.org
- IMPORTANT: Subject line should read: Your last name + First Name + 2012NM Showcase (ex: Smith.Robert 2012 NM Showcase)
- Pay online via Paypal (link below) on 516 ARTS website: Payment will be matched to yoursubmission
• Submit up to 4 artworks:
- Image format preferred: jpeg files
- Image size format: at least 4” x 6” at 300 dpi (no slides!)
- 3D or installation pieces are allowed a maximum of 3 representative images per piece
- Video or other electronic media are accepted on DVD or as web-based hyperlinks for review

• List of works: Include title, year, media, dimensions for each piece

• Short artist biography in paragraph format

• Short artist’s statement

Submissions are preferred to be received via email to, but can also be received by on CD or DVD. Mailing address:

516 ARTS, Attn: Rhiannon Mercer
516 Central Ave. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you require the return of materials.

INSURANCE, HANDLING, SHIPPING & SALES:

Work is fully insured while at 516 ARTS and is handled by professional staff with the utmost care. Please note that artists are responsible for covering cost of delivery, pick-up and shipping. Artwork is encouraged to be for sale, but can also be on loan from collections. If work is for sale 516 ARTS retains the industry standard gallery commission of 50%, but special arrangements can be made with artists’ galleries if needed. If work is on loan, collectors can be credited on the wall labels and in the catalog. Some equipment is available at the gallery, but artists may need to provide their own equipment such as flat screens, projectors and computers. Artists are responsible for delivering or shipping their work to and from the gallery. In rare cases pertaining to scale and access, special arrangements may be made for assistance.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMS & PUBLICATIONS:

516 ARTS will host and/or collaborate on a series of events during the exhibition, including artist talks, poetry readings and screenings. The exhibition will be accompanied by a printed catalog, and will be well publicized through print, web and radio media.

ABOUT 516 ARTS:

516 ARTS is an independent, nonprofit arts and education organization, with a museum-style gallery in the center of Downtown Albuquerque. Our mission is to forge connections between art and audiences, and our vision is to be an active partner in developing the cultural landscape of Albuquerque and New Mexico. Our values are inquiry, diversity, collaboration and accessibility. 516 ARTS offers programs that inspire curiosity, dialogue, risk-taking and creative experimentation, showcasing a mix of established, emerging, local, national and international artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds. For more information, visit www.516arts.org.

QUESTIONS:

Contact Rhiannon Mercer, Assistant Director, 516 ARTS
505-242-1445
rhiannon@516arts.org

Notes from a Co-Curator

2011-11-01T14:03:00.021-06:00

Hey True Believers!

It's me, Neilie Johnson: UNM alum, pop culture journalist and unapologetic comics nerd. When not writing, I'm devising Superheroic alter-egos for myself and imagining what super-powers each of them might have. (Last week my power of choice was flight. This week it's the ability to eat whatever I want without gaining weight.)

One day in the middle of this seemingly pointless exercise, I got an email from 516 Arts, asking if I'd like to co-curate an exhibition about Superheroes. After giggling excitedly like a little girl, I composed myself and accepted.

For “Superheroes: Icons of Good, Evil & Everything in Between”, I and the staff at 516 ARTS (the most excellent Rhiannon, Claude, Teresa and of course, the inimitable Suzanne) combed through a sea of entries from across the 'States and beyond, looking for work that took the Superhero theme to thrilling new heights (or depths, depending on the artists' sensibilities). What we found were a group of exceptional artists committed to using the Superheroic as a conduit for stories both personal and political; the result is a show that's powerful, provocative, and even better than we'd hoped for.

Opening weekend was awesome since it saw the presence of many of the artists featured in the show. To start, Los Angeles contributor (and fellow comics fan – fist bump, Aaron!) Aaron Noble came to the gallery in his “mural artist” disguise and spoke to local high school students:

...then opening night let his Superhero flag fly.

In addition to Aaron, I also had the pleasure opening night, of meeting sculptor Esteban Bojorquez and his gracious and lovely wife, conceptual artist Ben Johnsen looking dapper in snazzy bee necktie; the clever yet self-effacing David Cudney;“self taught” painter Mark Ouellette (who paints circles around most formally-taught painters; Aaron Campbell, the best thing that ever happened to the Green Hornet and Jolene Yazzie, the coolest young Superheroine in the Southwest.

Turnout at the opening was great and the public's response was amazing. Attendees reacted enthusiastically to the show's eclectic mix of ideas and media and went out of their way to shake my hand and congratulate all of us on a job well done. Since art's ultimately about making a connection with an audience, I can't tell you how gratifying it was to find the show resonating with so many people.

Since the opening, the show's positive momentum has continued throughout the month, culminating in Jon Carver of Santa Fe arts publication, THE Magazine, giving the show a stellar review – something I personally am very excited about. I could go on much longer about what a terrific experience it was working with 516 Arts and how pleased I am with what we've accomplished. In the interest of brevity though, I'll end by saying I'm very proud of this show and I urge you if you haven't seen it yet, make the time to do so.

Once again, sincere thanks to Rhiannon, Claude, Teresa and Suzanne for inviting me to collaborate with them on this incredible project, to the exhibition's artists for being so awesome and to the arts-loving community of Albuquerque and beyond who continue to make shows like this possible.

To everyone who works to keep the Fine Arts fires burning, I say—in the words of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch—“Flame on!”

--Neilie Johnson

A Conversation with MEOW WOLF

2011-07-06T15:07:00.010-06:00

It was great to be on the sidelines during the brief interrogation of collectivity and collaboration with 516 Arts and Erin Elder, CCA and Craig Anderson, and Meow Wolf. Following the discussion at CCA last month, I was left with a question still forming. The talk had mostly focused on how collaborative creation was happening within Meow Wolf, with some sidelong glances at stronghold terms like “leadership”, “integrity”, and “authenticity”. I began to wonder, though, how the collaborative-creative concept had been developed in the region--where Meow Wolf’s style of working could fit in to a history of artists and art-making, and especially where not just individuals but groups of artists had carved aesthetic sensibilities of New Mexico and the Southwest.

My sense is that, if such work had occurred successfully through collective efforts, the path back to an initial moment would follow some several branches back to the source, each worth recollection. It would be exciting to see this forum continue, if others might begin to call to mind some moments and echoes of moments of large collaboration, collectivity, and community in Southwestern arts and culture. There would also likely be some solo giants worth mentioning, if such an examination occurred.I suppose the centennial is as deserved a deadline as any.

Can anyone recommend a point of contact for initial research?

-- Nicholas Chiarella, artist, Meow Wolf Collective

(Due Return photo courtesy of Meow Wolf)

Notes from the Curator

2011-06-10T15:42:00.007-06:00

I was honored and delighted to participate in last week's panel discussion at 516 ARTS, as both a young person and the curator of Worlds Outside This One. I'm still digesting the conversation and catching up with the people I met. For me, it was a rich and thought-provoking experience that I'll reflect on for some time.

Many people were provoked by the panel; some angered, some inspired, some merely wanting to tell their story. The panel was intended to cover the role of women and the place of architecture in creating the counterculture, grounded by the experience of 3 women who helped build communes in the late 1960s. The discussion took a turn, as could have been expected, towards a comparison between then and now. I was heartened by the level of engagement the audience took in the topic and wish the conversation could have continued for hours more.

It seems we only began to scratch the surface in charting the history of the communes and the countercultural possibilities of today; in fact, we barely had time to identify the issues involved. These are big things to consider: What is the intention behind countercultural activities? Can they be lumped into a category such as "counterculture" or are the activities and structures that attempt to create an "other" space so disparate they deserve different labels; perhaps no label at all? If we desire to live another way, what do we build, how do we build it and with whom? With what resources? To what ends? While the discussion did not offer any answers or even lay down a set of terms, it succeeded in being provocative.

Someone approached me during the opening that evening and observed that the exhibition of commune photos seemed to say, "Look what I did," whereas Worlds Outside This One seemed to propose, "Look what we can do." Another person brought up the issue of class, that all the panelists represented a white-washed, overly educated, middle-to-upper class status; she speculated that change might happen through intercultural alliances. Yet another exclaimed, "This gives me such validation for the hard work I'm doing." Whether critical of the panel or grateful for it, attendees seemed to be moved by the opportunity to contextualize their own ideas and experiences within the larger dialog.

Indeed, it's not often enough that these sorts of conversations are entertained. It's so important to share, compare, contrast and speculate about counterculture (or whatever you might call living outside the status quo). Within the otherness of doing things differently, there is great variety, success, failure, and above all: courage. It seems clear that whether you built a commune in the 1960s or currently work towards immigrant rights or are starting a non-traditional arts organization or aim to build your own house, these aims are served by critical dialog or more importantly, critical mass.

This is what I appreciated most about the panel discussion: that here was a space to talk passionately about a collective rejection of mainstream culture. What a bold and important endeavor, taken on by a non-profit contemporary art space! It struck me at one point, that despite the fancy microphones and video cameras and chairs arranged in neat rows, we were talking about radical possibility! There was no question as to whether the system should be bucked or "the man" should be questioned; the conversation (and the exhibitions themselves) took as their premise the need for building alternatives. To be in a room that was packed full of people who care about making radical change was very exciting. I wish these sorts of gatherings occurred more frequently.

It would be optimistic to think that real change (or even deep understanding of change's characteristics) would result from a panel discussion or from the exhibitions. A gallery is an institution, a panel is a formality; by nature these structures celebrate and analyze but also limit new cultural production. As a curator, I feel confused about the power of the white cube and its methods. I am concerned that the real meaning of the work displayed is made vacuous by the white cube; it is somehow made too sacred, too still, too simplified. If we could camp out in the gallery or talk until we actually sort something out, then the exhibition and the panel discussion might be sites for radical possibility. Until then, I'm merely grateful for the people I met, the stories I heard, and the relationships that may continue on long after the microphones are put away and the exhibitions are dismantled. I'm grateful for the opportunity to actively confront the friction between desiring radical change and working within the confines of the institution. As the panel vibrantly illustrated, this friction produces a bright hot spark.

It is a privilege to develop and maintain a critical stance towards the status quo. It's an even greater privilege to enact some form of alternative living. But for many of us in the room last week, building alternatives is also a necessity. Much has changed since the 1960s, but so too have the strategies, the personalities, and the issues. I don't believe that we can look to the communes as templates for how to live differently in 2011; but what they offered and what the panel so beautifully demonstrated, is proof that another way is always possible. With hard work, some good friends, tremendous courage, and a sense of humor, we just might build a few worlds outside this one.

-- Erin Elder, guest curator, Worlds Outside This One

Hot 8 in Albuquerque

2011-06-01T19:47:00.004-06:00

My wife and I went to the Casablanca Club at Hotel Andaluz on Friday, May 6, to show our support for 516 ARTS and the Outpost Performance Space (and its respective fearless leaders, Suzanne Sbarge and Tom Guralnick). We’re fans of New Orleans music but as this was a nonprofit benefit, we expected a relatively sedate evening of people sitting in rows clapping politely.

When the Hot 8 opened with a classic Dixieland number, our expectations seemed right on. But the octet gradually ratcheted up the energy and before long had fully uncorked the funk. By about the third song, the dance floor was packed, with us right up front. We repeatedly took our seats, exhausted, as the set cooked along, only to be coaxed back to the floor by the band’s propulsive second-line beats and righteous groove. Angels of mercy administered cocktails as the sweat rolled down.

Counting several fine vocalists among its horn players (including trumpeter Terrell Batiste), the Hot 8 was not only relentless in their mission to keep bodies moving; they were also master showmen, working the crowd into a frenzy with call-and-response sessions and even a spirited line dance. I can’t remember the last time I saw a mostly white crowd shaking it like that. The bons temps did indeed rouler.

I’ve since seen Batiste in a speaking role on the HBO show Treme, which prompted exceedingly fond memories of that rockin’ downtown party. Heartfelt thanks to the Hot 8, 516 ARTS, Outpost Performance Space and the Hotel Andaluz for making it happen.

-- Simon Glickman, Los Angeles, CA

Dear Reader,

2011-03-29T13:29:00.020-06:00

We had another stellar 516 WORDS last night, with five strong female voices chiming in to create a complementary dialogue to the current exhibition, Latino/a Visual Imaginary: Intersection of Word and Image.

The reading showcased voices new to 516 ARTS, as well as some mainstays and true heartbeats in the larger literary community. As usual, the beautiful exhibition not only served as fabulous fierce-tongued backdrop (literally), but was also both a point of intersection and a point of departure for the reading—creating an inclusive and expansive evening that represented five voices contributing to the New Mexico literary community.

A packed house heard from Maria Leyba, long-time resident of Barelas with gripping narratives who has been inspiring poets in the Albuquerque scene for years (myself included), plus Cathy Arellano, a beautiful-hearted and insightful Latina lesbian who finds resonance between San Francisco’s Mission District and Albuquerque’s South Valley, as well as Georgia Santa Maria, an anglo whose writing has been influenced by the Latina/Latino communities of the Pecos valley. The reading was framed with sets by Andrea Serrano and Jessica Helen Lopez, women who can only be described as pure powerhouses on today’s poetry scene. The reading made people laugh and think and laugh some more.

If you missed it, there are only two consolations. First, you can get on the mailing list for 516 ARTS so you’ll know when to catch the next 516 WORDS! And second, three of the women have forthcoming books! Andrea Serrano is working with Arts of Aztlán, Cathy Arellano with Momotombo Press, and Jessica Helen Lopez will have her book Always Messing with Them Boys out very soon from West End Press. Maria Leyba also has a new chapbook, the actual shape of which was inspired by the work of Juliette Torrez! (Anyone who remembers Albuquerque's poetry scene in the 1990s can appreciate and respect that name!)

It’s always an honor to help coordinate readings at 516 ARTS and I am happy that we have such a beautiful and gifted community and so much to celebrate. To read (and even to host a reading) amidst such amazing art is joy. Thanks everyone!

Lisa Gill
Sunday March 27th, 2011

Click here to see more photos of the event

Latino/a Imaginary: Papel Picado Workshop

2011-03-23T12:11:00.021-06:00

In conjunction with our latest exhibition, Latino/a Visual Imaginary: Intersection of Word and Image, artist Kai Margarida-Ramirez de Arellano led a hands-on workshop to introduce the traditional technique of papel picado - the 300 year old Mexican tradition of paper cutting. Arellano applies a contemporary take on papel picado in her own work, creating symbols and narratives relevant to her own life and experiences.

Kai Margarida-Ramirez de Arellano

Hand Milagro, 2010

The gallery buzzed with excitement for the chance to create an original papel picado with Kai's guidance.

Kai shows workshop goers an example of the more traditional presentation using a contemporary design.

Demonstrating how to properly line up and cut the template and tissue paper.

Workshop goers listen and prepare their own templates.

And the cutting begins!

Making progress!

Tiny pieces of paper everywhere!

Kai gives her advice on how to personalize a design.

Working hard, with Arellano's Juarez (2010) in the background.

Customizing the general template.

Beginning the finishing stages...

More people join in the finishing stages.

And success!

SHOUT-OUT Festival Rap-Up

2010-11-30T16:22:00.012-07:00

by Idris Goodwin

SHOUT-OUT: A Festival of Rhythm & Rhyme was an explosively moving celebration of our first amendment rights. The collaborative, democratic spirit of Hip Hop blanketed the entire four days of intergenerational, multi cultural, cross-national expression.

Many of you experienced the living breathing poetics of legendary Amiri Baraka, HBO Def Poets Kevin Coval and Amalia Ortiz, Albuquerque’s own Hip Hop generation literati Carlos Contreras, Tanaya Winder, Sina Soul, Hakim Bellamy, Faustino Villa, Reed Adair, Olivia Gatwood, Joseph Andres Romero, Sirena Reyes and Chloe Reichelt.

Many of you were energized by sounds provided by the enigmatic Cecil Taylor, grammy award nominated Dafnis Prieto’s Proverb Trio, Albuquerque sonic heroes Saywut?!, Zack Freeman, Rodney Bowe, Dj Philos, and the Church of Beethoven. However, what a lot of you perhaps didn’t catch were Kevin, Amalia and me sitting in with Arcie Chapas on KUNM Radio, where we had a lively discussion of Hip Hop poetics and even shared some of our work.

We also had the pleasure to visit three different high schools. Many thanks to Cibola High School, RFK Charter School and Amy Biehl High School school for hosting us.

New Mexico Remix, my collaboration with the great LA graffiti muralist Chaz Bojorquez, was a rousing success. I created six performance poems about New Mexico, he took selected text and created an original, large-scale mural inside 516 ARTS.Chaz Bojórquez and Idris goodwin in front of New Mexico Remix

Special thanks to videographer Maria Friesen, who created a video backdrop documenting Chaz’s creation, in front of which I performed at the KiMo Theatre. We liked it so much we’re doing it again as an encore performance with Urban Verbs for the Revolutions International Theatre Festival before the mural sadly must come down.

You can’t even spell “Swagger” without the SW (Southwest)

2010-11-24T16:51:00.011-07:00

by Hakim Bellamy

We’ve got more culture than the United Nations. In one of only four minority-majority states in our nation, New Mexico is doing more than just being “down and brown”. It is being Hip Hop and progressive. But what do you expect from a state known for pioneers and extraterrestrials? Just like any cowboy worth his weight in liquor, the Land of Enchantment (as New Mexico is often called) has been at the front of the herd in everything from westward expansion to Mars colonization. Bending boundaries (and borders) in everything from art to architecture, one might suspect that New Mexico marches to the beat of a different desert. And we do, however, we also take our Hip Hop as religiously as we do our other traditions.

Affectionately known as the “Cinderella” to Santa Fe, our more renowned sister city to the North, Albuquerque gets the “step sister” treatment with respect to recognition of our arts scene. Santa Fe is mentioned across the globe in the same company as cities such as Milan, New York and Paris, for its fashion, jewelry and aesthetic. All Albuquerque gets recognized for is Bugs Bunny (You know, where he made that wrong left turn and ended up lost...Albuquerque). However, the Duke City (Albuquerque’s nickname) has long been the blue collar artistic foil to Santa Fe’s white collar arts scene. And as those who pledge allegiance to the NYC and LA can attest (the cultural North and South, or more appropriately East and West, poles of the art world), there is nothing more blue collar than Hip Hop.

Whether you are talking about the impoverished and truly working class folks who birthed Hip Hop or the broad and predominately lower-middle class constituency of contemporary Hip Hop creators and consumer, it is certainly more for the street than for the gallery. With no shortage of gallery square footage but plenty shortage of things to do for teens and young adults, you can see the conditions of inspiration, imbalance and inequality that are always a recipe for an explosion of Hip Hop culture. Add to that, the bubbling underground Hip Hop scene that has been simmering like the thermal hot springs in the Jemez Mountains and one can easily see why STREET ARTS: A CELEBRATION OF HIP HOP CULTURE AND FREE EXPRESSION was a dish Albuquerque had to serve up first. Water boils faster at higher altitudes and since Albuquerque is a mile high, you would expect us to cook everything from ideas to tortillas faster than New York or LA.

KOB-TV, the NBC-affiliate here in ‘Burque, reported the following from the Los Angeles Times:

“The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Arts announced its plan for a 2011 street arts exhibit. “It’s going to be the first major museum survey of the history of graffiti and street art presented in the United States” (Read full article here)

The first mural of the Albuquerque STREET ARTS Exhibit went up October 1st, 2010. The opening reception for the two- month, city-wide installation was held on October 2nd, two weeks after the LA Times published their announcement and a full seven months before their exhibit is scheduled to open.

No, Albuquerque did not invent Hip Hop, but it has certainly taken the Krylon can and run with it. STREET ARTS centers around a two-part exhibition at 516 ARTS titled Street Text: Art from the Coasts & The Populist Phenomenon, which examines Street Art and its evolution into an international cultural movement. The project celebrates art in the urban environment and explores issues of freedom and expression. It includes an exciting line-up of related exhibitions, new Downtown murals, music, dance, talks, Street Arts tours, a Hip Hop Film Festival and a Spoken Word Festival titled SHOUT-OUT: A Festival of Rhythm & Rhyme. Get the full STREET ARTS line-up here.

The Power of Prayer, Stevan Gutierrez 2010

Still “showing love” to the East and West Coast pioneers and visionaries of the Hip Hop practice that we consider a ritual in the Southwest (even though the LA Times over looked us in their search for rival exhibits), the accomplished class of artist that comprise this exhibit come from across the country and the globe. Hip Hop cinema pioneer, Henry Chalfant from New York (Style Wars) and graffiti legend Chaz Bojorquez from Los Angeles were both part of this exhibit and led discussions on the history of their art to packed audiences. Black Arts Movement pioneer Amiri Baraka and Free Jazz great Cecil Taylor were part of a keynote collaboration that included Bojoroquez and Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam alumnus and “Break Beat Poet”, Idris Goodwin from Chicago. The A-list of artists included local and national talent from across all elements of Hip Hop: Lady Pink, Gajin Fujita, John Lorne, Shepard Fairey, Gaia, Mark Jenkins, Alexandre Orion, Chris Stain, Slinkachu, SWOON, Chip Thomas, Kevin Coval, Amalia Ortiz, Jonathan Khumbulani Nkala, Danfis Prieto, Kokayi, Molodi, Say Whut?!, Jaque Fragua, Thomas Christopher Haag, Albert Rosales, Carlos Contreras, Sina Soul and Hakim Bellamy.

According to the organizers, “Many of the programs and events for the STREET ARTS celebration focus on educating young people about their civil liberties. This project helps connect New Mexico artists, performers and audience with a larger dialogue that is happening around the globe.” This idea reinforces the value that New Mexican artists place on an uncompromising dedication to community engagement, youth development and social change. Since we always seem to end up with more lime in our beer than limelight, many “urban arts entrepreneurs” here in Albuquerque cannot sustain themselves entirely on their art, so we subsidize our budgets and our souls by bringing Hip Hop to the schools, community and detention centers in our very poor state. Yet we still find time to perform, tour, create and exhibit, whether the world is watching or not. Even with the oldest capital city in the nation, New Mexico often goes overlooked even though we do A LOT of things first. Ask anyone who has been here, including the renowned artists that were part of the STREET ARTS Exhibit, and they will tell you that it is only forgettable to folks who have never been. So come see why you can’t spell swagger without the SW and we’ll show you another world of Hip Hop.

Storytelling From El Otro Lado

2010-11-12T12:12:00.029-07:00

by Michelle Otero

As a writer, I believe that the reader completes the storytelling process. It is only when my words are shared, heard, read, witnessed that the story truly lives outside of me.

And so it is with the work of El Otro Lado: The Other Side – The Stories that Connect Us, a community-based art project, created by artist Chrissie Orr. The project explores our connection to place, our sense of home and belonging, of borders and cultural divides. In February, Chrissie and I began working with elders at Barelas Senior Center, youth at El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, and students at the Native American Community Academy (NACA). In April, we started a group at West Side Community Center, composed of students at the New America Charter School, their English teacher, two women from the community who signed up for the workshop via 516 ARTS, and Sarah, one of the elders from Barelas.

I believe in process. If the process is good, then the product will be as well.

El Otro Lado is a process-driven project. Thanks to support from the Academy for the Love of Learning, 516 ARTS, the Albert J. Pierce Foundation, and the McCune Charitable Foundation, Chrissie and I were able to make a deep investment in each community, meeting for two hours at a time, once a week, over a period of several months. Each participant received a journal. Each session began in a circle, where we checked in and shared our work. And then came the storytelling in the form of self-portraits and “I am From” poems and life maps painted in acrylics on canvas scrolls. Participants painted, drew, collaged, wrote, sang, and recorded oral narratives.

The result is a rich and profound exhibition of audio and visual work to open tomorrow, Saturday, November 13 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 7:00 PM in the Pete V. Domenici Education Building. The exhibition opens with an evening of storytelling, participants from each of the workshops reading their work and speaking of their experiences in El Otro Lado. They will be joined by local performance poets, Andrea Serrano and Manuel Gonzales. The audience will be invited to tell their own stories, both in person during the program, and electronically via the 516 ARTS blog.

The poems have been written. The self-portraits painted. The artwork hung. All that is missing is you.

Photos and video courtesy of Senaida Garcia

ArtSpark ignites for 516 ARTS!

2010-10-22T13:26:00.010-06:00

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you more than likely have either heard about the STREET ARTS celebration put on by your favorite local nonprofit contemporary artspace 516 ARTS, or have been to an event already. Some more than once.

What's next you ask? Well, first off we'd be in no position to continue without the generous support we've had from the city, local businesses, donors, artists, students and gallery patrons. But more importantly, being the small nonprofit organization that we are, we survive primarily on grants and donations from people who frequent the gallery or share our vision to provide an entirely singular contemporary art experience like none other. With that in mind, we ask anyone who has taken part in, attended or been moved by any of our exhibitions to consider making a tax-deductible contribution to 516 ARTS, a nonprofit charitable organization. Your contributions, large and small, help to ensure that we can continue to bring progressive and engaging exhibitions and arts programs to the community, mostly free of charge.

One way we are hoping to accomplish this is through a new and exciting collaboration with ArtSpark, which is based in Albuquerque and is working with area artists and organizations to engage audiences/fans in the creative process, including the big potential for fundraising that makes these arts projects possible. STREET ARTS is ArtSpark's first and featured project and we are honored to be teaming up!

Together, we hope to help raise funds for the STREET ARTS project via online social media channels (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), including micro-funding or crowd-funding (meaning a small dollar amount across many people really adds up!). They just launched the latest news in this effort and we are spreading the word to share the great things ArtSpark is working on to help Albuquerque's leading nonprofit contemporary artspace with the STREET ARTS festivities going on right now.

Check out the ArtSpark Blog to find out what this is all about and why 516 ARTS needs your help.

Don't miss the upcoming STREET ARTS events and the SHOUT OUT Festival November 4-7!

A Beautiful Night of Culture and the Opening of STREET TEXT

2010-10-06T15:29:00.033-06:00

As the sun went down on Central, the STREET ARTS celebration kicked off this past Saturday night with about 900 people at the opening reception for Street Text: Art From the Coasts & The Populist Phenomenon.

Thanks to wicked tracks and breakdancing from DJ's Open Road and Shakedown, the lovely beat boxer Saywut?! and dancers Albert Rosales, Jaque Fragua and more, the opening brilliantly incorporated the culture and freedom of expression that the art displayed.

Ahead of the art scene in Los Angeles - check out the commentary at KOB - 516 ARTS set the acceptance and existence of Albuquerque's street art in motion, and hopefully for a long time to come. The show will be up through December 11 and new long-term murals paint the streets and alleys of downtown Albuquerque. Download a map of these murals here and a sweet video of Chip Thomas and crew in action here.

For more, check out the evolving flickr sets of photos and media links below.

PRINT:

Outdoor Art Comes Inside: 516 takes it to the streets

by John Bear, The Weekly Alibi, 9/30/10

Señor Suerte: Talking with street artist Chaz Bojorquez

by Christie Chrisholm, The Weekly Alibi, 9//30/10

Taking it to the streets

by Heather Saxon, Local IQ, 10/1/10

Underground Counterculture Movement Invades Albuquerque

by Melody Mock, albuquerqueARTS, October 2010

Street Arts showcases global cultural movement

by Megan Kamerick, New Mexico Business Weekly, 9/17/10

WEB:

Blog post about STREET ARTS at ArtSpark

RADIO:

KIVA Talk Radio

Interview with artist Chris Stain and curator Francesca Searer by Hakim Bellamy

An Interspecies Encounter at 516 ARTS

2010-07-08T09:08:00.010-06:00

By Molly Beer

The 516 ARTS celebration of Lisa Gill’s The Relenting: A Play of Sorts, just published by New Rivers Press, was not unlike the “interspecies altercation” that the work depicts. From the start, the evening portended to be more than a book party: there was a diamondback in glass, just inside the door, and throughout the gallery lyrics like “he’s a cold-hearted snake” invoked a different, albeit equally shudder-worthy, sort of déjà vu. Like Gill herself, who wrote The Relenting after encountering a rattlesnake in the living room of her remote home outside Moriarty, NM, those assembled at 516 ARTS found themselves in the presence of a strange beast—Undulating Swell, Pit Viper, Charmed Convolution, Corkscrew Asp—at once repelling and irresistible.

If anyone failed to realize this before the lights dimmed, actor Kevin R. Elder of the Tricklock Company, his legs entwined heel to knee with pistachio rattles, elaborated: “YOU ARE NOT DRESSED FOR OUR ENCOUNTER!” he bellowed at Gill and the rest of us assembled. Gill, playing the self-modeled character she calls simply “Woman,” shed blue jeans and camisole, then zipped high black boots over bare feet and calves, and re-revealed herself sleek and diamondbacked, a worthy and not dissimilar adversary to Elder’s Snake.

For the hour-long staged reading that followed, Gill and Elder, as Woman and Snake, respectively (with some interchange), all but tangoed across a small, spare stage in everything from word association, Greek, slang, and African siSwati, to physical entanglement that was at once amorous and antagonistic.

Across a few thousand years of snake-and-woman mythology, Gill’s new play seeks to balance an equation of venom and vulnerability. Snake and Woman have been the victims and the vanquished since Genesis, since Paradise Lost, and remain so today, with Woman mourning the rape of her body, and Snake, the rape of his land.

At one point, Woman calls her cognitive behavioral psychologist for a consult. At another she invokes a Sheriff’s Deputy to sway the scales. But ultimately it is through interplay and parley, through creative affinity, fear, and empathy, and the summoning of history and myth, that Woman, whose home—her heart, as she depicts her two-room, four-part cabin—has been violated, seeks to reconcile a history of hurt and subjugation that has befallen such otherwise powerful beings:

WOMAN
How did you come to feel so reviled?
Have humans always looked down on
every underbelly living in quiet submission to the earth?
So what if sometimes you protect yourself.
Who wouldn't? Who shouldn't?
Here, in my living room, there is no hierarchy in my gaze.
You are down and I am out:
We are together the makings of equity.
Would you prefer this chair?

The Relenting is an ambitious work on page and stage. And one can’t help but picture the Minoan Snake Goddess who graces the cover of the newly minted play when one considers Gill’s bold reclaiming of subject matter that has been codified over centuries by history’s literary heavyweights. June’s first-ever staging at 516 Arts suggests Lisa Gill has caught hold of her serpent, and with this work holds him aloft.

The Relenting was read and performed at 516 ARTS on June 11, 2010.

Man, Machines & Metropolis

2010-06-04T13:39:00.023-06:00

Featuring The Chuppers

When I went to staff the Metropolis/Chupper event, I figured it would be interesting. I've always enjoyed the combination of live music and silent film. I supposed I would enjoy the music more since my memories of Metropolis from seeing it on a small black and white TV screen were murky at best. Back then, at the age of 15, enamored by a naturalistic acting style that I was struggling to master myself, I was in no place to truly appreciate it.

Fast forward 34 years in a life of studying, performing and teaching physical theatre.

I loved Metropolis. Yeah, yeah, the Chuppers music was really cool and a wonderful accompaniment, but the imagery was what held me. The huge yet specific gestural language, the use of the gaze to direct intention, the cuts and montages... the music fell away and I was drawn in, fascinated. I felt once again a kind of sadness that we are so contained in our expressions.

There is room in this world for the passionate gesture. Fritz Lang knew what he was doing and now I know it too.

[Event took place Friday, April 30, 2010]
presented in collaboration by UNM ARTS Lab & 516 ARTS

Thoughts on Robotics + Art: Theory & Technology Smack-Down!

2010-05-14T13:04:00.022-06:00

Panel Discussion at 516 ARTS
Saturday, May 1, 2010

Sitting in the audience on Saturday afternoon at the panel discussion for Artificial Selection, our minds were blown by the scope of the ideas presented by the mix of artists, researchers, scientists and philosophers who spoke. The panel was moderated by Andrea Polli, Artist/Director of ARTS Lab & the Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media Program at UNM.

Simon Mehalek posed many questions in his examination of what it means to create intelligence in a machine. What happens when we start integrating machines with ourselves? What does it mean to be human? What is machine intelligence and how does it evolve? Is it possible to give a machine consciousness? What if we can/can't overcome the speed of light? He pointed out that technologies have the capacity to eliminate certain kinds of suffering in the world, but that the potential damage to people is even greater. While his thoughts were a dazzling progression of intelligence and ideas, he seldom stepped out of the realm of the theoretical. Simon said that any machine is an amplification of energy, and there is great potential for machines to amplify the human mind, but I wonder, to what end? And can they do it any better than meditative practice, shamanistic rituals or any of the thousands of methods we've created over millennia to transcend the every day and our understanding of our place in it? We struggle to understand the full potential of our minds, I wonder about the ongoing romance of creating machines to expand them. He also suggested that maybe what it means to be human is that we become our technology. A nice phrase, but where are the boundaries? The ramifications of that are boggling.

Mark Walker, Ph.D. in the Dept. of Philosophy at New Mexico State University, referred to what happens when advanced technology is " in the hands of glorified apes." He stressed that the things we call virtues – like kindness and goodness – have a partial basis in biology, and our biology is our best chance at survival. Can we program a basic moral compass into a machine? One that will adapt to circumstance? Should it adapt? Mark made another point about how the centerpieces for progress are changing (historically) from Philosophy to Science and now to Technology.

Melanie Moses, Ph.D. in the Dept. of Computer Science at UNM, examines the "laws acting all around us" by looking at the complexity of ant behavior to understand general principles that govern biological and social organization. She started her presentation by quoting Charles Darwin, and emphasized that her work largely has everything to do with artificial selection, through modeling biological networks including the immune system, ant colonies and other complex systems and computational biology. Melanie noted that our evolution is slowing as our environment is changing faster and faster, so we probably won't have enough time to adapt to the new world we are creating. Is this because we are creating machines to rid us of the type of challenges that stimulate our biological evolution? Or perhaps we're creating machines that, subject to human failings, are creating new worlds that in the end will be uninhabitable for us (i.e. the thousands of gallons of oil currently being spilled into the gulf each day). The rapidity at which our technology is potentially making our world uninhabitable is the real marvel.

Toward the end of the panel discussion, the question was raised by an audience member about the fate of all the knowledge from indigenous people that hasn't yet been recorded for posterity. Melanie said that it's a natural progression to lose knowledge, and we have to fight to keep it. But how do we choose what's valuable to us as we evolve and our society changes. What are the core values that will carry us forward? We are always talking about how machines will free us from drudgery inherent in everyday survival, it's an old trope, and how we will use the free time for inner and outer exploration, but really, for the most part, what we use it for is leisure. We are animals after all, and we love our pleasures.

From notes by Suzanne Sbarge and Barbara Geary

Artificial Selection

2010-04-30T12:32:00.013-06:00

Steve Budington, Blink/Unblink, oil on canvas

April 24 – June 26, 2010

Artificial Selection is a group exhibition bringing together art, science, myth and technology to examine the processes of adaptation, mutation and survival when the natural order distinguishing species or machine becomes less distinct. Hybrids pervade our mythologies and religions and continue to play an influential role in the way we perceive our capabilities as a creative species. The exhibition raises questions about the consequences of the process of artificial selection. Curated by Rhiannon Mercer of 516 ARTS, it features 18 artists from New Mexico and across the United States.

ARTISTS:

Krista Birnbaum • Steve Budington • Christine Chin • Robert Dohrmann • Travis J. Farnsworth • Sarah Hearn • Laurie Hogin • Simon Mehalek • Stephanie Metz • Adrienne Outlaw • Andrea Polli • Alison Petty Ragguette • Gil Scullion • Luke Shaw • John Stephenson • Brad Story • Heidi Taillefer • Adrianne Wortzel