Last Friday’s ARTScrawl led me to the opening reception of the group show SURFACE and the solo show PARCHED featuring the work of Jane Gordon at the Harwood Art Center.
SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico is an annual juried exhibition, professional development and endowed cash awards program presented by Harwood Art Center in partnership with Albuquerque Art Business Association. This year’s show includes 13 exceptionally talented, committed artists - each in a different stage of emergence: Isaac Alaridpease, Mia Casesa, Chris Casey, Jessica Chao, Xuan Chen, Christa Dalian, Beverly Fisher, Holly Grimm, Bryce Hample, Dani Jeffries, Georgina Latino, Jamie Porter Lara, and Tera Muskrat.
Two artists stood out among the pack. Ceramic tile artist, Dani Jeffries, who says, “My piece represents the yin and yang. Cold hard tile versus soft warm imagery. Light and dark. All things in balance.” Chris Casey whose sculptures are truly one-of-kind says, “My work is an exercise in pure abstraction. I eschew all representation in favor of elegant forms and vibrant collaboration.”
Jane Gordon, the 2013 SURFACE Marion & Kathryn Crissey Emerging Artist Award recipient and the Harwood Art Center Solo Exhibition Award recipient, led an awesome solo exhibition, PARCHED, in the front gallery. Gordon, who holds a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Art Ecology, says she’s inspired by science fiction and fantasy. She hand made each and every rock that appears in her exhibition. In addition, Gordon invites visitors to take seed balls for use in their own neighborhoods to encourage the reflection on the ubiquitous gravel and concrete that prevents even desert plants from flourishing.
The Harwood Art Center has quite a history. From 1925-1976, the property was the home of the Harwood Girls School. Due to cuts in the school’s budget, the school was closed and the campus was reopened as the Albuquerque Urban Indian Center, the Southwest Organizing Project and the Albuquerque Amritsar Academy from 1976-1984. In 1984, Escuela del Sol - Harwood Art Center’s future parent organization, began renting a portion of the campus for elementary school students. From 1991-1995, the focus of Harwood was to build its own community of artists and connect to the neighborhood. Starting in 1995, Harwood expanded to include an after school art program and a summer art camp for children, art classes, exhibitions, community outreach projects, apprenticeships, teaching and professional development opportunities.
SURFACE and PARCHED will hang from June 6 - July 24th at the Harwood Art Center, 1114 Seventh Street NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, (505) 242-6367, www.harwoodartcenter.org.
