The Three Dimensional Designs of Edward Martinez

What a delight to step into SE-OC Right Brain Gallery last Friday to meet the humble and incredibly talented artist Edward Martinez. His unique, one-of-kind designs are three-dimensional landscapes that incorporate LED lights, and in some cases, microprocessors programmed to create different lighting effects. 

At the age of twelve Martinez, also known as “Viejo,” developed his style and love for art that  keeps changing with time and location, always reflecting his surroundings. As a young boy, he won several awards for his mosaic work and paintings growing up in Chicago. Viejo says, “As a young artist, when this is all you have for your surroundings, people would tell me to look past the rough exterior for inner beauty. What I noticed is that I didn’t have to look past anything at all to find beauty. It was actually on the surface and all around me. This made it easier for me to tell a story and evoke a feeling through my work. Thus, I found mosaic art, drawing and family as my only outlet and form of comfort.” 

Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeded Shoe

Walter Steiger."Unicorn Tayss," Spring 2013. 

Recently, I spent the afternoon at the vast, one-of-kind, eye-opening exhibition Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe. This traveling art show is utterly mesmerizing, sexy, and historically educating all at the same time.

Killer Heels explores fashion’s most provocative accessory. From the high platform chopines of sixteenth-century Italy to the glamorous stilettos gracing today’s runways and red carpets, the exhibition looks at the high-heeled shoe’s rich and varied history and its enduring place in our popular imagination. Deadly sharp stilettos, architecturally inspired wedges and platforms, shoes with fox tails, ruffles, horns, feathers, spikes, horse hooves, even some lined with fur are featured among the more than 160 historical and contemporary heels on loan from designers and from the renowned Brooklyn Museum costume collection, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Aperial."Geisha Lines," Fall 2013

Designers and design houses represented in the exhibition include Manolo Blahnik, Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tom Ford, Zaha Hadid, Iris van Herpen, Rem D. Koolhass, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Andre Perugia, Prada, Elsa Schiaparelli, Noritaka Tatehana, Vivienne Westwood, and Pietro Yantorny. 

The Albuquerque exhibit also includes heels by local designers and artists including Janice Ortiz, Virgil Ortiz, Goldie Garcia, Teri Greeves, and Deana McGuffin, as well as examples of the current Mexican Pointy Boots craze sweeping the United States Southwest and northern Mexico. 

“The high heels featured in this exhibition are more than just fashion. They’re history. They’re sculpture. Truly, they are art.” 

~ Andrew Connors, Curator of Art at the Albuquerque Museum

Christian Louboutin."Metropolis," Fall/Winter 2010-11.

Presented alongside the objects in the exhibition are six specially commissioned risque and daring short films inspired by high heels. The filmmakers are Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh for “Higher Me”, Zach Gold for “Spike”, Steven Klein for “Untitled”, Nick Knight for “La Douleur Exquise”, Marilyn Minter for “Smash”, and Rashaad Newsome for “Knot”.

The exhibition finishes with two hands-on activites, “Design Your Own High Heeled Shoe” using card stock and crayon markers and “Shoe Story - Tell us the story of your favorite shoes!” using lined 4” x 5” paper and pencils, complete with high-heeled chairs to lounge in. Don’t miss the museum store which has been transformed with every imaginable high heeled accessory: cookie cutters, ice cube molds, door stops, jewelry, books, high heeled shoe bags, and slippers to change into after wearing high heeled shoes!

Killer Heels will hang through August 9th at the Albuquerque Museum located at 2000 Mountain Road NW in Old Town, Albuquerque, NM, (505) 243-7255, www.albuquerquemuseum.org. Museum hours are Tuesday - Sunday, 9am - 5pm. Third Thursday of each month until 8:30pm.

Touch/Tone at Matrix Fine Art

 It’s always a joy to return to Matrix Fine Art, the sister gallery of New Grounds Print Workshop and Gallery. Director Regina Held assembles cutting edge art shows that consistently draw the crowds in regardless of the season. When I attend her exhibitions, I often pause for a moment to take in the swirl of gallery activity. This time I realized what sets it apart is the live printing press demonstration that is a welcomed break during the evening show.

Artists William Ruller and Saul Hoffman join Susan Reid in this group exhibition of textured abstract paintings that beg to be touched. Ruller creates large, tangible, subtly colored geometric paintings. He combines oil paint with textures of crumbled brick and concrete to represent the frailties of humanity; and the erosion of lives that once existed. Hoffman’s clay mosaics are diametrically opposed to Ruller’s in that they are bursting with small, colorful and almost candy-like details and pattern.  Middle ground is created by the aboriginal inspired dot paintings of Susan Reid.  Her deliberate geometric pattern have a meditative, yet mesmerizing quality about them that is uniquely her own.

Paa-ko Fine Artist Guild

Under the direction of Dave Daniels, ten exceptional fine artists working in a variety of media presented an impressive third exhibition this past weekend at the Paa-Ko Event Center in Sandia Park, New Mexico. Featured artists included Dorothy McDonough McGeorge, Trish Meyer, Roy Breckenridge, Gloria Casale, Chris Meyer, Anita Daniels, Jane Gaines, Rich Irwin, Jodi Newton, and Joe DiRaddo. 

In addition to the fine arts show, local authors John M. Taylor, Albert Noyer, Josephy Badal, and Jennifer Noyer signed books, gave book readings and spoke about their work.

Love and Hearts at Essence Gallery & Boutique

Last Friday’s ARTScrawl led me to Old Town’s Essence Gallery & Boutique, a very well appointed gallery, featuring a “Love and Hearts” group exhibition just in time for Valentine’s Day. 

This show includes the work of Linda Patrick’s ornaments and wall hangings, Karina Graham’s recycled art, and Jillian Maresco's paintings. This exquisite exhibition focusing on hearts, love and romance is a must-see date with your sweetheart!

Gallery owner Jillian Maresco has always had an interest in art from an early age. Her parents were both art collectors and often took her to galleries, art auctions, art shows and museums as a child. 

She worked in retail most of her life starting in clothing shops and more recently, art galleries learning every step of the way. 

Contemporary Artifacts - works by Chris Meyer and Jenn Noel

Last Friday’s ARTScrawl led me to the Weyrich Gallery featuring Contemporary Artifacts with mixed media artist Chris Meyer and ceramics artist Jenn Noel. Gallery owner Valerie Tibbetts has created a show that combines Meyer’s modern photography, printing, traditional collage and assemblage techniques with Noel’s functional pottery, featuring earthy glazes and traditional symbols such as spirals. Both of their work gives the impression of being archaeological finds while still being recently made, fitting Weyrich's overall theme of "diverse works from dreams, folklore, myth and the earth”.

Jenn Noel grew up in Socorro, New Mexico and earned her BFA in graphic design with a minor in photography and marketing from Eastern New Mexico University. While working as a graphic designer, she had a creative outlet but felt something was missing. Her interest in pottery began when she returned to school at the University of New Mexico to pursue a nursing degree and by chance took a ceramic class on the Arita method of Japanese porcelain. This method continues to influence her art work even though she now works in stoneware. Noel is a ceramic artist who truly believes in art living in a functional space. She validates this by adding, “When you use handmade objects, it allows you to slow down and experience the beauty of the world.”

Chris Meyer is a fan of wabi-sabi - the “beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”. He admires the myriad details of natural and handmade objects. His pieces start as photographs of rocks, ruins, petroglyphs, and petrified wood found around the Four

Corners region of the Southwest. Meyer looks for shapes, patterns, and hidden meanings in those images, akin to the way an old-school Zuni carver studies a rock looking for an animal’s spirit to release. From there, he creates collages to emphasize those patterns, and then print his photos on top to unify these real and imaginary worlds. Meyer finishes by adding assemblage elements – including sticks, stones, beads, bones, feathers, fibers, and metals – to add dimension, both to the physical work as well as to its layers of meaning, with many of the items selected specifically to convey a story embodied in the final piece. 

In describing his unique process, Meyer says, “Rather than attempt to create a perfect print of my photos, I see the shapes they contain as a starting point. I study these images for patterns, then build collages out of various papers, symbols, and texts to emphasize the shapes, texture and mood of an individual photo.” Meyer has exhibited his one-of-kind art with many groups including Collage Artists of America, Los Angeles Experimental Artists, and The Society of Layerists in Multi-Media.

There will be a second reception for Contemporary Artifacts on Saturday, January 10th, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Weyrich Gallery. At this reception, Chris Meyer will give an artist talk that will be videotaped for later posting on Facebook and YouTube. Contemporary Artifacts will hang through January 30th at Weyrich Gallery, 2935-D Louisiana Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM, (505) 883.7410, www.weyrichgallery.com.

Female Gaze/Male Figure at Matrix Fine Art

How do women view men? Is it through the lens of desire or objectivity? What does it mean to reverse the roles and examine how women look at men? 

This show, curated by Diane Alire, was to feature eight female photographers exploring the concept of “the female gaze” by photographing the male nude. However, only six of the original eight photographers presented their work at the exhibition. The idea for the show came from the companion exhibition “One Model, 15 Photographers” previously at Matrix Fine Art in which one female model was photographed by fifteen photographers.

Participating artists include Lisa Tremaine, Kyle Zimmerman, Ann Bromberg, Kate Livingston, Aaron Marie and Diane Alire. Kyle Zimmerman says, “I think the lens that we view each other is more complex than only desire or objectivity. I am female/I am male. I am me/I am you.” Her piece Legacy is a story about the feminine quality in the male to nurture, to hold, to stay. Her piece Reach is a riff on the old classic Vitruvian Man - a study in perfect proportions and standards. Zimmerman says, “For me, perfection is about the reach we all have to enforce our destiny. Man. Woman. Us.”

Kate Livingston poignantly describes the experience of photographing the male figure by stating, “As a female artist, I know the way I see men is generally different than a male artist views a woman. I believe that women see things with a little more grace or delicateness, a softer beauty, if you will. There isn’t a feeling of, ‘that is so sexy,’ but more like, ‘that is so beautiful.’

Livingston also mentioned that when she picked her model some of her considerations were, ‘Would I feel comfortable working with him?’ ‘Is there any connection?’ She imagine that a male photographer might not even consider these questions when choosing a female model. 

Livingston chose the outdoor setting at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. She brought two assistants with her to block the trail on either side to make the model feel safe. Livingston says, “Tent Rocks is a part of my feminine self. The hike isn’t too challenging or long, and it’s got twists and turns just like emotions. It has slot canyons that fill with water in a storm, but for the most part are very dry and protected from the hot sun.” Her two pieces titled Strength and Perseverance are named for qualities that she says many men possess, but they are also qualities within her.

Female Gaze/Male Figure will hang through December 27th at Matrix Fine Art located in Albuquerque’s historic Nob Hill, 3812 Central Avenue SE, Suite 100 A, Albuquerque, NM 87108, (505) 268-8952, www.matrixfineart.com

My Path to Enchantment ~ photography by Kate Livingston

Art can be found anywhere. Typically, I spend the first Friday of the month cruising Albuquerque eager to attend the ARTScrawl. This month, however, I was enjoying a tuna melt sandwich at the Cheese & Coffee Cafe one Saturday afternoon when I was seated directly in front of a stunning exhibition of photography produced by Kate Livingston. The title of the show intrigued me. When I inquired about the genesis for her series, Livingston explained, “I get very inspired by exploring new places, especially the spaces between towns that are more wide-open, and unusual little side-of-the-road attractions that you’d never experience if you took an airplane instead.”

Two Perspectives at The Gallery ABQ

First Friday’s ARTScrawl brought me to The Gallery ABQ for the opening reception of 2 Perspectives, featuring water media and drawings by Jerry Love and oil paintings by Jean Porter. In addition, Rebecca Nolda was present with her mixed media series Hidden City in the gallery salon. Art enthusiasts crowded the gallery as we all listened to Porter give her presentation on Artist Insights. 

Originally from New Jersey, Jean Porter was trained as a technical illustrator. Her varied experience includes electrical layouts, topography, electrical schematics to all kinds of illustration for publication. Porter has produced graphic designs, one of which was selected for the logo of the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair. Porter says, “My genre is Surrealism, using allegory, parody and analogy to make a statement, to a large extent I think that reality only exist in it’s perception.” Many times, Porter juxtaposes seemingly unrelated objects into a piece of art for the purpose of seeing their meanings in a whole new way.  

What Makes Art Great?

What is it about some works of art that allows them to stand the test of time? What is it exactly that make a work of art truly memorable and truly great? There are many beautiful works of art and many more that are surprising, innovative, and thought provoking, but of all the art produced in the world in any given year, very few pieces are exceptional. “Great” art manages to satisfy its viewers at a deeper level than the rest.

For the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of critiquing fine art in the Southwest from as far north as Taos to the southern town of Truth or Consequences. Today, I’ve chosen local artists that exemplifies the meaning of greatness in the categories of Narrative, Beauty, Realism, Form, Movement, Symbolism and Expression. The featured artists’ works have been looked at in an analytical way in order to assess what it is that makes each one so successful in its own field.

Narrative

Chris Meyer - Most of his work originates as photographs of rocks and similar natural forms. Meyer studies these images for patterns, then build collages out of various papers, symbols, and texts to emphasize the shapes, texture and mood of an individual photo. Adding assemblage elements – including sticks, stones, beads, bones, feathers, fibers, and metals – to add dimension: both to the physical work, as well as to its layers of meaning. When done, he leaves it to the viewer to play the roll of archaeologist, studying the resulting artifact for clues of when and where it came from, imagining what purpose it served for the unknown culture that created it.