This is as dangerous a proposition as falling in love, with the right or the wrong person. Yesterday was centered around art, making and seeing. The usual morning routine took place, the exception being that I forewent acupuncture and pizza, as others had planned, and instead worked in the studio in the morning. I finished (in the afternoon) the KEY or LEGEND piece (not sure yet how it will be titled), and went with Aimee to our art sightseeing venture. Ellen, Cobi and Agnes (who is back until the end of the month) went to get pizza, and Aimee picked me up after her acupuncture session (which I still plan on going, hopefully sometime this week). We decided to keep in touch via text and phone calls and hopefully meet up there.
Our destination is a district of Santa Fe called Railyard, which, for what I gathered, is a new development in town surrounding the old train station (which I believe still operates, as there were tons of people waiting at the platform, even a Mennonite girl). As always, one can always count on Google maps to give you the wrong directions, so though we thought we were lost, we actually got there and found the perfect parking spot. This location was actually pretty close to where we live, less than 10 minutes driving (but then again, most things are this close here, unless u want to go see nature or go out of town). Aimee had the name of a few places she wanted to check out, suggested during her lunch meeting with the local couple a few days prior, but we decided to go to a gallery where we parked. Zane Bennett Contemporary, as the name implied, focused on current works, mostly local artists but also some known names (such as Bruce Naumann and Holly Roberts). The gallery was very large and the space very attractive (they even had an elevator to the second floor, which was great for Aimee's foot, still healing). The work varied from being very decorative, to predictable, to actually surprisingly interesting and fresh. On the second floor we saw an artist's very large watercolors or machinery and interiors that were actually very interesting. As we came back downstairs, the guy behind the counter was very friendly and told us to go see the backroom, where works on paper were on display. He then told us about the gallery, their focus (big sellers to support showing younger artists, blockbuster shows that back up experimental ones, etc), their expansions (he mentioned a warehouse nearby that allows them to only have show space in this location, almost no storage). He said that for the regional market they sell mostly traditional art, but that in art fairs they even sell new media works (he said that before knowing what I did, which I am not sure is new media, intermedia is still the word I prefer). He asked about us and told us to come back, so after a pleasant exchange we decided to go to the next stop, a gallery in Aimee's list. We were on the right street, so we just walked south towards it.
On Guadalupe we encountered these huge contemporary buildings (the previous gallery was cement and blank walls inside but Adobe outside), warehouse-like, that house enormous galleries. As luck would have it, the very last one was the one Aimee wanted to go to, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, which had a photography and basket exhibition. The place was beautiful, the light was moody, the work interesting and I am glad I saw it, though it would not have been my pick. As we finished looking at them Aimee got a text from Ellen, who was nearby, and we all met at the James Kelly Contemporary. That gallery reminded me of Chelsea, with its airiness and minimal appeal, though I imagine that it was a simulated warehouse look, rather than original (though I could be wrong).
[The place I really wanted to go, SITE Santa Fe, across the street from Charlotte Jackson, is close this month for installation, what a bummer]
The works at James Kelly were pretty interesting, paintings that looked like one was under water looking towards the sun, or in a cave looking at reflections from an external light source. We all met there, and I began talking to this lady that work there, well she actually approached me because of my sun tattoo. She was fascinated by it (I got it done in Florida in 2002, it was a random pick from a tattoo wall, and I had it put on my arm upside down), and we talked for quite a bit about it, about the powers of the sun, etc. Eventually she asked me about what I was doing there, found out I was in residency, and we exchanged some more pleasantries. As I always say (not my original thought), half of the work is just showing up. I noticed that Ellen and Cobi had disappeared and we were left with Agnes. As we stepped outside she said she wanted to go further south (we explained that we wanted walk towards the car because of Aimee's foot), so we split up. We ran into Ellen and Cobi at the David Richard Gallery, which was showing some very cool work, and most of it was in the color red.
[I do not have an excellent memory for names, I have been using "The Official ART MAP' to do so, and I just found out this gallery has another location in town, closer to the plaza]
The four of us talked a bit about Agnes, who seems to still be in the mood for the old dynamics of the residency (which really does not exist anymore, everyone is truly getting along just fine, co-existing well), and how that was a bit of a downer. I think that being negative is sometimes a French trait (most French people would agree with me, but maybe not to my face), so I take her energy with a grain of salt. She's been totally nice to me, and I hope this stays that way, as the only negativity I need these days will come from within. I run away from external crap. Well, we hoped she'd find a way to get in touch with us, as she did not drive. After seeing this gallery, we split again, as Ellen and Cobi wanted to check out the Zane Bennett, and Aimee and I see one more gallery nearby. Because I wanted to photograph the train (I know, don't ask), I told Aimee to go ahead and I'd meet her ahead. She walked really fast and I actually lost her, and upon texting found out she was already at the last stop for this leg of the race, the Capriccio Foundation at 333 Montezuma. This was a gallery in a small shopping center, and it seemed to display works by younger artists. The work itself was pretty cool, albeit slightly predictable at some instances and poorly installed in others, but overall I thought it was a very smart and fresh curatorial effort (I imagine that 20-something artists made the works shown), very different from the other galleries in this district, and definitely sexier than Canyon Road. I was actually happy I had come to see these galleries in this area, as I was really getting disappointed by this region (made me hopeful that not everything here is schlock). By then Aimee's foot began to swell so we decided to head back, but first stopping at a pastry shop, which had its doors open and was filled with clients, but told us they were closed (3:05 then, their closing time 3:00). I asked where we could find a similar shop in town that was open a bit later (everything closes early here), and they literally just stared at me dumbfound as if I had spoken in Swahili. As we got to the car we ran into Agnes, who said she'd stick around there because at 6 pm there was a dance event at some bar (I am not sure how she'd kill three hours of her time, but that was her choice). I believe it was country/square dancing, which sounded fine, but not our cup of tea. She said she'd take the bus back or a cab.
Aimee remembered a cupcake shop near a place she went to the other day, so we decided to drive over there. We each had two cupcakes (which were small in size, borderline mini-cupcakes), and some hibiscus iced tea. Again we talked for quite a bit and then drove back to the institute. We thought about going to see a movie, but the movie theater on campus had its last saturday showing at 3 pm, and we did not want to go see any mainstream movies. I went to my room to pee and ended up lying down to rest my back. Got a text from Aimee about a place called CCA (Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe), which was very close to the Pig Roast party location. There was a Jane Fonda movie at 7:30 and the tickets were $7.50, so we decided to do that.
I went back to the studio to begin a new piece, which is completely insane of me to be doing it now (I am drawing 1/4 inch hearts as the backdrop in a 22"x 30" piece, another work about love - I think it is my third work in the last 10 years about it), and I completely lost track of time. Mike called me to talk about the road trip and that put me further behind schedule. Before I knew it was 7 pm, so I ran into the kitchen and everybody was cooking. There is a new person in the residency, I believe her name is Myriel and she is German, a collaborator to Amy Franceschinni, the visiting artist, who will arrive on sunday. I made some quick eggs with toast, added some tomatoes and rice vinegar, and headed to the courtyard to eat as fast as I could. Aimee showed up, and while I got dressed, she washed my frying pan (thanks friend!). We got tot he car and off we went to the movies. We thought we were lost and so as I made the phone call to get the street address we saw the building. We parked in the dirty and walked up to the building. The movie was screened in this very small black box studio setting (about 40 temporary seats I'd say). The movie we saw was "Peace, Love & Misunderstandings" with Jane Fonda (who looked gorgeous and gave a moving performance) and Catherine Keener (whom I absolutely adore, though she looked aged and tired). Her daughter was played by the younger Olsen sister, who looked to have one of the worst nose jobs I've ever seen on the silver screen (borderline snout). The story was rushed but cute (everything seemed to take place in less than two weeks, and everyone seemed to find love in a successful manner immediately), but overall it was a sweet movie, with a few funny moments. It supposedly took place in Woodstock, but I did not recognize any place at all (and Aimee knows the town as well). I do not think that Woodstock is still a hippie town either, but I guess this is part of the artistic license, as it is a movie, not reality.
Got back before 10 pm, went to my room to watch TV, and fell asleep. Ready to tackle art projects soon, excited about all the ideas in my head and all the possibilities. Weekends are always best here, without the summer camp kids and the staff wanting attention from us.
- posted via iPad
Location:Cerrillos Rd,Santa Fe,United States
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