Here's the Best Art We Saw in Metro Phoenix During November 2016

The “never a dull moment” maxim certainly applied to the metro Phoenix arts scene in November.

The artist collective Postcommodity was selected to participate in the 2017 Whitney Biennial. Artists represented by Lisa Sette Gallery and several artists working with Laura Dragon of {9} The Gallery headed to art fairs during Miami Art Week. Nancy Hill announced that her Chartreuse galley won’t be closing after all. And Fine Art Complex 1101 in Tempe was vandalized while showing works addressing politics and propaganda.

There was plenty of interesting art worth seeing, but there were 10 works that stood out from the rest. Here’s a look back at some of the best art from November 2016 in the Valley.

Landscapes and Nudes
Albena Baeva
Bulgarian artist Albena Baeva set images of sculptures in iconic locations around the Roosevelt Row arts district as part of her “Landscapes and Nudes” exhibition at the Project Space at ASU's Combine Studios. It’s one of many ways she’s worked to “explore processes of myth-making and social narration in an urban context.”

Silence
Kristin Bauer
Tempe artist Kristin Bauer showed this piece in “Bread & Butter,” a pop-up exhibition she curated for an experimental curatorial project called Capsule in the studio space she shares with fellow artist and husband Emmett Potter. The show, which opened November 19, included several works of contemporary art created by various Los Angeles artists.

Untitled (252)
Hunt Rettig
Rettig’s piece, which will be on view in the atrium at Lisa Sette Gallery through January 7, 2017, was created with polyester film, synthetic rubber, and acrylics. His body of work comprises mixed media assemblages that reflect biomorphic forms and “the sensual shapes of our natural world.”

Cerrado
Annie Lopez
One of several new works recently featured in the “True Blue: Annie Lopez” exhibition presented by R. Pela Contemporary Art at Walter Art Gallery, this small-scale dress form was created using cyanotype photography and tamale wrapping paper. It’s part of a larger body of work exploring personal identity, family history, and social commentary.

The City Life
Melanie Walker
Using house images and the idea of home as metaphor, Walker explores “the notions of memory, family, dreams, and fiction.” Several of her works were featured in the recent “(Re)View: Abstract, Land, and the Narrative” exhibition at Art Intersection, which included works by three artists who use traditional or historical photographic processes.


MacDC26
Takashi Iwasaki
This Canadian artist’s work was part of a recent exhibition titled “It Took a While,” which was juried by Molly Koehn and Erika Lynne Hanson for the Fiber Arts Network, and shown at ASU’s Harry Wood Gallery. This 2013 piece is one of many hand-embroidery on canvas works in Iwasaki’s extensive body of work.

Invaders
Julio Cesar Morales
Works by Morales, curator for the ASU Art Museum, were shown in November at both Palabra and Fine Art Complex 1101, where this piece was part of an exhibition titled “This Machine Kills ________.” Morales uses various media including neon, watercolors, and turntables to create “social-based abstracted artwork” exploring issues such as human trafficking and underground economies.

Known Waterfalls of Greater Phoenix!
Laura Spalding Best
During her recent “Inferior Mirage” exhibition at Chartreuse gallery, Best showed this piece created using mostly vintage trays painted with faux-waterfalls spotted throughout metropolitan Phoenix. It’s part of her larger body of work exploring the intersection of built and natural environments.

Untitled 9
Erica Deeman
This photograph, which is one of five Deeman works featured in the “Get Face (To Gain Respect: To Increase One’s Status)” exhibition continuing through January 8, 2017, at Phoenix Art Museum, is part of a series called “Silhouettes,” which features portraits of women from the African diaspora.

Wedding Dress
Kate Daudy
This work is featured in the “Off the Page: Contemporary Art Influenced by Literature” exhibition that continues through January 22, 2017, at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. Daudy, an artist and linguist who speaks seven languages, is influenced by “writers and thinkers of diverse cultures and historical periods.”

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect the correct title of Laura Spalding Best's work.