This third Friday, you can add another spot to your Third Friday art tour. 1Spot Gallery, which takes over the former Regular Gallery spot on 6th Street behind TH!nk Printing and Five15, will host a grand opening celebration with work by Damian Jim.
Jim and local creative Michelle Ponce are known for their artwork and for Ziindi, a zine distributed throughout Downtown and in Native communities that showcases indigenous artwork from the region. The two took over the spot in December and note that it was a natural fit and won't be too hard to find -- it's painted with an indigenous map of the Arizona Canal system by Breeze for Jackalope Ranch's map show last year.
See also: - Ziindi: An Indigenous Art Zine and Pop-Up Gallery in Downtown Phoenix - Thomas "Breeze" Marcus' Hohokam Canal System - You Are Here: Jackalope Ranch Hosts Maps of Phoenix by Local Artists at Regular Gallery
According to Ponce, the mission of 1Spot and Ziindi is to promote and showcase indigenous artwork and expression, featuring the distinctive perspective of modern indigenous artists and youth.
"Our goal is to inspire the next generation of artists," she says.
This month, the artwork is by Jim, who's from the Four Corners. He describes his work as a blend of visual representations and influences from his childhood and Diné culture including rug designs, Navajo folk tales and symbols along with abstract, modern, and comic book influences, creating a flowing balance of old and new, chaos and order, color and line work, onto 2D and 3D paintings, drawings, apparel, and digital artwork. His work will be on view through this weekend.
Ponce says the gallery will also house a shop, which will sell 2D and 3D works and accessories by indigenous artists, as well as the second volume of Ziindi Indigenous Art Zine: Vol. 1.2: Celebrating Native Female Contemporary Artists. The zine will feature artwork that will be shown at 1Spot and in the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona throughout 2013.
Regular hours for 1Spot in December will be First and Third Fridays from 6 to 10 p.m.. Ponce says hours will be extended in January. For more info, check out the 1Spot and Ziindi Facebook pages.
