On Friday, October 20, Anderson’s Fifth Estate in Scottsdale provided the perfect excuse to pair your ratty old Ramones tee shirt with some leggings at the Pretty Vacant! kickoff party, featuring DJ Marky Ramone. Indie kids, poppy punkers, and other Valley vagrants gradually drained in and boozed up, filling the…
Do you think you’re a good person? When’s the last time you took stock? It might be time to do just that — and make sure you give yourself more than five minutes, because it may take a while. Nathan Feller’s art is not the typical imagery one would associate…
It all started 2.6 million years ago, when some smart monkey used a sharp rock to slice up his prehistoric supper. Today, our supply of tools has evolved, along with our upright spines and opposable thumbs. One visit to Home Depot and you can see how far the species has…
The Disposable Hero considers himself not an artist but a visual vigilante who prefers to conceal his identity. With a day job in marketing and sales, he offers commentary on his own livelihood. His panda posters pop up on abandoned buildings and public spaces all over the Valley (you can…
Humanity’s not looking so good these days. With war overseas, terrorism pushing our borders and serial killers in our midst, maintaining much faith in my fellow human beings proves to be a constant struggle. What does it mean to be human? What separates us from beast? If you need some…
Berlin is so hot right now. And the Phoenix Art Museum knows it. It has organized a major survey of contemporary art made in the reunified Berlin, the art spot of the moment. With a title like “Constructing New Berlin,” I expected the art to deal with the city as…
This guy knows how to take a photo. That was my first thought when I entered the gallery space at Mesa Arts Center. Fine-art photographer Michael Eastman’s interiors of crumbling Cuban mansions are breathtaking — and they’re enormous, about 5×4 feet on average. Each work, with its large scale and…
What does it mean to be an American? I have a hunch it’s a question many U.S. citizens rarely consider. Sometimes, it is not until others define us that we gain clarity about ourselves — and our nation. Heidi Hesse — born in Germany and raised in South Africa –…
