You snooze, you lose, Phoenix. Glendale’s one-of-a-kind Bead Museum closed permanently on Saturday. It is considered the most comprehensive public bead collection in existence, containing 11,650 beads and beaded items made from a wide variety of materials. It embraces antique, ethnic, and contemporary beads and beaded objects from cultures around…
When Teresa Villegas took her first trip to Mexico in 1985, she discovered something that would become a major motif in her future art works: Loteria, a Mexican card game similar to Bingo. Since then, the Phoenix artist has visited Mexico dozens of times, created a series of paintings of…
Michael Thompson drew another line on his paper, rounding off a hairline, then sat back and asked “What do you think?”Rasheda Smith looked at the picture, tilted her head: “I think his eyes need to be further apart.” It’s a simple question but a rather difficult task: can you describe…
In today’s example of why we can’t have nice things: the Shepard Fairey paste on Mill Avenue that we blogged about this week’s been tagged, and we’re not talking a few scribbles. We’re actually not including a full photo of the damage — the writer really doesn’t deserve the recognition…
When Gangplank, the Chandler-based co-working and event space was tagged, its collaborative occupants decided to take matters into their own hands.”The city painted over [the tag] with regular brown paint, but that just means it’ll be right back up in a few days,” says Mike Benner, Gangplank Jr. Initiative Head…
It’s about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we’re losing track of the times we’ve said, “Woah, when did that go up?”, we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town — their…
Shepard Fairey’s wheat pastes may be scattered around Tempe, but don’t expect to find him downing a toddy at Cartel or grabbing a few extra supplies at Wet Paint. Fairey and his street art brand/movement OBEY will be featured in the upcoming Sticker Phiends show, thrown annually by local artist…
It’s about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we’re losing track of the times we’ve said, “Woah, when did that go up?”, we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town — their…
Because it was only a matter of time before local comic Bil Keane’s Family Circus (already spoofed with Dysfunction, Nietzsche, and Jersey Shore) met some Charlie Sheen crazy. If you haven’t been following the Charlie Sheen spiral, you live under a rock … and have some catching up to do…
This Saturday and Sunday, the Heard Museum will host its 53rd Annual Guild Indian Fair and Market, which showcases modern and traditional forms of American Indian art and culture. The event features work from more than 700 of the nation’s upcoming and established artists who create one-of-a-kind jewelry, pottery, textiles,…
Brightly colored undraped bosoms. Long, dangly scrotums. Swollen clitorises. If it’s February and you’re staring at a giant painting of some guy’s ass, then you must be at Alwun House. And this must be the venerable institution’s annual Exotic Art Show. “People always call this the Erotic Show,” says Alwun…
If you still believe in the trite Hollywood myth of the anguished artist — alone in a cold-water, walk-up garret, frenziedly cranking out masterpieces in a couple of sustained sessions of inspired madness — you may want to see “What Goes On and What Takes Places,” an exhibition at Modified…
Benjamin Phillips’ sculptures are not to scale, but they still possess a striking accuracy of the human form.Phillips says his figures, made from Forton plaster, resin, acrylic, fiberglass, silicone, and lead, are meant to demonstrate the sense of vulnerability that comes with age. The ASU graduate student’s latest exhibition,…
As soon as the paint’s dry in pop-up gallery 5&6’s new space in Scottsdale, artist and gallery co-owner Joshua Rhodes says he and his crew can start hanging and installing the pieces for “Plastic Antics” — their next show opening on March 10. Rhodes and Dan Diaz, another local creative,…
Okay, I’m officially bummed. On March 12, in less than two weeks, The Bead Museum in Glendale will close. Being a lover of culture, as well as beads and jewelry for art’s sake, I am devastated by the loss of this historic collection and its research library to Valley residents,…
Tonight, a group of Arizona State University seniors are saying sayonara in style. From 6 to 8 p.m., twelve candidates for a bachelor of fine arts degree from ASU’s art school unveil “Our Own Devices”, a group thesis exhibit at Gallery 100, located at the Tempe Center (817-951 South Mill…
Comic by David Quan, aka Luster Kaboom.Click on the image (or right here) for a full-size version. …
“Dwarf cars” sound like something Snow White’s vertically-challenged friends might drive, but they’re really miniature versions of full-size automobiles that are surprisingly roomy inside. They may be only waist-high, but they hold their own on both race tracks and roads — just ask the man who invented them, Maricopa resident…
When local artist Daniel Davis created Tiny Army, he says he was really just in the market for a few friends. “I didn’t want to start a group with memberships and membership dues and be like ‘this is a secret society’ and all that stuff,” says Davis. “I just wanted…
Cooper’s Art Gallery and Brokerage, which represents both heavy-hitting artists as well as some up and comers, will soon have a presence at el Pedregal. The 5,300-square-foot venue, which will showcase the work of more than 60 artists, will be a “visual surprise,” according to owner Patricia Cooper Wesley. The…
