By Lilia Menconi Liquid metal. Okay, so the image above may not make you think of fine art right off the bat, but I’m assuming the students at ASU looked somewhat similar to this guy (what a great outfit) when they made their pieces for “Vesta’s Kitchen” an exhibition at…
By Lilia Menconi Friday I told you about a good way to spend 100 bucks. Today I’ll tell you how to spend 1200. And, for future reference, any time you need advice on how to spend money, you can count on me. I will be there for you…I really will…
By Lilia Menconi Well? Have you? Answer me!!!! So I throw around the words “juried exhibition” a lot. And, every time I use it, my silly imagination runs with the term. I can’t help it. I picture a big scary panel of judges sitting in a dim room. A bright…
Last year, my best friend and I stood in front of a Fritz Scholder painting in a Scottsdale gallery. I don’t recall every detail of the painting. But I remember the feeling of being smacked in the face with an electric color palette and a smash of rapid brushstrokes —…
By Lilia Menconi Disclaimer: I tell Betty Friedan to “suck it” in this blog. I don’t really mean that. It’s a joke, everybody. Impressed? You should be. Spaceboy by Julie Duschack is all fabric, folks. Don’t get me wrong – I appreciate the second wave feminist movement, I really do…
One of SeeSaw’s adorable cards. Aaaw! By Lilia Menconi I think I may have found a blog that’s better than Arty Girl. Impossible you say? Oh, shut your mouth! You’re so sweet! But, honestly, this one is pretty damn good. Local design firm, SeeSaw Designs, not only has a beautiful…
By Lilia Menconi About a year ago, I saw this: and this: So I totally freaked out and wrote this. Both pieces are by local artist, Denise Yaghmourian. I spied Hook Cube (top) and Label, Jumpsuits (bottom) – or, at least, works very similar to them – at the Tempe…
By Lilia Menconi Scottsdale ARTWALK is getting all up in some international shit this Thursday. I already wrote about Lisa Sette’s Chinese art show. And just across Marshall Way, you can see two amazing Cuban artists at Bentley Gallery. Sombra hacia el sur by Acosta. Gustavo Acosta’s “Temporary Current” is…
By Lilia Menconi Hiding in the City #46: Whole Happy Family 2 by Liu Bolin, color photograph So it’s the beginning of the month and I’m drowning in press releases. But this time is always fun for me. When planning for the upcoming weekend, I feel like I have my…
By Lilia Menconi Awww…this little symbol of death is just too cute. Hey, guess what? You’re going to die. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll die too. And so will everyone else. Sure, this concept is nothing new. But it’s easily forgotten. We buzz around everyday – working, eating, joking around with…
By Lilia Menconi By Goran Konjevod. With marriage, the one year anniversary may mark the time when things have slowed down a bit. Life has hit its routine, you don’t really go out that much anymore and maybe you just don’t crumple the sheets like you used to. It could…
By Lilia Menconi Everyone has felt the pressure to really bring it with personal style. You’ve got a big work event coming up and it’s necessary to make an impression. Easy enough. You hit the gym a little harder a month before and grab up some fashion magazines to help…
By Lilia Menconi Anticipation of the Thesmophoria by Simon Casson. In this postmodern world, we just can’t seem to keep our grubby paws off of other people’s ideas. Having surrendered to the concept that there is no longer a purely original thought, we’ve embraced a creative zone of spring boarding…
By Lilia Menconi You’ll most likely come across a movie buff long before you run into an art freak. In our day and age, museums don’t have the pull that movie theaters (or home theaters and Netflix) do. Many would look at this as horribly tragic. I say it’s just…
By Lilia Menconi I swear my pupils dilate every time I see a Fritz Scholder painting. Scholder, who is one-quarter Luseino, a California Mission tribe, has proven himself an important figure in the development of the Native American Art Movement. And, my God, the man knows how to rock a…
By Lilia Menconi I’m not going to bore you with the ga-jillionth summary of Frida Kahlo’s life. But, just in case you missed the movie with Selma Hayek, the autobiography, the children’s book, the plush toy, the poster and the endless websites made by teenage girls dedicated to this artist,…
“So . . . jumpsuits, eh?” Combined with a look of slight confusion, that’s the reaction I’ve gotten when I’ve told people I’m writing a review about jumpsuits. “All for One and One for All: The Jumpsuit” at the Phoenix Art Museum may sound like a fluff show, but, as…
By Lilia Menconi Eve Plumb as we remember her. Celebrity and art – yum! – one of my very favorite topics. I’m endlessly fascinated with the way celebrities are able to assign instant value to an artist simply by purchasing a piece. Or, better yet, when a celebrity decides to…
By Lilia Menconi If you’re a local artist, I know you have a pile of pieces leaning against one of your apartment walls collecting dust, hairspray spritzes and probably the occasional splash of beer. Well, it’s time to bust those babies out of forced retirement, take some slides and submit…
By Lilia Menconi By Joseph Labate. I absolutely love the West Valley Art Museum. But I didn’t grow up on the Westside, I only have a few acquaintances who live there and I don’t have any ailing grandparents in Sun City. So, other than the museum, there’s not much reason…
By Lilia Menconi If you grew up in the West, you’re probably pretty hungry for space. With our ranch-style homes, big back yards and seemingly endless desert, we’re sensitive to the way our walls block us from that which we crave. Such is the focus of a discussion, curated by…
By Lilia Menconi A sample of recent works by Colin Chillag as seen on the show’s flier. First Fridays can set my brain on fire. I always show up in a rush because my third coat of mascara took too long or I got stuck in game traffic or I…
