A Nitty Gritty Reunion at 5&6 Gallery

​When Armando Rascon, Pablo Luna, Lalo Cota, El Mac, Brent Atwood, Harry Baldwin, Matt Minjares, Matt Dickson, Keith Knight, and Luiki are together in one room, it’s bound to be a good time — with some seriously good artwork. The group of artists were part of The Nitty Gritty — a series of bi-annual exhibitions from 1998 to 2003 that…

Pejazzling: A New Kind of Bling for Your Balls

Bless the British men, who — not to be outdone by their snaggle-tooth female counterparts — are busy popularizing the pubic art of the pejazzle. This week, Mark Wright, star of Britain’s trainwreck television show The Only Way is Essex, became the head, er, face of the pejazzling trend, which much…

Phoenix Comicon: It’s Coming

Phoenix Comicon, the annual comic book, anime, media, and gaming convention kicks off May 26 in Mesa. Stay tuned to Jackalope Ranch for interviews, must-sees, and must-avoids. And in the meantime, go ahead and geek out over the Con’s latest commercial…

Phoenix Art Museum Announces 2011 Contemporary Forum Awards

Last night, Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Forum awarded eight local artists who’ve made a mark in the contemporary scene. The annual event recognizes up to seven emerging Arizona artists with $1,500 grants to purchase materials and one mid-career artist with $5,000 plus a special exhibition of his or her work…

JB Snyder and Jeremy Arviso at Yucca Tap Room

Local visual artists JB Snyder and Jeremy Arviso know a thing or two about slaving over the canvas. And lately, they’ve been sharing back aches and sleep deprivation over the same one. Tomorrow night, the two will showcase their first collaborative piece at Yucca Tap Room in Tempe. A total…

Rachel Bess’s “the ghost show” at Perihelion Arts

Rachel Bess’s latest collection “the ghost show,” explores her view of the supernatural world through dark and beautifully detailed paintings.The show, currently at Perihelion Arts in downtown Phoenix, features human and animal ghosts, a seance, and a campier Ghost Busters scene, Bess says this show is just the beginning of…

Michael Kemper Goodwin (1939-2011)

Michael Kemper Goodwin’s historical and architectural roots ran deep; his grandparents were Tempe pioneers, and he and his father, Kemper Goodwin, designed local schools and Tempe’s City Hall. Michael Goodwin died on May 4 at the age of 72.The architect and beloved local artist studied at the University of Southern…

Follow Friday: Phoenix Artists

Since downtown’s First Friday is in full swing, we figured you should have some Arizona artists to follow today. There’s a lot to do this First Friday; from the to the Opening Reception at ASU’s Vault Gallery, so you should probably go ahead and hit follow on these local artists…

“Ephemeral Moments and Systematic Tides” at ASU’s Vault Gallery

image courtesy of ASU Vault GalleryPapers by Rebecca BergmanThis Friday night, the ASU Vault Gallery will host an artist reception for “Ephemeral Moments and Systematic Tides” featuring work by locla creatives Christine Cassano and Rebecca Bergman. Although both artists have extremely different styles, they’ve found their work has more in…

Roosevelt Row’s Pravus Gallery to Close in June

After three years on the corner of Roosevelt and Fifth streets in downtown Phoenix, Pravus Gallery will close after its upcoming show, Pong, according to co-curator Kenneth Richardson. Richardson says the Pravus team — including himself and his Molten Brother Mike Goodwin, and Douglas Grant and Amy Young of Perihelion…

“Schrödinger’s Menagerie” at A. E. England Gallery

​Daniel Funkhouser, a painting graduate from ASU, is known for his bright paintings, nude-and-luchador-mask exhibitions, and his band Treasure MammaL, in which he dances in a silver unitard. Needless to say, this guy isn’t shy. And his show won’t be either. Funkhouser explores alter egos, sexuality and dualities in his…

Five Local Must-Sees on Free Comic Book Day

What’s better than comic books? Free comic books. And this weekend, National Free Comic Book Day, which might as well be renamed “Pre-Phoenix Comicon Happy Fun Day” will be celebrated with tons of giveaways and festivities held across geek-filled shops across the Valley. Here are just five parties (and spots to…