Leonard Wood was here. He lived a nice long life, and he was well loved, and he chased away grief and fear by building things that occupied his hands and kept his mind off his troubles. He was an unremarkable man, one about whom none of us would ever have…
Last year, the Arizona arts community was shocked by the tragic news of Rose Johnson’s death (click here for the New Times feature story). Johnson, who was a pioneer in the Phoenix Arts scene of the 1980s and 1990s died in Bali after she drank a contaminated batch of arak,…
Jacki Orr likes stuff. And junk. And trash. And you can usually find these elements in her mixed-media sculptures, one of which recently posted up beautifully in a corner of Mesa Contemporary Arts.For her latest project “The Goal is Interactive Acculturation” installation, Orr will feature found-object shrines and alters as…
Silvana Salcido Esparza’s on a wall hunt. You may have heard her name; she’s the badass chef behind the Barrio Cafe. She says she told herself growing up that when she turned 50, she’d start speaking up — positively and negatively — about what she really believed in. Just a…
Location: Behind Verde Artists: DOSE, SERP, SINEK, ASIK AND CRE More photos after the jump …..
If you’re a local artist, you’ve got plenty to keep your hands busy these days.Just check out our recent post that describes some application opportunities. Now it’s time to add five more to that list. We’re talking Petersen House Art Festival, Streetscape Public Art Project, Scottsdale Arts Festival, Phoenix Sister…
On the corner of Second and Hadley streets in Phoenix, just south of the Warehouse District’s Bentley Projects, Vine Saccento is silently building something — without any tools. Saccento’s may be familiar; he opened (and recently closed) Phoenix breakfast/coffee spots Drip and Toast. Now, he’s back without the brew, and…
Add trashy fashion and “guerrilla gardens” to the existing call for artsy rubbish.Along with the second annual “Trashy Sculpture Show” at Bragg’s Pie Factory, the Grand Avenue Festival has expanded its call for entries.One is the “Recycled Rubbish Fashion Show,” also scheduled to hang at Bragg’s Pie, 1301 Grand Avenue,…
If you’re quick, you can catch, “SB1070: An Artist’s Point of View” up at Gallery 2345 in Phoenix. The show just arrived, and 2345 is hosting the exhibitions opening tonight, but the flags, stop signs, postcards, canvases and posters will be back on the road on Monday. The pieces are…
When author Sherman Alexie read from his latest novel, War Dances, to a sold-out crowd at the Heard Museum last fall, he ranted about technology, specifically Amazon’s Kindle and some trouble his outspokenness about the gadget had caused him recently. Alexie, who presents more as a stand-up comic than as…
Matthew Mosher gave out white-chocolate Hershey’s candy, powdered doughnuts, and Natural American Spirit cigarettes for yesterday’s opening reception of his new exhibition at the Arizona State University Step Gallery — The Gallery is No Place for Artists. “White foods are really hard to find,” Mosher explained to those who gathered…
Ted Decker curated a show. It’s called “Converging Trajectories” and it’s all about you…and him…and 41 artists. You’re going to see a little bit of everything here — video installation, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing…you name it, it’s at Modified Arts. but don’t bother looking for a connective thread between these…
Had it not been for the graffiti-ed plastic chairs by the door, we might have skipped over Just Blaze, which opened its doors on Saturday (now it just needs a bigger sign).Just Blaze was located on McDowell Road in Phoenix, but took over the building on the corner of Camelback…
If you have the power of the paranormal running through your veins, you could spend a good chunk of the next year eating for free. Green New American Vegetarian Restaurant, located at 2240 North Scottsdale Road, Suite 8 in Tempe, is hosting an ouija board-themed art exhibit. Entitled “Wanna Ouija?”…
We had ourselves a little sneak peek preview of the “Converging Trajectories: Crossing Borders, Building Bridges” show curated by Ted Decker. Last night, media folks were invited to Modified Arts to get an eyeful (or two … or five) of the whopping 41 artists’ works. Participating painters, sculptors, photographers, and…
There’s nothing like a great yard sale, especially a great yard sale with great art. It’s why we geeked out when a post went up on Craigslist about a “clearance” sale on Phoenix-based artist S A Schimmel Gold’s prints (framed and unframed) and giclées on canvas — starting at $5…
We first noticed the Pabst Blue Ribbon mural at 222 E. Roosevelt St. in June. Today it’s a deep shade of red (though you can still make out the two “beer angels”).The mural and PBR campaign has received a share of tagging backlash in the past few months. We have…
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…
We all remember when publishing company Conde Nast pulled the plug on Gourmet magazine back in 2009.But for some of us, the real media-inspired mourning came from Nast’s cancellation of Domino magazine — a fabulous magazine dedicated to home design.With Domino’s website long gone, Domino fans have rallied and created…
Earlier this month, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art took hold of more than 100 donated artworks. This may not sound like a big deal, but for a small-ish museum like SMoCA, whose permanent collection numbers around 2,000 pieces (comparably, Phoenix Art Museum hordes 18,000 works), the Eason Collection addition…
At the turn of the 20th century, high fashion was considered an art form — thanks to the likes of Parisian couturiers Paul Poiret and Jeanne Paquin, who translated artistic trends such as Orientalism into wearable designs. Today, whether fashion is an art form is debatable. In Sally Potter’s mystery…
