Need proof that the Phoenix arts scene is filled with compelling work by local, national, and international artists? Look no further than this roundup of art we spotted during October.
Highlights include large-scale Jun Kaneko sculptures at Desert Botanical Garden, feminist works by Sheila Pepe at Phoenix Art Museum, and drawings by renowned artist and architect Paolo Soleri at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
Velocity
Sculptor Jun Kaneko’s installation at Desert Botanical Garden includes several large-scale heads, geometric forms, and animals referenced in Japanese folklore. This piece embodies Kaneko’s gift for imbuing simple colors and forms with deep emotive power. It’s on view through May 13, 2018.
Swallowtail Man
Collaborators Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick create photo constructions that use fantastical imagery to address cultural upheaval during an age marked by moral and ecological insecurity. This piece was featured in the recent “Future Arcana” exhibition at Lisa Sette Gallery.
History of Man
For a retrospective exhibition of work by Paolo Soleri, curator Claire C. Carter chose to focus on the famed architect as an artist. Soleri created this piece around 1960 using acrylic applied with a spatula, charcoal, brushed black ink, watercolor, pastel, colored wax crayon, and graphite on wove paper. It’s part of “Repositioning Paolo Soleri: The City is Nature,” which continues through January 28, 2018, at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
Or so I am told but how would you fake it
This is one of several oil paintings by Cam DeCaussin featured in a recent exhibition titled “When You Weren’t Looking,” which also included real and imagined landscapes by Laura Spalding Best. The exhibition, curated by Peter Bugg, was on view at the art gallery inside Chandler Center for the Arts.
In the Darkest Hour
For a recent exhibition titled “Southern Exposure: Flora and Fauna,” Tilt Galley showed work by Kelley E. Foy and Novie Trump, two artists based in the Southwest whose work is influenced by time spent in southern states. This piece is by Novie Trump, an artist trained in classical archaeology, who embraces storytelling through ceramics, sound, and mixed media.
Women Are Bricks (Mobile Bricks)
Brooklyn-based Sheila Pepe, who describes herself as a lesbian feminist existing between Baby Boomer and Gen-X culture, is featured in a midcareer survey called “Sheila Pepe: Hot Mess Formalism,” which continues through January 28, 2018, at Phoenix Art Museum. Here, Pepe’s work explores "feminist methods of gathering, mobility, and resistance," as explained on the label posted by the piece.
Hidden Secrets
Lida Tarakhovsky's objects created with glazed porcelain, gold, and cobalt are part of the "Spielraum 122: Art Meets Industry" exhibition at the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center. She's one of five artists with work in the show, which highlights ways the artists are pushing the boundaries of porcelain's "cultural meanings and materials possibilities," according to exhibition materials. The exhibition continues through February 3, 2018.
Ballerina
Fiat Lux gallery in Scottsdale opened in October with an exhibition of works by New York-based artist Bob Carey, who often photographs himself in pink tutus to raise awareness about breast cancer. Here, he uses light to capture the beauty of the human form, embodied in the strength and grace of a ballerina. The exhibition continues through Thursday, November 9.
Predator/Prey
For the second in a series of three “Tikkun Olam: Repairing the World” exhibitions at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, Beth Ames Swartz invited four women artists to show work exploring humanity’s impact on the environment, including animal life. This piece, featuring taxidermy animals placed in a forest setting, is by Phoenix artist Carolyn Lavender. The exhibit runs through January 30, 2018.
Radiant Moment
This mural, which Kyllan Maney live painted in front of Lost Lake festivalgoers at Steele Indian School Park, is part of a new series infused with circles and symmetry. Other works in the series include a new mural at monOrchid titled Radiant Convergence, which also unites elements of energy and calm, even as it serves as a fun backdrop for the selfie generation.