What we're up to

AUGUST – Studio Visit with Ivan Boyd at Harwood Art Center – Albuquerque

Visit to the Studio of Ivan Boyd

Ivan Boyd is a conceptual artist whose practice is grounded in painting. Boyd came to full-time art-making after decades in computing at the University of New Mexico, where he served as Associate Director of Computing. He teaches drawing and painting at Central New Mexico Community College and the Harwood Art Center, and has previously taught at the University of New Mexico and Southwest University of Visual Arts. Solo exhibitions include John Sommers Gallery, Harwood Art Center, Bright Rain Gallery, and Masley Gallery. Group exhibitions include 516 Arts and the UNM Art Museum. Honors include the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship at Yale University, and the Harry Nadler Memorial Fellowship and Phyllis Muth Scholarship at UNM. His current work engages alterity, political complicity, and ecological memory through charcoal harvested from wildfire sites and other found materials.

From Ivan: “The Alterity Series confronts what cannot be assimilated: radical otherness, in relationships, in political violence, in ecological collapse, in the buried history of the self. The work refuses to illustrate these encounters. Instead, it gathers materials that carry their own weight and will not resolve into meaning. Charcoal I harvested by hand from wildfire sites. A blanket rolled and tied. A burned log dragged across unstretched canvas. The pieces of charcoal gathered for the children killed in the Minab school strike. The French tricolor hidden on the edge of a painting about American violence. In The Harlow Experiments, a stretcher, a bound blanket, and a cord rebuild a surrogate mother that cannot hold. Each refuses in its own way, and none of them lets you look past the thing to the idea.”

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SEPTEMBER – Visits to the Studios of Celia Cortz and Craig Murray – Cedar Crest

Visit to the Studios of Celia Cortez and Craig Murray and the Outdoor Sculpture Garden

From Craig: “I am a sculptor working with welded and forged steel, wood, bone, and stone, inspired by Julio Gonzalez, David Smith, Alexander Calder, Anthony Caro, and Johnny Cash. In my work, I aim to relieve the inherent weight of the raw materials and impart a feeling of motion, fluidity, and exuberant grace. The works range from interior wall mounted, and self-supporting pieces, to large scale free standing outdoor sculptures.”

Celia information online: “The intricacies of nature serve as the inspiration for my work. Whether my aim is to create a detailed piece with drawing media, like ink or graphite, or whether I’m working on loose and abstract work with paints and mixed media, nature is at the heart of the concept. The forms and lines that are the foundation of every aspect of nature, the curves and spirals of shells and flowers, the hexagon in bee hives, the textures, colors and variety of species fascinate my creative mind.”

Please note there are a lot of steps and uneven walkways.

WEBSITE: celiacortez.com

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OCTOBER – Taos Studio Tours – Taos

The CAS Board is working on an exciting trip to Taos, NM in October. More information to come.