DAFA
Tina Mion, Live at DAFA
Tina Mion is describing The Juggler at the opening reception for her show, Carpe Diem, at David Anthony Fine Art November 22. Those in attendance interacted with her inspiration and process. We’ll keep you informed of future presentations, this show is up through March 1, with works remaining indefinitely.
Tina has provided original watercolor studies of The Spectacular Death Spoon series for purchase. She has never before offered the sale of her studies.
Amy Winehouse, “One of history’s most unique exits”
Study in watercolor for the Spectacular Death Spoon series.
Handcrafted furniture by David Mapes continues to be a mainstay of the gallery. Pictured is a custom media cabinet with hand-embossed hollyhocks in copper. Made in Taos.
2014 Art Glass Invitational Brings Acclaimed Glass Artists to Taos, New Mexico
The month-long biennial features well-known glass artists with over 200 works of art glass on display and numerous events
The Taos Institute for Glass Arts (TIGA) announces the 2014 Taos Art Glass Invitational, a month-long series of exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and demonstrations, including live glass blowing. The invitational takes place from Saturday, October 11 – November 9, 2014, with multiple events happening throughout the weeks and every weekend. This fifth invitational, which became a biennial event in 2010, features more than 200 works of art from the national and international art glass arena, alongside top artists of the region working in glass, displayed at seven participating galleries. It includes both juried artists and featured artists whose work will be exhibited in the small, accessible art-historic environment of Taos, a place long known as an epicenter of the visual arts.
“The Taos Art Glass Invitational is a ambitious logistical and creative undertaking that will not only shine a light on the many artists whose work will be exhibited, but on the art glass movement itself and how Taos is playing a large part in this movement,” said Betsy Ehrenberg, founder of Glass Alliance – New Mexico, a regional chapter of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. “It serves as yet another reason Taos remains a center for creativity and a draw for visitors who seek to experience this culture,” she added.
The invitational kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014 with an Official Grand Opening—exhibitions of both juried and featured artists at the seven participating galleries. The galleries are David Anthony Fine Art, Copper Moon Gallery, Total Arts Gallery, Mission Gallery, RC Gorman’s Navajo Gallery, El Monte Sagrado Grand Bohemian Gallery, and the Wilder-Nightingale Gallery. Winning juried artists will be announced early in the invitational. The winning categories include Best in Show, Best in Sculpture, Best in Wall, Best in Functional, Best in Wearable, Most Original, Most Technical, and Best Expression. All work included in the invitational is available for purchase.
The 2014 Invitational featured artists, invited by the TIGA board, represent excellence in glass internationally and include Herb Babcock (USA), Hiroshi Yamano (Japan), Paul Stankard (USA), Martin Janecky (Czech Republic), and Paul Scwheider (USA).
“This invitational represents some of the most distinguished artists working in glass from around the world and will continue to put Taos on the map as a center of art glass,” said Delinda VanneBrightyn, the president of the board of the Taos Institute of Glass Arts and founder of the Taos Art Glass Invitational. “The medium of glass is cutting edge, involving both science and art. Its luminosity and translucence offer a world of unexplored territory for the artist and collector alike,” she added.
More about the featured artists:
Inspired by Scandinavian glass and schooled in both the United States and Japan, Hiroshi Yamano is considered a master artist and teacher whose work in is the collection of Museum of Arts and Crafts, Itami, Japan and many others collections around the world. Herb Babcock is a pioneer of fine art glass in America, and an influential teacher and advocate for over four decades. Martin Janecky, from the Czech Republic is the recipient of the Salvador Dalí World Prize by the European Union of Arts. Janecky creates representational sculptures of musical instruments and vintage-inspired circus performers characterized by a haunting gothic lyricism.
Artist-philosopher and admirer of Walt Whitman, Paul Stankard is recognized for the intricate, fragile beauty of flamed-worked still life sculptures of botanical and insect life in clear crystal. In 2004, New York’s Museum of Arts in Design staged a retrospective of his work, “Paul Stankard: A Floating World.” Paul Schwieder, born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, speaks of the “grand sweeping gestures” of the Canadian prairie as an influence upon his molten glass forms. Currently living in Umeå, Sweden, he studied at the Orrefors Glass School in Sweden as well as at the University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic. His creative breakthrough came when he began sculpting blown glass with a sandblaster, which gave him the ability to augment or diminish elements of the originally conceived form.
Photo credits: Sini Majuri, Finland, Firebird, Twice Blown Graal Glass, 17 x 15 cm.; Linda Ethier, (Oregon), Forest Nest, Pat de Verre, 10 x 5 in.; Kerrick Johnson, (Tennessee), Keen, Cold Worked Blown Glass, 12 x 12 x 8 in.
For more about the Taos Art Glass Invitational, visit www.tiganm.org/invitational.html
The Mission of the Taos Institute for Glass Arts (TIGA) is to expand the understanding and appreciation for the Contemporary Glass Art Movement through classes, workshops, lectures, demonstrations, special events and exhibitions. TIGA serves and integrates the needs of artists, students, collectors, architects and designers. TIGA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which was born when a group of local glass artists purchased equipment that was brought to Taos Pueblo by famed artist Dale Chihuly for his educational program. www.tiganm.org
9/11 and the Time Machine — Larry Bell Opening at DAFA July 5, 2014
Larry Bell’s Rare “Teeth in Orange Juice” Series to Exhibit in Taos.
Opening on Saturday July 5, 2014 at David Anthony Fine Art in Taos, Larry Bell will exhibit a rarely shown series of collages on canvas created in the aftermath of September 11th.
If you’ve studied art history anytime since the early 70’s, you know of Larry Bell. In Taos, we know Larry as one of our own internationally acclaimed artists. Earlier this year, Larry returned home from London after a sold-out exhibition at the White Cube. Shortly afterward, he was in São Paulo, Brazil with another very successful show. After over 50 years of art making, Larry is at the top of his game. Now, DAFA welcomes Mr. Bell back to the Taos gallery scene after a long absence.
The series, which began with a different intention prior to that event, according to Mr. Bell, “became the color of the fireballs, and the fragments of the papers and collage elements became the strange imagery that is seen in the works. The acrid greenish color of the dust and detritus in the air became part of the imagery also. My work became totally driven by the imagery and emotion of the incident and was totally emotional and intuitive . . . in the 30 days after the event I had made about 30 canvases with this kind of imagery on it.”
The Collages are paired with the Time Machine, an installation of a reclaimed experiment from Los Alamos Laboratories, that compresses reflected and transmitted light so a reflected image is superimposed on whatever is transmitted through the glass of the sculpture. To Mr. Bell it suggests “the compression of the materials of the buildings on the casualties inside the structures as if the people had become parts of a flat collage.”
The Time Machine, paired with the canvasses, creates the emotional and the intuitive surreal images of witnessing that event. Mr. Bell adds, “I like these works only because they are so totally honest. The only title I could think of for these odd images was “Teeth in Orange Juice”.” So “Teeth in Orange Juice” they are named, and on exhibit only for the second time in more than a decade.
Concurrently showing during Bell’s summer exhibition will be abstract works by Cody Riddle. Another Taos artist, Cody has exhibited several times at the Harwood Museum of Art and was part of a 50-year retrospective of abstract expressionism at Hulse-Warmen gallery in 2010. Not only will new painted works by Riddle be available, but also sculptural wall mounted works of vibrantly painted, ingeniously sliced branches of Pinõn. At first look one is struck with the beauty of the organic sculptures, followed immediately by wonderment at how the work was accomplished. Stay tuned for a separate reception for Cody Riddle later this summer.
Larry Bell’s “9/11 and The Time Machine” opens at David Anthony Fine Art on Saturday, July 5, 2014, 4:00-7:00pm at 132 Kit Carson Road in Taos, New Mexico. Both exhibits continue until September 21.
David Anthony Fine Art, (DAFA), located at 132 Kit Carson Road in Taos, New Mexico, presents the most innovative artworks from Taos and around the world, considering all genres, mediums and artists, in an environment that is accessible and welcoming to all.
The Paseo, a Multimedia Outdoor Art Event in the Taos Historic District, is Poised to Kickstart a New Era of Taos Art
This fall, The Paseo will transform the heart of Taos. 
Dedicated to bringing the art of installation, performance and projection to the streets of the Taos Historic District, The Paseo is a brand-new art festival. It opens on Friday, September 26, coinciding with opening night of the 40th Annual Taos Fall Arts Festival.
The Paseo will unite the 2014 Fall Arts venues, curating a public display of art throughout the streets of the Taos Historic District. Introducing the world’s latest expressions of art and culture, The Paseo will bring a completely new dynamic to the art scene in Taos. “What separates Taos from other art venues is the breadth of art and culture in one small ancient place,” says organizer Matt Thomas. “We want to create new shared experiences.”
Art installations, sculptures and performances will be placed along the .7 mile Paseo, inviting all to explore, wonder and be inspired. Workshops and artist presentations in the days surrounding the event will guide participants through the evolution of new art forms involving projection, robotics, responsive new media, and more.
Under the guidance of an outstanding advisory board including Ann Landi of ARTnews, New Mexico Art Commissioner David Hinske, and CERN cultural specialist Ariane Koek, The Paseo creates a platform for art that is experimental, time-based, ephemeral, participatory, and context-responsive. Dozens of artists have already submitted their work for consideration; the advisory board will select ten or more pieces for inclusion in the first annual The Paseo. Taos audiences will recognize work by internationally-known local artists Agnes Chavez, Christina Sporrong, and Christian Ristow, alongside work from artists around the U.S. and the world.
The Paseo’s Kickstarter crowdfunding initiative launched June 18. Working to raise $20,000 in 45 days, The Paseo team is seeking community support to help launch this innovative new festival. Funding will pay for equipment, installation expenses, travel costs, and creative fees for the artists invited to participate. Funders can receive incentives including shirts, stickers, tickets to event functions and original art.
Support and donations from the community will play an essential role in bringing The Paseo to life. Please visit paseotaos.org to learn more.
The Paseo Team
J. Matthew Thomas
Agnes Chavez
David Mapes
Janet Webb
Anita McKeown
Molly Robertson
Jennifer Longo
Advisory Board
Mariannah Amster and Frank Ragano, Executive/Artistic Directors of Parallel Studios, which produces CURRENTS: Santa Fe International New Media Festival.
Teresa Buscemi, Program coordinator for 516 Arts.
Josh Comfort is a registered Architect and Arts Advocate based in Denver.
David Hinske, New Mexico Arts Commissioner and painter.
Megan Jacobs, Highlands University, Media Arts
Ariane Koek (UK) is a Clore Fellow and the first cultural specialist appointed by CERN – the world’s largest particle physics laboratory based outside Geneva, in Switzerland.
Ann Landi, contributing editor of ARTnews.
Lucy R. Lippard is a writer, curator, and activist based in New Mexico.
Nancy Zastudil, art curator and writer.
For more information about The Paseo, contact J. Matthew Thomas at (575) 613-0601 or taospaseo@gmail.com. Visit paseotaos.org.