Spring break and an opportunity to escape the drizzly gray Northeast finds me in Scottsdale, Arizona for ten days. Art addict that I am, the free time I have between the pool and Margarittaville is spent snooping through the art and gallery scene of the Southwest.
The Scottsdale area is a community about twenty miles east of Phoenix. It's got a long history as a ranching and horse trading center which spawned a substantial gallery district catering to Western taste in subject and content. There is also a strong Mexican and Native American presence.
The main gallery district is centered on Marshall Road and environs. Scottsdale may be one of the leading locales in the U.S. for bronze foundries, and from the number of Berniniesque cowboys trying to stay astride their bucking broncos it's not surprising. Many of the commercial galleries deal in what can most charitably be called Western Kitsch but what with the current reevaluation of kitsch, this could be a fertile hunting ground for research. Some of the galleries that are, if you can excuse the pun, bucking the trend are: The Bentley Gallery, Lisa Settee, and Riva Yares. The first space represents blue chip artists from both coasts and has recently had shows by biggies Chuck Close and Helen Frankenthaler. Emphasizing but not limited to photography, Lisa Sette shows contemporary artists with an eccentric bent. Riva Yares, a pioneer in Scottsdale, has helped support regional contemporary artists as well as international artists. She has expanded to Santa Fe, but more on that later.
A new addition that all Scottsdale can be justifiably proud of is the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Housed in a former multiplex theater and cleverly designed by William Bruder, S.M.C.A. offers locals opportunities to see national level traveling shows, as well as a place to present historical reviews of regional artists, architects, and sculpture. With the generous support of Gerald L. Cafesjian the S.M.C.A. also features a unique focus on modern glass art. This is not gift shop chatchka stuff, but massive pieces that deal with all the various qualities of glass both decorative and refractive. Next door is the original Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Sporting gallery space as well as a theater, the Scottsdale Center rounds out the cultural needs of the community.
After a one-hour flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque we pick up a rented car and head north for the sixty-mile trip to Santa Fe. Santa Fe must have the highest ratio of artists to the general public of any city in the country. If based on the number of galleries, while New York and Los Angeles respectively may be the largest art markets in America, Santa Fe ranks third. As Ron Deloney, a proprietor at Deloney Newkirk stated, "For straight art sales Santa Fe may be a very close second to New York." For centuries this part of New Mexico has been a crossroads for culture and commerce. Since the early 1900's there has been a mystical attraction drawing not only artists and eccentrics, but members of the avant-garde as well. Snippets of overheard conversations will inform you that residents one might mistake for pipe fitters are not just artists, but artists that have sold out their last three shows. Leather portfolio cases are as ubiquitous as Walkmen, and those folks that don't actually produce art are on the boards of the various museums or foundations. "Attitude", the New York affliction, is not present but rather a kind of "charm judo" surfaces which can disorient tourists with its shear niceness and courtesy that I'd thought had long since gone out of fashion. Make no mistake, there is enough Southwest kitsch here to sink the aesthetic Titanic. However, in a town that boasts over 160 galleries give or take a frame shop or antique store, there's room for all persuasions.
The gem in the crown is the brand new Gerald Peters Gallery. Designed by Steve Robinson, who practices in Santa Fe and New York, this gallery is said to be the largest privately owned gallery in America, maybe the world. Its classic adobe structure as well as its vast size has led some locals to jokingly dub it "the Ninth Northern Pueblo" referring to the eight Native American settlements north of Santa Fe. Showing a selection of some of the best Western, classic modernist, as well as cutting edge contemporary, the gallery experience is more like that of a first rate regional museum. Paintings by Stuart Davis, Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartly, Arthur Dove, and David Hockney, were on view during my visit.
The Peters Gallery occupies the cusp between the two gallery sections in town. Canyon Road is a quiet, one way street lined with ancient adobe homes. (Not so quiet in the summer season, though.) Many of these have been converted into exhibition spaces, which ramble on for up to eight rooms. The other district lies downtown, around the historical plaza in the town center.
Here's a brief list of some of the galleries worth noting. Edith Lambert Gallery has operated for fifteen years. She has presented stylistically diverse contemporary art as well as nationally recognized book art and unique dolls. Ernesto Mayans features painters with a Latin flare alongside an extensive collection of Mexican and French photography that was a revelation. Martha Keats is the wife of the well known and respected photographer Doug Keats. He is one of a handful whose works are printed by the Fresson family in France. Her gallery also shows paintings and some extraordinary watercolors. Deloney Newkirk has recently expanded with a second gallery also on Canyon Road. Ron was a gallereist in Austin, Texas before relocating to New Mexico. His partner, Rita Newkirk, is an artist whose new work features horses individually or in pairs, on encaustic grounds with metallic pigments. This gallery has good local buzz and may be the next "destination" gallery. Lewallen Contemporary is operated by Arlene Lewallen, a very energetic and highly revered presence in Santa Fe. She shows a wide variety of art. The upstairs gallery with its vaulted ceiling and skylights is a beautiful room to view two or three dimensional work. Riva Yares opened here after she established herself in Scottsdale. This space is much more like a New York gallery. The clean architecture and high ceilings lend themselves to large scale pieces.
One more sight worth mentioning is the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. This probably houses the largest selection of the artist's work to be seen under one roof. Many signature pieces hang beside some surprises which enhance her standing. Also presented are artists from the Steiglitz Circle at 291 like Dove, Hartley, and Marin.
On our way back to Albuquerque we take a side trip through Galisteo to make a pilgrimage to the Linda Durham Gallery. Down a dirt road in this one store town, we park in the gallery compound. Opening the gallery doors is like entering a chapel. She shows only New Mexican artists with a decidedly minimal bent. There wasn't a receptionist present but we noticed Agnes Martin's shaky signature graced the guest book.
On the way to the airport we fantasize about an adobe hideaway with a studio. Stuck in an hour long traffic jam I am snapped back into reality. When you find yourself missing the grit and noise of the city you know you've been away too long.