I’m thrilled to announce my participation in Julianna Kirwin’s new venture, “Doors For The Arts.” On Saturday, 11/21/15, Julianna will create a pop-up gallery at 8th and Mountain Road here in Albuquerque, as she’s done once before. I will be one of a handful of artists to hang work on her brightly colored doors that day, creating another way for the Mountain Road community, already dense with creativity, to enjoy their street life. 

One of Julianna’s goals is to contribute to the growth of Mountain Road as an arts destination in Albuquerque. Doors For The Arts adds to Mountain Road’s street life by adding a moment of aesthetic and social engagement for pedestrians taking a Saturday stroll. Passersby can grab a latte at the Boiler Monkey, and cross the street for a feast of color, texture and movement. We’ll hear more from her on this topic in future posts. 

Below are images of Julianna and her studio at 8th and Mountain. The gorgeous texture of its adobe walls will form the backdrop to the pop-up event. 

The space is quite long–50’ or 60’–and flat, in a way. Windows set deep in the adobe adorn the walls currently, and will form part of the space of the show. Viewers can have only a few spatial relationships with the art on the Doors–either from across Mountain road, or from the sidewalk directly in front of it. I’m intrigued by the relationship across time the space creates: a viewer walking down the sidewalk will be immersed in the space, as if walking down a tunnel. Images on the Doors will form aggregates in the mind, like a kind of slide show. 

I am currently sifting through a handful of possibilities for the show:

1) Present Coleoptera, with one “shell” per door. Should I add a backing to each piece that would respond to the wind, such raffia, string or feathers?

2) an installation of metal scales, emerging from my just-begun experimentation with cutting and crimping cans? I love the idea of mobile, glittering “lures” shifting in the wind.

3) A set of 30”x30” plastered panels with painted patterns of tile-like rectangles, or shifting circles, or stepping ladders. This idea would encourage the kinds of vivid colors that would harmonize with the brightly painted Doors. 

If any of those sound particularly attractive, drop me a line and let me know.