For 23 years, UNM's D. H. Lawrence Summer Programs have allowed students to spend two weeks in rustic and sometimes remote places, immersed in making art. In recent years, budget constraints have caused the program to shrink from six sections to three, and now the program is having to adapt to survive.
On display at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Ray Mart°n Abeyta's "Cuentos y Encuentros," is a kaleidoscope of cultures, stories, painting techniques and life experiences that shapes Abeyta's work. The show's title translates to "stories and encounters," and Abeyta, an Espa§ola native, said it was inspired by the mestizo - racially mixed - images he was surrounded by in his childhood.
Photographer Gay Block loves stories. Many of her projects involve interviewing, videotaping, photographing and coming to know her subject's stories. But the stories Block tells are not neat with all the threads in place - they are messy; like life. In the show "Bertha Alyce: A Photographic Biography by Gay Block," now at the UNM Art Museum, she tells the story of her painful relationship with her mother and documents how her understanding of that relationship changed after her mother's death.
UNM graduate student Ian Van Coller uses dark walls and dim lighting to make viewers slow down as they enter his show, "You Travel Far." As eyes adjust, viewers become aware that his photographs are about time and what is sacred. Aspects of European and African sacred art begin to emerge out of the dim light.
"When a dog dies," a show of innovative paintings and drawings by Trevor Ryan and James Jimenez will be at [AC]2 Gallery until May 18. Jimenez and Ryan became friends two years ago when they met while working on a construction crew. "We immediately started talking about art because it's nice not to talk about construction," Ryan said.
Poor poetry - Saturday night a gathering of poets, actors, dancers and musicians celebrated National Poetry Month at the Harwood Art Center. Music stole the show; poetry was lost in the shuffle. Not all poetry should be combined with other art forms.
The show on display at the UNM Art Museum, "Highlights of the Collection," is too rich to see in just one visit. In spite of the depth of the collection, on many days the museum is almost empty. "More people nationally and internationally know about this collection than people on campus," said Michael Certo, curator of the education and public programs for the museum.
Steve Fitch sees the crumbling schools, churches and dance halls of the high planes with the sensibilities of a photographer and an anthropologist A show featuring his work, titled “Gone: Photographs of Abandonment on the High Plains,” will be at the UNM Art Museum until March 23.
Solutions by The State News
