Breaking to Build: Andrew Alba’s Carnal Desire to Paint
Utah artist Andrew Alba’s newest series of stoic portraits, on display at Modern West starting later this month, come after years of dark brooding and artistic scuffles.
May 10, 2022
News
The Legacy of Phoenix Graffiti Pioneer Pablo Luna
El Mac reflects on the influential creative output of Arizona-based graffiti innovator Pablo Luna (AKA KAPER), who spent four decades making art before his death last month.
May 06, 2022
Southwest Art News: May 2022
Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
May 02, 2022
Veterans Off-Grid Teaches the Art and Healing of Green Building
Veterans Off Grid in rural Northern New Mexico helps vulnerable veterans get back on their feet in a setting that’s a model for sustainable architecture, community building, and affordable housing.
April 29, 2022
On-Site Vigil of the “Dying” Great Salt Lake Moves State Lawmakers
During Utah’s 2022 legislative session, poet and community leader Nan Seymour crafted a site vigil and collective poem, an act of community activism that highlighted the in-flux Great Salt Lake.
April 26, 2022
Curators Brainstorm Big Dreams for—and Identify Gaps in—Utah’s Contemporary Arts
A believed first-time gathering of Utah contemporary art curators at the 2022 Spring Summit in Green River yields big dreams and ideas for improvement.
April 22, 2022
Impractical Spaces: 5 Alternative Art Venues in Houston
A book series diving into historical and current alternative art establishments in major stateside cities visits Texas in Impractical Spaces: Houston. Here are five current H-Town favorites from the book.
April 20, 2022
In a State Rich in Jewelry Traditions, a New Mexico College Considers Choking a Key Pipeline
A jewelry-making program helps train artisans for steady career opportunities in Albuquerque. That may not be enough for the cash-strapped school.
April 15, 2022
Nika Kaiser Builds the Beginning of the Climate-Changed End
In The Passage, Tucson artist Nika Kaiser reimagines endings and the possibilities of a post-human future inspired by the reemergence of Glen Canyon.
April 13, 2022
Southwest Art News: April 2022
Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
April 01, 2022
12 to See: Southwest Contemporary’s Spring 2022 Art Guide
Southwest Contemporary's handy roundup of choice spring 2022 art exhibitions includes shows in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
March 11, 2022
Southwest Arts News: March 2022
Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
March 01, 2022
Santa Fe’s Landfall Press Celebrates Fifty-Plus Years of Printmaking
Jack Lemon opened Landfall Press in 1970 and continues to operate it in Santa Fe, having collaborated with Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Chuck Close, Robert Indiana, and Lesley Dill, among others.
February 24, 2022
Paris Perfumery to Launch Tucson, an Arizona Desert-Inspired Scent
Astier de Villatte, a Paris-based brand that’s set to launch a perfume called Tucson, shares what is unique about the scent and their first impressions of the desert.
February 16, 2022
Utah’s Outsider Art Gilgal Sculpture Garden Might Be Bizarro Defined
Gilgal Garden in Salt Lake City is perhaps Utah’s most unusual homage to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
February 11, 2022
Diné Filmmaker Deidra Peaches Premieres Voices of the Grand Canyon
Diné filmmaker Deidra Peaches screens documentary Voices of the Grand Canyon during Indie Film Fest 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona.
February 08, 2022
ABQ Small Businesses Fight Commission’s Decision to Remove Murals
To some family-run businesses, two murals by local Albuquerque artists are indicative of new creative energy in Old Town. To city officials, they’re out of character for the historic district and must go.
February 04, 2022
Southwest Art News: February 2022
Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
February 01, 2022
McKay Otto’s Fascinating Journey to Now
Texas artist McKay Otto creates ethereal, geometric paintings on translucent canvases that evoke lightboxes.
January 27, 2022
The Art of Anila Quayyum Agha is a First of Its Kind at UNM Art Museum
UNM Art Museum in Albuquerque presents an exhibition by Anila Quayyum Agha, a Pakistani American artist whose work is influenced by women’s social issues.
January 25, 2022
How Cahokia PHX Centers Indigenous Arts, Culture, and Collaboration
The new Cahokia PHX art space, located in the Roosevelt Row arts district in Phoenix, illuminates Indigenous arts and culture through social tech and creative collaborations.
January 24, 2022
San Antonio’s Presa House Celebrates Five Years of Supporting Artists
Presa House Gallery in San Antonio, Texas focuses on Latinx artists across south Texas, the Rio Grande region, and Mexico—and skirts that whole "artists-must-make-sales" model.
January 21, 2022
Denver Filmmaker Wins Coveted Creative Capital Award
Denver-based Mexican immigrant filmmaker Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana, director of a feature-length documentary about migrant labor at the Kentucky Derby, is one of few Southwest recipients of a Creative Capital Award.
January 19, 2022
UMFA Acquires Works by Famed Japanese American Artist Chiura Obata
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts acquired thirty-five works by Chiura Obata, a visionary whose imprisonment at the Topaz camp is among the nation’s most shameful episodes of racial injustice.
January 14, 2022
How a Photography Workshop Guides Military Veterans in Personal Expression
Military veterans' participation in a five-month workshop culminates in a public exhibition and catalogue at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center in Denver.
January 12, 2022
Ten Mural Artists Making their Mark in the Southwest
Mural artists in the Southwest find inspiration in popular culture, social justice issues, and their own cultural heritage. Here’s a look at ten artists and what makes their work unique.
January 10, 2022
Anonymous Art Collective Depicts Victims of Police Violence in SLC Murals
In Salt Lake City, Utah, murals of individuals killed by police have become a community site of remembrance and activism.
January 04, 2022
Southwest Art News: January 2022
Catch up on recent art news headlines in the Southwest region, including people on the move, grants, and more.
January 03, 2022
Southwest Contemporary’s Most-Read Articles of 2021
A list of our most-read articles of 2021 ranges from a Joshua Tree field report to an exhibition review of printmaking works by José Guadalupe Posada.
December 29, 2021
Better Layovers Through Airport Art
From Banksy prints in Austin to skateboard decks in Phoenix, you’ll find intriguing art at airports across the Southwest, so leave a little time for looking during your holiday travels.
December 22, 2021
