BISBEE NOW!

BISBEE NOW!
On view: November 8–November 30, 2025
Opening reception: Saturday, November 8, 5:00-8:00 pm

The 150-year life of Bisbee, Arizona mirrors the rise of America. The town has shared in the nation’s victories and suffered its defeats, cashed in on its triumphs and conspired in its crimes. Playground for rich and poor, a place where you can retreat, heal, hide, wallow, scheme, create and dream. They say, “That’s Bisbee.”

But what is Bisbee now?

Led by Chad Avery, director of The Gallery at 40 Main, BISBEE NOW! features four artists from the next generation of this deep-rooted art colony along the Southern border. Avery’s abstractions oscillate between minimal and maximal, fusing street-inspired textures and graphics with high chroma values, modern design and allusion to ancient philosophies.

Joining him are Darren Engleman, Kenneth Ober and Brandon Walsh. The well-traveled Engleman combines painting and collage to produce interactive works loaded with naturalist, meditative and liberation messaging.

Meanwhile Ober jumped from the gallery scene into national festivals, only to find himself locked down by Covid in Bisbee. Rather than sit idle, the entrepreneurial artist transformed his property, Chairy Tree Art Gardens, into a one-stop shop complete with a mini-gallery for his linear abstractions, along with installation pieces, a print room, model airplane museum and nursery (open Friday and Saturday, 12:00-4:00 pm).

Brandon Walsh and his wife, Yoonmee Chang, relocated from the Seattle/Portland metro after designing for Nike, among other companies, and haven’t looked back. Setting up East Meets West next to 40 Main, Walsh produces commercially subversive graphics for clothing and paints in a similar fashion, often focusing on punk personalities.

Image: Chad Avery, Division 1, Acrylic, 36” x 36”, 2025