JAVA.June.2018
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SUMMER SPECTACULAR<br />
By Robert Sentinery<br />
BUZZ<br />
The art scene in Phoenix is heating up along with the rising temperatures. One<br />
of the hottest shows to hit the Valley is the Nicholas Galanin retrospective at the<br />
Heard Museum, on view through Sept. 3. Dear Listener was put together by the<br />
museum’s new fine arts curator, Erin Joyce, who brings a breath of fresh air to an<br />
institution that has been seen as traditional, bordering on stodgy. But all that is<br />
changing. This exhibition is the culmination of a collaboration between Galanin<br />
and Joyce that has included many exhibitions, several in New York, and numerous<br />
published articles.<br />
“Dear Listener: Works by Nicholas Galanin” is anything but traditional. Encompassing<br />
over 12,000 square feet of exhibition space, across multiple galleries,<br />
halls and levels within the museum, the show highlights many different media,<br />
from painting and sculpture to installation, video, fashion and live performance.<br />
What it does perhaps most successfully is highlight the sheer talent and work<br />
ethic of this contemporary Native Alaskan artist, who is a fountainhead of ideas.<br />
Galanin’s work confronts issues of authority, authenticity and the commodification<br />
of indigenous ways, with clever nods to popular culture (see “Dear Listener:<br />
A Walk-Through with Curator Erin Joyce,” p. 8).<br />
Mark Freedman is back in Phoenix after spending a decade in NYC. Some will<br />
remember the splash he made here as a member of the TRA 25 Capsule art<br />
collective before heading to the Big Apple. Now Freedman is expanding from<br />
producing art to curating, as well. He has a series of shows lined up at the<br />
Walter Gallery, including The Memphis Rainbow Parlour, an intriguing co-lab<br />
between himself and artist Lisa von Hoffner. The show brings together individual<br />
art objects in a parlor-like setting, while recalling the wild geometry and colors<br />
of seminal ’80s Italian design group Memphis, which helped define the look of a<br />
decade (see “Artist and Curator Mark Jay Freedman,” p. 12).<br />
Arcosanti has always been an interesting place to visit. But when FORM came to<br />
town, it became active and alive, in a way that Paolo Soleri had probably originally<br />
dreamt it. The festival seems to have revitalized Arcosanti and awakened it<br />
from the long, slow slumber of decades. There is renewed interest in the ideals<br />
of Archology, especially among a younger generation. Web searches are up,<br />
volunteerism is up, and while news of Soleri’s behavior toward his daughter has<br />
created a #MeToo backlash, the general feeling is that FORM has breathed in<br />
new life (see “Arcosanti in the Age of FORM,” p. 30).<br />
Finally, artistry comes in many different forms. Lindsay Green is an aerial dance<br />
artist who is amazingly adept in the air. Pole dancing has evolved from a strip<br />
club staple to a fitness craze and is now a sport with competitions that bring<br />
people together to vie for medals. Green recently earned silver and gold for her<br />
skills. When she is not teaching at her studio, Prowess Pole Fitness in Tempe,<br />
she is probably performing her jaw-dropping routines in front of rapt audiences<br />
(see “Aerial Performance Artist Lindsay Green,” p. 34).<br />
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