Prada Marfa

Prada Marfa

On a dark desert Highway, with a cool breeze in our hair,

the warm smells of the desert, rising up through the air,

Somewhere south of Lobo, We past a shimmering light

So we turned around at Valentine, Before it got out of sight,

As the sun set grew heavy, We all stood were we parked

And stared in amazement at a small store front in the dark.

There, through the doorway; beyond the reach of our minds,

were dozens of shoes, some hand bags, all placed in a line.

Alright enough of this sacrilege, My apologies to any Eagles fans out there..

But, if there were warm colitas rising up through the air, and if we would have heard a mission bell, it would have fit..

30 miles from the Interstate on a desolate strip of Hwy 90, there sits the small town of Valentine, Tx. Small as it is, its the only town in Texas that can boast of having a free standing Miuccia Pranda store. Its actual a sculpture by Berlin artist Micheal Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. And as my little didi indicated, it completely caught us by surprise.

We were on our way to Marfa, another artistic anomaly in west Texas, when we passed this little store front. It looks like a real Prada Store, but with no working door. There are real Prada shoes and hand bags form the fall 2005 line on display. In reading up on the work after in returned home I was pleased to discover that the artist do not intend to maintain the work. Basically, its an adobe building that will decay. If it is vandalized, they it remains as it is till in crumbles and the wares are stolen and placed into private collections. At least that is the intention of the Artist.

This time capsule, according to Eric Wilson of the NYtimes speaks of issuses that are senitive to the fashion industry; like the unchecked growth of luxury brands, the temporay relevance of fashion, retail toursim and a culture that is devoted to buying and selling.

Personally, I find it fascinating. Like finding a blimp parked another 20 miles down the road, still, in the middle of no where, surrounded by more lights than you see at west Texas football game. At first it's a WOW and then it turns into a Why? As i haven't the first clue as to why there's a blimp sitting on what looks like a UFO landing sight from the 1977 movie "Close Encounters," I'll stick to the Prada Marfa Store.

It fascinates me, because it's not expected. As a time capsule, it brings something of the the New York scene to the west. Every day, this little building watches the sun rise over Texas and then set in Mexico. There no crowd pushing along the streets. There are no impulse shoppers peering into the window deciding which shoes they have to have come next pay check. There's nobody; It's desolate, there is just over 3,800 square miles in the county with 25oo households.

The median income in 2000 was just a bit over $19,000. To put this into perspective, a black leather Parda handbag will run you $2200. $19,000 will only get you eight handbags. Can you say Whimsical? I Love it.. it's incredible funny to me. Not just because it's so outrageously out of price for the folks that live close enough to drive out to see it, but because the people actually spend that type money on a handbag. Not to mention all the people that drive out to see this little Prada Store.

There is a brick ledge along the bottom of the windows. People from all over the world place their business cards and little notes under small stones along the edge. There was even in one case an actual credit card that was squeezed between the glass panes of the store front. And still i can't get over how far you have to drive to get there. It's not like its just down the road. Once you get to Texas, you have to drive to 4oo miles west of San Antonio to see this place.. I'm sorry, but i just have to laugh. it's a wonderful piece of art. I highly recommend it.

The Minimalist sculpture is on the road to Marfa, the Minimalist's mecca for the world. There are thousands of people that go to Marfa to see the work of Donald Judd, myself included, and if you have an extra hour, i urge you to head down Hwy 90 toward valentine. Its a wonderful experience. And depending on what time of the year you go, it could be heaven or hell.

The Rachofsky House broke with tradition and invited a single artist the opportunity to respond to the space within the home. The artist was Ricci Albenda. His show titled " The Quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

First impression, The house is amazing. i use this word alot in my descriptions, you must forgive me as i can think of no other words that fits my excitment. The clean line and shifted plains of the outside architecture are delicate and comfortable. The interior was divide and shifted as well, not only in a side to side manner, but in zenith too. This gave the House a completeness and a balance that is breath taking.

I was excited to see Albenda's work. With some time spent I could see the differences between works that were almost identical. Some were painted copies of the same painting but with the left eye verses the right eye. Others were repainted at a distance, say 20 feet form the original. And still others were slight color changes, bases on adding one or the primary colors to a base of, say green. If you don't know the artist work, you should look him up. He paints words, or invented words on a neutral background. Words like "ginkgo" or "Zwack" or "squox". Some are large and are very small. Each is designed for the space that it resides. The artist is a process artist and he holds my interest with that process if not for the content.

My second impression was sadness. I really was looking forward to see the Rachofsky collection. I can go to the Internet and locate pics on flicker and google of the collection; but its not the same as seeing the works in person. The house was bare, and had a lonely modernistic feeling about it. Albenda work has slight color variations and minute changes here and there. The Rachofsky House was the prefect location for viewing his work, but on the same note, i would have preferred to see the color and variety of the Rachofsky collect.

Outside was a different story. The works of Kiki Smith, Robert Irwin, Tony Smith, and Don Graham were wonderful. Kiki Smith bench set of dental work was amazing. Entitled "Cave Bear Teeth", we sat upon them, under a tree as if around a campfire in the sunny afternoon. Robert Irwin's Tilted Planes, was amazing too. Large section of the yard were replanted on tilted planes so that the yard appeared to shift on a Hugh grid. I recommend taking the tour if you get the chance.. It's my understanding that eventually the home and collection will become part of the DMA and will be accessible through them in the future. Till then, try to get in..

http://www.rachofskyhouse.org/info.html

The Diane and Sandi Besser Collection

They say, if it's not at least 20% disturbing it's not art, It's Kitch.

Sitting down and talking with Sandy Besser was an education. I learned what his point of view was as a collector and as a collector Sandy has been collecting "were then ain't". He is not interested in collecting what everyone else has in their collection. There are no "Jones" to keep up with. He sets his own path and helps the artist in the best way he know how.

His collection is different. There is an edge to his collection. Mostly figurative, or having to do with the human form, his collection runs from the whimsical to the disturbing. He has sculpture, ceramics, prints, paintings, and installations. His energy and excitement is remarkable and apparent in his collection. As a collector, he is aware of who is in the local and regional market. He watches the Roswell residency and always has an eye out for emerging artist. After letting us look around for an hour or so Sandy sat and talked with us about the local, regional and national markets. We appreciated his views of how the Santa Fe market worked and what the role of the collector in the life of an artist.

I would like to thank Sandy personally for his generousity, for letting us visit his home and for his advice.

"dis one, dat one, and dis don't matter"

Unless otherwise stated all photos are the property of David A. Collins, © 2009

Roswell, New Mexico

May 11, 2009

roswell artist-in-residence program

http://www.rair.org/

The residency is a one year program. It is well know by the artist that stay there as a “gift of time and space”. Started by Don Anderson, the program provides newly built studio/living facilities. They are single living homes with an large well lighted attached studio. They also provided a studio space for a spouse if they so desired. There are group facilities and local recourse for the artist. There is a long history with the residency and visiting it gave me the desire to apply myself. The Artist in Residency Program was established in 1967 by Don Anderson.

If you need a mall close by or nine Starbuck cafes within 5 minutes, than Roswell is probably not for you. There are beautiful vistas filled with cottonwood tree and alfalfa field in every direction so take your alergy medicine if you need it.

The Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art

http://www.roswellamoca.org/index.html

The gallery was large, filled with many of the resident artist that had been part of the program since its inception. Some 37 years of the residency program has produced a collection that is unique and progressive in a town better know for its recovery of a crash site in 1947. My expectation of Roswell was a dusty little place with bad lighting and old faded portraits of some preserved hay day. What I encountered though was something entirely different. I discovered many artistic roots that run deep in the southwest. Many of the artists that I have seen and admired had been part of the residency, including my professor at the University of North Texas. I have a desire to apply myself to the Roswell Artist-in-residency program, though it probably won’t be for a few years.

Some of the artist that I liked/recognized/am very interested in were Robert Jessup, Luis Jimenez, Wesley Rusnell, Koi Neng Liew and Robert Barber.

Robert Jessup was one of my professors at University of North Texas. He taught me in figure drawing and my senior painting classes. I had no idea that he had been part of the Residency. There were two of his paintings hanging in the gallery. They were early works, but still had his signature look of paint application. I was really excited to see these early works.

Luis Jimenez was a resident from Mar 1973 – 74. His work continues to inspire me. I knew of his sculpture but had never seen his drawings. I love his drawing and prints more than his amazing sculptures. I was also amazed of the berth of his work across New Mexico and the Texas.

Wesley Rusnell early works form 1973 were large nudes done in high key colors that aggressively played against each other. Some were multiples of figures overlapping or interacting with each other. There were a few black and white prints of his also on display. These were had the flavor of early German abstract expressionism.

Robert Barber was a resident from May 1991 – 92. His work was a series of golf bags, and a vacuum that were converted over into sharks forms that were suspended form the ceiling. These really fascinate me. I like the idea of creating fantastic creatures out of ordinary objects. They take on personas that invite interpretation, narrative and good old fashion fun.

Koi Neng Liew’s anamorphic figures are incredible. The blend of fantasy and human experiences was inspirational. These sculptures were fun, exciting and gave me the desire to sit and draw form his work. I want to see them move and interact within a storyline. I would love to watch them on the big screen.

Unless otherwise stated all photos are the property of David A. Collins, © 2009

the Museum of Fine Art Houston Texas

Today I visited the Museum of Fine Art with 7 other Grad students form Texas Tech. What an awesome venue. The Collect was incredible. One of my favorite works was by James Turrell.
The Light Inside (1999) 132 x 246 x 1416 in. Site-specific installation: Neon light, gypsum board, plaster, and glass.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjRMs0izHSE YouTube).

Another treat was the Ashanti collection from Ghana that my good friend Esther walked me through. It was nice to be able to see the work with the help of someone that understood the meanings and importance of what i was looking at.

Earlier in the day we visited The Menil Collection. There were four Jasper Johns and one Robert Rauschenburg that really impressed me. They also had on display drawings by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. These were original drawings for large scale installations. There was an awesome exhibition of Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave. Several portraits and hundreds of ink wash drawing were up.

On another note, I finally was able to visit the Rothko Chapel. There was a Hugh celebration going on inside, some 80 plus peoples listening to musicians form India. There was little room to walk around and even less to sit and view the work. This left me somewhat sad for I no painting to sit before and lose myself in.

After that I went to the Cy Twombly Gallery. It was wonderful. I wish i had more time to investigate his paintings on site. I was in awe at the shear size of the work. simply amazing...

Unless otherwise stated all photos are the property of David A. Collins, © 2009