34 remarkable works by contemporary artists at the Albuquerque ...

?Changing Perceptions of the Western Landscape?

Every once in a while, the captains of Albuquerque?s art scene will conceptualize and present an astounding exhibit of works that updates our dusty notions of What Is.

?BURNBABYBURN? by Vincent Valdez

This entire summer, we are presented with such a transformative view of what is ?landscape? and what is ?The West.? This remarkable exhibit is ?Changing Perceptions of the Western Landscape? ? the experience will include a multitude of art, music and theater events, so buckle up.

For starters, we?re looking at 34 works by 24 outstanding contemporary artists:? Amelia Bauer, Erika Osborne, Ed Ruscha, Mary Tsiongas, Vincent Valdez, B.C. Nowlin, Charlie Burk, Gus Foster, Woody Gwyn, Joanne Lefrak, Patrick Nagatani, Alan Paine Radebaugh, Jack Loeffler and Donald Woodman. Among others.

?The Grand Library? by Guy Laramee

Their works include paintings, videos, photography, printmaking, works on paper, digital art, works on etched Plexiglas and one sculpture. To expand on the experience, exhibit curator (and senior curator at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History) Andrew Connors has scheduled four concerts of contemporary American music that explores western landscape themes in music.

Artist Larry Bob Phillips will create a landscape-inspired painting on a lobby wall at the Museum. How often do we get to see an artist in action? Take Nike?s advice and just do it.

Other adventures include three gallery talks by the curator, artist Mary Tsiongas and aural historian Jack Loeffler. The latter has recorded thousands of hours of natural habitat and music, and will address, among other things, the relationship of culture to homeland, including audio excerpts from his radio series on ?Watersheds as Commons.?

The FUSION Theater Company will participate with a production of Sam Shepard?s ?Kicking a Dead Horse,? a one-man play that examines concept of the ?Old West.?

In selecting works for the main exhibit, Connors did some homework on the history of Man?s relationship to Nature going back as far as biblical times. What he found is that Man has been conflicted off and on with the question of whether to dominate or submit, to demonize Nature or organize it. Fear it or embrace it.

Connors explains, ?The contemporary artists in this exhibition confront all sorts of issues and therefore help us come to a more complex appreciation for both our expectations and the reality of the Western landscape.?

Changing Perceptions of the Western Landscape, exhibit program includes:
May 18 through September 1:? Contemporary art exhibit of 34 works by 24 artists.
June 5, Wednesday, 11 am:? Gallery Talk with Curator Andrew Connors, free
June 20, Thursday, 5-8:30 pm:? Evening of Western Style Entertainment, free
June 23, Sunday, 1 pm:? Gallery Talk with Sound Artist Jack Loeffler, free
July 3, Wednesday, 11 am: Gallery talk with Connors and artist Mary Tsiongas, free
July 18, Thursday, 7 pm, and July 21, Sunday, 2 pm: ?Kicking a Dead Horse,? one-man play by Sam Shepard presented by FUSION Theatre Company (adult language), free
July 18, Thursday, 5-8:30 pm:? Larry Bob Phillips creates a landscape-inspired painting on Museum?s lobby wall, free
July 25, August 1, 8 and 15, all Thursdays, 6 pm:? Concert Series of contemporary American composers whose work is evocative of the land. Admission fees apply.
August 15, Thursday, 5-8:30 pm:? Slow Down Albuquerque! Two concerts by Chatter, free.

Open 9 am to 5 pm, Tuesdays-Sundays
Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain NW, 243-7255
Admission: $3 New Mexico adults, $2 seniors, $1 ages 4-12. Free 9 am to 1 pm on Sundays, and 2-5 pm on Saturdays, the first Wednesday of the month and 5-8:30 pm the third Thursday of the month

?Chasm of Bingham? by Erica Osborne

B.C. Nowlin?s B.T. Paintings

You could say that ?landscape in transformation? is the theme of one astounding painting in ?Changing Perceptions.? Transformation by fire, that is.

B.C. Nowlin is a highly successful painter of southwestern landscapes of big skies and stunning imagery. The artist is so successful that he could conceivably continue in the same vein of work indefinitely if he got the notion. But the best artists cannot ignore the creative urge to evolve different styles or topics. So it goes with Nowlin, who admitted to eight years of doing just that, but in extreme secrecy. Not even his wife saw his ?burning things? paintings. ?

Starting in 2004, Nowlin explored the mystery of fire in his landscapes by painting 40 works of ?burning things.? He and his wife call them the B.T. paintings. One of them ? ?Violet? ? is in ?Changing Perceptions.? He doesn?t see paintings of fiery landscapes as necessarily tragic or cynical, and regrets that some viewers might ? it?s what kept the series a secret for years.

After a successful exhibit of the B.T. paintings in Santa Fe a few years ago, he speaks with even more confidence. ?I?m pushing as far as I can push out in my craft and imagination. That?s a satisfying feeling.?? ?????

Of ?Violet,? Nowlin says, ?In spite of fire and smoke, it?s a beautiful twilight landscape over a peaceful valley, intensely evocative of feelings, of memory. It feels like a familiar childhood memory.? There?s a lot to take in here, including the savage beauty of fire in our world. Yet most of these flame paintings have a feeling of a vague remembrance for the artist. He can?t explain why.

?It?s like a novel you haven?t written but you already have the illustration for it,? he observes. Yet these paintings, he says, are ?the most difficult paintings I?ve ever done.? Curiously, Nowlin does not paint from photos or sketches. ?I just stand up and paint a picture.?

Nor does he try to paint something ugly. ?I wanted to paint a whole different subject that would be considered ugly but rendered beautiful. I want to treat a burning vehicle with the same kind of love that artists would paint the Grand Canyon and in the process, take it somewhere new.??

Author of the award-winning?Tradiciones Nuevomexicanas: Hispano Arts and Culture of New Mexico?(UNM Press), Mary?Monta?o writes for a variety of regional and national publications.??

Source: http://abqarts.com/?p=12604

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