Featured photo: “Flowers, Rocks, and Wind III,” made of wood, aluminum and acrylic, by Michael Afsa, as seen at Lotus Contemporary. In keeping with my previous post about the abundance of high-caliber art that’s traveled to the Phoenix area this month, this post homes in on the fine work being done by local artists, as … Continue reading Photo highlights: Third Friday, 12/18/15
Featured photo: “Artist Reception” by Fred Tieken, on view at Treeo. Isn’t it wonderful how you needn’t stroll into every single gallery in downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row and can still take in a pleasing assortment of works by emerging and established artists? I did a bit of picking and choosing for Third Friday, October 16, … Continue reading The steady cultivation of variety on Roosevelt Row
Featured photo: “Pool” by Abbey Messmer, at eye lounge, Phoenix. Although my friend and I had only a few galleries on our must-see list for the Third Friday art walk on Roosevelt Row for September 18, 2015, each stop reaffirmed that downtown Phoenix galleries are brimming with variety, professionalism and experimentation. Take Eye Lounge, for … Continue reading Diving into the refreshing pool of the RoRo art scene
Like many First Friday devotees in Phoenix, my wanderings around Roosevelt Row always include a stop at eye lounge, founded 15 years ago with the idea of being an artist-run collective celebrating and promoting our city’s visual arts scene. The oblong-shaped gallery is always crowded on art walk nights, but I manage to make my … Continue reading Eye Lounge has helped define the Phoenix art scene
Lately, the Phoenix Art Museum has been bursting with good shows — so much so that, on recent visits, I find myself having to zero in on just a few galleries in order not to get overwhelmed. One area that I do find myself gravitating to often is the adjacent Marshall and Hendler Galleries in … Continue reading First Friday recommendation: “Vanitas” at PAM
Featured photo: A tribute to the late Keith Haring, by Hugo Medina. From the HIV/AIDS-themed show at Olney Gallery. First Friday on Roosevelt Row never lacks for contemporary paintings, sculptures, installations and photography that draw favorable comments from the hordes of people that trek through the eclectic galleries. Plentiful, too, are the edgy, controversial works … Continue reading First Friday, Dec. 5: It was a little tense out there
The Third Friday art walk of January 17, 2014, was a good reminder to myself that the downtown Phoenix art scene probably ought to be referred to as the “central Phoenix art scene,” given the many galleries that spider out from Roosevelt Row. For example, there’s Practical Art at Central Avenue and Camelback Road, The … Continue reading The widening circle of Phoenix’s art scene
Here I am, blatantly stealing Justin Germain’s lines from a media statement for June’s First Friday show “Thermal PHX” at the MonOrchid gallery: “The title for this exhibition comes from my memories of learning from my parents, both hang glider pilots, about how to fly using heat bubbles, or ‘thermals’ that rise from the desert … Continue reading Catching a few thermals on Roosevelt Row
Although I can’t exactly say that I did justice to our city’s annual Art Detour — a weekend-long central Phoenix art walk, kicked up a notch — I can say that my handful of “detours” into galleries were quite worthwhile. Unfortunately, I had to miss out on a ton of artful antics and diversions, including … Continue reading Phoenix’s Art Detour is 25 years strong
By last night, Friday evening, I was frazzled from a busy week and from our current atypical desert humidity. But I was determined to check out First Friday in central Phoenix, so I plotted out two galleries to see that I had never seen before. First stop was Studio 6 at the Artery, 625 E. … Continue reading You can always spare time for an art walk
Explore Art: Phoenix 