Katherine Lee, Shelf 1, Mixed Media, at Strangers Collective exhibition "Narrows"
The Santa Fe-based group Strangers Collective, http://strangersartcollective.com, led by curators, artists and writers Jordan Eddy and Kyle Farrell, is a consortium of artists and writers that, in a very short period, have emerged as the vanguard of a vast energetic and eclectic mix of cutting-edge creativity radiating from this desert community.
Their current offering Narrows, at the Community Gallery, May 20 through June 10, 2016, http://www.santafenm.gov/community_gallery_schedule, presents a selection of work in a variety of media. The small-scale nature of many of the works may have been born out of cramped studio spaces, yet they live large within this exhibition. Photography, sculpture, painting, assemblage and new media are all in evidence, demonstrating the breath of concerns, both material and conceptual. A lot of good stuff is on view, but there are two notable standouts:
The two works by Katherine Lee, Shelf 1 and Shelf 2 are beautifully constructed narrative ‘landscapes.’ Just what the narrative might be can only be imagined, whether it is autobiographical or a collection navigational guideposts. The tiny domestic scale of these works is jam-packed with information and imagery.
Marcus Zúñiga’s Constelaciones (Tesseract, Spiral, Penrose) is part of a spare new media installation. A three-channel video work, Constelaciones sits on the floor, forcing the viewer to look down at the universe in microcosm, rather than upwards towards an immeasurable expanse.
The Strangers Collective vibe is being picked up by cognoscenti far beyond the city limits. Co-founder Jordan Eddy is already on a national short-list of established and upcoming art writers engaged with contemporary art criticism. The contribution that groups like Strangers Collective are making to the creative environment is a continuum of many decades of visual arts activity in Santa Fe. The important difference is that it is now having a public face.
Howard Rutkowski
Santa Fe
2016 06 08
Detail: Katherine Lee, Shelf 1, Mixed Media, at Strangers Collective exhibition "Narrows"
Katherine Lee, Shelf 2, Mixed Media, at Strangers Collective exhibition "Narrows"
Marcus Zuniga, Constelaciones, 2016, New media installation at Strangers Collective exhibition "Narrows"