SMoCA Lounge Opening and VIP Party
This Friday night I was fortunate enough to get an invite to SMoCA's VIP party and the opening of the new SMoCA lounge. Artists, gallery owners, curators, and other professionals in the art scene milled about among the new installations decked out in their finest attire. Besides admiring all of the wonderful art, I got to see Lisa Sette, owner of the Lisa Sette Gallery. I met her at the Scottsdale Art Walk a few weeks ago and I was so excited that she remembered me! I also got to meet jewelry artist Mimi Jardine, whose work is, simply put, divine. You can buy her jewelry at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MimiJardine.
I was also introduced to sculptor George Thiewes and painter Claudio Dicochea. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet people whose work I had heard so much about and, of course, to hand out my shiny new business cards that had just arrived the day before.
The largest new installation was the People's Biennial in SmoCA's Gallery 4. It featured the work of artists from around the country who are thought to be under-appreciated or under-represented. The theme was quite similar to that of phICA's “Declaring Independence” exhibit which I discussed previously. I was the most intrigued by the work of Gary Freitas. He is a forensic psychologist by day and mixed media artist by night. He creates elaborate, visually stunning sculptural pieces out of old computer parts. His piece “Singularity Artifact 2.0” is a series on concentric circles constructed from old circuit boards. It was hypnotizing to look at as it somewhat resembled an eye. According to the artist's son whom I spoke with, Freitas is trying to explore the interactions between human and computer intelligence and how we are connected through our similar operating systems based on electronic circuits. Though the pieces displayed in the gallery were small and fairly simple, his house which doubly functions as his studio is apparently filled with hundreds of these structures many of which contain LED lights and are capable of interacting with the viewers.
In the adjacent Gallery 3 was the exhibit “Artists Tell Stories (Mostly About Themselves)”. These pieces focused on artists who create narratives within their work, often about their own emotions and experiences. There were photographs, drawings, prints, and even knit-wear in this exhibition. All of the pieces seemed to be infused with a sort of neuroticism that intensely drew me in. I spent the most time in front of a series of drawings by Deb Sokolow that were a part of a show she did in New York entitled “Notes on Denver Airport and The New World Order”. It tells the story of her trip to Denver airport in which she investigated conspiracy theories surrounding the building's construction. The drawing “Log of Events” had a written, detailed account of things she saw, people who she thought were following her, and her thoughts about various conspiracies. The text was adjacent to a schematic drawing of the airport with tiny, delicate notes throughout. I wasn't sure if I was staring into the mind of a lunatic or at a masterpiece. Either way, I was fascinated.
The eclectic quality of the new exhibitions made for a great opening night. There was something to suit every artistic taste and the combination of different styles both highlighted the diversity of the individual pieces and brought one's attention to the richness and diversity of contemporary art.
Both of these installations will be open until January 2, 2012.