SFR Picks: Fresh Experience

New artists bring innovation to their graduating exhibit

The Fall Senior Graduating Exhibition at the Institute of American Indian Arts is the culmination of years of the featured students' lives. The celebratory event displays the works of emerging sculptors and narrative painters ready to infuse the art world with fresh perspective.

Charletta Yazzie is a graduating senior majoring in studio arts, and her portfolio is a partnership between two mediums. "My artwork is about me feeling connected to weaving," she says. "I do paintings of weaving; I am trying to interpret putting my weaving onto canvas." The Diné painter has been working on her senior series since last spring and plans to feature 10 works in the exhibit. Yazzie's paintings feature geometric designs that have a three-dimensional element. "They are colorful and there is a narrative that goes along with them," Yazzie tells SFR. "I will talk about the storyline. One painting is from my creation story."

Fellow studio arts major David Beams focused on sculpture and was recently named a SITE Scholar at SITE Santa Fe, a program that helps artists transition from student to professional. Beams' larger work—a massive obelisk which resides outside, behind the school's foundry building—is 22 feet tall. The other, featured inside the exhibit, is about 10 feet tall and hangs from the ceiling over a 5-foot-square space covered in earth, creating a giant drawing tool. The pieces are inspired by Beams' summertime adventures through the Southwestern desert to Marfa, Texas. "On the way back, what really inspired me was the vast emptiness," he says. "The horizon is completely flat and occasionally you see these little geometric shapes appear out of nowhere and they change based on your relationship to them. … The inside piece reflects the outside piece, it is also supposed to give the viewer an experience."

Other graduating seniors present pin-up inspired paintings that confront identity and white privilege, illustrations that depict the capitalist corruption of Native ritual and photographs that may just make you look into the subject's eyes twice. (Maria Egolf-Romero)

Fall Senior Graduating Exhibition Opening Reception
6-8 pm Friday Nov 18. Free.
Institute for American Indian Arts,
83 Avan Nu Po Road,
424-2300

Journalism=Heroism

American journalists are feeling a tad shaken in the wake of the recent election, but this all gets put into perspective when we think about a writer like Mohammed Omer. The Palestinian journalist/activist has reported on the events in Gaza for years and has written a book titled

Shell-Shocked: On the Ground Under Israel's Gaza Assault

. Omer reads from his book and conducts an audience Q&A Wednesday night, a must-attend for anyone interested in world events and a reminder that there are still brave journalists out there on the front lines helping to make the world a better place by shining a light where it’s needed most. (Alex De Vore)

Mohammed Omer Reading:
6:30 pm Wednesday Nov. 16. Free.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation,
107 W Barcelona Road,
982-0439

String Theory

The medium of fiber arts is one filled with skill and magic. Artists who work with fiber turn string into everything from giant installation pieces to woven sculptures, and the Española Fiber Arts Center’s Fall Fiber Fiesta brings a huge display of stunning fiber arts to Santa Fe. “The reason why this is such a great event is it’s the largest fiber event in Santa Fe,” says event coordinator Jill Battson. Such arts includes knitting, felting, weaving and more, and this huge display features clothing, rugs and place settings. “Everything is made by hand by Northern New Mexico artists, and a lot of the materials are sourced locally,” Battson tells SFR. (MER)

Fall Fiber Fiesta:
10 am-5 pm Saturday and Sunday Nov. 19 and 20. Free.
Scottish Rite Temple,
463 Paseo de Peralta,
747-3577

Constants and Variables

Oh hey—Jono Manson is back with a new album called

The Slight Variations,

and goddamn if this multi-faceted producer/songwriter/musician isn’t prolific. So much so, in fact, that this is his second album in two years, a notable accomplishment considering how, before that, Manson spent nearly seven years as a hired gun. “I was busy writing and producing music for everyone under the sun,” he says. “I’m feeling happy that I’m back on track with my own creative process.” This means 12 tracks of soul-meets-rock goodness, the Manson you know (or should) and an exciting return to form. (ADV)

Jono Manson Album Release:
7 pm Monday Nov. 21. $10-$15.
Jean Cocteau Cinema,
418 Montezuma Ave.,
466-5528

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