Welcome back for another month of art: we’ve got classes, crafting, exciting new exhibits, and even a book club… all for the delectation of your muse.
Mexico Then & Now
Artes de México en Utah, an independent non-profit organization that aims to introduce Mexican art to Utah, in partnership with the Consulate of Mexico in Salt Lake City, is bringing Mexico Then & Now to the Salt Lake City Main Library and five satellite venues, including the University of Utah Kingsbury Hall, Brigham Young University Library, The State Fairpark, Mestizo Institute of Culture & Art, and the Utah Pride Center. The special exhibition examines the history and national identity of Mexico through photography. The “then” portion is presented through the lens of Agustin Victor Casasola, with Mexico: The Revolution and Beyond, Photographs by Casasola 1900-1940, a collection of images ranging from historical portraits and images of revolutionaries to scenes of Mexican daily life and industry workers created as Casasola documented the changes his country underwent before and after the Revolution of 1910, a fundamental event that defined Mexico’s national identity. “Now” will be represented by a growing exhibition of photographs by Utah community members sharing their perceptions, experiences and visions regarding Mexico. Members of the public can submit their photos online beginning September 7; check out the website (here) for guidelines and information about upcoming workshops, films and other events.
Mexico Then & Now, Sept. 7, 5:30p. Atrium, Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E 400 S.
ABRACADABRA
If you think superstition has no effect on your life, ask yourself this: When’s the last time you pushed the button for the 13th floor on the elevator? Join artist Jason Metcalf as he explores the idea that superstition is a uniting forces across cultures, as it shapes behaviors, daily rhythms, architecture and design. Metcalf has researched, re-enacted and refreshed languages of superstition long forgotten from dayto- day vernacular with provenance in places as far as Haiti and as near as the Sanpete Valley to create artworks sourced from folkloric sayings passed down from generations: entities, obsessions, legends and lore provide the sculptural and performative language displayed in this solo exhibition. The opening reception for ABRACADABRA will happen during UMOCA’s First Friday event, which includes a DJ, food, and a cash bar.
ABRACADABRA, Sept. 7, 8-10p. UMOCA, 20 W West Temple. Free.
New Derelique Iconic
Work by Suzanne Kanatsiz and Jake Gilson will be on view at the A Gallery. Kanatsiz’s work focuses on large-scale portraits of men of various ethnicities, using the face to present the details of visage and psychology open to interpretation for the viewer. Gilson’s complementary work explores boundaries, vacancy, and the in/finite through a series of images that most resemble “House of Leaves” style gateways or doorways with meanings equally open to interpretation by the viewer.
New Derelique Iconic, Sept. 13, 6-8p. A Gallery, 1321 S 2100 E.
Closing: Speed
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts show Speed: The Art of the Performance Automobile is putting on the brakes this month. The show features 19 of the fastest and most acclaimed race cars from the past century—if you’ve got a need for speed, check it out before it’s gone.
Speed Closing, Sept. 16, 11a-5p. UMFA, Marcia and John Price Museum Building, 410 S Campus Drive.
Embroidery with the Cotton Floozy
If a weekend of crafts just wasn’t enough, Craft Lake City‘s Artist Workshop series picks back up this month. The first event will be hosted by CLC Alum, Marie Brian, a.k.a. the Cotton Floozy, assited by the Happy Valley Crafters. The gangsta’-crafter claims she can crochet a cozy for anything, including iProducts, pet dogs, and your plasticized dead Aunt Rita (its like she knows my life!) Get in on her sweet/subervsive embroidery action at the Garage this month.
Craft Lake City Artist Workshop: Embroidery, Sept. 18, 7p. Garage on Beck, 1199 N Beck Street. $5.
Rings, Rings, Rings
A class from Lifelong Learning at the University of Utah focuses on creating this fundamental jewelry. Kathleen Carricaburu will help attendees explore symbolism, design, ring fabrication, and stone setting techniques related to the ring. Carricaburu has exhibited her metal work and painting at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the former Salt Lake Art Center, Finch Lane Gallery, and Las Cruces Museum of Fine Arts in New Mexico. In spring 2011 her work, “Daphne and Apollo,” was reproduced in “500 Silver Jewelry Designs,” published by Lark Books. All levels are welcome; class limited to eight people.
Beginning Metal Smithing: Rings, Rings, Rings, Wednesdays, Sept. 19-Oct.17. Pioneer Craft House, 500 E 3300 S. $219.
Call for Entries: Craft and Photography
Each year, Utah Arts & Museums, as part of its mission to provide the benefits of art and culture to all Utahns, hosts a statewide visual arts competition, rotating between three media category: painting and sculpture; mixed media and works on paper; and this year’s criteria, craft and photography. The show is open to all Utah artists over the age of 18, and submissions (guidelines and info here) are currently being accepted at the Rio Gallery . Works are chosen for display each year by two out-of-state jurors: Mary Anne Redding, Chair of the Photography Department at the Santa Fe University of Art & Design, and Stefano Catalani, Director of Curatorial Affairs/Artistic Director at the Bellevue Arts Museum, will be judging the 2012 show. Six $500 awards will be given to selected artists for outstanding work. The exhibition of selected works will take place Oct. 19-Nov. 30 at the Rio Gallery, with a special opening reception on Oct. 19 from 6-9 p.m. in conjunction with the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll.
Statewide Visual Arts Competition, Utah Arts & Museums, Sept. 20 & 21. Rio Gallery, 300 S Rio Grande Street.
Unbound
If you enjoy art and enjoy reading, you’ll want to make the trek down to the Springville Museum of Art to join Unbound, a book club aimed at art lovers. Each month features a new book, and particpants will enjoy light refreshments against a gallery backdrop as they explore the literary side of art. Previous discussions this year focused on Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, and The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book by Alice B. Toklas. This month’s offering is Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn.
Unbound Book Club, Sept. 26, 7p. Springville Museum of Art, 26 E 400 S, Springville.
Da Vinci—The Genius
The Leonardo is hosting an exhibit that explores the genius of its namesake as an inventor, artist, scientist, anatomist, engineer, architect, sculptor and philosopher. This traveling exhibit, put together with the assistance of Il Genio di Leonardo da Vinci Museo in Italy and Pascal Cotte of Lumiere Technology in France, will bring Leonardo’s inventions to life in interactive exhibits that include the first concepts of a car, bicycle, helicopter, glider, parachute, SCUBA, submarine, military tank and ideal city. In addition the exhibit features facsimiles of Leonardo’s most famous codices, anatomical studies, Anghiari battle drawings and Renaissance art, including a high definition recreation of The Last Supper at actual size, complementing the existing 3D animations explaining the Sforza Horse and Vitruvian Man. Visitors can also learn Mona Lisa’s secrets with an analysis of the iconic painting, conducted at the Louvre Museum by the renowned scientific engineer, examiner and photographer of fine art, Pascal Cotte. Show runs through January 2012.
Da Vinci: The Genius, Sept. 28. The Leonardo, 209 E 500 S. $9.