Art
Art
Cityscapes and Steampunk
Two seemingly disparate artists join forces for a show that finds unlikely harmony.
January 5th, 2012
On the surface, Las Vegas artists Mark Mellon and Heather Hermann couldn't be more different. The former specializes in surreal, aggressively strange paintings of architecture and landscapes while the latter strives for enchantment with her art deco-meets-'80s-cartoons approach. Together, though, their work speaks to the issues of our time—construction stasis and crumbling real estate, and an expanding "mash-up" culture, old and new blended into a beguiling whole. Read more »
Art
Happy 10th, Art Basel Miami
December 15th, 2011
Art Basel Miami Beach turned 10 this year. There is a lot of getting swept up in things at the fair and its ancillary activities—its many, many, many ancillary activities, like so many barnacles on a whale that the whale lists to the side. There’s satellite fairs to parties sponsored by champagne companies and fashion companies and car companies. What can get lost in the shuffle is that there is still very good art to be seen in the convention center. Read more »
Design
Deco on Display
Beauty celebrated through bold graphics
November 24th, 2011
With Hoover Dam, its accompanying artwork and the original Las Vegas High School, Southern Nevada boasts prominent examples of large-scale art deco sculpture and architecture. But for those who yearn for art deco on a smaller scale, A Celebration of Erté, showing through December at the Martin Lawrence Gallery, focuses on the work of one of the period’s great artistic masters. Read more »
Art
Big Game Art
By hunting for society’s discards, such as cushion stuffing and gutted upholstery, a sculptor builds a new ecology
November 10th, 2011
Bryan Christiansen: Trophy Hunter seems tailor-made for the Big Springs Gallery at the Springs Preserve, even though it wasn’t. The show, which migrated from the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, addresses what we use and discard, what we value, and what is valuable. Both look at the natural world and how it intersects with human ecology. Read more »
Site to See
Montana's Back Pages
MontanaBlackArt.Tumblr.com
November 10th, 2011
Montana Black doesn't really need a Tumblr account. The Boulder City-based artist has a website, an Etsy page and a number of paintings from her "Angels Unveiled" series on permanent display inside University Medical Center. Read more »
Art
Architectural Striptease
By turning the CAC inside out, Affect/Effect reveals the hidden potential of the ordinary
October 20th, 2011
Scott Carter’s solo show, Affect/Effect, lays bare the bones of the Contemporary Arts Center. The 27-year-old Chicago-based artist has peeled away, sawn and cut the gallery walls, exposing pipe, plywood and two-by-fours. Read more »
First Friday
Meet the Old Boss: Cindy Funkhouser
October 6th, 2011
It all started with a trip to Portland, Ore. That’s where Funkhouse owner Cindy Funkhouser found the inspiration for what would become First Friday in 2002. Read more »
Arts
Someone to Look Up to
A new show explores what it means to be a hero at a time when we could all use one
October 6th, 2011
This summer, the departure of artist/UNLV professor Stephen Hendee ignited a firestorm in the art community. Amid the furor of sad fans and former students, one person made a disparaging comment about all this “hero worship.” Read more »
Art
Alien Attraction
This show’s bright painting/sculpture hybrids explore the push and pull of a transient, Martian-like Las Vegas
September 8th, 2011
Christopher Bauder’s Las Vegas studio looks like a butcher shop run by Fisher-Price. An oversize curio box displays squishy cartoon lips. Belly buttons, baby bottle nipples and Smurf-like hands litter a table. Read more »
Art
View Finder
Jeff Mitchum’s athleticism and sense of adventure fuel his landscape photography
September 8th, 2011
Photographer Jeff Mitchum reclines in a smooth, low-slung leather chair, his right ankle resting on his left knee. He’s wearing blue jeans, a light-blue button-up shirt and black dress shoes. The chair is a piece from his eponymous furniture collection, and it’s strategically placed in his eponymous fine art gallery, which opened at the Bellagio in April. Read more »
