WRITING ON THE WALLS
Contemporary artists share social commentary at these 5 shows
Pop culture, identity politics, digital technology: These are among our top obsessions in the 21st century, and no less so for artists. For proof, check out these five summer shows at metro Phoenix museums that feature up-to-the-minute work by contemporary artists.
‘Infinity Room’
You could call it a virtual-reality cube, except the visual world created inside this 12-by-12-by-12 installation is entirely abstract, sort of a fancy black-andsilver screensaver that casts undulating lines and swirls on the four walls, will mirrors on the floor and ceiling multiply the designs. It is, as they used to say in the ’60s, a trip, one created by the Turkish-born, Los Angeles-based artist Refik Anadol.
Details: Continuing through Sept. 30. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7374 E. Second St. $10; $7 students; free 15 and under; free for all on Thursdays. 480-874-4666, smoca.org.
‘To Be Thirteen’
Photographer Betsy Schneider, a longtime Phoenix artist who recently relocated to Boston, is known for her intimate images of her own children. But for this project, she aimed her lenses at an entire generation, 250 13-year-olds that she interviewed and immortalized in portraits. The diverse faces and voices are a window on the post-Millennial generation, aka Gen Z.
Details: Continuing through Oct. 14. Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave. $18 (discounts for seniors, students and children). 602-257-1222, phxart.org.
‘Western Edge: Humor and Playfulness in Contemporary Western Art’
Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West serves up a playful twist on cowboy art with this contemporary show that riffs on, and occasionally satirizes, those tried-and-true Western images. Example: Stephen Morath’s “Sunset at the Arizona Line,” a pastel riot commenting on the kitschification of Native culture by juxtaposing a katsina and a tomahawk with a burger and fries.
Details: Continuing through Sept. 9. Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, 3830 N. Marshall Way. 480-686-9539, scottsdalemuseumwest.org.
‘Dear Listener’
In “Things Are Looking Native, Native’s Looking Whiter,” Nicholas Galanin juxtaposes half of the face of a Hopi woman with that of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia: The side buns aren’t symmetrical, but the similarities make for a provocative metaphor for colonized culture. This is just one of the conceptual mixedmedia works exploring the interplay of cultures by Alaska artist Galanin, who is of Tlingit, Unangan and non-Native heritage and is featured in a mid-career retrospective.
Details: Continuing through Sept. 3. Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. $18 (discounts for seniors, students and children). 602-252-8848, heard.org.
‘It’s Important to Be Nobody’
First Fridays regulars, at least those who actually go inside the art galleries, undoubtedly will have encountered the work of Arizona artist Colin Chillag, whose mixed-media paintings riff on comfort-food photorealism — images that might have come out of your wallet or your yearbook — by adding scribbles and various visual effects that could either heighten or subvert nostalgia. Yeah, it’s kind of hard to describe, but Chillag is one of our local stars, despite the humble title of his latest solo show.
Details: Continuing through Aug. 5. Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, 1 E. Main St. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.