Art Gallery Events in the Morongo Basin
By Katie Nartonis
Katie Nartonis is a writer, curator and film maker. Her most recent documentary film “Jack Rogers Hopkins: California Design Maverick,” about the San Diego based Midcentury designer-craftsman, premiered during Palm Springs Modernism Week at the Palm Springs Museum Annenberg Threatre in 2023. She is currently writing a life-style photo book on the way we live in the high desert, “Glimpses of the Joshua Tree Dream” which will be published in early 2024.
La Matadora Gallery:
Show: “Limbo:” Colleena Hake, solo show
Date: Art Party, October 14, 6:00-9:00 PM
Location: 61857 Highway 62 Joshua Tree
Showing through 29 October 2023
Info: lamatadoragallery@gmail.com
October 14th is the release date of Colleena Hake’s new bedside table book ‘Bedside Beneditos’. The much-anticipated publication includes 77 separate “beneditos” along with handwritten corresponding poems. The book was designed by the talented local bad-ass designer Beth Allen.
Hake first stumbled upon the magical art of beneditos at a bruja shop in Nogales, Mexico. She affixed her ‘74 Grand Prix with Mexican version beneditos. Later, Colleena was inspired to create her own versions of these talismans, using thrifted trivets. Embedded within each benedito (or cabin blessing) is an original poemprayer by Colleena: a lucky horseshoe, protective amulets & charms – encased in earthquake-proof resin. Hake has made and sold over 400 examples.
“La Matadora Gallery, the building, is up for sale. The show “Limbo” reflects the current state of the art space.”
– Colleena Hake
Colleena’s solo show, “Limbo,” will appear at her gallery La Matadora. “Limbo” refers to a state of uncertainty with the future of the La Matadora Gallery as well as Colleena’s pervading sense of feeling in-between hearing and deaf worlds. The plot of land in Joshua Tree that the gallery sits on is currently in flux, up for sale, and in some ways threatening the very fabric of our idiosyncratic home-made arts community.
Hake notes that her art show and book are dedicated to her dear hearing-ear dog Lucy who is now in “the Sky with Diamonds” after 13.5 years of togetherness. La Matadora Gallery also doubles as Colleena’s benedito factory, where she’ll be taking part in weekends two and three of the Highway 62 Art Tours this year. Hake is a local treasure. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn more about her with her new book and her magical works.
29 Palms Art Gallery
Show: Hwy 62 Art Tours “Collective Show”
Date: October 5th – 29th
Location: 74055 Cottonwood Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277
Join the 29 Palms Art Gallery in celebrating the basin-wide
group of artists opening their studios in October as part in
the Hwy 62 Art Tours.
Hey There!
Show: “The Art Collectors Library”
Nashville artist, Jonathan Edelhuber
Date: Opening – October 14, 6:00-9:00 PM
Location: 61857 Highway 62 Joshua Tree
Showing through 29 October 2023
Info: lamatadoragallery@gmail.com
The show is described as “heavy on contemporary art and even art history.” There is a rich selection of framed works on paper, paintings, and sculptures.
Compound YV
Exhibition: Emergence: Mojave Artists of Color Collective
DATES: Saturday, September 9 – Sunday, November 5, 2023
Location: 55379 29 Palms Highway, Yucca Valley, CA
HOURS: Open to the public Friday through Sunday, 12-5pm
Film screening: Thursday October 5, 6:30pm TBA
Closing day event Sunday, October 29, 4:30pm TBA
Learn more about Compound YV at: compoundyv.com
Learn more about MACC at bigmacc.org.
Emergence: Mojave Artists of Color Collective (MACC), on view through November 5, will be the first-ever public exhibition of works by MACC artists as a collective. The exhibition at Compound YV, an artist-run space in Yucca Valley, CA, will both stabilize and uplift the group as they take this important step forward as an organization and present their work to the wider community.
The title, Emergence, also reflects that MACC is a relatively new community and resource for self-identified artists of color who live and work in the Morongo Basin. Curated by Elena Yu of MACC and Caroline Partamian on behalf of Compound YV, the artists featured also include Sakura Sky Kelly, Mansi Shah, Yvonne Buchanan, Lisa G. French, Alex Maceda, Douglas Bank, Josie Kim Parker, Tania “T” Hammidi, Miri Hunter and Stacey Villalobos.
Goat Mountain Space Trucking Gallery
Show title: “Skullavera”
Date: Opening reception October 21, 5-9 pm
Location: 55940 29 Palms Hwy #2,
Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Follow: @spacetruckingallery on Instagram
for info on gallery shows
Follow: #yuccavalleyartwalk for more
information on YV Art Walk
Space Truckin’ Gallery presents “Skullavera” – aka the Skull Show. Skullavera is an open call art show with a simple rule, Skull art! It can be human, animal, cartoon, tattoo, scary, fun or whatever. Gallerist and artist Juan Thorp explains, “Skulls present themselves in a wide variety of places in our culture. Think Day of the Dead, Halloween, tattoos, fine art, garden art, and more. From the dark and scary to the fun and colorful, what’s your favorite type of skull,” he asks?
The opening reception will be on October 21st from 5-9pm during the Yucca Valley 3rd Saturday Art Walk. Other local galleries participating include Goat Mountain Co., The Joshua Tree National Park Association, Rainbow Stew, Desert Curios, and Milk Thistle.
BRAG: Black Rock Art Gallery
Exhibition: Margeaux Walter, solo show
Location: 9800 Black Rock Canyon Rd,
Dates: October 6, 2023, until January 5, 2024,
There will be an opening reception on Friday October 6, 2023, from 5pm to 7pm. The building is open 7 days a week, 8am – 4pm.
Twentynine Palms, California – Joshua Tree National Park management is pleased to announce a new art exhibition by Joshua Tree-based artist Margeaux Walter, a resident artist in the park.
Sedimental is an exhibition of photographs in which the artist has photographed sections of the landscape, printed them onto fabric, and then sewn them into outfits and drapery. The artist inserts their body, covered in the prints, into the landscape to form simple, targeted, visual interventions. Using camouflage tactics to garner a second glance, they encourage the practice of looking more than once at one’s surrounding environment.
Margeaux Walter is based in Joshua Tree and utilizes mediums including photography, installation, video, and performance to portray issues related to conservation, climate change, consumption, and waste. She has been awarded artist-in-residence programs at organizations such as Montalvo Arts Center, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, VCCA, JTHAR, BigCi in Bilpin, Australia (Environmental award) and at Joshua Tree National Park. Her work has been exhibited nationwide at institutions including MOCA in LA, Hunterdon Art Museum, The Center for Photography in Woodstock, Tacoma Art Museum, and the Griffin Museum of Photography. Her work is featured in publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Seattle Times, and Boston Globe.
Background
The Black Rock Art Gallery furthers the mission of the National Park Service through supporting artistic expression that provides fresh insights and inspiration regarding the relevance of Park resources today and in the future. The Gallery also furthers the creation of community by widening access to these enriched stories of the park for all types of visitors, real- time and virtual.
The gallery was started in 2019 by Jennifer Albrink (Chief of Interpretation, Resource Education and Volunteers) and Alison Shoup (Education Specialist). The space was redesigned by Rebecca Lowry and is now managed by Bernard Leibov working with Jennifer and Alison. Each year there is a cycle of one exhibition by a former JTNP Artist in Residence, one by an artist from the local community and a period of exhibitions of student artworks mounted by Groundworks.
