Tuesday, March 29, 2011

CAC’s ‘Blur’ will make you rub your eyes


The Contemporary Arts Center brings in some heavy hitters for its new multimedia exhibit, It’s all a Blur, and you’re really going to want to see this one. You might even want to hug the CAC folks afterward (or become a member), because this is contemporary art at its mind-bendingest.
The SOMArts Cultural Center’s touring exhibit, curated by Justin Hoover, features works by influential artists Tony Labat, Dale Hoyt and Guillermo Gómez-Peña that will rattle your brain, make you laugh, broaden your perspective and invite you to ruminate on today’s American Dream. Political and social issues are at the core, mostly bundled in approachable pieces. Hoyt’s kitty drawings and hilarious, disturbing and touching video shorts will either have you running or sticking around for more.

Labat’s readymades include a Weber grill of idolatry proportions, delivered in original packaging and attached to 6-foot legs, where it’s literally and figuratively out of reach. Movie-style target-practice posters of a terrorist taking over a plane come with gun holes, created when Labat was a visiting artist at UNLV. They cover a gallery wall and the windows facing Charleston Boulevard. Two of his video installations are also on display.
Clear some time to sit through Gómez-Peña’s The Great Mojado Invasion, Part 2 (The Second U.S.-Mexico War). Made with filmmaker Gustavo Vazquez, it weaves together factual and fictional accounts of U.S.-Mexico relations with clips of exploitative Hollywood movies—sci-fi, westerns, musicals, dramas, porn and cartoons.
The mockumentary—narrated by the performance artist and activist, seated at a table, drinking and toying with the term “alien,” which, in this movie, also refers to “Euro Aliens” who took away Mexican land—will almost have you laughing at the “truth” Americans have perpetrated through popular culture and history classes.

Kristen Peterson
Las Vegas Weekly

Friday, March 25, 2011

Contemporary Arts Center Annual Juried Show May 5th - June 18


May 5- June 18

The Annual Juried Show is the Contemporary Arts Center’s (CAC) annual opportunity to expose artists working in contemporary visual arts to a wide audience. This exhibition is a prominent showcase in the Southern Nevada region and highlights the exceptional work of national and international emerging artists in all media.

Eligibility
National and international artists 16 years and older may submit a maximum of five works completed within the last two years and not exhibited in a previous CAC exhibition.

Juror Julie Sasse has worked in the visual arts for over 30 years, as an artist, educator, gallery director and museum curator. She is currently the chief curator and curator of modern and contemporary art at the Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ. tucsonmuseumofart.org

Awards
Over $4,000 in awards money is available to the juror to present to artists.

Fee
A non-refundable fee for up to 5 artworks must accompany every submission. Payment for mailed and hand-delivered submissions can be made by credit card, cash or check (made payable to the Contemporary Arts Center). Online submissions must be paid by credit card. Payment of this fee does not guarantee that any/all artworks submitted for jurying will be included in this exhibition.

CAC members:
$20 for 3 entries.
$5 each additional entry.
5 entries total allowed, up to 3 images per entry.
Non-members:
$30 for 3 entries.
$10 each additional entry.
5 entries total allowed, up to 3 images per entry.

Requirements
Emailed entries:
Email CACAJS2011@gmail.com with subject heading ‘AJS 2011’ and the following information:
  1. Completed entry form in the email or as an attachment
  2. Images must be in JPG format
  3. Maximum 1MB file size per image (suggested resolution of 300dpi)
  4. Filename instructions: Last name_First name_entry#.jpg (ie. Smith_David_1.jpg)
  5. Entry fee included as complete CC# information. Emailed entries will NOT be accepted with any other form of payment.

Mailed entries:
Mail CD with images (formatted and titled as listed above) to:
AJS 2011
Contemporary Arts Center
  1. 107 Charleston Ave, Suite 120
Las Vegas, NV, 89104
Include the following information:
  1. Completed entry form
  2. Clearly labeled CD with AJS 2011 and your name
  3. Images must be in JPG format
  4. Maximum 1MB file size (suggested resolution of 300dpi)
  5. Filename instructions: Last name_First name_entry#.jpg (ie. Smith_David_1.jpg)
  6. Entry fee included as check or CC#
Video:
Mail video samples on DVD or CD to:
AJS 2011
Contemporary Arts Center
107 Charleston Ave, Suite 120
Las Vegas, NV, 89104
Include the following information:
  1. Completed entry form
  2. Clearly labeled DVD/CD with AJS 2011 and your name
  3. Must be DVD?CD player ready
  4. Entry fee included as check or CC#

If you wish for the return of your CD or DVD, include a SASE along with your submission.
Selected artworks must be delivered ready to hang/display. Artworks considered unsuitable for hanging/presentation will be refused. Curatorial staff reserves the right to refuse an artwork that is misrepresented through documentation or is not the piece selected by juror.

Calendar 2011

April 15 All entry forms and images must be received by Saturday 5pm, Nevada time. Late entries will not be accepted.

April 20 Selected artists will be notified via email of acceptance. PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL.

May 1 Accepted works MUST be received by CAC by 5pm, Monday, May 1, including shipped works. Hand-delivered works can be dropped off Saturday April 30, 12-4pm and Monday May 2, 12-5pm. Late entries will not be accepted.

May 5- June 18 Duration of Show.

May 5 Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony for artists and guests, 6-9pm.

May 6 First Friday, Downtown Arts District, 6-10pm.

June 3 First Friday, Downtown Arts District, 6-10pm.

June 18 Close of Show.

June19-20 All hand-delivered work MUST be picked up Sunday, June 19, 12-4pm or Monday, June 20, 4-7pm. Work left after this date will be subject to a $5 per day storage fee. All other work will be shipped by Saturday, July 2.

Sales
The CAC receives a 30% commission from all artworks designated for sale.

Shipping and Insurance
By submitting artwork for consideration for the 2011 Juried Show, the Artist acknowledges and accepts the following stated terms:
1. The exhibiting Artist is responsible for all applicable charges related to the preparation, packaging, insuring, and shipping/delivery of artwork to and from the gallery.
2. The Artist assumes all responsibility and holds CAC harmless for any damages incurred during shipping.
3. Artist may choose preferred art shipper.
4. Artist agrees to hold CAC harmless and waive all claims or causes of action against CAC, its officers, directors, employees, and volunteers for any and all damages, loss, or injury caused to any person or person’s personal property arising from or relating to the exhibition of Artist’s artwork at the CAC or by the Artist or persons affiliated with the Artist.



Friday, March 18, 2011

Thanks Vegas We Had A Great Turn Out For The Artist Reception - It's All A Blur








Curator Justin Hoover (in middle)





















“IT’S ALL A BLUR”
In partnership with SOMArts San Francisco
Featuring Artists: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Dale Hoyt and Tony Labat 
March 15th-April 23rd, 2011

Please come by the center and see the new exhibit

Thursday, March 17, 2011

St. Patrick's Day - Artist Reception 6 pm CAC

 
“IT’S ALL A BLUR”
In partnership with SOMArts San Francisco
Featuring Artists: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Dale Hoyt and Tony Labat
LAS VEGAS March 15th-April 23rd, 2011, 
Artist Reception March 17th
 
Don't let the St. Patrick's Day crowd run you off.  Plenty of parking in lot east of  Artifice Bar 
Just let the entrance know your going to the CAC Artist Reception 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Monday, March 14, 2011

Artist Talk - It's All A Blur


Dale Hoyt has been involved in the making, curation, and criticism of media art for over 32 years. His videotapes, drawings, and paintings are in numerous permanent museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA.
During the '90s he spent several years curating the Video Program at The Kitchen Center in NYC and, in SF, founding C.A.L.F., the Coalition of Artists and Life Forms, the world's first artist-run think tank devoted to researching Biotechnology and its impact on society. This lead him to be commissioned, along with Steve Thurston, to draw the first authorized portrait of CC, the world's first cloned cat.


Tony Labat is Chair and associate professor in the New Genres department. He received his MFA from SFAI in 1980. He has been producing thought-provoking work in various media for more than two decades. Dedicated to working in multiple disciplines with each project, his art often combines elements of installation, sculpture, performance and video. Labat's immigration to the United States from Cuba at age 15 has had a profound influence on the many evolutions of his work. Having exhibited at prestigious galleries and museums around the world, Labat's work resides in a number of prominent collections and has received several awards and grants, among them two from the National Endowment for the Arts. 


Born in 1955 and raised in Mexico City, Gómez-Peña came to the US in 1978. His work, which includes performance art, video, audio, installations, poetry, journalism, and cultural theory, explores cross-cultural issues, immigration, the politics of language, "extreme culture" and new technologies in the era of globalization. A MacArthur fellow, he is a regular contributor to the national radio news magazine All Things Considered (National Public Radio), a writer for newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and Mexico, and a contributing editor to The Drama Review (MIT).

 

Friday, March 11, 2011

Neon Lit - a very bright reading

 





Doors Open at 6 pm - Reading begins at 7 pm
Cash bar and crunch snacks
The Arts Factory  107 E. Charleston Blvd
702-895-4366

Current CAC Member and Former CAC Board Member - Steven Spann


The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to Feature Artist Steven Spann in Artist-In-Residence Program at P3 Studio.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is pleased to announce the second artist to be featured in the artist-in-residence program at P3 Studio is Las Vegas artist Steven Spann, featuring a take on his latest project, Trash = Art.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ artist-in-residence program brings emerging and established contemporary artists to the resort and invites them to utilize space for creative production and exhibition of their work. The program debuted with artist Fab 5 Freddy when the resort opened in December 15, 2010.
Originally from Texas, Steven Spann denied a lucrative financial planning career to pursue painting full time. In his latest project, Trash = Art, Steven Spann has done a series of paintings using repurposed materials. These include fabric, styrofoam, cardboard, plexiglass, broken chairs, plates, paper, glasses and more. While in residence at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Steven will collect discarded materials from resort guests, partners and CoStars to repurpose for his series. Steven will work within the space Tuesday – Friday, 2pm – 10pm and Saturday – Sunday, 11am – 2pm and 6pm – 10pm. For more information on Steven Spann, please visit: www.stevenspann.com.

The resort’s artist-in-residence program represents one component of its larger art program, which was created through a partnership with New York City’s Art Production Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Art Production Fund helped curate the unique programs at the resort, which feature several genres across the artistic spectrum.

March 10, 2011 by VegasNews.com 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Poetry Night - Monday, March 21st




Noah Eli Gordon, Sommer Browning and Aaron Belz will be reading. 
Doors open at 7pm. Reading starts at 8pm. 
This is a real treat for Las Vegas! 
Three wonderful poets on one night

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

It's All A Blur - Special Talk To The Public On March 15th



In partnership with SOMArts San Francisco
Featuring Artists: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Dale Hoyt and Tony Labat

An endless train carries desert camouflaged heavy artillery through an unknown landscape. A shooting range target calls into question the form of fear and liberty in American popular culture. Performers use their bodies as a site for radical spirituality, memory, penance, activism, stylized anger and corporeal reinvention. Everyone gets the chance to be Batman.

The Contemporary Arts Center in partnership with SOMArts Cultural Center San Francisco are proud to present “It’s All A Blur”, a major touring exhibition about levels of empowerment and enfranchisement in the American West and the current status of the American Dream. This multi-media exhibition focuses on three San Francisco local masters, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Dale Hoyt and Tony Labat, was conceived by SOMArts curator and gallery director Justin Hoover and premiers at the Contemporary Arts Center in Las Vegas, March 15th-April 23rd 2011 before traveling to the Sierra Arts Foundation in Reno, Nevada, and the Feldman Gallery at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where it will appear in conjunction with the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.

This multi-media exhibition has three components, a gallery component, a public intervention component and a virtual online component. “It’s All A Blur” incorporates video installation, drawings, and sculptural installation, photography, and performance/video artworks. This body of work from these three prolific artists embodies unique viewpoints towards combating the marginalization of identity, be it through fighting against racial stereotypes, the military industrial war machine or the uphill battle of poverty and economic disenfranchisement.

SOMArts Executive Director Lex Leifheit commented, ‘“It’s All A Blur” highlights local masters who have pioneered an intellectual, multifaceted approach to identity and art as means for social justice in the post-Bush era. By creating work for a community whose spiritual, political, cultural and economic realities are in constant flux, they offer hope and provide the possibility of greater empathy.'

Curator Justin Hoover commented, “It’s All A Blur” is simultaneously a local and a global exhibition. It deals with multiple languages and multiple cultures. The featured artists have a global perspective and influence, yet their work is infused with a local area ethos. This is a rare chance to share with the world how three San Francisco artists have informed and shaped artwork the world over."

Artists will be giving a special talk to the public on March 15th from 6:00pm-8:00pm at the Marjorie Barrick Museum, UNLV located at 4505 S Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas NV 89154. You can contact Dustin Wax at the Barrick Museum (702) 895-3381 for more information or with any questions.
 
Artist Reception March 17, 2011 from 6:00pm-8:00pm

“It’s All A Blur” is supported in part by the Community Arts & Education Program of the San Francisco Arts Commission. This project received support from Nevada Arts Council; WESTAF, the Western States Arts Federation; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Beginning March 15th "It's All A Blur" at the CAC


"Blanket Policy" by Tony Labat


The significance of altered images and objects
Juxtaposing the simplicity of certain works, including cats and a bbq grill, to its deeper contemplation of social issues and undertones of disturbing reality,

East Side Projects

The Utopian diorama

The newest display at the CAC front window by PJ Perez
Our thanks to PJ for his wonderful work
Make sure you checkout the colorful addition


The CAC is accepting submissions of work for East Side Projects, a series of monthly two-week projects in the gallery’s front window space facing Charleston Blvd. This ongoing call is open to all contemporary artists working in any media. Artists must be current CAC members (defined as dues-paying members starting at the $25 level) in order to be eligible for consideration. To become a member go to http://cac.wildapricot.org/join. Site-specific work for the space is encouraged. We encourage artists to visit the gallery to see the space (window specs below.) Please note that the window receives a generous dose of Las Vegas sunshine.

Submissions must include a proposal, current CV/resume, artist bio/statement, disc with JPG images of original artwork (300 dpi at 2 MB or less please) and image reference sheet (including artist, title, media, dimensions, and filename). Send SASE for return. 

Friday, March 4, 2011

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Geolocation Final Week

Geolocation Show Ends March 4th
Make sure you get down to the Contemporary Arts Center to see Geolocation;


Larson + Shindelman

Geolocation portfolio featured in Issue 14 of Fraction Magazine.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Preview of Preview Thursday

New dudes coming to CAC front window:
 
Make sure you come by CAC for Preview Thursday and First Friday, check out PJ's presentation