Landscape remains one of the most popular subjects for artists visiting and residing in Arizona. Philip C. Curtis, while not known as a landscape painter, draws extensively on that subject. Curtis came to the state in 1937 to establish the Phoenix Federal Art Center under the Federal Art Project, a New Deal program. He left two years later to head a similar facility in Des Moines, Iowa, but returned to Arizona in 1947. Settling in Scottsdale, he painted surreal compositions, with figures in Victorian costumes set in the desert. Arizona’s landscapes were a rich source of inspiration for him, and while his canvases do not portray any recognizable geological features, his work may be contextualized within the work of a broad spectrum of artists who came to the state. Curtis saw the desert through a lens of magic realism. This differed from Maxfield Parrish, Eugene Berman, and other artists who preferred more representational modes.

To think outside of the box is to approach a problem, or a question, in a creative way. In the case of the two artists, Nellie King Solomon and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, they take a critical, yet playful eye to their chosen fields. Both trained as architects but were never licensed, which might explain the way they establish rules, grids, or frameworks, only to challenge their very existence. At the heart of each unique artistic practice lies the confident ability to think and explore beyond the frame.

Perhaps best known for her Supergraphics—graphics oversized to the scale of architecture, produced in the 1960s—artist Barbara Stauffacher Solomon (b. 1928, San Francisco) has worked in graphic design, architecture, landscape architecture, drawing, writing, and more. Around the walls of the gallery, the exhibition features utopian drawings from her Green Architecture series (mid 1980s), large green Ping Pong paintings (early 1990s), a recent series of Alphabet drawings (2019), and a Supergraphic intervention (2020). In the middle of the gallery is a re-creation from the 1990 exhibition, Visionary San Francisco, at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that features ping pong tables for play.

Nellie King Solomon (b. 1971, San Francisco) approaches painting with equal parts irreverence and admiration. The exhibition features recent and never-before seen large-scale works that use abstraction and realism to tell stories, resulting in experiential paintings. In lieu of canvas and brushes King Solomon paints on the sharp industrial material of Mylar using custom wood and glass tools for pulling the paint around in sweeping, gestural marks. Bold colors and unusual materials, like asphalt, swirl about, captivating the senses and revealing the tension between spontaneity and rigor at work in her practice.

For the exhibition at SMoCA, and for the first time, the work of mother and daughter artist is shown in proximity. While both artists explore the physicality of the space, they are also interested in the potential of performance in constructing art. Although their formal approaches are quite different, both artists are engaged in moving beyond established expectations of art, design, and architecture. As we look to new ways of doing just about everything, now is the right moment to encourage the out of the box thinking that these artists so readily exemplify.

Urban Mapping: Public Space Through the Lens of Contemporary Iranian Artists shines a light on aspects of the Iranian experience normally hidden from the outside world by focusing on public and private spaces. Comprised of 40 photographs and four video installations, the exhibition features the work of 10 essential voices in contemporary Iranian art who explore the notion of urban space as a nexus of social communication and political transformation; a place where personal and collective identity converge. 

Featured artists include Saba Alizadeh, Raood Dashti, Arash Fayez, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Rana Javadi, Mehran Mohajer, Siavash Naghshbandi, Hamed Noori, Behnam Sadighi, and Mehdi Vosoughnia.

Digital Studio Rehearsal Viewing

Grand Jete & Above ($500 & Up)

Join us for an interactive virtual event with the NYC Tenement Museum as we visit the apartment of the Moore family. Joseph and Bridget Moore, Irish immigrants living in the Lower East Side with their three U.S.-born children in the 1860s/1870s. You will learn about the Moore’s living in a mostly German neighborhood and consider how the family is expressing their Irish identity in New York, illustrating the impact of cultural bias and discrimination.

There will be opportunities to interact and ask questions through chat, with time at the end of the tour for questions and answers. There is a capacity limit of 25 people max.

Wednesday, October 28^th 1:00pm

Sustainable Nation, a new hour-long documentary from Imagination Productions, follows three individuals who are doing their part to bring sustainable water solutions to an increasingly thirsty planet. Using solutions developed in Israel, they are working to change the status quo of a world where 1 in 10 people lack access to safe drinking water.

Broadway Fright Night is a celebration of songs from Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals with supernatural, horror, and sci-fi themes. Created and hosted by Stephen DeAngelis, a New York City casting director, the show will feature five of Broadway’s finest vocalists paying homage to the theatre world’s most original, intriguing, and terrifying characters in an all-new concert. In addition to recreating some of their most memorable musical moments, the cast will share backstage behind-the-scenes anecdotes and participate in an enlightening and entertaining question and answer session with our audience.

Enjoy this event in-person or as a virtual livestream experience. When you purchase a virtual ticket, you will receive information on how to access the event online.