On display Jun 20, 2008 - Sep 14, 2008
A dominate approach to the making of art calls for the sensitive use of art materials. Paint should be applied with a fluid stroke, the surface of paper should be respected and not gauged, and wood should be worked with the grain, these are words of advice offered by artists and teachers. The art in Tuff Stuff challenges this advice.
In Tuff Stuff four New Mexican artists, Dunham Aurelius, M Diaz, Harmony Hammond, and Jack Slentz present work that challenges notions of beauty associated with typical understandings of sensitivity, grace, and harmony. Instead these artists create beauty by aggressively manipulating the material. Wood hacked, paper marred, paint clumped, and rubber stitched, these are the basic vocabularies used to produce evocative works that provoke us in unexpected ways.
(Above) Rubber Tube, 2003, Jack R. Slentz. Rubber and hemp. Courtesy of the artist and Box Gallery.
(Left) Black Head I, 2007. Dunham Aurelius, Encaustic and polychrome wood. Courtesy of the artist and Zane/Bennett Contemporary Art.
(Right) Red Head, 2003. Dunham Aurelius, Wood and paint. Courtesy of Zane Bennett Contemporary Art.