Like some kind of old-timey speaker on the town-hall lecture circuit, Andrew Hendrixson wants to hear and be heard by everyday Americans. And seen, too—the Ohio artist and teacher comes to the Duke City on Friday, July 25, with paintings and handmade books in tow and a plan to share his vision of meaningful inefficiency.
When it comes to purposeful engagement with art, Hendrixson distinguishes between habit and ritual; “the frivolity of the former,” he notes in his artist’s statement, is “countered by the intentionality of the latter.” With canvases bearing everything from an axe to a cairn to an enigmatic message spelled out in crimson thread, the artist plans to practice his own ritual of positive art evangelism by traveling the country, visiting houses and small venues, erecting one-day galleries of his work and interacting with the public. He’s been to San Diego and Los Angeles and soon heads to cities like Chicago, Nashville, Yukon, Okla., and New York City. The House Shows comes to the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center (202 Harvard SE) from 6 to 9pm and includes a short lecture at 6:30pm. Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice • Fri Jul 25 • 6-9pm • FREE • View on Alibi calendar
“I love you more than my own skin,” said Frida Kahlo. “And though you may not love me as much, you do love me a little. Don’t you?” If posterity has any say in the matter, the answer is a resounding Y-E-S. The six decades since Kahlo’s death have only seen adoration amplify for the otherworldly painter who bared her feeling self on canvas. And because we love her so, the Frida Fiesta unleashes in Old Town on Saturday, July 19, from 11am to 8pm.
W!ld Moon Boutique (206½ San Felipe NW) hosts the fourth annual celebration and provides clothing for the Frida Fashion Show in the early afternoon. A Frida parade wends its way through Old Town in the afternoon, and early evening sees a Frida look-alike contest on the Plaza (worth it for the acclamation of exquisite eyebrows alone). The day includes Frida trivia, games and prizes, plus live entertainment from Aztec dance group Kapulli Ehecatl, Mariachi Nuevo Mexico, folklorico dancers and more. Wear your finest chunky jewelry and flowers (or pick some up from Old Town shops) and show some love for a great 20th-century artist. For más information, see wildmoonboutique.com or call 247-7456. Historic Old Town • Sat Jul 19 • 11am-8pm • FREE • View on Alibi calendar
Sketch troupe Comedy? (pronounced “comedy-question-mark” for reasons I don’t pretend to fathom) has been entertaining Duke City audiences for years with their distinctively hilarious brand of long-form improv, games and sketch comedy. Now they offer A Toast to the city, a newly birthed multimedia show brandishing just about every formidable talent their seven wacky members possess. From skits to songs to unrelenting tomfoolery, Comedy? promises homegrown, off-kilter hilarity in the vein of “Key & Peele,” “SNL” and “Arrested Development.” Breaking away from Comedy?’s Downtown roots, A Toast opens at Aux Dog Theatre (3011 Monte Vista NE) in Nob Hill tomorrow at 7pm. Tickets are $10 at auxdog.com or by calling 254-7716, or $12 at the door. The show runs Fridays at 7pm and Saturdays at 8pm through July 26. Aux Dog Theatre • Fri Jul 11 • 7-8pm • $10-$12 • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar
It makes sense to welcome the 4th of July with stirring words artfully arranged—poetry seems to run in America’s veins. It connect us with our ideals and national hopes, whether or not we’ve yet achieved them. In 4 Voices on the 4th, the Museum of the American Military Family presents the voices of veterans and their family members woven into a powerful, poetic “collage performance.”
They join a long literary history. “The Yankees will hang their heads up high,” acknowledged a British officer in “The Battle of Bunker Hill,” written after a 1775 military clash that proved American troops wouldn’t be easily routed. Boston poet Robert Lowell connected the Civil War to his own milieu in 1960’s “For the Union Dead”: “The stone statues of the abstract Union Soldier/ grow slimmer and younger each year—/ wasp-waisted, they doze over muskets and muse through their sideburns…” At 2pm, hear Caroline LeBlanc, Circe Olson Woessner, Karin Bradberry and Jacqueline Murray Loring at the Museum of Nuclear Science and History (601 Eubank SE), and while you’re there, visit the Sacrifice & Service: The American Military Family exhibit, honoring the sometimes unacknowledged heroes of our nation’s defense. See nuclearmuseum.org or call 245-2137 for more info. Before you head out for fireworks and beer on Friday, take some time to remind yourself why we’re celebrating. National Museum of Nuclear Science and History • Fri Jul 4 • 2-3pm • Included with regular admission • View on Alibi calendar
Your high school prom probably didn't include Black Widow Cabal
Maybe you thought (having escaped high school relatively intact) that polyester jewel-tone dresses and wrist corsages were a thing of the past. Not so! Prom is back—but this time it’s just for the grownups. Naughty Prom requires no date, no stretch limousine and no flask stuffed into your underwear, because the night of dancing, group photos and games happens at ArtBar (119 Gold SW), where the liquor flows in the open and the “cool kids” are everyone who showed up ready for a good time. Thanks to the evening’s “sensuality” theme, any make-out sessions that might crop up during the steamy entertainment will be free of disapproving chaperones. Onstage, Honey Pistol and Siren Rain of fledgling troupe Broken Diamond Burlesque stretch their sexy wings, and Zmeya Dali and Saskia Sharp of the dark and deadly Black Widow Cabal are likely to do something shameless. Vibe on the sounds of Bandwidth No Name, Element37, Rusta Rhymes and more, plus a range of poets unleashing their most erotic verses. When the big dance kicks off at 9pm tomorrow, be there wearing your fancy clothes and poised for your hottest prom ever. Tickets are $5 or $10 (members/non-members) at the door. ArtBar • Fri Jun 6 • 9pm-midnight • $5-$10 • 21+ • View on Alibi calendar
Hold up a mirror to the Duke City and what do you see? Do it right and you’ll espy an arts scene surging with talent, ingenuity and a solid gold sense of fun. Do it in ArtBar (119 Gold SW) on May 25, from 4 to 7pm, and you’ll catch a motley mix of playfulness, creation and revelry (lubricated by libations) at the Mirror Games Variety Show. The Sunday extravaganza includes live art from exuberantly chromatic Cloudface and graphically masterful Marc Quetone; brilliant linguistic torrents unleashed by newly crowned Poet Laureate Jessica Helen Lopez; the uninhibited comedy of Rusty Rutherford; graceful belly dancing by the foxy Michelle Farfesha; and tricks from Mischief Magic. Enjoy body painting, tarot readings, games and prizes, plus music from Russell Chase Turek, Zoltan Orkestar, Twinology and Brendangerous. Underground painter Stephanie Galloway joins other vendors of art, jewelry, glass and pottery to round out an evening that costs just $5 for ArtBar members/guests or $10 for non-members. ArtBar • Sun May 25 • 4-7pm • $5-$10 • 21+ • View on Alibi calendar
Tomorrow night, the play of light along interconnected opaque and semi-opaque geodesic domes becomes a shimmering backdrop for a 6-hour festival in Santa Fe celebrating art, culture, community and dancing your ass off. At the FANTASE Dome Fest, dome-based art installations will begin to light up at dusk. They include Jacob Snider’s “Tunnels,” with beams and shapes projected through fog that respond to the number of visitors in the space; “Find Your Fortune” by Marion Wasserman, in which guests can view their destinies in a “crystal ball video garden”; and “Sensorius” from Española-based arts collective Domasulon, in which visitors’ five senses are engaged with interactive work utilizing the outside of the domes. A skateboarding jam gets things going, then music from the Angel Babies, 3HC, Luke Carr’s Storming the Beaches with Logos, Thieves and Gypsys, and As In We ensures nonstop auditory and booty-shaking pleasure. For more info, check creativesantafe.org or the FANTASE Dome Fest Facebook page. The action kicks off at 6pm in DeVargas Park (where Guadalupe Street hits West Alameda, Santa Fe), runs till midnight and costs you nothing. DeVargas Park, Santa Fe • Fri May 9 • 6pm-midnight • FREE • View on Alibi calendar
Ladies and gentlemen, don your fiesta skirts and your pom-pom-fringed sombreros: Kenny Chavez’ 8th Annual Cinco de Mayo Folk Art & Music Festival returns in all its kitschy, colorful glory to the North Valley with over 30 artists, three bands and a Wild Fiesta Skirt Contest for women and men at 1:45pm.
Tomorrow, May 3 (because who wants to festejar on a Monday?), peruse charming recycled, folk, handmade and mixed-media art from artists like Dagwood Reeves, aka El Melvix, whose painted papier mâché creatures and masks are like three-dimensional cartoons; Dorothy Hawkins, who offers tinkertoy-esque woodwork décor; Tami Sioux and her reimagined flatware; and the folks at Otra Vuelta Tire Recycling of Los Ojos, N. Mex., who create durable mats and bowls. The erstwhile owner of the In Crowd and current manager at Masks y Más, Kenny Chavez himself, will debut what he calls “bottle shrines,” cheerful hangings worked in wire, bottlecaps, tin and glass. Paint the town rojo from 9am till 4pm at La Parada Mercantile (8917 Fourth Street NW), and enjoy food and drink from Farm and Table Restaurant on the patio. Any cash you bring will go toward enriching your life with some art, because the fiesta is completely free. Visit bit.ly/folkart8 for more info. La Parada Mercantile • Sat May 3 • 9am-4pm • FREE • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar
Believers in the power-cum-responsibility of art to change lives, attitudes and public policy, take heart—an exhibit opening tomorrow, wears its ideological zeal on its sleeve. With an impressive range of artists and artistic collectives whose work amplifies public awareness, WE HONOR: The Art of Activism promotes ecological reverence and justice for indigenous peoples. It’s hosted by Honor the Earth and Honor the Treaties, two Native-led activist organizations that invest in and benefit from connections to the art community.
Eminent environmentalist, author and two-time Green-Party vice-presidential candidate Winona Laduke speaks at the opening from 6 to 7pm. Contributing artists include Shepard Fairey, recognized for his iconic red-and-blue Barack Obama “Hope” poster; Gregg Deal, a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe best known for “The Last American Indian On Earth,” a performance piece in which he explodes racial stereotypes by embodying them in mundane settings like grocery stores, shopping malls and restaurants; and Nani Chacon, the local muralist behind the magnificent “She Taught Us to Weave” in Wells Park and co-curator of this exhibit with Kim Smith. Traditional foods will be served during the free opening reception, which starts at 5pm. Everything happens at Warehouse 508 (508 First Street NW); see bit.ly/wehonor for more info. Warehouse 508 • Thu Apr 24 • 5-8pm • FREE • View on Alibi calendar
At a time when Albuquerque is making national headlines for all the wrong reasons, let’s remember what we’re fighting for: a culture that celebrates life, community and passion. The National Institute of Flamenco has been a force for good in the Duke City since its founding in 1982. Even now, having lost its Downtown space of 15 years to a calamitous blaze last December, what’s come to light is not destruction, but a vibrant, spirited community of support. De las Cenizas, a benefit for the institute tomorrow, April 5, at 7:30pm, is a grand, gutsy first step toward raising the money needed to plan new facilities. Artists and companies donating their talents to the night include Kalpulli Ehecatl, directed by Mapitzmitl Xiukwetzpaltzin, performing warrior-style traditional Aztec dances; Donna Jewell’s Ecotone Physical Theater, dedicated to improvisational performance through sound, movement, gesture and unexpected props; Niños Flamencos, kid dancers both adorable and surprisingly intense directed by NIF founder Eva Encinias Sandoval; and many more. Your $25-to-$75 ticket for the show at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fourth Street SW) will do a world of good toward reminding the world just what Albuquerque is known as: a locus for the flamenco arts, a place where art and history are kept fiercely alive with loving dedication. National Hispanic Cultural Center • Sat Apr 5 • 7:30pm • $25-$75 • View on Alibi calendar
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