25 July 2007 Alice Kaufman reports: According to William Siegal’s website, the “newly revitalized Railyard District…is rapidly becoming the central focus of Santa Fe’s contemporary art scene.” Several galleries, some of whom offer more than contemporary art, have moved there (although one has moved away), and it is also the “temporary” (which means for the foreseeable future) home to the Whitehawk shows, several of which are reason enough for a collector to come to Santa Fe in August.
But to collectors with a talent for planning and an aptitude for logistics, Whitehawk is just the beginning (or, chronologically, the middle) of a weeks-long moveable feast of antique and contemporary American Indian and tribal art. The galleries save their most impressive exhibitions for August, and several galleries are focusing on contemporary Native American artists in shows timed to coincide with Indian Market. The dealers too save their most important material for the summer season, and multiple parties are held every night both in galleries and private homes. Collectors show up in droves for what can be a total immersion situation.
Here are some (remember, only some) of the highlights of August in Santa Fe. For information about other shows and exhibits, look in local magazines and newspapers and on the Internet.
Tribal and Native American Art Fairs:
Terry Schurmeier, whose Cowboys & Indians Antiques shop in Albuquerque is a mix of pre-1940 American Indian, Mexican, New Mexican and Old West material, will carry that mix to the show she produces in Albuquerque that kicks off the show/auction/exhibit high season in Santa Fe. The Great Southwestern Antiques, Indian & Old West Show has outgrown its original venue at the New Mexico State Fair and is now at the Albuquerque Convention Center on August 4 and 5, with special early admission on August 3. “It’s like shows used to be 25 years ago,” Schurmeier says, “with both dealers and collectors showing an enthusiasm that we have forgotten existed.” Informal talks are scheduled for Saturday on Saltillo serapes, Mexican glass and the art of collecting. Schurmeier will also exhibit at the Whitehawk Ethnographic and Indian shows; look for her classic indigo Navajo pictorial serape with ten horses at the Santa Fe shows “unless I sell it in Albuquerque.” (505) 255-4054; www.cowboysandindiansnm.com.
Material at the Sixth Annual Historic Indian & World Tribal Arts: Santa Fe includes pre-1940 Native American antiques, ethnographic arts, and classical antiquities. The Preview Reception is on Thursday evening, 9 August, 6-9 pm, and the show runs from August 10-12 at the Shellaberger Tennis Center at the College of Santa Fe, 1600 St Michaels Drive. At this show, Santa Fe dealer Wilbur Norman (his Coup de Foudre gallery is at 153B Paseo de Peralta) will be exhibiting an appliqué thangka of Yamantaka and his Consort (“quality antique applique thangkas, always more scare than the more common painted images, have become quite rare”) as well as a set of wood Ethiopian pilgrims’ staffs (“they are very cool with Y-shaped tops). California dealer/ATADA President Thomas Murray will also exhibit at this show. “I usually do very focused exhibits on Indonesian art,” Murray told HALI, “but in Santa Fe, I like to show more of the breadth of my interests.” Look for sculpture, jewellery and textiles, including 19th century chicanas (feathers on wooden dowels) from Lake Titicaca, an abstract Cameroon textile (ndop) and a toraja ikat (sekomandi). This vetted show is produced in association with ATADA (the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association; 703 914-1268; http://www.tribalantiqueshow.com/).
The Whitehawk 24th Annual Antique Ethnographic Art Show featuring ethnographic and tribal art from around the world, is held at El Museo Cultural, 1615 Paseo de Peralta. The show’s Preview Opening is on 10 August, 6-9 pm, and the show continues on 11 and 12 August. New York dealer Howard Rose of Arte Primitivo will be bringing pre-Columbian ceramics to exhibit at this show; “We may bring other things, but that’s what we’re known for and that’s 98 per cent of what we sell in Santa Fe,” Rose says.
The granddaddy of all the Santa Fe-in-August antique shows, the Whitehawk 29th Annual Antique Indian Art Show, also takes place at El Museo Cultural: The Preview Opening is on Monday, 13 August, 6-9 pm and the show runs from 14-15 August 14 -15. (505 992-8929; www.whitehawkshows.com). Grimmer-Roche will be exhibiting at Whitehawk as well as showing a collection of classic Navajo blankets at their gallery at 422 West San Francisco Street. Also at Whitehawk, Santa Fe dealer Chris Selser is showing a bayeta third phase chief blanket from the George Wharton James Collection that was illustrated in Indian Blankets and Their Makers and was collected by A.C. Vroman.
The oldest, the biggest, the most crowded (100,000 visitors) – name your superlative and it’s true of the 86th annual Santa Fe Indian Market. Activities include the Best of Show announcement, previews of award winning entries and a silent auction on August 17, and on August 18 and 19, the Big Kahuna itself, Indian Market featuring 1,200 living Native American artists, ranging from Andy Abeita (sculpture, Isleta Pueblo) to Elsie Yoyokie (jewellery, Navajo), set up in booths lining the streets around Santa Fe Plaza. Determined collectors show up before dawn to queue for the chance to acquire new work by their favourite potters, weavers, basket makers, jewellers and so on from tribes all over the country. (505 983-5220; info@swaia.org).
Gallery Shows
The public is invited to most gallery openings; many galleries will also exhibit at the shows.
Shiprock Santa Fe will be showing “a remarkable array” of turquoise and silver jewellery, contemporary woodturned bowls and a group of Teec Nos Pos rugs from the early trading post era to “modern masterpieces” from the Foutz Family Collection (four generations back, the Foutzes were pioneer traders to the Navajos; Jed Foutz is currently at the helm of Shiprock Trading outposts in Albuquerque and Farmington, NM, as well as in Santa Fe). 53 Old Santa Fe Trail; (877 982-8478; www.shiprocktrading.com).
Morning Star Gallery’s annual summer show will open to a cast of thousands (as always) on 11 August. ‘Vecinos: Early Historic Pueblo Pottery in New Mexico’ illustrates the mutual influence of Pueblo and Spanish artistic traditions (‘vecinos’ mean neighbours) and pairs classic 17th and 18th century pottery with period New Mexican furniture. 513 Canyon Road; (505 982-8187; indian@morningstargallery.com).
Victoria Price Art & Design (née Price-Dewey, then Victoria Price Contemporary Art & Design) is hosting an exhibit of young Native American artists at the Acoma Room at the Inn at Loretto during Indian Market. Opening on 16 August, ‘FRESH: New Work by Young Native American Artists’, includes jewellery, some of it body piercing-inspired work in stainless steel, glass art and weavings. How young? Two of the jewellers are teenagers. Price’s gallery, first on the Plaza, then in the Railyard District, is now located at 1512 Pacheco Street, Building B, Suite 102, and features historic Native American textiles, pottery and other ethnographic material as well as contemporary art and furnishings. (505 982-8632; www.victoriaprice.com).
Mark Sublette’s Medicine Man Gallery at 602A Canyon Road is also showing contemporary Native American artists to coincide with Indian Market. Navajo painter Shonto Begay and cowboy artist/Navajo sculptor Oreland Joe share the spotlight in a show that opens on 17 August. Prior to that, the gallery’s ninth annual Maria Martinez Family show featuring more than 70 pieces opens on 10 August. Sublette will also be exhibiting antique American Indian art at the Whitehawk show. (505 820-7451; www.medicinemangallery.com).
Tai Gallery/Textile Arts is featuring two Japanese artists this August. The opening reception for bamboo artist Honma Hideaki is on 3 August 3 and the show continues through 18 August. The opening reception for photographer Seiju Toda is on 10 August (until 1September). 1601 B Paseo de Peralta at Guadalupe Street, at the heart of the Railyard District; (505 984-1387; www.textilearts.com).
William Siegal’s move to his new, larger space in the Railyard District inspired what he calls “Ancient Contemporary,” and what his gallery manager, Matthew Ellis, calls “the best ancient textiles and contemporary art in Santa Fe.” Siegal’s early August exhibit, ‘Cloth and Clay’, pre-Columbian resist-dye textiles and figurative terracottas, opens in July and closes on 6 August, while his ‘11th Annual Ancient Textiles and Objects of the New World’ exhibition and sale runs from 10 August-7 September. (504 South Guadalupe Street; 505 820-3300; www.williamsiegal.com).
Auctions
Doug Allard's ‘Best of Santa Fe 2007’ Auction will be held at the La Fonda Hotel on 11 and 12 August. Viewing starts at 8 am each day, and the sale itself begins at noon on Saturday and 10 am in Sunday. (888 314-0343; www.allardauctions.com).
Finally, the Wheelwright Museum’s annual silent auction will be held on 16 August, and the live auction of American Indian Arts and Crafts will be held on 17 August. The Wheelwright seems to have the must-see exhibit every summer. Their August 2007 show is ‘Tradition and Tourism, 1870-1970’, and features 400-plus mostly recent acquisitions made by Navajo, Pueblo and other Southwest native peoples for non-native markets. (505 982-4636; http://www.wheelwright.org).
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