Marfa Untitled Studio Tour
reflections on the 37th annual Chinati Weekend
This past weekend the small desert town of Marfa, Texas was abuzz with art happenings in celebration of the 37th annual Chinati Weekend, which included a group show that I participated in hosted by MarfaMust. The incredible work of Zoe Leonard, Al río / To the River opened for the first time in the Americas. My daughter and I caught the majority of Zoe’s artist talk the day before we were able to see the work in an open viewing of Chinati’s Collection on Sunday morning.
Learning about Zoe’s process in making this impressive collection of photographs, taken over the course of six years beginning in 2016, added another dimension of meaning in viewing the work with her shared experience fresh on my mind. Further, in the context of showing the work on the Chinati grounds, installed across three buildings of the former Camp Albert, a US military base established in 1911 to patrol the US/Mexico border, brought a full circle uncanniness to the merging histories of a place and its purpose over the years. Presently, the structures remaining on the grounds champion art as an agent of possibility and change within a space of democratic expression thanks to the visionary artist Donald Judd and the Chinati Foundation preservation efforts.
It was my second time viewing Donald Judd’s 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, this time with my three-year-old daughter. I asked her what she made of the mill aluminum sculptures to which she replied without skipping a beat: they are houses and some of them have slides inside (referencing those with bisecting diagonal pieces inside of the cubes). Well, of course they are dwelling spaces I thought to myself–why didn’t I think of that?! A beginners mind is a beautiful thing.
Another major highlight of the weekend was showing two of my artworks, Contemplative Stones and Vessel no. 1, Portuguese marbles made in residence at Pó de Vir a Ser sculpting discarded stones collected from quarries in the Alentejo region of Portugal in 2018 and 2019. The work was shown in conversation with other Marfa-based artists presented by MarfaMust.org as part of the Marfa Untitled Studio Tour.
The show took place in the spacious screened-in back porch of the participating artist Sandra Harper who I profiled in my Artist-Mother interview series a few months back—a wonderful read that you can access here in case you missed it. Other artists included: AnnMarie Nafziger, Kate Shepherd, Nina Dietzel, Mark So, Moritz Landgrebe, Ross Cashiola. Jeanhee Yu, co-founder of MarfaMust, beautifully curated the collection of sculptures, paintings, photographs, and etchings that each hinted at the notion of dwelling spaces, either physically or psychologically. The setting for the show could not have been more fitting with a healthy dose of Marfa authenticity. It was truly an honor for my work to be in such good company. I hope you enjoy the images I made documenting the weekend’s festivities. I’m already looking forward to next year.
