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Cowboy saddling a wild horse illustration.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

The exhibition features a selection of photographs from Obscura Gallery’s contemporary photographers William Albert Allard and his legendary Vanishing Breed cowboy book; Kurt Markus’s poignant cowboy photographs from his three volumes of cowboy books including the seminal After Barbered Wire; selections from Joan Myers’ recently published Where the Buffalo Roamed – photographs of the ‘new’ West; and Manuello Paganelli’s photographs of African American cowboys in the West. In addition, the exhibition will include photographs by legendary 19th Century ranching photographer Laton Alton (LA) Huffman from Montana, as well as images from one of the first female ranching photographers, Elsa Spear Edwards Byron. In addition, Brant Mackley Gallery will be exhibiting a selection of Navajo saddle blankets and Northern Plains Indian beadwork from the late 19th through early 20th Century as well as other related material.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
View the exhibition in its entirety on our Artsy page by clicking here.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

 

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Woman posing confidently in stylish outfit.


DOUGLAS MILES  – LA VIE EN RES
A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

An online exhibition of photography-based media by Douglas Miles, whose work is rooted in Apache history and deeply engaged with the world of contemporary pop culture.

August 13 – September 7, 2020

We are thrilled to present an online exhibition with the photographic work of San Carlos Apache-Akimel O’odham artist Douglas Miles whose artistic work is rooted in Apache history and deeply engaged with the world of contemporary pop culture. Douglas Miles (b. 1963) is a multi-faceted artist working as a designer, filmmaker, muralist and photographer who blends Native history with political resistance. His work encourages reflection on how art can foster community-building and promote pride and well-being, especially among young Native people. The photographs in this online exhibition include portraits of Miles’ community of family and friends taken in San Carlos, Arizona, as well as the places Miles has traveled with his Apache Skateboards team in Utah, Navajo Nation, Los Angeles, Phoenix, AZ and other locations. The exhibition also includes images from the The Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Phoenix, Arizona in June and July of 2020.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Bonnie Skates, 2020, 13 x 19″, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15.

In coordination with what would have been the busiest month in Santa Fe known worldwide for the celebration of Native American art markets all throughout our city, we had been planning an exhibition of the exciting work of Miles for nearly a year. We had to change our exhibition plan and schedule several times to accommodate the sporadic nature of the Covid pandemic. We hope you will enjoy Douglas’ online exhibition, and when the time is right again, we will be honored to have Miles’ work grace the walls of our gallery.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Bex Paints in the Night, 2019-2020, 13 x 19″, edition of 15.

With themes that cover tradition as well as modernity, a major focus in Douglas Miles’ artistic work is on Apache warriors, dancers and musicians. Through these images, he hopes to instill a sense of pride and empowerment in his subjects. Miles sometimes adds the names of important chiefs and warriors to his work in the style of street art, be it hand-cut stencils, murals or graffiti.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Faceless Kimono 2019-2020, 13 x 19â€, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15

The warrior is an important image in Apache history and their greatness is at times forgotten, even amongst the Apache. I hope to reignite the strength, endurance, leadership and tenacity of the warriors of the past thru art, education and political awareness in all communities. – Douglas Miles


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Breeze Graffiti, 2019-2020, 13 x 19â€, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15

Miles developed and founded Apache Skateboards in 2002, a program designed to support the athleticism of skateboarding that emulates the strength, endurance and tenacity of warriors. Since its original inception, the program has expanded to include the arts, education, political awareness and empowerment by connecting mainstream skateboard culture with contemporary Native life. Many of the skateboard designs depict Apache warriors and the youth of the San Carlos Apache reservation on skateboard decks.

The skate team is comprised of women and men so you’ll see them [in the photos] as well.. I’m not an action sports photographer, mainly portraits. My skate team is probably the most innovative group I’ve ever worked with. They’ve used skateboarding as a way to build community and created excitement in Native Youth across Indian Country. – Douglas Miles

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
DOUGLAS MILES, Off the Reservation 2019-2020, 13 x 19â€, archival pigment ink print, edition of 15.

Of his photography he says,  I’m in love with the people , the faces, the times and the spirit they convey in each face.… I marry social media platforms and graphics with my photos and other borrowed imagery adding and layering the meanings and messages I want. To use social media the way it’s intended you have to see the world around you as a quick communication platform . Maybe I reclaimed some space but really just not sure if that’s what I’m really doing. I don’t feel I’m reclaiming anything at times . I’m really making my own space in my own image in my own time for my own people. It’s needed. Lack or representation plagues Native people. These photos punch up into those systemic barriers that keep us out of a larger cultural conversation. It’s about time.

Miles enjoys collaboration with other artists in almost all forms of his work and has worked with such artists as actor and author Ethan Hawke and artist Greg Ruth on a New York Times bestseller graphic novel, Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars. He’s also collaborated with actress and artist LivÃndrea Knoki on a selection of pieces with text and image in this exhibition including the Yves Saint Le Res and the Your Song pieces.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE

VIEW THE ENTIRE ONLINE EXHIBITION HERE.

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Red streamers hanging against a blue background.


EXTINCTION PARTY
By Jonathan Blaustein

July 24 – August 29, 2020

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. JONATHAN BLAUSTEIN, Red streamers and blue plastic tablecloth, 2017, from the Party City is the Devil series

Obscura Gallery is excited to present an exhibition of works from the timely publication of Taos artist Jonathan Blaustein’s photographic book, Extinction Party, published by Yoffy Press. This photographic book explores humanity’s over-consumption and its impact on the planet. Exhibition viewing is available with Covid-safe guidelines including a mask required, 6-feet distance, and a limited capacity at any one-given time.

“Deceptively brilliant in their minimalism, these elemental images bear witness to the waste and inhumanity of an earth catastrophically out of balance. Welcome to our world. Let’s party!” -Excerpt from the introduction essay for Extinction Party by Kevin Kwan (Author, Crazy Rich Asians.

Since 2008, at the onset of the Great Recession, photographer and conceptual artist Jonathan Blaustein has been working on art projects that investigate consumption in America, and he brings them together in one narrative in this first book, Extinction Party. In an unprecedented time of the Covid-19 pandemic, Extinction Party was (coincidentally and perhaps appropriately) released in March 2020. The images and their titles, the forward essay by Kevin Kwan, and the metaphorical story in between, the book could not be a more timely commentary on the state of our Earth and humanity.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. JONATHAN BLAUSTEIN. One dollar’s worth of tomatillos from Mexico, 2008, From Value of a Dollar series.

As the world grapples with the impact of climate change in the 21st Century, Blaustein’s art presents a deconstructed view of the manner in which humans churn up the planet’s resources for profit. This book culminates several bodies of work by the artist whether capturing the value of what we eat, economically and to some degree nutritionally, in a collection called The Value of a Dollar; nature harvested on his property outside Taos, NM in a series entitled, Mine; years worth of accumulated junk in his former studio titled Recycling My Junk, or party supplies from the megacorporation Party City appropriately titled Party City is the Devil, the consistent message is that we’re eating away at our home planet, at considerable peril to all its existing species.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. JONATHAN BLAUSTEIN. Don’t worry everything is going to be ok, 2013, From the Recycling my Junk series.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE

VIEW THE ENTIRE ONLINE EXHIBITION HERE.

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A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Join us for our first Obscura Gallery online auction! #StayAtHome is inspired by our current worldwide mandate and is raising money to help our artists and surrounding community in this challenging time.

The #StayAtHome auction began Wednesday, April 22, 2020 and continues weekly through June 1, 2020. We will add a new round of available work each week including vintage and contemporary work.

More than half of the proceeds from each contemporary sale go directly to the artist. In addition, Obscura Gallery will donate a portion of our proceeds from each auction round to benefit a chosen organization that is helping the relief efforts for Covid-19, so far having donated to The Pueblo Relief Fund and Native American Relief Fund.

Please see detailed bidding instructions here.

Sign up for our email newsletter here to stay informed.

Support Art, Support Artists!

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Art exhibit poster featuring desert landscapes.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Desertscapes : Altered Views of New Mexico is a solo exhibition with Santa Fe photo-based artist Caitlyn Soldan which explores various approaches to iconic views in New Mexico landscapes. Included in the exhibit are variations of Pedernal Mesa, Shiprock, and the Taos Gorge. Just as Pedernal Mesa was a great inspiration to Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings and served as a major muse for her at Ghost Ranch where she had her studio, Caitlyn too is moved by the unique New Mexico desert land.  Soldan creates landscape studies in various photographic processes that yield unique one-of-a-kind prints which each represent the different emotional qualities in nature. By virtue of repetition with the subject matter, the artist seeks to honor the subject which inspires and motivates her.

This exhibition has been extended through the end of June 2020

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
CAITLYN SOLDAN, Cerro Pedernal #19, 2019, 16×20″, mordancage, unique.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
CAITLYN SOLDAN, Rio Grande Gorge Study #6, 2019, 8×10″, mordancage, unique.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW MORE WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION HERE.

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Exhibition poster for Paul Caponigro's retrospective.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery is honored to present, Paul Caponigro: Sixty Years, a solo retrospective exhibition of landscapes and still lifes by one of the world’s most significant master photographers still working today. The nearly 50 black and white images in the exhibition include work from as early as 1958 and encompasses his extensive career photographing in the Southwest, California, and New England, as well as Ireland and England. Working directly with the artist himself to curate the exhibition, the show includes an incredible selection of Paul’s most iconic images as well as images that have rarely before been exhibited. We invite you to join us in welcoming Paul back to Santa Fe for the opening!


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. PAUL CAPONIGRO, Galaxy Apple, New York City, 1964, 7.25 x 8.5″, gelatin silver print


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. PAUL CAPONIGRO, Apple, Winthrop, MA, 1964, 6.75 x 8.5″


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. PAUL CAPONIGRO, Fungus, Ipswich, MA, 1960, 13.25 x 10.5″, gelatin silver print.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
PAUL CAPONIGRO, Cloud, San Sebastian, Santa Fe, NM, 1980, 13.5 x 10.5″, gelatin silver print.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

VIEW PAUL CAPONIGRO’S WORK HERE.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

 

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

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Art exhibition list at Obscura Gallery.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.
Public Opening Reception: Friday, November 22, 2019, 5-7pm
Exhibition is on view through January 4, 2020

Obscura Gallery presents our highly anticipated Holiday Season exhibition, One-of-a-Kind, a group show of photo-based artworks found exclusively at our gallery. The exhibition consists of 30 artists from the U.S., France, Cuba and Israel including those represented with Obscura as well as guest artists who were invited to participate. The concept for this exhibition is nearly two years in the making – each artist was asked to create a unique photo-based artwork, or create a new print edition, of which either would be on exhibition and exclusively available only at Obscura Gallery. We hope you’ll join us for this exciting exhibition and find something you love for yourself or your loved ones this Holiday season, knowing it will be a unique piece only found at Obscura Gallery!

Download the Full Press Release Here

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

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A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

This Fall Obscura Gallery presents an exciting exhibition of the newly published limited edition portfolio by one of the most influential documentary photographers of his generation: Danny Lyon: Thirty Photographs (1962-1980). This collection features many of the New Mexico photographer Danny Lyon’s most iconic images. The portfolio, published in 2019 and limited to an edition of 10, was compiled by Terry Etherton of Etherton Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, spotlighting his 40-year association with Lyon. Obscura Gallery’s show is one of the first exhibitions to partner with Etherton Gallery for this newly compiled portfolio, offering for sale the full portfolio as well as individual modern prints. The reception takes place on Friday, October 4, 2019 from 5-7pm at Obscura Gallery.

All images copyright Danny Lyon / Magnum Photos, courtesy of Etherton Gallery.

Download the full Press Release here.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

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Art exhibition featuring floral and bird images.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery is thrilled to present our Fall solo exhibition by gallery artist Brigitte Carnochan and her new photographs inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson. Brigitte Carnochan and Emily Dickinson share a passion for flowers that inspire both their mediums. Brigitte’s career has centered around the sensuality and beauty of botanicals and nudes, and in this new work, she circles back to her original subject matter of nearly four decades ago when she began by painting on her gelatin silver floral images with oil paints. Having been drawn increasingly over the years to the narrative possibilities in photographs, Carnochan incorporates in this series lines of poems in Dickinson’s own handwriting, inconspicuously or half hidden. The resulting images are printed with the 19th century platinum palladium photo process onto handmade Japanese gampi paper that she delicately backs with gold leaf, giving the images the look and feel of 19th century daguerreotypes, with which Dickinson would have been familiar.

The exhibition is on view through November 9, 2019.

Download the full Press Release here.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

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Elderly couple in traditional clothing, holding tools.


AUGUST IN SANTA FE

Gallery Reception:
Saturday, August 10, 5-7pm

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. MANUELLO PAGANELLI, Ecuadorian Couple, 2000, 21×21â€, edition of 40

For the month of August, we will be exhibiting a selection of our new gallery artist, Manuello Paganelli, and other newly acquired material during the Indian Markets taking place throughout Santa Fe. August brings antique and contemporary Indian Markets to our city and the town is bustling with exciting activities and exhibitions.

Paganelli’s photographs on exhibit this August are a selection from his new project photographing indigenous people across the Americas.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. EDWARD CURTIS, A Hopi Girl, 1905, Photogravure on Holland van Gelder from Portfolio 12

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Niki Boon Summer exhibition announcement with images.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. Niki Boon, Jump, Summer, 2015


Obscura Gallery proudly presents our Summer exhibition with New Zealand photographer Niki Boon and her first solo exhibition in the United States debuting photographs which document her family’s rural, home-schooled life in Marlborough, New Zealand. While our U.S. Summertime is New Zealand’s Wintertime, we can bask in the imagery that Boon has taken during the warm months in New Zealand while the children pursue an alternative education and lifestyle in a natural environment on top of the East coast of the South island of New Zealand.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. Niki Boon, Her Backyard, 2016

Boon’s photographic work was born from her intense desire to document her family’s lifestyle that the country environment has nurtured. A mother of four, Niki shares her family’s rural life with camera wizardry that utilizes motion, incredible perspective, and depth of field, as well as a style that bears influence from those of Jock Sturges and Sally Mann but exudes her own distinction using a wide-angle, sometimes close-up lens and ground-perspective imagery. Boon refers to her work as “turning your beautiful ordinary into art.†Drawn to black and white photography, Boon expertly controls the natural lighting of her environment, making use of shadows and the position of the sun to frame her children in whatever play they are found in that day.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. Niki Boon, The Bath, 2016

Black and white enables me to see light differently. Rather than focusing on colors, I find I focus more on the direction and quality of light. I just find the interaction between light and shadow more interesting to focus on than color relationships.

A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench. Niki Boon, Ice Block, 2015

Click here to view more of Niki Boon’s work. 

Click here to download the full Press Release.

 

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Exhibition poster for landscape photography artists.


A woman and man sitting on the ground in front of a bench.

Obscura Gallery presents Traversing East, an exhibition with Michael Berman and Neil Folberg, two contemporary photographers who both come from, participate in, and extend the tradition of Western landscape photography. Both artists now immerse themselves in Eastern landscapes to discover the unseen, and explore humanity’s relationship to nature both physically and spiritually. New Mexican Michael Berman’s ongoing project exposes the Mongolian Bogd Kahn Mountain landscape in its range of complex and diverse ecosystems. For the past three years, Michael has been photographing in the oldest government designated Protected Natural Area on Earth and has been detailing what is occurring to the landscape and wildlife amidst the ever-expanding surrounding community of Ulaanbaatar. American-Israeli photographer, Neil Folberg, who was originally born in California and moved to Jerusalem over 40 years ago, creates photographs which explore the relationship between man, nature, and the cosmos. The lucid landscapes of the Middle East share the range of topography found within the nearly untouched, serene terrain. The exhibition also includes his most recent series’, Taking Measure, and White Winds, where the artist includes himself in vast, pure landscapes of the Faroe Islands and Iceland in which he considers the ultimate limits of knowledge and vision.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL PRESS RELEASE.

Click here to view Michael Berman’s work in the exhibition.

Click here to view Neil Folberg’s work in the exhibition.

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