Check out these wonderful and numerous art exhibits and programs happening around the Valley this summer.
Phoenix Art Museum
Hidden Meanings of Love and Death in Chinese Painting
From April 27 through Sept. 2 at the Orme Lewis Gallery & Asian Galleries comes a splendid portrayal of life's two most essential experiences — love and death. Chinese art is often unexplored in Western art, which gives this exhibit a unique and rare exploration. Hidden Meanings of Love and Death will have selections from he Marilyn and Roy Papp Collection, a prominent world-known collection of Chinese paintings from the 14th through 19th centuries. The artwork explicates many themes about the human condition, especially in Chinese culture, which includes sadness, longing, nostalgia, fear and sexual yearning.
http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/hiddenmeanings
From Above: Aerial Photography from the Center for Creative Photography
From May 4 through Sept.22, the Norton Photography Gallery will be showcasing fascinating photos capturing the world from a bird's eye view. See pictures of great cities, land and sea taken from heights up to 30,000 feet in hot air balloons, kites and airplanes. Learn how aerial photography became an art form, on how photographers discovered how altitude affects light and color and how abstract our world looks from above.
http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/fromabove
The Art of Video Games
The Steele Gallery is proud to showcase The Art of Video Games, an exploration of the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium. Focusing on visual effects and the ever-changing technologies put into video game art, this is a wonderful exhibit for all ages. Video games have played a significant role in our culture since the 70’s and involves a wide range of art. The 80 games displayed at the exhibit aim to show its evolution, from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3. The exhibit is presented by Smithsonian American Art Museum.
http://www.phxart.org/exhibitions/videogames
Heard Museum
Hot Fun in a Cool Place
Friday/Saturday/Sunday
June: 21-23, 28-30
July: 5-7, 12-14. 19-21, 26-28
The Heard Museum has created a fun place to go to get out of the scorching heat of the Arizona summer. These six three-day weekends will full of live performances, live mural paintings, hands-on artistic demonstrations, film screenings and public tours with scavenger challenges. What more can you ask?
http://heard.org/events/festivalsevents.html
Teacher Appreciation Month
For the entire month of June, the museum is thanking K-12 teachers from Arizona schools with a 50 percent discount off adult admission price of $15. This offer is valid with school I.D. and may be used for the teacher and one guest.
Summer Passe
The Heard is offering its famous Summer Passers: For $25 ($50 for a family of four) you'll receive unlimited admission between June 1 through Sept. 2.
Mesa Arts Center
The Dogs of Ron Burns
May 3 - August 11
Arizona artists Ron Burns is glorified for his colorful portraits of man's best friend. He is the first and only Artists-in-Residence of The Humane Society of the United States. This exhibition focuses on his accomplished career that showcases his unique work.
Arizona Catalyst
May 10 - August 11
This exhibit focuses on four artists, all who began their career in Arizona. The artists demonstrate their talent that is cultivated in Arizona and the role the state has on a national level. The exhibition captures their latest work and how Arizona has shaped who they are today. Artists include: Wesley Anderegg, Angel Cabrales, Fausto Fernandez and Angela Young.
http://www.mesaartscenter.com/index.php
Musical Instrument Museum
Get the Beat! World Drumming Series: Rhythms of Asia
Saturday May 25, from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, Frank Thompson, founder of AZ Rhythm Connection, offers the opportunity for all ages and skills to learn the rhythms of Asian drumming. Information about the instruments and culture will also be provided in the workshop for a great learning experience. Each class is $12.
Bang a Gong: Balinese Gamelan Workshop Series
Saturday June 8, from 10:30 am to 12 pm, MIM will give you the chance to play gongs and other instruments that make up the sound of Balinese gamelan. No experience is required! Each class is $12.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Learning to See
May 18 - Sept. 22
This installation celebrates the legacy of Josef Albers and the 50th anniversary of his seminal publication. In his work, The Interaction of Color, Albers argues that the only way to understand color is in their relationship with one another. His radical book took a different approach to conventional art and is now considered a classic. He reveals our complex relativity of our colored vision, showing how same shades of green looks different placed on a blue background, or on a yellow one.
Stocked: Contemporary Art from the Grocery Aisles
May 25 - Sept.
Although it seems odd to exhibit art displaying ordinary things like shopping carts, grocery lists and cereal boxes, contemporary artists have captured our essence of consumption that tells us about the social environments in which we spend many hours doing — shopping. Learn how the late 50’s and 60’s revolutionized the way of production and the huge change from raw foods to packaged processed foods; see how artists have captured the seductive aesthetic appeal of commercial products — all at this exhibit.
David Maisel/Black Maps
American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime
June 1 - Sept. 1
This exhibit is a survey of Maisel's major aerial photography projects. Black Maps takes you on an illusory adventure through the terrains of this world that has been radically changed by environmental degradation by humans. The photography is more than just images; it documents our world and is full of metaphors of despair and beauty.
