As the midtown arts boomspurred by Meow Wolf continues, so comes the rise of smaller spaces likeFreeform Art Space. Located off Cerrillos Road near Big Lots in the same littlestrip mall as a craft store, the admittedly small gallery with neatly appointedwhite walls and the intimate rooms comes with the promise of becoming whateverone wants, and it is exciting.
When I arrived on a recentSunday afternoon, the floor was littered with art works; a scant few were hung;and all around the building scurried four heavy-hitter locals: Jared Weiss,Cyrus McCray, Tim Reed and Todd Ryan White.
They're preparing for theirfirst group show, The Only Way Out isThrough, and it promises to be the quintessential don't-miss visual artsexperience of the season. The show hit our radar thanks to its curator Niomi Fawn,whom SFR recently featured in a column about Show Pony, her mobile art gallery. Butwe're here to focus on the artists themselves. Let's meet them.
Tim Reed
With only six years as aSanta Fean under his belt, Reed may be a relative newcomer, but his ethos andpractices ooze a certain Santa Fe outsider art charm. Reed is a student ofastrology (a pursuit that he says will constantly evolve) and incorporates theancient practice into his work, at least insofar as mindfulness is concerned. “Itguides a lot of my quote-unquote philosophy,” he says, “but I’ll considermyself a student for at least another decade; it’s that continued investigationof the unknown—wisdom science has been used and studied for thousands of yearsby every type of individual, and it still holds my … musings on the naturalworld are endless.”
As for his work, Reed createschaotic and colorful painted abstractions that are borderline psychedelic withswirled touches and textures, all packed with detail. Generally speaking, he usescolored pencils and water-based paints such as acrylics, watercolors andgouache for smaller pieces, though he hardly limits himself in scope. Still,some of the larger pieces he'll exhibit during The Only Way Out is Through are ones he considers personalsuccesses.
"I like to be playful andcoyote-ish at times," he says, "but if you're going to stay in thisenvironment, you have to self-cultivate." Reed says he's evolved his practiceby simply letting things come to him. He's embraced not knowing or letting go,so to speak. Outside of the show, Reed sells postcard subscriptions through hiswebsite (deermit.com), a quarterly mailer containing custom-painted postcardshe's created. That would make one hell of a gift, for a loved one or yourself.
Jared Weiss
With his dreamlike yet fuzzilylifelike representations of his own experiences and the people in them, thereis perhaps no local artist enjoying quite the same level of buzz as JaredWeiss. Even he admits it's been a whirlwind the last year and a half, with soloand group shows across town (an August opening at form & concept was muchballyhooed, indeed). As we sit in Freeform Art Space, we observe one of hisworks together. It's a coming together of people he knows—though, according toWeiss, one subject evolved to be missing his head over the course of itscreation.
This concept of facelessness ispresent in many of Weiss' paintings. It's an embracing, he says, of psychanalysis and dream logic. "Dreams feel very urgent," he says, "but you don'toften have a resolution." His paintings, then, may help to pursue one. Much ofhis work casts the people in his life within the painting. "I think of them asactors and actresses," he says. "They're playing roles, they're characters thatare a part of my psyche."
Weiss is a self-professed fanof Freud and his ideas on dreams, adding that he feels it's natural to repressmemories and then build them into distorted new ones by layering others overtop of them. "Distorted" may be one of the best ways to describe a Weiss pieceas well—the imagery and people are recognizable enough, but with bold colorchoices and haunting imagery, they approach the fantastic—again, like a dream.This could have something to do with mood, as Weiss says light is important tohis headspace and process.
Reminiscing about time spentin Chicago, he recounts a period spent painting in a windowless basement. "Ibegan to notice that everything I was doing was black and white," he says. "I'mreally effected by the light; it's why I love living out here."
Todd White
Perhaps better known as a pen-and-inkillustrator, Todd White embraced a broader color palette for The Only Way Out is Through. This wasdue in part to pushing his own boundaries, but also as a reaction to his fellowexhibitors. "It's very different fromwhat I've made before," he says. "It's very colorful, and that's what I've beenmost excited about—not working with black and dark subject matter, with reallybright colors."
White follows in thefootsteps of many artists of his generation; namely, he came up appreciatingthe graphic work found on skateboards and in album art. His previous works havealigned with these styles, though White often implements stoner ephemera,fantasy elements and a borderline horror comic aesthetic. These remain intactwith his new pieces. Melting skulls and bizarre three-eyed creatures emblazonedon thick paper in pastel tones create an almost humorous effect.
White's style is detailedbeyond belief, though not difficult to view and digest. "They look like artworkfor kids' rooms," he says, "but when you look closer, it's melting faces." Thisis achieved with watercolors, ink and gouache, and no—they wouldn't look out ofplace in a kid's room.
Cyrus McCray
As we speak, Cyrus McCray isperfecting his portfolio to apply for arts grad school. "I'm getting close," hesays. "I put it off a year, but I'm close."
The objective, he says, is toshow professionally, gain representation and, if he chooses, to teach down theline. He already graduated with a BA in fine arts from the California Institutefor the Arts, so he's clearly on his way.
The interesting thing aboutMcCray, of course, is his lack of dedicated style and medium. He's createdillustrations, dynamic paintings, three-dimensional wooden sculpture andbeyond. He's embraced the aesthetic of Dia de los Muertos, he's examined therelationship between artist and viewer; we've even seen him create staggeringlyaccurate ballpoint pen portraits while sitting on the floor of a gallery. Heis, perhaps, one of the most underappreciated local artists we have—though thiswill hopefully change soon.
For The Only Way Out is Through, he's put much thought into what he'llshow. "I'm negotiating generative systems," he says. "There's a formal dialogtaking place that hearkens back to minimalism and early conceptual art." Thusfar, the early works he's prepared for the show are simple paintings, thoughwith a depth of field that is stunning. McCray's ability to convey what hedescribes as having topography seems effortless, but is spellbinding.
“I’m playing with a lot ofdifferent things, I’m investigating,” he continues. “It’s very pared-down work,almost simplistic, but it will be in stark contrast to the way Tim and Todd andJared work—I’m creating work that has no representational anchor, but I’vetaken into consideration the way they work and define art, and my … objectiveis to position myself in opposition to what they do. Not that I disagree withor think theirs is a invalid stance to take. It’s just a differentconversation.”
The Only Way Out is Through Opening
