Summer Gallery Openings

In an art-centric town like Santa Fe, choosing which gallery openings one should attend can be challenging, and many deserving events unfold undetected. Here are a few noteworthy exhibits coming up this summer that might have otherwise flown under your radar.

Hecho a Mano

129 W Palace Ave, (505) 916-1341

With an eye for alternative design and promising new talent, Hecho a Mano steadily brings compelling and delightful exhibits to downtown Santa Fe. Alan Crane: Lithographs from Mexico, 1940 - 1964 (June 7-July 1), represents a departure from the gallery’s usual fare, and is the first-ever exhibition of Mexican prints by the late artist Alan Horton Crane. Featuring a series of lithographs depicting Mexican scenes and landscapes, Crane’s mastery of technique and depth of field results in prints with -almost photographic precision. You can find these highly detailed works in the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian, or you can just pop over to Palace Ave. and get a glimpse for yourself.

Monroe Gallery of Photography

112 Don Gaspar Ave, (505) 992-0800

One of the most sought-after photographers of his generation, the late Tony Vaccaro’s work spans from documenting WWII to capturing the beauty of fashion and celebrity culture. The Monroe Gallery of Photography will display more than 45 photographs from 1944-1979 in Michelantonio Celestino Onofrio “Tony” Vaccaro 1922-2022 (July 5-Sept. 15). Vaccaro’s remarkable life story was portrayed in the HBO film Under Fire, which recounted his experiences in WWII on the front lines. The City of New York in 2022 proclaimed Vaccaro’s 100th birthday “Tony Vaccaro Day” in his honor.

Peyton Wright Gallery

237 E Palace Ave, (505) 989-9888

Founded in 1915 by six East Coast artist transplants, the success of the Taos Society of Artists helped put Northern New Mexico on the art world map and thus attract creatives from around the world. Focusing on lesser-known artists (OK, but with a few well-known names as well), The Clemmer Collection: A History of New Mexico Print Artists (July 5–Sept. 30) is an exhibition of 50 pieces of graphic media in a wide variety of styles, from etching and lithography to woodblock and serigraphy, from the late 19th through mid-20th centuries.

CONTAINER

1226 Flagman Way, (505) 995-0012

The much-acclaimed artist and founder of Indigenous Futurism, Virgil Ortiz’s multidisciplinary exhibition at CONTAINER, Virgil Ortiz: Revolt 1680/2180: Daybreak of the Resistance (Aug. 10-Oct. 27), constructs a new way to perceive the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. To tell this story, Ortiz -effortlessly blends time-honored techniques in ceramics with modern technology like projection mapping and augmented reality. Preserving Cochiti pottery traditions while exploring cutting-edge creation, apocalyptic themes, and science fiction is no small feat, and Ortiz deftly navigates these to produce an exhibit that might just be from the future.

Entropy Gallery

1220 Parkway Dr, (512) 364-3600

Merely a block away from the cultural juggernaut Meow Wolf, Entropy Gallery might not be on your weekly checklist, but that could change after the coming exhibition, A Space Reimagined (June 22). With a background in science and electrical engineering, artist and gallery founder Patrick Lysaght’s paintings, multi-exposure photography and sculptures pointedly balance objective science with subjective expression. In tandem with the exhibition opening is its 5th-anniversary celebration featuring local DJs, food, and art vendors.

5. Gallery

2351 Fox Rd no. 700, (505) 257-8417

With its unassuming style and minimalist atmosphere, 5. Gallery consistently delivers some of the most imaginative and thought-provoking exhibits. Following the success of the 2017 photography show, earth moves shadows, artist Gloria Graham and Director Max Baseman bring GLORIA GRAHAM | INDEX CARDS REDRESSED (June 14-July 27), Graham’s latest photographic offering. Utilizing discarded library index cards, flames and the shifting color of shadows throughout the day, Graham expresses the ideas of temporality and common human experience for a show that is sure to spark conversation.

Zane Bennett Contemporary Art | form & concept

435 S Guadalupe St, (505) 982-8111

For more than two decades, New Mexico-based artist Rosemary Meza-DesPlas collected, preserved, and created work with her hair. Retrospective: My Hair Story: from Brunette to Gray, Rosemary Meza-DesPlas (June 28-Aug. 31), explores gender inequality, political agency and the relationship between sex, violence and women in popular media. Spencer Linford, communications director at form & concept, had this to offer about her work, “Meza-DesPlas’ works are refreshingly defiant. They do not pander to polite sensibilities. They are frank, raw and unapologetically human.”

Addison Rowe Gallery

229 E Marcy St, (505) 982-1533

Located in a red-brick, 1920s craftsman only a few blocks off the Plaza, Addison Rowe Gallery never fails to offer up intriguing and impressive works from American and Southwest Modernists. Transcendental and Beyond: The Essence of Art (June 28-Oct. 31) is no exception. The exhibition showcases a diverse group of visionary female artists including Agnes Pelton, Louise Nevelson, Mimi Ting and others who have made significant contributions to the art world. Gallery owner Victoria Addison Rowe states, “Their art serves as a testament to the enduring power of creativity and its ability to transcend the physical and connect us to the spiritual and cosmic realms.”

Artes de Cuba

1700A Lena St, (505) 303-3138

One of the hidden gems of Lena Street is the gallery of contemporary Cuban art, Artes de Cuba. Its current exhibition, Mia, Avril, Los Sitios, Kaleidoscope of dreams and reality, The Photographs of Leysis Quesada Vera (through July 27) is an homage to artist Vera’s children, Mia and Avril, who are also the tutu-sporting subjects of the photographs. Vera offers us this insight, “...this exhibit is a dialogue with my past, an evocation of my humble roots and infancy. By exposing my humble life, social inequality is also denounced.” Artes de Cuba’s next exhibition, La Habana Hoy (Aug. 9), is a group exhibition of contemporary printmakers, photographers, and sculptors who currently live and work in Havana.