From the Ground Up: Design Here + Now

January 31, 2015 – April 11, 2015

January 31 – April 11, 2015

516 ARTS presented From the Ground Up: Design Here + Now, which showcased contemporary work by established and emerging Albuquerque area designers and architects. The exhibition featured both built and speculative projects. Varying widely in scale, the work demonstrated shared interests in innovation, experience, material, form and function. The exhibition was curated by Katya Crawford, Viviette Hunt, Kristen Shaw and Mira Woodson, and is part of the collaboration On the Map: Unfolding Albuquerque Art + Design (www.ABQontheMap.com).

From the architecture perspective, the diverse body of work elevated the design discourse and ignites the imagination by bringing together the strongest conceptual projects in conjunction with selected built works. The exhibition focused on the Art in Architecture, featuring a wide array of presentation media, as creative and varied as the ideas portrayed. Work included digital films in an immersive environment, cartographies that mapped the architecture of mind and memory, and interactive installations that invited the visitor to have a phenomenological experience. Two-dimensional imagery nested in suspended cubes offered the visitors an unconventional journey through Albuquerque’s design talent, while charcoal and mixed-media renderings portrayed the sensual and intuitive side of contemporary architecture and landscape architecture.

From the design perspective, the exhibition explored how well designed objects have the potential to change the way we see the world. Utilitarian and ornamental design converse via functional objects, fashion and jewelry. The diverse body of work revealed the use of traditional methods in new conceptual ways, challenges conventional notions of beauty and materiality, and demonstrated a rigorous appreciation of craft and making.

The exhibition included an expanded gift shop upstairs with an array of unqiue functional design items for sale including jewelry, lamps, tote bags, clocks and more. From the Ground Up also included a series of opening events and public programs. See page 2-3, and check our website at www.516arts.org.
The curators of From the Ground Up developed some creative installation projects to highlight the strength and diversity of Albuquerque design talent. In the White Cubes Installation, Albuquerque architects resided together in a suspended installation of white cubes. A portal in each cube revealed to the viewer a conceptual or built project. The diverse body of work created a rich dialogue between materiality, technology, form and space, building and landscape, while the viewing format gives the visitor an intimate and spatial experience of the 2-D images.

In Personal Cartographies, emerging designers from the School of Architecture and Planning held a prominent space in From The Ground Up. The installation featured the architectural process of 3-D modeling, which map memory and identity. The individual cartographies were placed on 16 pedestals and compose a complex and imperfect grid, not unlike the city we inhabit. The material restraint, craftsmanship, composition and narrative revealed the foundations of an architectural design process.

Artists & Designers:

Chris Beccone, 
Donavan Boone + Parker Sprague, 
Tim Castillo, Ian LeBlanc + Eric Meyer, 
Brandon Clark, 
Katya Crawford
, Bruce Warren Davis, 
Maria Estrada
, Beverly Fisher, 
Miguel Gandert, Levi Romero + Hue Walker, 
Cheyenne Gurule
, Keila Gutierrez
, Gabrielle Herbosa
, Mike Heighway, 
Lance G. Hinkle
, Justine Humble + David Gallegos, 
Kei & Molly
, Kenji Kondo Studio
, Jeff Krueger
, Richard Levy
, Danielle Rae Miller
, Zachary Mills, 
Stephen Mora + Sandy Johnson, 
Valentin Raphael Montoya, 
Kenneth Myers, 
Brandon Ortiz, 
Virgil Ortiz, 
Emi Ozawa, 
Eiman Rezai, 
Noreen Richards, 
Amanda Robinson
, Dillon K. Romero, 
Lorenzo Ruiz
, Antolin Salazar Gervacio
, Veree Parker Simons, 
Sara Stewart
, Thomas Tomlinson
, Jennifer Vasher, Max Vasher, 
Damian Velasquez, 
Eduardo Ventura, 
Alec Vittitow
, Kima Wakefield, 
Madie Wickstrom, 
Steve White, 
Mira Woodson
, and Nicole Zollner.

White Cube Installation:

Rana Abudayyeh + Kramer Woodard, 
Geoff Adams
, Jon Anderson, 
Mark Baker
, Gordon Barnard
, Chris Beccone
, Matthew Bollinger
, May Coleman + Indira Kaini, 
Devendra Contractor, DNCA
, Don Dudley, 
Jessica Dunn, Dominique Dupont + Kristina Guist, Werenko
 Entropic Industries, Cory Greenfield + Jared Winchester, 
Ed Fitzgerald, 
Lee Gamelsky Architects, 
Graham Hogan
, Josh Johnson + Thomas Tomlinson
, Carly Matthews, Piccarello 
Efthimios Maniatis
 MRWM Landscape Architects, 
Xavier Nuño-Whelan
, Antoine Predock, 
Bart Prince
, Jay Rice, Spade Design Build, 
Max Vasher
Judith Wong

Press

“From the Ground Up: Design Here + Now” Alibi

Kate Nelson “Seeing is Believing” New Mexico Magazine

Kate Nelson “When Albuquerque Went Modern” New Mexico Magazine

Elaine Ritchel “Mapping Albuquerque’s Art Scene” New Mexico Mercury

Elaine Ritchel “Unfolding Our Hometown Map” Alibi

Kathaleen Roberts, “Venues put ABQ art ‘On the Map’” Albuquerque Journal

About On the Map: Unfolding Albuquerque Art + Design



From the Ground Up: Design Here + Now was presented by 516 ARTS as part of the larger citywide collaboration On the Map: Unfolding Albuquerque Art + Design, a cultural partnership that celebrates the art of central New Mexico by over 20 partnering organizations. During January through June 2015, public institutions join private galleries to present exhibitions, lectures, performances and educational programming that focus on art and design created in the Middle Rio Grande Basin, from contemporary art to the earliest aesthetic objects created in the region. 516 ARTS is one of the leaders on the organizing committee for On the Map, along with the Albuquerque Museum, Harwood Art Center, Richard Levy Gallery and the City of Albuquerque Urban Enhancement Program. Special thanks to Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau and City of Albuquerque, Cultural Services Department.