Ballroom Marfa Newsletter

Ballroom Marfa: Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

2009-04-03T08:10:27Z

Wild Combination:
A Portrait of Arthur Russell
Directed by Matt Wolf
Film Screening and discussion with the director
Sunday 5 April 2009, 5pm Crowley Theater
This is a free event

Ballroom Marfa is proud to present a special screening of the 2008 award-winning documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. Filmmaker Matt Wolf will be present for discussion.

Wild Combination pays homage to the inimitable Arthur Russell: avant-garde cellist, composer, singer and disco artist. Despite being an East Village staple during his days, Russell faded away without much recognition following his death in 1992 at the age of forty. AIDS related complications had already had an effect on his prolificacy by then; and yet he left behind more than one thousand tapes of unreleased material.

Since his death, a series of new compilations and re-releases has brought Russell’s music to a wider audience and helped solidify his reputation. In stark contrast to the flashy hits that have come to epitomize disco for the mainstream, Russell was part of an edgier, underground disco where rules and codes of established genre didn’t apply. The serialized patterns of minimalist symphonies resonated with the repetitive rhythms in dance music. Likewise, the utopian social settings of those early discos could be compared to the Buddhist commune Russell had been part of in his early San Francisco days. Without pretension, Russell ambitiously explored all of these possibilities.

In Wild Combination, Matt Wolf offers a portrait of Arthur Russell that reaches back to the influences of the musician’s rural Iowa beginnings, his creative life in New York City and his relationships with life partner, Tom Lee. Through these, Wolf imagines Russell’s point of view, and offers a nuanced interpretation of his music with the input of a few of Russell’s many collaborators and fans – Allan Ginsberg, David Toop, Ernie Brooks and Philip Glass among them. Wolf has said: In the process of making the movie, I learned things from Arthur about being an artist and pursuing it at all costs. Arthur struggled: he created obstacles for himself and he frustrated his collaborators and loved ones. But I think, unlike many other people, Arthur was able to connect to a primal place of childlike innocence and fun.

Village Voice described the film as “intimate and infinite”. Amy Taubin listed it in ARTFORUM as a Top Ten film of 2008: “An intuitive, remarkably personal love letter”. These are just a few of the many accolades Wild Combination has received since its premiere at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival. Since then, additional screenings have included: IFC Center, NY; ICA, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Boston MFA; MoMA, New York; Edinburgh Film Festival; Inside Out, Toronto; Thessaloniki Documentary Festival: and Vancouver Film Festival.

27-year-old filmmaker Matt Wolf was recently named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. He moved to New York when he received a full-tuition fellowship to attend NYU’s film school. Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, is his first feature-length film. His short films, including an experimental biography of the artist and AIDS activist David Wojanorwicz, have screened in numerous film festivals, art spaces, and universities worldwide. Currently, Wolf is directing videos for The New York Times and a series of short documentaries for The Sundance Channel.

For more information on Wild Combination visit:
www.arthurrussellmovie.com

Generous support for the Wild Combination screening with Matt Wolf provided by Ballroom Marfa members.

Special thanks to Crowley Foundation and KRTS Marfa Public Radio. Listen to the repeat of the Talk at Ten interview with Matt Wolf Friday April 3 at 6.30 pm on KRTS 93.5 FM or streaming live at www.marfapublicradio.org

Support Ballroom Marfa and
become a member today!

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.

Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

SAVE THE DATE: Ballroom Marfa Benefit

2009-03-19T10:06:07Z

Ballroom Marfa

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

SAVE THE DATE: Ballroom Marfa Benefit

2009-03-19T07:42:06Z

Ballroom Marfa

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: Emergency Response Studio

2009-02-27T18:07:33Z

Ballroom Marfa

PAUL VILLINSKI
Emergency Response Studio
14 March - 16 April 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday 14 March, 3-6pm

Ballroom Marfa is proud to be hosting Paul Villinski's Emergency Response Studio, a solar-powered, mobile artist's studio repurposed from a salvaged FEMA-style trailer.

Emergency Response Studio was conceived by Villinski after visiting Post-Katrina New Orleans, a scene he felt was still comparable to a war-torn region in 2006. The Emergency Response Studio was created with the idea that artists could "embed" in post-disaster environments, and once there, add to the mix of recovery assistance via their creative contributions. Commissioned for the inaugural USA Biennial, Prospect 1. New Orleans, the repurposed trailer was exhibited at various locations throughout the city – including in the Lower Ninth Ward, the area left most devastated by Katrina – and has been touring the country since the exhibition's closing in January.

As a symbol of transformation and possibilities for crisis-stricken communities, the trailer itself has been completely transfigured from a "toxic tin-can" of a FEMA trailer into a sustainably-built, off the grid living and work space. Solar powered and constructed with green materials – including recycled denim insulation, zero-VOC paints, bamboo cabinetry, compact fluorescent lighting, reclaimed wood and floor tiles made from linseed oil – the Emergency Response Studio is a prototype for self-sufficient, mobile housing with a minimized carbon footprint.

Emergency Response Studio folds out like a jackknife, altering the standardized dimensions of the FEMA trailer with features that include a deck area and a ten foot geodesic skylight. Opening up to the surrounding environment the Emergency Response Studio enables a free exchange between artist and environment in a collaboration of reinvention.

Paul Villinski (b. 1960, Maine, USA) is a New York City based artist who often works with discarded materials, repurposing them in sculptures and installations that suggest the possibility of change itself. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions, including recent shows at Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, TX; The Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; The Hillwood Art Museum, Brookville, NY; Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY; Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR; Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME; Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA; Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans (LA), and Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York (NY).

Emergency Response Studio was conceived as a project for Prospect.1 New Orleans and is presented courtesy of the Artist and Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans. Generous funding for Emergency Response Studio in Marfa has been provided by Tim Crowley, Charles Mallory, Dave & Janet Scott and Ballroom Marfa members. For a complete listing of supporters please visit www.ballroommarfa.org; for further information on Emergency Response Studio, please visit please visit www.emergencyresponsestudio.org.

Special thanks to KRTS Marfa Public Radio. Listen to the Talk at 10 interview with artist Paul Villinski Friday, 13 March 2009 at 10am on KRTS 93.5 FM or streaming live at marfapublicradio.org

Become a member and support Ballroom Marfa!
ou can now become a member, purchase a Ballroom Marfa T-shirt or one of our limited edition music posters online! Our mission of presenting multi-disciplinary programs to a diverse and growing audience is realized with the support we receive from you. Thank you!
Become a member...

LAST DAYS!
THE MARFA SESSIONS
Curated by
Regine Basha, Rebecca Gates and Lucy Raven

Visit the gallery for your last chance to experience works by over fifteen artists with specific interests in sound work and its potential as a transgressive medium across time and place. A sonic portrait of this unusual West Texas town

Closes Saturday 28th February.

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.

Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: Billy Joe Shaver

2009-02-12T14:33:54Z

Ballroom Marfa

BILLY JOE SHAVER
with Adam Carroll and Scrappy Jud Newcomb

Sunday, 15 February 2009
Crowley Theater
Doors 8pm, Show 8.30pm
Tickets $20
Available now on frontgatetickets.com or at the door

Ballroom Marfa warmly welcomes to town the original outlaw-country musician hailing from Waco, Texas - Billy Joe Shaver - performing live at the Crowley Theater, and supported by Adam Carroll and Scrappy Jud Newcomb.

Billy Joe Shaver has never become a household name, but his songs, including "Good Christian Soldier," "Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me," and "I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train", became country standards during the 1970s. His reputation among musicians and critics has not diminished in the ensuing decades.

Shaver did a quick turn in the Navy and worked a series of nowhere jobs, before trying his luck in Nashville. His songs began to see the light thanks to Kris Kristofferson ("Good Christian Soldier"), Tom T. Hall ("Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me"), Bobby Bare ("Ride Me Down Easy") and later, the Allman Brothers ("Sweet Mama") and Elvis Presley ("You Asked Me To"). Shaver's real breakthrough though, came in 1973 when Waylon Jennings recorded an album composed almost entirely of Shaver's songs, Honky Tonk Heroes, which was largely considered the first true "outlaw" album.

In 1999, Shaver was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In 2006 he was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. Recently he served as spiritual advisor to Texas independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman. For his songwriting and his much deserved legendary status, the Americana Music Convention awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting.

Ballroom Marfa hopes you will join us this President's Day Weekend to hear this legendary performer in the intimate surrounds of the Crowley Theater, supported by two of Texas’s most lauded young singer-songwriters, Adam Carroll & Scrappy Jud Newcomb.

The Billy Joe Shaver performance has been made possible by the generous support provided by Janie and Dick DeGuerin and Ballroom Marfas Front Row Program.

Special thanks to Hotel Paisano, Marfa, TX for their in-kind support of this performance.

Listen to an interview with musician Billy Joe Shaver and Drew Stewart on Friday, 13 February 2009 at 10am on KRTS 93.5 FM Marfa Public Radio or streaming live at marfapublicradio.org

Become a member and support Ballroom Marfa!
You can now become a member, purchase a Ballroom Marfa T-shirt or purchase a Billy Joe Shaver poster, limited edition of 125, artwork by Dirk Fowler online! Our mission of presenting multi-disciplinary programs to a diverse and growing audience is realized with the support we receive from you. Thank you!
Become a member...

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.

Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: JOY AND MERRIMENT

2008-12-26T10:17:23Z

Ballroom Marfa

JOY AND MERRIMENT TO YOU FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON FROM ALL OF US AT BALLROOM MARFA

As another wonderful year in Marfa draws to a close, each of us here at Ballroom Marfa send our heartfelt thanks to those who have kept the creative spirit alive in West Texas – from our visiting artists, curators, musicians and performers through to each of our members who have given so generously in support of Ballroom Marfa’s programs. We are also lucky to have an extended network of talented Marfans who are integral to the production of our exhibitions, concerts and events – we extend our sincerest gratitude for all of your amazing efforts and goodwill throughout the year.

In 2008 Ballroom Marfa presented two highly original exhibitions that expanded the ways art can be experienced: Hello Meth Lab In The Sun, by Jonah Freeman, Justin Lowe & Alexandre Singh opened in the spring, radically transforming the galleries into a labyrinth of rooms, hallways, closets and observation platforms that revealed possible sites of modern day alchemical transformation. The theatrical depictions of the utopian hippie commune, the clandestine meth lab and exemplary sites of capitalist exchange suggested the complex relationships between 1960s counterculture and present day dystopias. Earlier this month a concentrated version of the exhibition, Hello Meth Lab With A View, was recreated at The Station in Miami, giving further exposure to the project that originated here at Ballroom.

Our current exhibition, The Marfa Sessions, Curated by Regine Basha, Rebecca Gates and Lucy Raven, counters Hello Meth Lab’s intense focus within the gallery confines via a series of sound projects created and adapted for sites across the town. Responding to Marfa and its surroundings, several works are located in publicly accessible spaces while Ballroom Marfa’s main gallery is designed as a Visitor’s Center and sound hub. The exhibitionincludes fifteen works in total, with six new site-specific pieces specially commissioned by Ballroom Marfa and created by Nina Katchadourian, Christina Kubisch, Kaffe Matthews, Steve Roden & Stephen Vitiello, Steve Rowell & Simparch and Deborah Stratman & Steven Badgett. Other already extant works have be en adapted for installation within Marfa’s geographical, historical and conceptual contexts by the artists Emily Jacir, Louise Lawler, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere, Dario Robleto, and Julianne Swartz. Opening weekend festivities included Nina Katchadourian and friends playing The Marfa Jingles live at the Thunderbird Lounge, a new work by Steve Roden & Stephen Vitiello created for and performed within the Chinati Foundation's artillery sheds, and a public conversation between authors Josh Kun and David Toop. The Marfa Sessions continues to be well attended, and we are delighted to announce that the exhibition will be extended until 4 April 2009. Stay tuned for information about The Marfa Sessions’s accompanying Public Programs and the release of the exhibition catalogue early in the New Year.

Ballroom Marfa kept a steady slew of talented musicians rolling through town in 2008, beginning in January with Robert Earl Keen who performed to a full house two nights in a row at the Goode Crowley Theater in January, supported by Marfa-based singer-songwriter, Ross Cashiola. Worldy chanteuse, Keren Ann mesmerized audiences with her intimate, ethereal songs – occasionally rocking out – on a February evening shared with the sleepy-and-sweet psych-pop duo Dean & Britta, (formerly of Luna). San Francisco indie sensation The Dodos added their Marfa performance to a growing list of fabled shows after a night of infectious energy at Liberty Hall, set in motion by the gauzy tones of Norwegian singer-songwriter Silje Nes. Then, in keeping with the themes of Hello Meth Lab in The Sun, Brooklyn-based psychedelic-rock band, Psychic Ills performed for the opening of Ballroom Marfa’s spring exhibition, against a backdrop of psychedelic visuals by VJ MOTIF. Ballroom Marfa was honored to partner with Jeff Fort & Marion Barthelme, the Chinati Foundation and the Goode Crowley Theater to present renowned classical pianist, Sarah Rothenberg, performing Beethoven: The Last Piano Sonatas, and for our May show with The Havels, the Czech duo Irena Havlová and Vojtch Havel seduced audiences with the spare and exquisite avant-garde improvisations for which they are internationally acclaimed. Our genre-defying music program continued with homegrown Texas up-and-comers, Bexar Bexar and Balmorhea, who charmed all with their idyllic acoustics that paired well with a warm midsummer evening in West Texas. Then, to inaugurate the The Marfa Sessions, Ballroom hosted a concert at the Capri with the sardonic humorist front-man of Tennessee’s Lambchop, Kurt Wagner, followed by Chicago’s DJ Damon Locks. We marked Halloween by a show with a Marfa favorite - Japanther - and their San Pedro zombie-punk touring partners, Killer Dreamer. Our 2008 music season came to a close on 23 November with a very special concert with Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes, whose world tour went out with a bang in Marfa by way of a climactic on-stage swansong with RIG 1, The Felice Brothers and The Mystic Valley Band and Oberst at the helm.

Ballroom Marfa hosted six of this country’s innovative filmmakers in 2008, beginning with Houston-based artist Mel Chin who gave a lecture on his practice prior to the screening of his animated film 9-11/9-11, CHILE/U.S.A. 2008 also brought the second and final installment of film.text.performance.film, a series of works that explored the visual dimensions of text, organized by Ralph McKay. The weekend-long event included a screening of Michael Tracy and Christopher Rincon’s then work-in-progress, a feature-length film ULTRAMARINE; two of Julia Meltzer and David Thorne’s films, It’s Not My Memory Of It (2003) and We Will Live To See These Things, or, Five Pictures Of What May Come To Pass (2007); and David Gatten’s The Secret History of the Dividing Line < /em>(2002) and The Great Art Of Knowing (2004). The program culminated in a discussion between the filmmakers, moderated by Christian Gerstheimer of El Paso Museum of Art.

In November, Ballroom Marfa collaborated with eight other international art institutions for Art in the Auditorium, a program organized by Whitechapel Gallery, London, showcasing the works of emerging film and video artists (and more established artists working with the medium for the first time). Included in the program were Cornelia Parker, Leandro Erlich, Ali Kazma, Shahryar Nashat, Lene Berg, Ryan Trecartin, Wang Jianwei, Diego Perrone and Nathalie Djurberg, who were selected by a network of organizations from UK, Latin America, Europe, the United Kingdom and China in addition to Ballroom Marfa.

2008 has seen the continued development of the Ballroom Marfa Drive-In. Fundraising continues along with accolades and momentum for this landmark project. Designed by acclaimed architect and Harvard Associate Professor, Michael Meredith of MOS, the Drive-In will be a sculptural reconfiguration of classic outdoor drive-in theater architecture. The design, a steel sculpture thoughtful and reflective of the alandscape, has received critical attention, most recently at the prestigious Venice Biennale for Architecture in September 2008.

Prada Marfa, Elmgreen & Dragset’s ongoing sculptural intervention, co-produced by Ballroom Marfa and Art Production Fund, continues to inspire and stimulate both local and visiting audiences. Ballroom Marfa wishes to thank Suzanne Tick, Terry Mowers and Boyd Elder for their patronage and stewardship of Prada Marfa in 2008.

UPCOMING

Looking ahead to 2009, we are excited to announce the dates for some of our upcoming art and music events, which we hope you will join us for. We look forward to sharing another spectacular season of Art, Music, Film and Performance with you in Marfa, TX.

The Marfa Sessions
Continues through to 4 April 2009

YACHT with White Rainbow
Saturday 31 January 2009

Billy Joe Shaver
Sunday 15 February 2009

HOLIDAY HOURS
Ballroom Marfa will be open on the weekends only, between 20 December 2008 and 3 Januray 2009, 12-5pm.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Stop by Ballroom Marfa to purchase Ballroom apparel, limited edition music posters, catalogues or a membership for a special holiday gift!
Or shop ONLINE.

STAFF OF BALLROOM MARFA
Fairfax Dorn, Executive Director + Vance Knowles, Music and Film Director + Alicia Ritson, Associate Curator + Jonathan Mergele, Gallery Manager + JD DiFabbio, Director of Development + Vicente Celis, Director of Operations. Special thanks to Rob Crowley, Marfa Recording Company, Diane Lujan, Ralph McKay, Alexander Mills, Caitlin Murray and Ballroom Marfa interns Sally Coleman and Park Myers.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Virginia Lebermann, President & Co-Founder, Marfa, TX + Fairfax Dorn, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Marfa, TX + Charles Attal, Austin, TX + Sabrina Franzheim, Houston, TX + Sue Hostetler, New York, NY + Molly Kemp, Marfa, TX/Austin, TX + Mary Robbins, Marfa, TX/New York, NY + Charles Ruger, New York, NY + Allison Sarofim, Houston, TX/New York, NY + Philip Solms, Schloss Assenheim, Germany + Leo Villareal, New York, NY + John Wotowicz, Marfa, TX

FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
The Alicia M. & William A. Miller Foundation, Santa Fe, NM + The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York, NY + The Anschutz Foundation, Denver, CO + The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston, TX + The Cowles Charitable Trust, Rumson, NJ + Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Albuquerque, NM + Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY + Jewel B. Crosswell Trust, San Antonio, TX + Karen & Eric Pulaski Philanthropic Fund, Houston, TX + Marfa Chamber of Commerce, Marfa, TX + The Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation, Austin, TX + The National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC + Oshman Foundation, Houston, TX + Peter Norton Family Foundation, Santa Monica, CA + Robbins Foundation, Inc., New York, NY + Texas Commission on the Arts, Austin, TX.

CORPORATE PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS
Art Lies, Houston, TX + Fluent~Collaborative, Austin, TX + Hotel Paisano, Marfa, TX + Jacobs Group,Portland, OR + King Land & Water, Fort Davis, TX + L&F Distributing, Alpine, TX + Marfa Public Radio, Marfa, TX + NADA, New York, NY + Permian Distributing, Midland, TX + Select Equity Group, Inc. New York, NY + Texas Gallery, Houston, TX + Thunderbird Hotel, Marfa, TX

Ballroom Marfa is proud to announce its partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company through its Big Texas Sun Club® in 2009. In the coming Spring, Ballroom Marfa's gallery and office will go solar thanks to a donation from Green Mountain and join a growing group of individuals and institutions that support the installation and education of solar energy in Texas.

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Support Ballroom Marfa

2008-12-09T14:14:22Z

Ballroom Marfa

SUPPORT BALLROOM MARFA!
As 2008 draws to an end and we look forward to another exciting year in Marfa, we would like to ask for your support. Each year Ballroom Marfa presents visual arts, music, films and performances from the cutting edge of contemporary culture. We would not be able to continue this level of programming without our members. Every donation both big and small makes a difference. The contributions you make will help us to grow and allow us to continue presenting our high caliber eclectic and electric programming. Support Ballroom Marfa...

Become a member
We would be proud to have you as a member. Membership contributions are essential to Ballroom Marfa's enduring commitment to contemporary art and culture in Texas and beyond. Our mission is to present multi-disciplinary programs to a diverse and growing audience and it can only be realized with the support we receive from you. Become a member...

Give to the 2008 Annual Fund
Please consider making an end of the year donation to Ballroom Marfa’s 2008 Annual Fund. The 100% tax deductible contributions we raise during this annual appeal are an essential part of our efforts to raise funding for our 2009 general operating costs. As we finish our fifth year as a 501(c)(3) and transition from generous seed funding to diversified support, the contributions we receive from individual donors are crucial to our future. Give to the 2008 Annual Fund...

Purchase Ballroom Marfa Merchandise
Support Ballroom Marfa in style by purchasing t-shirts for yourself and your friends, display a Prada Marfa Catalog on your coffee table or select posters from our enviable collection of limited edition works including: Conor Oberst & Mystic Valley Band, Robert Earl Keen, Yo La Tengo, Spoon and many more! Purchase Ballroom Marfa merchandise...

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band

2008-11-17T17:47:06Z

Ballroom Marfa

Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band
with The Felice Brothers and RIG 1
Sunday 23 November 2008 Doors 6.30pm, Show 7pm
Goode Crowley Theater
Tickets $20 available on frontgatetickets.com

Ballroom Marfa wraps up our 2008 music season with a performance by Rolling Stone's 2008 songwriter of the year, Conor Oberst, performing with The Mystic Valley band. Along with The Felice Brothers and RIG 1, they end their world tour with a rare, intimate concert at the Goode Crowley Theater.

Conor Oberst became known in the late nineties as the heart and soul of Bright Eyes, an acclaimed indie/folk band known for its creative and moving collaborations. While experimenting with other musical projects, Bright Eyes has been, for all intents and purposes, Oberst's main musical vehicle for the last decade. With the release of his latest album and tour, Omaha’s preeminent singer songwriter has ducked out from under his weighted alias and with the aid of The Mystic Valley Band has reinvented himself.

Oberst will perform a new collection of songs - introspective folk and rock steeped in Americana. Known for the diversity of his work, and often compared to Bob Dylan, Oberst’s musicianship favors immediacy over perfection: he continually constructs verses rather than repeat hooks or write them down, feeling that his songs are never completed.

Always the chameleonic musician, Oberst has switched between punk rock, orchestral pop and squawking electronica on various projects, but Conor Oberst is a treatise on what he does best: folk/rock at its most earnest, introspective, and musically accomplished.

Conor Oberst's new LP was made in Tepoztlán, Morelos, México during the months of January and February, 2008. In Tepoztlán – a place known for Aztec Magic and Extra-Terrestrial Sightings – a temporary studio was created in a mountain villa called Valle Místico at the outskirts of the town. It was there that Oberst and the band lived and worked in near perfect harmony, often unaware of the hour or the day. The result is his first solo album in thirteen years, following Water (1993), Here’s To Special Treatment (1994) and Soundtrack To My Movie (1995).

The Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band performance has been made possible by the generous support of C3, Blackmott Productions and Ballroom Marfa Front Row Members.

As we complete another extraordinary season of music in Marfa, we would like to acknowledge all of the donors that have been so generous through their support of our 2008 Music Program. Front Row Members: Pablo Alvarado, Jeff and Toni Beauchamp, Tim Crowley, Janie & Dick DeGuerin, Marion Barthelme & Jeff Fort, Harry & Shelly Hudson, Charles Mallory, Jacqueline Northcut and Charles Mary Kubricht & Ron Sommers. Individual donors: John & Alice Jennings, Nick Terry & Maryam Amiryani and James Thompson. In-Kind Supporters: L & F Distributors, Permian Basin Distributing, Alpine, TX and Titos Vodka, Austin, TX. Special thanks to the Goode Crowley Theater and KRTS Marfa Public Radio.

Looking forward to 2009, please save the dates for the upcoming music events:

YACHT WITH WHITE RAINBOW
31 JANUARY 2009

BILLY JOE SHAVER WITH ADAM CAROLL & SCRAPPY JUD NEWCOMB
15 FEBRUARY 2009

Become a member and support Ballroom Marfa!
You can now become a member, purchase a Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band poster or Ballroom Marfa T-shirt online! Our mission of presenting multi-disciplinary programs to a diverse and growing audience is realized with the support we receive from you. Thank you!

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: Art in the Auditorium

2008-10-30T19:21:36Z

Ballroom Marfa

ART IN THE AUDITORIUM
Screenings every Saturday through November
Goode Crowley Theater, 1-6pm
Free Admission

This Saturday, 1 November, will mark the first installment of Ballroom Marfa’s month-long film and video series, Art in the Auditorium. Organized by the Whitechapel Gallery, London, Art in the Auditorium showcases the work of emerging film and video artists through a global collaboration between Ballroom Marfa and museums in China, Europe, Latin America and the United Kingdom.

Each of the nine participating institutions has selected an artist from their country to be included in the program; Ryan Trecartin has been chosen by Ballroom Marfa as the North American artist.

Born in Webster, TX and now based in Philadelphia, PA, Trecartin is among an emerging wave of artists who have grown up with the internet, and who are consequently making work informed by the evolution of net aesthetics, the hyperactivity of the world wide web and the proliferation of democratic broadcasting platforms like YouTube. In Trecartin’s videos, characters dress up, play up and pose up for the camera – sometimes as fictional personas, other times as themselves – as they share the minutiae of their mashed-up romantic and domestic lives. Their relationships and attitudes are deeply affected by a hyper-awareness of media; the steady slew of pop culture references and the smorgasbord of artistic forms from which his characters draw is reflective of Trecartin’s own post-media generation.

Art in the Auditorium brings Trecartin’s work together with a diverse group of artists and institutions including Lene Berg (Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo); Nathalie Djurberg (Moderna Museet, Stockholm); Leandro Erlich (Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires); Wang Jianwei (Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing); Ali Kazma (The Institute for the Readjustment of Clocks, Istanbul); Shahryar Nashat (Kunsthaus, Zurich); Cornelia Parker (Whitechapel Gallery, London); and Diego Perrone (Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo).

Across this disparate group, many themes emerge and occasionally recur in different guises as artists explore the tensions between image and reality, the state of the environment, power relationships, media culture, human mortality, hyper-consumerism, nationalist history and idiosyncratic video and cinematic lineages.

Ballroom Marfa will screen works by two different artists every Saturday through November - with a single artist on November 8 - at the Goode Crowley Theater. Screenings begin at 1pm with the scheduled works running continuously through until 6pm.

Art in the Auditorium is free and open to the public, however some videos are suitable only for mature audiences. For further program details, please visit the film section of our website at: www.ballroommarfa.org or call us at 432.729.3600

Art in the Auditorium at Ballroom Marfa has been organized by Associate Curator, Alicia Ritson

This program has been made possible by the generous support of Ballroom Marfa Members

Ryan Trecartin, What's the Love Making Babies For, 2003, 20 minutes, color, sound. Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York.

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.

Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: JAPANTHER and KILLER DREAMER

2008-10-27T07:07:17Z

Ballroom Marfa

JAPANTHER and
KILLER DREAMER
Friday 31st October 2008
Doors 8.30pm / Show 9pm
Goode Crowley Theater
Tickets $10 at the door

Ballroom Marfa is thrilled to bring Brooklyn based noise-rock pop-punk duo, Japanther, back to Marfa for a special Halloween show “The Dancing Mummies Curse”. Supporting them is San Pedro band Killer Dreamer, and Gorgamoth with a small puppet performance of “The Tell Tale Heart”.

Ian Vanek and Matt Reilly formed Japanther in 2001 while at school at Pratt Institute, NY. Since then they have had over sixteen releases with the indie-labels Tapes Records and Menlo Park Recordings, including the full length albums: Leather Wings (2003); Dump the Body In Rikki Lake (2003); Master of Pigeons (2005); Wolfenswan (2005); Don’t Trust Anyone Over Thirty (2006); and Skuffed Up My Huffy (2007). Japanther are currently on tour promoting their newest album release by Wantage USA: Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt, which Village Voice featured as one of 10 albums to get excited about this fall: “Vanek and Reilly are the right kind of art-school damaged: impatient, ambitious, visual, interested in spectacle and circumstance.”

Vice magazine described Japanther’s sound as “like Iron Maiden, Throbbing Gristle, and Lightening Bolt gave birth to a squealing little baby with flaming guitars for arms. Their shows are chaotic and danger-charged love-fests and they are frighteningly dedicated to keeping it underground”.

Neither punk-act nor art-band adequately describe Vanek and Reilly, who play to audiences as diverse as the Art Miami Basel crowd and electronic/indie music festival goers in Juarez. They are known for very original collaborations, among them: Don’t Trust Anyone Over Thirty, a musical rock puppet show with Dan Graham, Tony Oursler, Rodney Graham and Laurent P. Berger; Dump the Body in Rikki Lake, a collaboration with Being John Malkovich puppeteer, Philip Huber; and most recently, Dangerous When Wet, where the duo teamed up with New York University synchronized swimming troupe, Aquadoom. Japanther first performed in Marfa in 2007, debuting “Laugh Dance” with the movement artists Sonya Robbins and Layla Childs.

On their current tour, Japanther are joined by Killer Dreamer who are celebrating the release of their latest action zombie punk album, 1,000 Years of Servitude.

Join Ballroom Marfa at the Goode Crowley Theater for a night of super-hard, incredibly fast and eminently danceable punk from two of the independent scene’s most exciting bands. Come dressed for Halloween – door prizes for best costume.

Save the Date
Sunday 23 November 2008
CONOR OBERST
and The Mystic Valley Band with
The Felice Brothers + RIG 1
$20. Tickets available now on frontgatetickets.com

The 2008 music series has been made possible by the generous support of Ballroom Marfa's Front Row Members. In-kind support for this performance provided by L & F Distributors, Alpine, TX.

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.

Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

Ballroom Marfa: The Marfa Sessions

2008-09-09T12:45:01Z

Ballroom Marfa

THE MARFA SESSIONS
Curated by Regine Basha, Lucy Raven & Rebecca Gates
27 September 2008 – 1 February 2009

Emily Jacir, Nina Katchadourian, Christina Kubisch, Louise Lawler, Iñigo-Manglano Ovalle, Kaffe Matthews, Angel Nevarez & Valerie Tevere, Dario Robleto, Steve Roden & Stephen Vitiello, Steve Rowell & Simparch, Deborah Stratman & Steven Badgett, Julianne Swartz

Opening Reception:
Sat. 27 Sept., Ballroom Marfa, Noon

Performance by Steve Roden & Stephen Vitiello:
Fri. 26 Sept., Chinati Foundation, Sundown

David Toop & Joshua Kun in conversation:
Sat. 27 Sept., Liberty Hall, 4pm

Live Music with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop & DJ Damon Locks:
Sat. 27 Sept., Liberty Hall, 9pm

Opening in the fall of 2008 is The Marfa Sessions, Ballroom Marfa’s first exhibition devoted to artists working with sound.

Independent curators Regine Basha, Rebecca Gates and Lucy Raven will bring together fifteen artists with specific interests in sound work and its potential as a transgressive medium across place and geography. Individual sound projects will be installed at Ballroom Marfa and embedded within the public spaces and private corners of Marfa, creating a sonic portrait of this unusual West Texas town.

Ballroom Marfa, the exhibition’s headquarters, will feature a visitors center sound hub, hosting artworks and providing information and maps that point to the sound projects throughout the town. The eleven works in the exhibition include already extant pieces adapted for installation in public spaces throughout Marfa, and six new site-specific works specially commissioned by Ballroom Marfa and created by: Kaffe Matthews; Nina Katchadourian; Christina Kubisch; Deborah Stratman & Steven Badgett; Steve Roden & Stephen Vitiello; and Steve Rowell & Simparch. In some cases artworks will occupy frequented public venues such as Marfa Book Company, local eateries and Marfa Public Radio airwaves; others will be discovered in natural settings near the outskirts of town.

The Marfa Sessions will include built sound environments and acoustic spaces; sculptural works with an integral aural element; and sound by visual artists who usually work in other media. With a broad, interdisciplinary approach to sound works, The Marfa Sessions positions artists who are not usually thought of as “sound artists” alongside those who are established in the field, expanding the interpretative possibilities of sound in relation to place.

Marfa, as a desert town, is a remote location by any standard. It is also a uniquely central destination and an historical confluence of various phenomena that include one of the world’s largest astronomical observatories–The McDonald Observatory, Big Bend National Park, The Marfa Lights, a U.S. border patrol station, The Chinati Foundation (also formerly a WWII military base), the Judd Foundation, as well as the filming locations for Giant, There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men.

With site-specific works activating various locations across the town, and with the collaboration of the community, The Marfa Sessions aims to amplify the varied set of physical and metaphoric characteristics that define “Marfa” – its geopolitical position, local identity, myths, as well as its significant relationship to 20th Century Minimalism and Land Art. The Marfa Sessions seeks to call the ear to Marfa and its environs, noting the aural and conceptual depth and breadth of this complex setting.

The opening weekend of The Marfa Sessions begins on Friday 26 September with an original site-specific sound performance on the grounds of the Chinati Foundation by Steve Roden & Stephen Vitiello. Titled from perfect cubes to broken trains..., Roden and Vitiello’s performance will use voice, movement, percussive tools and other incidental materials to compose a piece that invokes the mathematical logic of Donald Judd’s 100 untitled works in mill aluminum and its relationship to the surrounding desert environment.

Following the opening reception on Saturday 27 September, there will be a conversation at Ballroom Marfa between authors Josh Kun and David Toop on the various ways of listening to place, and the overlaps of history and personal memory.

On Saturday evening at 9pm, Kurt Wagner will perform live at Liberty Hall. Called "one of the most singular, and best, songwriters of our time” by Salon Magazine, Wagner is leader of Lambchop, from Nashville, TN. Whether rooting around America's soul, country, or jazz legacies, with Lambchop or solo, Wagner offers a singular vision with music fluid in nature and grand in scope. Following his performance is DJ Damon Locks who, as lead singer & keyboardist of the Chicago-based band The Eternals, is well known for luring listeners into a brand new world of music. In addition to bringing outrageous tunes to the people, Damon is a fantastic illustrator, designing countless album covers as well as providing art for features in URB, XLR8R, Flaunt and Resonance. He is also currently performing with the Exploding Star Orchestra.

For more details on The Marfa Sessions Opening Weekend, Music, and Public Programs, visit: ballroommarfa.org and themarfasessions.wordpress.com

Generous support for The Marfa Sessions has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, Cowles Charitable Trust, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and the Marfa Chamber of Commerce.

Ballroom Marfa would also like to recognize the following members for their generous matching grant donations: Suzanne Deal Booth, Fluent~Collaborative, Texas Gallery, Anonymous, Meredith Dreiss, Deborah Green, Chris Mattson, Cynthia Toles, Molly Cumming, Molly Davies and ttweak.

In-kind support provided by the Chinati Foundation, Glen & LeAna Clifton, the Crowley Foundation, Marfa Book Company, Janet & Dave Scott, Michael M. Stevenson, Permian Basin Distributing, Alpine, TX and Titos Vodka, Austin, TX.

Special thanks to KRTS Marfa Public Radio

Ballroom Marfa is proud to have Art Lies magazine as a partner for The Marfa Sessions Opening Weekend. Ballroom Marfa Members are invited to subscribe to Art Lies at a discounted yearly rate. For more information visit: artlies.org

Ballroom Marfa is a dynamic, contemporary cultural arts space that provides a lively intellectual environment where varied perspectives and issues are explored through visual arts, film, music and performance. As an advocate for the freedom of artistic expression, Ballroom Marfa's mission is to serve international, national, regional and local communities and support the work of both emerging and recognized artists working in all media.

Ballroom Marfa is particularly interested in helping artists and curators achieve projects that have significant cultural impact but would be impossible to realize in a traditional gallery or museum setting.

Ballroom Marfa is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Visit www.ballroommarfa.org

Ballroom Marfa : www.ballroommarfa.org
Open Thursday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
PO Box 1661 108 East San Antonio St.
Marfa, Texas 79843
Tel: 432.729.3600 Fax: 432.729.3606

Subscribe to Ballroom Marfa Newsletter via email by entering your email address below: