Matt Craven Exhibition at Marfa Studio of Arts. Marfa Myths 2017. Photo by John Vogler.

Matthew Craven challenges the sweeping narratives of American history textbooks, appropriating images of historical figures and sites and defacing or reconfiguring them within new aesthetic compositions. In combinations of illustration, collage, and painting, a march of tribal chieftains, Masonic leaders, and American generals and presidents appears in his images, their faces blotted out or colonized by Craven’s trademark geometric patterns. With his surreal mash-ups of historical references composed on antiquated paper, Craven creates his own pared-down symbols and mythologies. Many of Craven’s images are ambiguous, resisting cohesive narratives or easy interpretation; the artist has said that his compositions are not dictated by any political agenda but are based solely on aesthetic consideration. Matthew Craven was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He received his BFA from Michigan State University and his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York.

Dungen & Woods. Marfa Myths 2017. Photo by Alex Marks.

For the third Marfa Myths release, we’re proud to present seven all-new songs written and recorded by Stockholm’s psychedelic masters Dungen and adventurous Brooklyn indie-folk pioneers Woods.

That this is the most music assembled for a Marfa Myths release to date is telling of a rare and special connection between Dungen and Woods, reignited by the circumstances of the occasion. Dungen’s Gustav Ejstes and Reine Fiske, and Woods’ Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere were provided the freedom to acclimate themselves to the unique frequencies of the Marfa experience without distraction. Marfa Myths 003showcases a seamless merging of two bands following the same track to different locations throughout their career, as if they’d been playing together for decades, an exhilarating and buoyant example of how shared experiences can foster truly wonderful music.

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The exhibition included original posters from the 13th Floor Elevator’s early days and a talk from historians Paul Drummond and Johan Kugelberg exploring the impact and influence of Erickson and his original band mates on American psychedelia.

13th Floor Elevators gallery retrospective curated by Johan Kugelberg. Marfa Myths 2017. Photo by Alex Marks.

Ballroom Marfa opened Strange Attractor on Friday of Marfa Myths. The exhibition explores the uncertainties and poetics of networks, environmental events, technology, and sound. The term “strange attractor” describes the inherent order embedded in chaos, perceivable in harmonious yet unpredictable patterns. Essential to these subjects are intimate, vast, and interconnected abstractions we must reconcile with our lived experience—the problem of how to clearly perceive and interpret the world. Sound and music pervade the exhibition, physically or latently, through production or allusion. Visitors are confronted with leitmotifs of capital, transmigration, and asylum. A lion’s share of debuting and commissioned works form the connective tissue of this expansive terrain.

“the [Marfa Myths] festival is perhaps the most extreme example in a recent trend toward intimate, meticulously curated music events” – NY Times

“no VIPs, no velvet ropes, just long brambles called ocotillo, which look like the kind of menacing weeds you expect to find on your way into hell – which is to say, Marfa Myths is a music adventurer’s dream.” – Billboard