Agnes Pelton
Ascent (aka Liberation), 1946
Oil on canvas
32 x 21 inches
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York Ballroom Marfa Presents
“Agnes Pelton and the American Transcendental”: A lecture by artist Mary Weatherford
May 21, 2016 at The Crowley Theater in Marfa, TX
Doors at 6pm, lecture at 6:30pm
Free Ballroom Marfa presents a lecture by artist Mary Weatherford, “Agnes Pelton and the American Transcendental”, to complement After Effect, the current exhibition on view in Ballroom’s galleries. As a painter herself, Weatherford is particularly interested in the work of Agnes Pelton, a member of the historical Transcendental Painting Group active in New Mexico in the 1930s and ’40s, and will lecture on Pelton’s work, milieu and historical context. The Transcendental Painting group’s manifesto identifies their aim as carrying “painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual” in an effort to “widen the horizon of art.” The resulting works were created using methods simultaneously scientific and metaphysical. A classically trained painter, Pelton was co-founder, first president, and the eldest and most experienced member of the group. Born in Ojai, California, Mary Weatherford lives and works in Los Angeles. Weatherford earned her B.A. at Princeton University in 1984 and was a Helena Rubinstein Fellow in the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program in 1985. She earned her M.F.A.

Photo by Alex Marks

Ballroom Marfa invites the community to join us at The Capri in Marfa on Thursday, April 21 from 6-7pm for drinks and conversation. The Capri will be unveiling a specially-prepared cocktail for the occasion, and they’ve generously offered to get the first round of drinks for current, renewing and first-time Ballroom members. This gathering is free and open to the public, and we would love to take this opportunity to welcome you in person as a member of Ballroom Marfa. Ballroom Marfa needs you. Your support allows us to continue to bring invigorating visual art, performance, music, and film to our remote high-desert community. Contributions from Ballroom members allow us to host banner weekends like After Effect and Marfa Myths, as well as intimate programs such as last year’s Desert Surf Films series and this weekend’s free Bitchin Bajas show. Members also enable Ballroom commissions, such as Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance, the next installment in Graham Reynolds’ Marfa Triptych. Your enthusiastic participation at our events is a huge part of this support, but your financial contributions are also crucial to our efforts. Sign up for a Ballroom Marfa membership anytime online, or call us at 432.729.3600.

In advance of Artpace San Antonio’s annual fundraiser honoring Ballroom Marfa co-founders Fairfax Dorn and Virginia Lebermann, Fairfax talks with San Antonio Magazine about her lifelong connection with art in Texas …

Almost two years ago, Dorn transitioned from executive director of Ballroom Marfa to artistic director, and returned to New York City. She married art executive Marc Glimcher and still travels to Marfa regularly. And though she has been enjoying more family time, she said she misses home. “I think about Texas all the time. I miss all the aspects of it: the birds, the grass, the relaxed nature, even the experience of art is just different there.”

Keep reading in San Antonio Magazine.

Listen to Dan Colen talk about his contributions to our After Effect group exhibition on The Dinner Party Download, and read highlights from the interview below and on their website …

What I’m trying to kind of accomplish is maybe transcend the image a little bit through the material and the way I apply it. They’re sprayed oil. It’s traditional artist oil paint, but it’s sprayed in many, many, many layers. And there’s really nothing that speaks to any kind of, like, illusionistic deep space.

So, the clouds and the sky, on quick glance, you see them reading like the clouds in front and the sky in back. But when you actually spend a little time with it, there’s really no space implied. And so they’re kind of on one plane. So, it has an abstract quality, and the material is like,

Graham Reynolds and Shawn Sides discuss their upcoming project, the final chapter in the Ballroom Marfa-commissioned ‪Marfa‬ Triptych in the Austin Chronicle … AC: What’s it like working together professionally?
Reynolds: In that first show, Jason [Neulander] was the boss. And in all the Rude Mechs shows, Shawn’s been the boss. And now we’re doing Pancho Villa for Ballroom Marfa, which she’s directing.
AC: So it’s not just a music performance, it’s a whole … ?
Reynolds: It’s a chamber opera, staged, the whole thing. And Shawn’s directing. But, for the first time, essentially, I’m sort of the boss of that one.
AC: So what’s the dynamic like there? Difficult? Enjoyable?
Sides: It’s very enjoyable, I enjoy it very much.
Read the full article in the Austin Chronicle.
The Marfa Triptych: Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance premieres at the Crowley Theater here in Marfa on November 11 and 12. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for soon-coming information on tickets and more. Read more about the project here.

Arturo Bandini’s Vapegoat Rising, 2016
After Effect opening reception
Photo by Luis Nieto Dickens

Mary Lattimore at Wrong Marfa
Marfa Myths
Photo by Alex Marks

Susan Sutton
Executive Director

Sarah Rara, still from The Pollinators, 2014. Video with sound. 65 minutes
Sound by Luke Fischbeck

Caitlin Greenwood talks with Ballroom Marfa Associate Curator Laura Copelin about moving from Los Angeles to Marfa, curating in Texas and the future of Ballroom Marfa …

Being in a space run by (mostly) women feels natural to me.

I was mentored by Elsa Longhauser at SMMoA, now Susan Sutton and Fairfax Dorn at Ballroom, even in art school, artists like Barbara Kruger, Mary Kelly, Eve Fowler, Catherine Opie, and Andrea Fraser had tremendous sway over my education. I was just given a shirt by a beloved colleague from the Otherwild shop in Los Angeles that reads “The Future is Female”—it rings true in my experience!

Read the full interview in A+C Texas.

Join us for a virtual tour of Ballroom Marfa’s current exhibition, the Tom Morton-curated Äppärät, on Vimeo …

Äppärät at Ballroom Marfa from Ballroom Marfa on Vimeo.

The short film, shot by David Fenster, includes commentary from Morton and a walkthrough of the show, which features work from Ed Atkins, Trisha Donnelly, Melvin Edwards, Cécile B. Evans, Jessie Flood-Paddock, Roger Hiorns, Sophie Jung, Lee Lozano, Marlie Mul, Damián Ortega, Charles Ray, Shimabuku,and Paul Thek. More info on the exhibition here.

The complete schedule for Artists’ Film International 2015 is now available. The full series of films – including work from Serbia, Afghanistan,Argentina, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Poland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Norway, and the United Kingdom – will be screenings on Saturday, November 14 at the Crowley Theater here in Marfa.

The drop-in screenings run from 10a-6p,with new cycles beginning at: 10:10am,12:30pm,and 2:50pm.

The featured screening of short films by Brigid McCaffrey takes place later that night, with doors at 7pm and screenings commencing at 7:30pm.

Morning screenings will feature free coffee from Do Your Thing and pastries by Ginger Hillery. In the afternoon we’ll have gratis popcorn and beer from Big Bend Brewing Co.

And then please join us on Sunday, November 15 from 1-3pm for a geology walk and conversation at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute in Fort Davis, Texas.

The walk will be led by Ren Lallatin,
the subject of McCaffrey’s film 2013 film Paradise Springs, along with Sul Ross geology lecturer Jesse Kelsch.

More information on the AFI 2015 event page!