Curatorial Concept

On Which It Rests is an exhibition and visual dialogue intended to foster conversation on the importance of place within the artistic process. The exhibition, a collaborative curatorial endeavor between Taos Abstract Artist Collective and the Couse-Sharp Historic Site, will be held in the Lunder Research Center Gallery at Couse-Sharp Historic Site from July 5th, 2024 – August 30th, 2024, and will feature contemporary abstract artists working, or finding inspiration, in Taos Valley. On Which It Rests aims to deliver a microcosm of conceptual introspection and promote illustrative didactics surrounding the pedagogy of the artistic process.  

A fulcrum is the place on which we, as artists, rest; the place where we settle into our practice and begin to understand what we are doing. It is a tipping point, a balancing point, a support. It is a pivotal space on, and by which our work is and becomes. These spaces and/or places are those which we center this exhibition in and with and for. A thing that adds up to that which we make, that which we are, on which we rest. 

Selected works will represent the historical creative thread connecting artists to those who have come before, paving the way for new and exciting introspections and conversation in this dynamic landscape. The chosen artists will be driven by a deep cultural and artistic tradition and a visceral connection to something greater than self.

Concept Development

In January of 2024, Taos Abstract Artist Collective participated in a survey on themes of historic and cultural influence, material choice, creative process, and place. At a subsequent round table discussion in J.H. Sharp's 1915 Studio, more questions were raised, and important themes surfaced: What is our responsibility to place? How do we internalize the influences of a place? Can we interrogate the intuitive nature of process and influence? How do we get out of our own conscious way and allow these processes to flow?

This exhibition is not meant as an attempt to answer these questions but instead to start a dialogue surrounding the potentiality of the many micro-perspectives that exist within the spaces in which we create. 

Historic Context

Artistic production in Taos dates back as far as human occupation in the valley, well over a thousand years.  However, the origins of the Taos Art Colony began in 1893 when painter Joseph Henry Sharp passed through Taos and began to talk to colleagues on the East Coast and Europe about what he experienced.  At first glance, isolated, rural Taos seems an unlikely cauldron of creativity. But Taos Pueblo’s importance as a trade center made it uniquely suited to welcome outsiders appreciative of the people and culture. The valley, once situated at the extremity of the Spanish empire, was the meeting point of many Indigenous influences—Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Ute, Navajo, and other Pueblos. The Anglo-American artists that later migrated to Taos (the Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns, etc.) found inspiration in the people, landscape, and light of the Valley and continue to do so. 

The Southwest offers a historical depth and breadth of continuous artistic production, particularly in northern New Mexico, that is like no other place in the United States. Artists in the Taos region today owe a debt to the peoples that have come before, each with a distinct culture and visual language.

Jurors / Curatorial Team
Davison Packard Koenig, Executive Director of the Couse-Sharp Historic Site, Taos, New Mexico and Alexandra Terry, Curator of Contemporary Art at the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico 

Before the New Mexico Museum of Art, Alexandra Terry was Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB), where she organized exhibitions by artists including Shana Moulton, Genevieve Gaignard, Barry McGee, Simone Forti, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Gabriela Ruiz, amongst many others. Terry was also Curator & Artistic Director at MOP Foundation, a London-based nonprofit dedicated to contemporary Iranian art. She has curated exhibitions in the US, UK, and UAE and contributed internationally to art publications. Terry holds a BA in Art Practice from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

Davison Packard Koenig's background as a museum consultant specializing in all aspects of exhibition execution led him to specialize in the art, culture, and history of the American Southwest. Koenig has also served as Curator of Exhibits for the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona (the Southwest's oldest and largest anthropology museum) and as Gallery Director for Dada Fine Art in Tucson. He has produced over sixty exhibitions, gaining extensive knowledge of the living cultures and artistic expressions that have shaped the Southwest, specifically Taos. Koenig holds an MFA in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a BFA in Anthropology of Art from Hobart College in Geneva, NY.
 

Media Accepted (art must be abstract):

• Visual Arts: Any abstract 2D / 3D media including but not limited to: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Photography, Found Object, Conceptual Art, Installation, Ceramics, Pottery, Fiber, Wearable Art, etc.
• Video, Projection, & Performance Arts: We ask that it is abstract either in content, visual presentation, or both
• Music, & Sound Composition Arts: We ask that it is abstract either in content, visual presentation, or both
• You can apply to more than one category and with a variety of file types, the total number of file types is 3 per submission
• Please use the following format for image files: Lastname_Title.jpg

Exhibition Venue & Info:

• Lunder Research Center Gallery at Couse-Sharp Historic Site, Taos, NM
• http://couse-sharp.org/
• Please Note: For this show artists must live or work in New Mexico. Please do not apply if you live elsewhere. This is a curated exhibition, and the selection of work is up to the curatorial team. Accepted works will be determined by gallery space parameters and consistency with the theme of exhibition. Space is limited and no more than 20 works will be included in the final exhibition.

Schedule:

• Call Dates: Open March 14th - Deadline May 14th, 2024 (11:59pm MT)
• Curatorial Review: May 15th – June 15th
• Artist Notification: late May/early June 2024
• Installation: Last week of June
• Opening Reception: July 12th, 2024
• Exhibition: July 5th, 2024 - August 30th, 2024

TAAC Mission Statement:

Taos Abstract Artist Collective (TAAC) Established and founded in Taos in 2020, TAAC promotes abstract artists living or working in Northern New Mexico, toward the exchange of ideas, new aesthetics and creative concepts. Taos is synonymous with abstract thinking, with origins in indigenous geometries, transcendental and modernist movements, and conceptual and land art installation. Once the nexus for westward bound artists, Taos unleashes expansive, abstract thinkers. Represented amongst the TAAC artist group are established, mid-career and emerging artists who show in Taos or Northern New Mexico, nationally and internationally. 

Conceptualized in 2020, the Taos Abstract Artist Collective offers curated and juried exhibitions, artist talks, studio visits and collaborative community concepts. TAAC is an inclusive group that amplifies self-identifying abstract artists living and working in Northern New Mexico, honoring our intersecting identities across race, national origin, ethnicity, culture, size, gender identity and expression, disability, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, neurotype, religion and/or spiritual practice. All abstract artists are welcome in their pursuit of provocative expression. TAAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Couse-Sharp Historic Site:
Through its archives, collections, and programming, the Couse-Sharp Historic Site preserves and interprets Taos’ crossroads of cultures, promoting and facilitating research, education, and new perspectives on the Taos Society of Artists, early artists of Taos, and regional and Indigenous communities in relation to the greater story of the multicultural American West.

Application Requirements

• Portfolio: Submit at least 1 portfolio sample and up to 3, requirements listed below
• Artist Statement: 300 words or less
• Artist Bio: 300 words or less
• CV (optional)
• Dimensions of work: You must include the dimensions of your work in its final, installed state. (e.g. include total dimensions of framed artwork, or square footage for installation/performance works)

Visual Artist Portfolio Requirements: 

• Visual Arts applies to any abstract 2D / 3D media including but not limited to: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Digital, Photography, Found Object, Conceptual Art, Installation, Ceramics, Pottery, Fiber Arts, Wearable Art, etc.
• Submit 1 to 3 samples of completed work (Installation Artists: we understand it's not "complete" until the exhibition, give us a visual example or mockup). If there is a visual presentation aspect to the work that we cannot see in the images (jpgs), describe it in your artist statement
• File Type: JPEG or JPG only
• File Name: Please use the following format for image files: Lastname_Title.jpg
• File Dimensions: 1,200 pixels or greater on the longest side
• File Size: Under 5 MB
• Color Profile: sRGB
• Resources for resizing your images: https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/helpful-digital-resources/ or send us an email if this is challenging and you need help

Video, Projection, & Performance Artists Portfolio Requirements:

• Submit 1 to 3 samples of completed work (Projection and Performance Artists should provide a video, however we understand it's not "complete" until the exhibition or after the live performance). If there is a visual presentation aspect to the work that we can not see in the video, describe it in your artist statement, and also let us know if this is intended to be a live performance or shown on a screen or projection of some kind. We ask that it is abstract either in content, visual presentation, or both
• File Type: MOV, MP4, WMV, 3GP, AVI, ASF, MPG, M2T, MKV, M2TS
• File Name: Please use the following format: Lastname_Title.jpg
• File Size: under 100 MB (if work is larger than 10MB, please provide us with a corresponding link to YouTube or other platform to view work)
• Resolution: minimum 640 x 480, maximum 1920 x 1080
• Aspect Ratio: 4:3 or 16:9
• Bit Rate: recommended above 240 kbps
• Frame rate: minimum 12 fps, recommended 30 fps

Audio, Music, & Sound Composition Artists Portfolio Requirements:

• Submit 1 to 3 samples of completed work. If there is a visual presentation aspect to the work as well, describe it in your artist statement, and also let us know if this is intended to be a live performance or shown on a screen or with use of speakers, etc. We ask that it is abstract either in content, visual presentation, or both
• File Type: AIFF, WAV, XMF, MP3
• File Name: Please use the following format: Lastname_Title.jpg
• File Size: Under 10 MB (if work is larger than 10MB, please provide us with a corresponding link to YouTube or other platform to view work)
• Bit rate: minimum 96 kpbs–maximum 320 kbps
• Codec: aiff, wav, au

For Help Using CaFÉ or to Contact CaFÉ:

https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/

To Contact Taos Abstract Artist Collective:
info@taosabstractartistcollective.org 
575- 737-8211‬  

Please Note the Rules & Terms to Apply: 

• Artists must live or work within New Mexico to apply to this show. Please do not apply if you live/work elsewhere. 
• Submitted work must be abstract.
• Emerging, mid-career, and established artists or collaborative teams are welcome to apply.
• Artists must be at least 18 years old to apply.
• Work featured in the exhibition may also appear in promotional materials for the show.
• Work featured in the exhibition will appear in a printed and digital exhibition catalog.
• Artists must complete the application on CaFÉ, please do not email us a submission.
• The $25 entry fee is nonrefundable.
• Accepted work MUST be in presentable condition and ready to hang/install.
• This is a curated exhibition, and the selection of work is up to the curatorial team.
• Not all pieces submitted are guaranteed to be selected for this exhibition at the Lunder Research Center Gallery. Works will be accepted based on exhibition space parameters and consistency with exhibition theme.
• In the spirit of TAAC's commitment to artist safety and inclusivity, work that depicts violence or hateful rhetoric towards any individuals or groups will not be considered.

Proceeds from the submission fees are applied towards operational costs to mount the exhibition, including press materials, event-related programming fees. Any additional funds raised through this call are applied towards free community programming benefiting the Northern New Mexico art community.

Eligibility Criteria

• Open to artists or collaborative teams, 18 years old and above living and/or working in New Mexico.