Author: Montalvo

Lucas Artists Fellow Weston Teruya moderated an episode of his  (un)making podcast series produced for Art Practical at a live-recorded event at the Lucas Artists Program in April 2017. He spoke with artists/writers Jaime Cortez and Genevieve Quick about the ways their visual and literary  practices inform one another and how they negotiate the other roles they play in supporting the local arts ecology. Listen Now >>

Lucas Artists Fellow Weston Teruya sat down for a conversation with visual artist, educator, curator, and cultural organizer Taraneh Hemami in the latest episode of Teruya’s (Un)making podcast series produced for Art Practical. In this wide-reaching conversation Hemami discusses constructing an archive as a creative practice, the history of the Iranian Student Association, and her vision for One Voice (Yek Seda), a new commission for the grounds of Montalvo Arts Center, which premiered last summer. Listen Now >>

By Vivian Sming for Art Practical Originally published: August 17, 2017 On a hot summer evening, I visited soon-to-be Chicago-based 1 artist Jonas Becker on one of the final days of his residency at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California. I nervously drove up to the top of a very steep hill and breathed a sigh of relief upon arriving at Becker’s studio, which overlooks the surrounding redwoods. For the past month, he has worked and lived here with his dog Booger, continuing a body of work that has been several years in the making. The series, titled Same Rock…

Collaboration to r esult in visual criticism exploring the work of ​Montalvo's Lucas Artists Fellows SARATOGA, Calif. – Montalvo Arts Center is pleased to announce that it has entered into a collaborative relationship with the Bay Area online arts publication Art Practical . Through December 2017, Art Practical writers will create a series of articles that go behind the scenes at Montalvo’s internationally renowned Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program to highlight the creative work of Montalvo’s Lucas Artists Fellows. These articles are presented as part of a new Art Practical initiative called “Notes From Montalvo,” an adaptation of their…

By Ashley Voss for Art Practical ​ Originally published: October 31, 2017 Despite relinquishing her crown as the “Queen of Kitsch” in 2002, New Zealand artist Judy Darragh has not deviated from her whimsical recycling of inexpensive objects. 1 Transitioning toward a minimalist mindset, Darragh has replaced her use of plastic penises and faux fur with manipulated stationery and aluminum foil. Since the 1980s, Darragh has produced works that challenge the act of conspicuous consumerism. Uninterested in participating in the commercial aspects of the arts industry, Darragh purposely creates works that others can easily replicate with everyday objects. Her most…

By Gregory Hurcomb for Art Practical ​Originally published October 31, 2017 ​“… for me it is not a problem, especially now, as to whether what I do is art or not. I use it to live, to have adventures (…)” –Alighiero Boetti ​Perhaps this is the perfect quote to consider while contemplating the work of Italian artist Matteo Rubbi, who I recently had the opportunity to sit down with at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California where Rubbi is currently an artist in residence. Our conversation focused primarily on his current project at Montalvo, as well as the artistic…

By Rochelle Spencer for Art Practical ​Originally published November 21, 2017 Imagine a bright, sunny studio, the exterior surrounded by plants, the interior jostling with the laughter of friends, and drawings of the saddest, grimmest tree you’ve ever seen—broken, beaten, and scrawnier than Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Drawings of this tree (and dozens like it) not only dominate the interior of Máximo González ’s studio, but also are at the center of a discussion: Is the tree the most significant image of The Collector , González’s in-progress installation at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California, or is it the house? ​…

By Emily K. Holmes for Art Practical ​Originally published February 17, 2018 Five days before the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration, I visited the artist Laurie Anderson during her residency at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California. We sat at a long wooden table in the residents’ airy, light-filled communal dining room while Anderson’s laundry whirred in the next room. Over the course of thirty minutes, our conversation strayed from the artist’s new book (released by Rizzoli this month) to her deep concern for the current political moment. Along the way, our talk touched upon language, narrative, and memory,…