Art

Dear Santa, I have sinned—Cosmo’s P3Studio announces its 2015 artist lineup

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Artist David Colman’s Santa Confessional is part of P3Studio’s 2015 lineup.
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The Cosmopolitan’s P3Studio has become a gem of a space for elevating the art experience in Las Vegas, joining Strip visitors with artists in an open studio that sends guests away with more than a souvenir.

This year’s lineup offers up another solid rotation for its artist-in-residence program, which began January 7 with Lia Chavez’s immersive meditation nightclub experience (through February 8).

The complete list of 14 artists, selected in partnership with New York’s Art Production Fund, was released today, with New York artist David Colman (February 11- March 8) next in the queue, bringing to town from Art Basel Miami his Santa Confessional performance piece, giving guests a chance to unload. No time to confess to Father Christmas on the other side of the privacy screen? No problem. Eavesdropping is just as welcome.

Designed to reach new audiences through contemporary art by taking away the formality and, some might say, stiffness of gallery and museum experiences, the P3 residencies offer walk-in, meet-the-artist and participate in their work styles of approach.

Residencies combine some form of installation, studio practice and performance. In March, New Yorker Lucky DeBellevue’s Collaboration/Exchange (March 11-April 12) takes over, with the artist building sculpture with non-traditional material and working on an “evolving wall print.”

Following DeBellevue is Stephanie Hirsch (April 15-May 10), tapping into the transformative power of thought through bumper sticker proclamations; Gabrielle St. Evensen (May 13-June 7), inviting guests to formally marry themselves; and Amy Gartrell and Patterson Beckwith (June 10-July 12), whose laboratory will allow for experiments targeting the influence of color.

Thomas Willis’ residency (July 15-August 9) ushers in a series of artists with ties to Las Vegas with his Retrofit Painting® Las Vegas, a retail space for demonstrating how to “retrofit” pre-manufactured art canvases. Las Vegas Brent Sommerhauser (August 12-September 13) introduces guests to monotype printing.

After Shantell Martin’s Record & Play (September 16-October 11), inviting guests to be interviewed while she draws them, the ever-animated Las Vegas artist Jesse Smigel will turn P3 into a game show set, with guests as contestants (October 14-November 8).

Las Vegas artist Mikayla Whitmore (November 11-December 6) uses photographs and collage to examine ways in which memory degenerates over time. (Disclosure: Whitmore is an employee of the Weekly’s parent company, Greenspun Media Group.)

Ending the year is the Kate Gilmore and Franklin Evans residency, Shelf Life (December 9-January 3), in which the New York artists use Las Vegas to create an elaborate installation. And anyone who has seen either’s work will know that’s an oversimplification of the highest order.

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