There was a sense of relief back in November when guests at TastySpace’s final art reception spilled into the new Satellite Contemporary gallery across the hall at Emergency Arts.
That galleries around town that had been showing career artists’ work were closing—or had closed—meant dwindling opportunity for exposure to serious art. But here was curatorial acumen playing out in works by young artists from around the country.
Suzanne Silver's "The End" will be part of Satellite Contemporary's Heroes exhibit.
It was a sign that the Las Vegas gallery scene would, as usual, rebound as part of the ebb and flow that has defined the arts here for more than a decade. And the dizzying game of musical chairs that ensued offered even more meat to the meal: By December, Satellite Contemporary had moved into the old TastySpace suite, allowing for 6 Gallery to move into that vacated space. In January, Rhizome Gallery, opened in the former 5th Wall Gallery by two academics who’d recently settled in Las Vegas for work at UNLV, formed a nucleus that included Space 164 gallery.
The four galleries have now teamed to create Second Saturday, a monthly art event that offers a well-rounded, diverse representation of contemporary work, putting the art back inside Downtown’s Emergency Arts.
Melinda Laszczynski's "Fringe" at Rhizome Gallery
Satellite Contemporary’s February exhibit, Heroes, features work by established artists and mentors—including Venice Biennale representatives Ann Hamilton and Dadang Christanto—and mentors that have inspired the gallery’s owners (a trio of artists and faculty members from Flagstaff’s Northern Arizona University). Rhizome Gallery, which plans to show mostly emerging artists, presents After Party, featuring Melinda Laszczynski's formal and frosting-esque paintings, paint skins, yarn garland and mylar balloon work, an installation-style nod to celebratory aftermath.
6 Gallery continues its exhibit The Last Goodbye with work by painter Wade Schuster and photographer Monica Figura, both tackling the color and form of Las Vegas signage. And Space 164 continues its exhibit of work by Tess Felix, a California artist with a theater background whose representational assemblages, mostly engaging portraits made from beach-found discarded plastics, reflect environmental issues affecting marine life.
Second Saturday February 14, 6-10 p.m. Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont Street.
