“A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain”

— from “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan

 

BY KEVIN HOPPER

Had Bob Dylan never learned how to play guitar, his works of poetry may never have come to prominence. It’s unfortunate that poetry, the art of combining words, emotions, and ideas into beautifully balanced and poignant symmetry, isn’t a more popular medium. Words themselves, either spoken or read, just don’t hold as much charm as musical and visual stimulation, if only because we don’t afford to slow our lives down enough to really take in these words.

Perhaps this is why 516 Arts in downtown ABQ. chose to celebrate National Poetry Month by combining poetry with both visual art and music.

 

“We wanted to create a dialogue between artists and poets,” says 516 Director Suzanne Sbarge about Tributaries, an exhibition that runs from Apr. 6 through May 12.

 

The works of poets Lisa Gill and Purvi Shah will be presented alongside the work of eight artists — Shah chose four artists from New York, while Gill chose four local artists. Each artist was asked to create a piece in response to two books by New Rivers Press: Shah’s Terrain Tracks and Gill’s intriguing Mortar & Pestle, the latter of which is a collection of poems that serves as a cathartic exercise by Gill, a response to having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

 

Though the idea of reactionary art is not a new one, it’s certainly a less traveled path in art that has numerous possibilities. Artists who create works that typically respond to the world around them, at their own pace, are suddenly forced to investigate another artist’s work. It presents a constraint that most artists dislike, but at the same time demands a reaction — positive, negative, indifferent — that will affect the outcome of whatever the artist ends up creating.

 

Sbarge noted that for a show that is this ambitious and unconventional, there were virtually no restraints placed on upon participating artists in terms of media, which resulted in work that is both traditional and avant-garde.

 

“It’s definitely a mixed-media show,” Sbarge says of Tributaries, “One piece even used recorded sound of the poet reciting (her) poems.”

 

Tributaries, the conception of which is credited mostly to Gill, premiered at the Spirit Room in downtown Fargo, North Dakota in October of last year as part of the New Rivers Press Literary Festival.

 

“Lisa got this whole thing off the ground,” Sbarge noted. “She’s sort of a local star. She’s quite amazing.”
Artists involved include Sbarge, Becky Holtzman, Kris Mills, and Valerie Roybal, who interpreted Gill’s poetry. New York artists who created work in response to the work of Shah, include Chitra Ganesh, Fariba S. Alam, Srinivas Kuruganti, and Nandini Chirimar.

 

Additionally, throughout the month-long exhibition, readings, gallery tours, discussions, and live music events are scheduled. A concurring two-part exhibit of UNM graduate student work, titled Out of the Underground and juried by SITE Santa Fe’s Laura Steward Heon, will also be presented at 516 Arts and UNM’s Jonson Gallery.

 

Highly conceptual and innovative art shows such as this are hard to come by in Albuquerque. But because of forward-thinking curators who are willing to experiment, local art lovers need not travel 45 minutes north (or in this case, book a flight to New York City) to experience world-class, contemporary art. For more information and artist and poet biographies, visit 516arts.org.

 

Tributaries
Opening receptions:
6-8p, Fri., Apr. 6
516 ARTS
516 Central SW, 242.1445
516arts.org

 

Out of the Underground
5-7p, Fri., Apr. 6
Jonson Gallery
1909 Las Lomas NE, UNM campus, 277.8927
unm.edu/~jonsong

516 WORDS
4p, Sun., Apr. 29
Poets Lisa Gill and Purvi Shah will give a reading and tour of Tributaries in the upstairs gallery of
 516 ARTS. 

 

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