"Afghan Star": Contemporary Forum Film and Lecture Series Sponsored by Bentley Gallery

AFGHAN STAR
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL WINNER

"In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing."


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

7pm

Phoenix Art Museum – Whiteman Hall
Central at McDowell

Admission is Free – Everyone is Invited

After thirty years of war and five devastating years of Taliban rule, pop culture is beginning to return to Afghanistan, and millions are tuning in to the wildly popular American Idol-style television competition Afghan Star.

Two thousand people audition to compete for a cash prize and a record deal, and when viewers vote for their favorites via cell phone it is, for many, their first encounter with the democratic process. However, not everyone is on board and more conservative Afghanis cry out against the singers’ audacity hurling condemnation and death threats. Sadly, even in a country whose population is tired of war, the fighting continues in other ways. This movie takes us somewhere that few movies have and the audience ends up cheering.

"Works from Bentley Gallery" @ eye lounge

December 18th, 2009 – January 9th, 2010

Opening Nights – December 18th from 6pm-9pm and January 1st from 6pm-10pm.

Free and open to the public.

eye lounge gallery
419 E. Roosevelt St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Gallery Hours: eye lounge is open Tuesday to Thursday 9am to 5pm; Friday 9am to 9pm; and the first Friday of every month from 5pm to 10pm.

Bentley Gallery is pleased to announce “Works from Bentley Gallery”, a series of selected pieces to be exhibited at the eye lounge gallery in Downtown’s Roosevelt Row arts district. We will be hosting two opening receptions: Third Friday, December 18 from 6pm-10 pm and First Friday, January 1st from 6pm-10pm. The collection will be on display through January 9th.

The exhibition intends to strengthen the relationship between the Phoenix and Scottsdale arts districts by integrating work from the Bentley collection into the special and unique spirit that comprises the downtown art scene. Artists featured will include: Will Berry, Denise Yaghmourian, Dominique Blain, Hector Ruiz & DOSE, Martin Mull, Christina Kahlo, Rogelio “Gory” Lopez Marin, and a maquette for a large-scale sculpture by Craig Randich (to be featured in eye lounge’s east gallery January 15th – February 13th).

Both receptions are free and open to the public. For more information contact ashley@bentleygallery.com; 480.946.6060.

image: Hector Ruiz & DOSE, "Untitled 26", mixed media on paper, 20"h x 30"w, 2009

CONTEMPORARY FORUM LECTURE AND FILM SERIES
SPONSORED BY BENTLEY GALLERY/BENTLEY PROJECTS

Herb & Dorothy : "Curatorial Visionaries"

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Two Showings: 4pm and 7pm

Phoenix Art Museum – Whiteman Hall
Central at McDowell

Everyone is invited and admission is free.

This wonderful film recounts how after 30 years of meticulous collecting and buying, the Vogels managed to accumulate over 2000 pieces of art filling every corner of their tiny one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. In 1992, the Vogels decided to move their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art (in 5 moving trucks), and the vast majority of their collection was given as a gift to that institution. Many of the works they acquired appreciated so significantly over the years that their collection today is worth millions of dollars. Still, the Vogels never sold a single piece. Today, Herb and Dorothy live in the same apartment in New York with 19 turtles, lots of fish and one cat. They collected artwork guided by two rules: the work had to be affordable and it had to fit into their living space. Within these limitations, they proved themselves to be "curatorial visionaries."

CF LECTURE / FILM SERIES
SPONSORED BY BENTLEY GALLERY/BENTLEY PROJECTS

Yayoi Kusama

“I ADORE MYSELF”

A documentary film celebrating the 80th birthday of Yayoi Kusama

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

4pm and 7pm

Phoenix Art Museum – Whiteman Hall
Central at McDowell

Admission is Free – Everyone is Welcome

You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies is one of the most popular installations in the Katz Contemporary Wing at Phoenix Art Museum. Its creator, Yayoi Kusama, the "Princess of Polka Dots," is about to celebrate her 80th birthday, and this film celebrates the life and accomplishments of this avant-garde artist.

I ADORE MYSELF is the first American film to focus on Kusama's remarkable story. Kusama is considered Japan's greatest artist and in 2006, she was named Japan's Praemium Imperiale Laureate for lifetime achievement in painting - one of the world's most prestigious art prizes. The film deals with all aspects of the artist's life and is especially candid about the fact that she lives by choice in a mental hospital in Tokyo, where she has continued to produce work since the mid 1970s. Her studio is a short distance from the hospital, and Kusama is often quoted as saying, "If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago."

CF LECTURE / FILM SERIES
SPONSORED BY BENTLEY GALLERY/BENTLEY PROJECTS

image: Hector Ruiz, Super Swamper, 2009, bronze, 35” x 16”

“REFLECTIONS”

LOCALS ONLY and
PHANTOM SIGHTINGS: ART AFTER THE CHICANO MOVEMENT

Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 4pm and 7pm
Phoenix Art Museum – Whiteman Hall
Central at McDowell
Admission is Free – Everyone is Welcome

A panel discussion featuring artists’ reflections on Phoenix Art Museum's two recent shows Locals Only and Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement will be moderated by Dr. Sara Cochran, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. This lively discussion will range from artists’ personal philosophies and aesthetic practices to broader questions of identity and the duality and richness of cultural expressions. While Phantom Sightings emphasized the work of a newer generation of Latino artists who addressed a tradition of conceptual art and urbanism that emerged during the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Locals Only explored a diversity of artists’ voices paint, print and sculpture here in the valley.

Panel members include artists Claudio Dicochea, Annie Lopez, Martin Moreno and Hector Ruiz who represent two different generations. Additional comments will be made by April Bojorquez and Casandra Hernandez, graduate students at ASU who organized Exhibiting Ourselves: Representing Cultures in Museums and Cultural Centers, a very successful national symposium that addressed key topics of cultural representation within arts institutions. Phantom Sightings was organized by Los Angeles County Museum of Art. However, Locals Only, dealing with valley artists who are working in parallel context and thinking about complementary concerns and questions, was conceived and arranged by Phoenix Art Museum’s Dr. Sara Cochran.

colLABORation press release

BENTLEY GALLERY
4161 N. Marshall Way
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ashley B. Martin
Phone: (480) 946-6060
E-Mail: ashley@bentleygallery.com
Website: http://bentleygallery.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Scottsdale-AZ/Bentley-Gallery/71650524962?ref=ts


image: Untitled (Pink), mixed media on canvas, 57.75"h x 71.5"w, 2009


(Scottsdale, AZ – September 17th, 2009) – Bentley Gallery and Bentley Projects are pleased to announce “colLABORation”: a series of new works by long time Bentley artist, Hector Ruiz and Phoenix graffiti artist, DOSE. We will be hosting two opening receptions: Thursday, November 5th from 7pm-9pm at Bentley Gallery and Friday, Novemeber 6th from 6pm-9pm at Bentley Projects. The collection will be on display through December 3rd in Scottsdale and available for view by appointment in Phoenix. Both receptions are free and open to the public. The artists will be present.

Hector & DOSE’s Large-scale paintings and smaller works on paper explode with dynamic imagery and social commentary. The collaboration was the pairing of two complete strangers and involved a process of painting with no pre-conceived ideas. The resulting works explore the process, or, “labor” involved in studio art as well as push the ideas of for whom art is made and by whom it can be accessed.

The exhibition complements the October 25th conclusion of the Phoenix Art Museum’s “Locals Only” show – an offshoot of the traveling “Phantom Sightings” show in which two of Hector & DOSE’s large-scale paintings were featured. The Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale exhibition will include smaller paintings and works on paper from the series. The decision to host two opening receptions was due to the immense scale of some of these collaborative paintings. Thus, following the Thursday opening reception in Scottsdale, we are thrilled that Bentley Projects will be participating in November’s “First Friday Artwalk” as the backdrop for these incredible works.

(listing information)

NOVEMBER SHOW AT BENTLEY GALLERY & BENTLEY PROJECTS


Exhibitions: “colLABORation” – new works by Hector Ruiz & DOSE

Dates: November 5th through December 3rd, 2009

Special Events: Opening Nights - Thursday, November 5th, 2009, 7pm to 9pm at Bentley Gallery. Friday, November 6th, 2009, 6pm-9pm at Bentley Projects. Artists will be present for both events. Free and open to the public.

Locations: Bentley Gallery
4161 N. Marshall Way
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Bentley Projects
215 E. Grant St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Gallery Hours: Bentley Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 9:30am to 5:30pm; Thursday 9:30am to 5:30pm and 7pm to 9pm; Saturday 9:30am to 5:30pm. Bentley Projects is open by appointment only - call to schedule a viewing (602.340.9200).



Established in 1984, Bentley Gallery and Bentley Projects feature contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, prints, video, and site-specific installation works by internationally recognized as well as emerging artists; masterworks from the mid- and late-20th century; and Asian artifacts. We are committed to promoting an understanding of contemporary art and the dissemination of its theories, as well as continuing to assist with the selection and procurement of works of art for both private and public collections. Visit the gallery in Scottsdale, call for an appointment in Phoenix (602.340.9200), "become a fan" on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Scottsdale-AZ/Bentley-Gallery/71650524962?ref=mf ), or peruse our inventory online (http://bentleygallery.com/represented.asp )