Interactive Technology, Sculptural Minimalism, and the Latest Work from Kiki Smith Open Tomorrow at SMoCA

By Claire Lawton Thu., Feb. 9 2012 at 3:07 PM

Categories: Events, Visual Art

Kiki Smith

If you've been to any of the season openings at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, you likely have this Friday's bash penned into your calendar.

The museum's spring opening is a celebration of new exhibitions and a guaranteed hot spot for local artists and art supporters who spend the evening mingling (and previewing what they'll likely come back to see when the museum's not as busy).

One of the most prominent -- and outspoken -- artists on SMoCA's spring roster is Kiki Smith, the noted feminist artist and daughter of late architectural designer Tony Smith.

Courtesy of SMoCA

Clockwise from top left, all artwork © the artists: Ara Dymond, Rug, 2011. Glass, ranger board. 31 x 74 x 7 inches. Courtesy of Taxter and Spengemann. Felipe Cohen, Box, Model #5 from the Series "Noon", 2010. Black basalt and cardboard box. 50 x 105 x 65 centemeters. Courtesy of Galeria Marilia Razuk. Tony Feher, Untitled, ca. 1991-92. Glass bottles with screw lids and various small objects. JackDa, ca. 1991-92. Glass jar, marbles and feather. All works courtesy of the artist, PACE Gallery and D'Amelio Terras, NY. Beth Campbell, Lamps, 2010. Ceramic, lampshades, hardware, light bulbs, electrical wiring. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York.

As a child, Smith helped construct cardboard models with her siblings, which later grew into a passion for making delicate sculptures.

Her eerily erotic fairy tale drawings of wolves and naked girls, bronze sculptures of flayed female bodies, video works, and some 5,000 snapshots will be in Smith's SMoCA exhibition.

Taking a cue from their successful Architecture + Art program, SMoCA will also debut "economy of means: toward humility in contemporary sculpture", a collection of sculptural minimalism and streamlined modernism.

The third exhibition includes new collaborative work by local high school students and PhD students at ASU's School of Arts, Media + Engineering, who created digital and interactive art experiences where art and technology "intersect." The exhibition, titled Next Action: art, technology and apprenticeship, includes photography, digital sculptures, interactive music and soundscapes, and robotics.

Tomorrow night's opening will usher in a new collection of exhibitions (to the tune of a no host bar and beats by DJ Mr. P-Body) from 7 to 9 p.m..

Rub elbows with artists, meet the exhibition curators, and don't miss the after-party/soft opening at Scottsdale's Saguaro Hotel, where local artists Randy Slack, James Angel, and David Dauncey of 3CarPileUp have done some serious curating and art hanging over the last few weeks.