now that’s a quilt… When we were in San Antonio for the holidays we did a little exploring and I have some great things to share. I’m excited to introduce you today to artpace. The installation above is a mega quilt by artist Adrian Esparza that spans 84 feet… it was huge, magnificent and impactful. I’m all for art that is huge and repetitive…just something about it’s presence.

Artpace was founded by artist, collector, and businesswoman Linda Pace, (yes, like as in Pace Picante!) to serve as a laboratory of dreams, providing artists from all over the world with an environment that would encourage experimentation and growth. And that is exactly what it is. It reminds me of SITE Santa Fe in that it’s very unconventional and you will never know what is next. In my opinion, one of the things that pushes both SITE and artpace is the focus on local. The program at artpace brings in three artists (one from Texas, one from elsewhere in the US, and one international artist) three times a year to live in residency (at the artpace studios) for two months and just play. The result is an eight week, stellar exhibition that has been a launching pad for HUGE names in art such as Teresita Fernández (she also has a piece in the new art collection of Cowboys Stadium). View her artpace install here from 1999.

Explore and enjoy this experimental haven.

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Love that it is free to ALL! I didn’t write about each of the exhibitions… it would be just tooooo much. BUT you all can read the write ups on artpace. I’ve included links below.

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Jeffrey Wisniewski was so interesting… the first thing that hit me was the projected film called The Battle of the Buddha and there were several other installations throughout the room. I’m still digesting this one. Read the full story here.

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Mario Ybarra, Jr. read more about his work during his stay at artpace here.

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more work by artist Adrian Esparza

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Adriana Lara - I really liked this crazy print above…still pondering the installation below.