The Art We Needed 2022
By Lyn Hinojosa
Happy 2023! As is tradition, at the end of last year we invited artists to share the art that had inspired them in 2022. We asked what art exhibitions, projects, artworks, or artists were especially meaningful to you this past year? and shared the collection of chosen artworks to our Instagram page. Artists shared work and projects that cultivate and celebrate community and manifest the power and potential of art to move, to speak to and connect us. Thank you to the participating artists: Sapira Cheuk, Daniel Samaniego, Dan Fischer, Stephen Hendee, Erin K. Drew, D.K. Sole, Emmanuel Muñoz, Sam Davis, Homero Hidalgo, Brent Holmes, Geovany Uranda, and TIffany Lin.
Here is a selection of “The Art We Needed 2022” Please head over to @settlersandnomads to take a look at the full series and more commentary.
Anthony Akinbola, Majin Buu, Hauser and Wirth
Shared by Erin K. Drew— “In Anthony Akinbola’s Majin Buu, 80-something rose tinted Du Rags are stretched into a wavering grid. The piece shares its name with a character from Dragon Ball-Z. Accordingly biomorphic, the pink rectangles shine, sag and spill their way across the wall, defying precision. The piece creates an unstable bridge between the artistic conventions of the grid and the highly classed, raced and gendered associations of the quilt, on display in The New Bend at Hauser and Wirth.”
Nick Cave, Forothermore, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Shared by Sapira Cheuk— “Forothermore was Nick Cave's first retrospective. Nick made me cry, in the best way. It was intense, beautiful, consuming, terrible, and overwhelming. Here's an excerpt from the exhibition text: Forothermore is an ode to those who, whether due to racism, homophobia, or other forms of bigotry, live their lives as the “other”—and a celebration of the way art, music, fashion, and performance can help us envision a more just future.”
Chad Scott’s Seven Years in the Desert, in The Studio at Sahara West.
Shared by D.K. Sole— “The Bic pen lines loop, loop, and redouble until the surface of the paper has the sheen and texture of deep blue leather. These drawings are giants; they rise over you, dozens of weeks of work have buried thousands of marks, a pilgrimage into an aesthetics that is both dense and airy – a juxtaposition that is expressed again by the neon outlines of fat clouds hovering over the floor on beds of perspex. Seven Years in the Desert (the title hinting at a tough journey) is a magical show.”
Lyssa Park, December 22, 1990, in her MFA midway exhibition at UNLV.
Shared by Emmanuel Muñoz— “Lyssa Park's midway show, Marriage Blues, at Grant Hall Gallery back in February. Lyssa’s work is like walking into a dream where compassion and empathy somehow become tangible. Her vulnerability is something I deeply admire about her practice. Pictured: her piece titled, December 22, 1990, on view in her exhibition.”
Doreen Lynnett Garner, Revolted at the New Museum
Daniel Samaniego’s selections -
Doreen Lynnett Garner: Revolted at the New Museum (@the_silicon_don)
Jayson Musson: His History of Art at the Fabric Workshop Museum (@jaysonmusson)
ROY G BIV by Alex DaCorte at the 2022 Whitney Biennial (#AlexDaCorte)
Christine Sun Kim: Time Owes Me Rest Again at the Queens Museum (@chrissunkim)
Alexys Keller’s work in the Scrambled Eggs Exhibition series
Shared by Geovany Uranda— “Scrambled Eggs Gallery began as a project by Emmanuel “Manny” Muñoz to showcase Latine artists and allowed anyone exhibiting to join as founding members of the experimental gallery. Seeing a lot of young Las Vegas artists come together to create an entire series of exhibitions really showed the power of community. The series mainly exhibited local artists, Brian Martinez, Isaac Quezada, Sarah Robles, Daisy Sanchez, Abigail Ramirez Rivera, and Alexys Keller, in that order. Some of the exhibitions in the series also featured other artists, artisans, and vendors in a collaborative atmosphere filled with visual art, music, and food. Really made the year so much better seeing what Las Vegas artists can do!”
Justin Favela, Cubre-Lavadora (washing machine cover), Marjorie Barrick Museum’s Instagram
Shared by Brent Holmes— “I found this year more than any other I / we / royal we? needed community more than art. And though I also found that it was difficult to access community in ways that felt substantive, there were many good exceptions. Erica Abad's Two Cultures One Family was a beautiful interpretation of healing through creativity, and gave us a display of the rich tapestry that is identity in southern Nevada.”
Next Door to the Museum Jeju, Jeju-do, South Korea from Yujin Lee’s Instagram.
Shared by Tiffany Lin— “The art we need makes space, takes up space, and GIVES space back to the people. I was incredibly moved to see so many alternatives to institutional platforms that rethink how we cultivate art and community. Here is a project I'm excited about – Masterminded by the brilliant artist Yujin Lee. Current project in collaboration with Rirkrit Tiravanija for the Jeju Biennale.”
All images from the participating artists unless otherwise noted.
Thank you to Lyn Hinojosa for this series! Visit the series here.
Published by Wendy Kveck, January 2023