While many of the artists’ names will look familiar and even the location offers a sense of deja vù, everything is new again at the new Mark Sublette Modern gallery, which is celebrating its name change with a Grand Opening on November 16, 2007 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Michael Haykin, Boulder River Bottom, oil on panel, 20" x 20"
Mark Sublette explains. “It transforms the foothills gallery, which has been
open for three years, to a modern gallery,
which had always been the intent,
anyway. In fact, the opening takes place
on the third anniversary of the foothills
gallery. Mark Sublette Modern will feature
everything from pure abstraction to near realism. We’ve always had contemporary artists and this allows them to explore their range, to take off the brakes and see what comes out. It’s really great for them to have this opportunity to stretch their limits a bit. Someone like Ed Mell gets to show in two settings so you can see and feel and experience his works. The artists love it because it allows them to stretch.”
For Sublette, the venture comes purely from the heart. “I love it because it allows me to indulge in one of my passions. There’s no strategy at all, I just like contemporary art. It’s something I enjoy. I didn’t do a market survey. I feel like I understand the needs of my
clients and my market here in Tucson. Ultimately, opening a gallery is not trying to match the market. If you build it, they should come, if you have the passion and fortitude to make it work.”
In fact, Sublette is so passionate about it that he’s already stretching the envelope to expand the definition of modern. “I believe there’s a group of antique Native American arts that could fit in any setting that will be hand-selected by myself to be in the gallery. I’ve got a great Navajo saddle blanket from 1910 that looks like a Rothco. The gallery, when it’s appropriate, won’t limit this sort of item to just textiles, but they have to be abstracted. They have to be some things that people wouldn’t think were Native or old.”
Sublette recognizes that his decision to include some non-conventional items may raise eyebrows, but he isn’t worried. “My belief is that a lot of the early modernist artists were influenced by early Native American designs. To me, these things are a natural fit. It’s probably these designs from Native textiles that brought me around to contemporary art.
Seeing those kinds of images and designs, colors and texture make contemporary art
meaningful to me, because it’s the same thing. Which is why an art dealer who is
considered to be a traditional art dealer with Native art can so easily flow into a contemporary setting.”
For the gallery’s opening, Sublette has chosen a mixture of painters and sculptors, including Ed Mell, Gary Ernest Smith, Mark Bowles, Gregory Kondos, Alan Mazzetti, Francis Livingston, Lynette Jennings, Michael Haykin, Jon Krawczyk, Jeff Aeling, Louisa McElwain, Jim Romberg and James Woodside.
Alan Mazzetii, Is That the Right Way? Mixed Media, 30" x 42"
Ed Mell, Surrounding Storm, Oil on Canvas, 40" x 40"
Francis Livingston, Dance I, oil on board, 30" x 30"
Sublette says, “Lynette Jennings has been painting for the last three or four years and she’s fabulous. Jon Krawczyk is interesting. I found him this summer. His work has a feel and sense of Henry Moore, yet it’s obviously his own thing. Every one of his bronzes is one of a kind. His hand-hammered work is fabulous. Michael Haykin had a one-man show at the Yellowstone Museum two years ago that opened to critical acclaim. He’s a very well-known contemporary artist who we’re happy to have represented in Tucson.”
In the end, Sublette isn’t worried about the success of his new venture. “It doesn’t matter, in the sense that I know I will get something out of it and the artists will, too. Tucson wins because it gets something it doesn’t have. The artists win because they get a presence in a community that has a dearth of modern art, and I win because I get to do something I love to do.”
Alan Mazzetti, Does it Float?
mixed media, 36" x 24"
Michael Haykin, San Pedro River, oil on canvas, 36" x 72"
Gary Ernest Smith, Raw Earth, oil on canvas, 48" x 48"
Mark Bowles, California, acrylic on canvas, 55" x 66"
