In this age of illegal wiretapping and 9/11 conspiracy theories, it’s a wonder that Beth Ames Swartz admits she hides subliminal messages in her art. No worries; this isn’t They Live, so there won’t be any commands to “obey” or “marry and reproduce.” The colorful paintings in the Paradise Valley…
Creative types hate getting their hands dirty. Oh, they’ll put religious effigies in jars of piss or paint with cow dung, but ask ’em to pitch their art and they start mumbling to rival Ozzy Osbourne. But artists including Gregory Sale, Tania Katan, and Erin V. Sotak are so keen…
Some of the worst restaurant art is found (unsurprisingly) in the restrooms. I can understand the urge to tuck away a bland floral print purchased on clearance at Ross or an ugly oil painting done by the owner’s nephew and thus forced to be on display somewhere. But when a…
There’s something about a man in a skirt that just says “sexy.” I’m not talking about transvestites or transsexuals or cross-dressers or whatever, but totally masculine dudes who have the balls to wear what’s traditionally considered a feminine piece of clothing — at least, in this part of the world…
When are adults going to figure out that banning books doesn’t work? Condemn Judy Blume’s Forever or Cormier’s The Chocolate War, and soon every kid’s secretly jacking off under the covers with a flashlight and a copy of the forbidden tome poached from the ‘Net. Case in point: After being…
Ever since Stomp figured out that you can make an assload of money by turning garbage-can lids and brooms into instruments, everyone’s been jumping on the DIY music bandwagon. Washboards and Midi Blenders (seriously, Google it) are one thing, but our personal fave is the toilet-seat harp courtesy of the…
Oh, golly gee, did y’all see yet another white-bread Indiana gal win the Miss America pageant? Don’t worry, according to the Nielsen ratings, no one else did, either. Now, if the talent portion had featured Phoenix’s fire-toting hottie Pyra Sutra shaking her flaming rack, we might’ve watched. Sutra will get…
There’s a fine line between hunter and prey. Though nature clearly assigns roles within the food chain, one small change in the status quo and Fluffy the Rottweiler may take a chunk out of his owner, or a trained wildlife expert gets a stingray barb through the heart. These changing…
Before every restaurant in creation jumped on the “local art” bandwagon, coffee houses were the place to go for cool art. You know, the kind of packed hangout with comfy mismatched chairs and moth-eaten sofas that every artist in town was clamoring to showcase their works in. Killer paintings and cool metal…
When I blogged about the costuming blunders at the opening weekend of the Arizona Renaissance Festival last week, you were probably wondering where all the hot wenches were. Because, as we all know, that’s the real reason why so many guys flock to the ren faire. Not for the turkey…
Hark! The Arizona Renaissance Festival is back for another glorious year, and that means giant turkey legs, jousts to the death, and big-breasted babes in bodices. We’ll drink to that — with a tankard of ale, natch! If you want to fit in with this carny crowd, you’ll need proper…
We were smacking our lips with powdered-sugar-coated glee when Dunkin’ Donuts crept back into Phoenix. Then we heard that the chain was pushing egg-white sandwiches and other healthful crap. Bastards. Hungry patrons of Sky Harbor International Airport may be equally disappointed by Phoenix artist Mindy Sue Meyers’ cookies, pies, and…
Most notable artists practically burn their first stick-figure drawings lest they be discovered, but nationally known ceramicist Kurt Weiser is happy to admit his mistakes. “For years, the work I did in ceramics was an effort to somehow express the beautiful nature of the material,” says the ASU professor in…
It’s grim times for art museums these days, what with L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art laying off 20 percent of its staff and Brandeis University’s Rose Museum going tits up. But local installation artist Kjellgren Alkire, a.k.a. cowboy preacher Reverend Roughstock, isn’t saying a eulogy for art museums yet. He’s…
Your friends are enjoying romantic dinners and holiday sex while you, dear singleton, are home burning voodoo dolls of your exes. Well, screw the chocolate kiss-laden crapfest and head to the “You’re My Only Hope” photo exhibit for some relief. Juried by ASU grad and Booklist magazine founding editor Darius…
Cafe Carumba! in Old Town Scottsdale serves seriously tasty comfort foods, from hearty breakfast fare to Southwest specialties like Chicken Oaxaca and Habenero Braised Ribs. But while you’re downing that Mercado Chicken Chili, don’t look up — because while the eats are stellar, the decor suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Seriously,…
Experimental art is like a box of chocolates – sometimes you get a scrumptious treat and other times a couple of stale nuts. Luckily, Paradise Valley Community College’s fourth annual Phoenix Experimental Arts Festival is packed with enough entertainment to guarantee that at least some of it will be palatable…
Every college student has one favorite restaurant where they go study in peace or hang out with friends — an ultra hip, ultra cheap joint with cool art on the walls and a staff that doesn’t mind you sitting and reading a book for hours. For ASU students of the past decade, noshing nirvana was usually found at Pita…
If you haven’t heard of the gory stage show turned slasher flick known as The rest of the cast literally rocked, from Phantom of the Opera soprano Sarah Brightman as GeneCo opera diva Blind Mag to Anthony Stewart Head (yes, fellow vampire nerds, that’s Giles from Buffy) as a doting…
Michelangelo took four years to complete his Sistine Chapel ceiling. Convicted forger A. Schiller supposedly went blind etching The Lord’s Prayer on the head of a gold pin. Artist Henry Leo Schoebel may not be crazy enough to undertake either task, but his paintings’ mathematically plotted circles and lines are…
Recent studies show that cave paintings took up to 20,000 years to complete, with later generations adding to the original pictures. Iconic ’80s pop artist and AIDS activist Keith Haring took his cue from prehistoric man, making chalk “cave paintings” of crawling babies on blank New York subway ad signs…
Recent studies show that cave paintings took up to 20,000 years to complete, with later generations adding to the original pictures. Iconic ’80s pop artist and AIDS activist Keith Haring took his cue from prehistoric man, making chalk “cave paintings” of crawling babies on blank New York subway ad signs…
