Square Off!

An interactive and collaborative exhibit at ART123 Gallery

gallupARTS is excited to announce Square Off!, an interactive exhibition at ART123 Gallery, opening Saturday, July 13 and running through Saturday, August 3. 

Featuring artists Duhon James, Jason Redhouse, Mackenzie Cheama and Tasha N., Square Off! is a unique community collaboration. Everyone—artists, non-artists, kids, adults—are invited to help recreate four artworks, one by each of the four featured artists, on a larger-than-life scale. Your mission: to reproduce a portion of the artwork of your choice in a small square, which will be patched together with squares made by other participants to form a giant version of the original. The catch: you don’t get to know what the original artworks look like! The artwork images will be revealed when their composite versions are completed. 

For now, we’re only revealing the titles and a small detail of each Square Off! artwork:  

– Mackenzie Cheama is a Zuni tattoo artist. “It’s been a constant inspiration to me to try and create a place for myself that respects and reflects both of my communities—tattoo culture and my Zuni background.” The title of his secret Square Off! artwork is “Leave Your Legacy.” 

– Duhon James is a Diné printmaker and artist from Ganado, AZ now living in Santa Fe. Duhon’s work focuses on storytelling, combining his interests in Diné culture and traditions, petroglyphs and hieroglyphs, and aliens and UFOs. The title of his Square Off! artwork is “Woshdee (Come in): Abduction Under Three Stars.” 

– Jason Redhouse is a Diné artist with roots in graffiti and street art who developed his own style by traveling the country. “Everything I know is  self-taught and learned from trial and error,” he says, crediting his “get-it-done upbringing” for his success. Jason’s Square Off! contribution is called “Purple Rain” and is accompanied by the following poem: 

Colors of harmony. Shapes of peace.

A bird of beauty and grace.

Fearless. Swift. Courageous.

Time binds none,

But your mind.

Be free as the bird,

In the rain.

– Tasha N. Is a Diné mixed media artist. Tasha’s Square Off! artwork, “Na’nizhoozhi,” explores the concept of place. “I like to think that I am not only the result of the nurturing of my mother and family but also the land,” she says. “The land and places of my past and present continue to shape a large part of me and my thought process.” 

Stop by ART123 during regular hours or a special event to Square Off! and create a square (or two!) to contribute to the collaboration: 

– ArtsCrawl: Saturday, July 13 from 7 – 9pm

– 2nd Look on 2nd Street: Tuesday, July 23 from 6 – 8pm

– Regular Hours (Tuesday – Friday: 1 – 5pm and Saturdays: 12 – 4pm)

gallupARTS will celebrate the success of the Square Off! challenge with an Artist Reception on Saturday, August 3 from 2 – 4pm. Come by to meet Square Off!’s featured artists, see the completed collaborations, and enjoy light refreshments.