Taos: A Continuing Vision

Tradition prevails in the galleries and museums of Taos

by Mary Anne Redding

Seen right: Bruce Campbell shows sculptures, such as Sun King at Envision Gallery.
Photo Courtesy Envision Gallery

If you’re not skiing, there’s a good chance you’ve come to Taos to see the Agnes Martin room at Harwood Museum of Art. The octagon-shaped gallery houses a series of seven ethereal oil paintings that Martin donated to the museum in the 1990s. The experience of sitting in the quiet space softly illuminated from above is akin to the visceral experience one has at Rothko Chapel in Houston or the Asian Art Room at Chicago Art Institute. This is how fine art should be experienced: by total immersion.

Other well-known artists lived in Taos, and many museums dedicated space to their artwork. Taos Art Museum and Fechin House (Paseo del Pueblo Norte on the grounds of the Fechin Inn) features the work of Russian artist Nicolai Fechin and the Taos Society of Artists. The E.L. Blumenschein Home and Museum preserves the home of Ernest and Mary Greene Blemenschein as it was when the artists lived there. Built in 1797, the house features the couple’s paintings as well as works by other Taos artists. The exhibits hint that Mary was, perhaps, more talented then her more-famous husband. The Millicent Rogers Museum features the collections of its namesake socialite and designer, who collected Native American jewelry and textiles. It also shows traditional and contemporary Hispanic religious and domestic arts and works by Northern New Mexico artists.

Most of the art galleries in Taos can be found on the Plaza, Bent Street, or Kit Carson Road. Two of the best-known artists at Parks Gallery are Marsha Skinner and Holly Roberts. Skinner’s work was featured in the revival of Merce Cunningham’s dance piece, Ocean, at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City. Roberts has received two National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships and a Ferguson Grant from the Friends of Photography in Carmel, and published two monographs. Melissa Zink’s whimsical letter sculptures are a draw as well.

Vintage Western art prevails at Parsons Gallery of the West. Taos has many single-artist studios like that of art world legend Larry Bell, as well as cooperative galleries, including Open Space Gallery. Here, you’ll find J Mehaffey’s oil and encaustic paintings, often infused with gold leaf and tar, and ranging in scale from intimate to sublime.

A bit further away, is the Fenix Gallery, housed in an abode built in the late 1700s. Almost as interesting for the architecture as it is for the art, the gallery represents contemporary Taos-area artists. Ken Price, internationally know for his ceramic sculptures, shows humorous, brightly colored prints alongside Amy Rankin’s meticulously detailed paintings and etchings. Zoe Zimmerman gold-toned albumen photographs mix 19th century photographic process with contemporary still lifes.