What’s
The Deal
With
Marfa?
by Rani Birchfield
P
eople ask that question often;
sometimes tourists, sometimes
locals. I’ve even seen a tagline
somewhere in Marfa that read, “You
either get it or you don’t.” Although it’s
only 24 miles down the road from
Alpine or Fort Davis, Marfa seems like
another world. I set out to “get it,” to
uncover the mystery of the Marfa Arts.
Marfa was catapulted onto the radar
in the ‘70s by the late Donald Judd, the
artist who found the antidote to the
New York art scene in West Texas.
Thanks to Judd and his anti-establish-
ment, minimalist wave, Marfa is now a
regular feature in society news and
glossy magazines – publications not
necessarily popular in the local region.
I started with the Ayn Foundation as
I heard they had something new.
Gretchen Lee Coles is the liaison for
the gallery as well as a resident Marfa
artist. Coles has two graduate degrees,
one in sculpture and one in cartogra-
phy, but prefers to be known as an
artist enjoying the arts in Marfa.
The gallery is set up to view the
works in natural light, but the day I vis-
ited was solid chrome sky with snow
starting to blow in through the gray. As
we walked through the darkened
rooms our footsteps rang out on the
empty floors. The stillness of the large
space was serene, to the point of over-
4
Cenizo
powering the gargantuan pieces. I felt
expanded, and started to understand
why people would come back to the
same thing over and over.
As it turned out, there are two
exhibits in the Ayn gallery and both
have been up for over a decade. Andy
Warhol’s The Last Supper, and Maria
Zerres’ September Eleven have shown
since the Brite Building opened in
2005. The foundation’s philosophy is
to show work for free to the public for
very long periods of time. This is so
people can spend time with the art, get-
ting to know it intimately, as opposed to
looking at it in an art history book or
viewing it on slides, Coles said. People
come back later, maybe years later, and
are excited to be able to revisit some-
thing – much like a long lost relative.
If you’re a newcomer on an art quest
in Marfa, start with the foundations,
then visit galleries, suggested Coles. See
the differences and experience the dif-
fering philosophies. Foundations are
funded by grants and private donors
and therefore have a bit more freedom
to offer showings to the public at little
or no cost. “They can have one artist
take up the whole of the showcase and
not worry about how many postcards
and pieces they sell,” Coles said.
I took this advice and set out for
Ballroom Marfa. Easily accessible,
Second Quarter 2016
Photo by Rani Birchfield. Tibetian Buddah located at The Etherington Gallery in Marfa
Ballroom was founded in 2003 and is
one of the major foundations in the
town. Free or affordably priced,
Ballroom is into co-mingling the arts
according to Daniel Chamberlin, the
Communications Director. They
change their exhibits, completely trans-
forming their space for each one, and
hold two major visual art shows per
year. They also participate in a variety
of other cultural programs throughout
the year that incorporate visual and
performance art, live music and film.
“Ballroom is wild and weird; maybe
they’re a little different, but they have
world-class art,” Chamberlin said.
Apparat, a show about the mam-
malian hand and the tools it touches,
was showing at Ballroom Marfa while I
was there. One of the installations in
the show was an interactive display that
invited visitors “to” chill their hands in
a chest freezer, the better to contem-
plate a series of paintings made with
liquidized cow’s brains.” I didn’t per-
form this ritual, finding it more fasci-
nating that others were lining up to do
it and gaze at the seemingly blank can-
vases – a bit like the emperor’s new
clothes. The installation didn’t strike
me, as suggested, as the moment con-
sciousness departs at the deathbed, nor
did it lead me to ponder upon degener-
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