Feb
17
2010
Quotidian Phoenix
Author: SamPhoenix’s rather uneven performance art scene is still a scene, no matter what the disenchanted locals might say. There are many who live here who complain that no one is doing any interesting and innovative work, with a few exceptions. These exceptions will vary from individual to individual, but the general consensus is that Jeff Falk and Leslie Barton have been the most interesting artists in the past, and still are today. But there are always a dozen more to add to the list, so something interesting is happening here, and it’s enough to warrant venturing out for some art weekend and getting a reservation in one of Phoenix’s best hotels.
Most people are surprised to find a thriving scene, and everyone changes their mind about the place being a cultural desert. There are some who are mining the desert to find flakes of gold still, and there are also a few diamonds in the next generation of artists. One of these, surely, is Natalia Jaeger. She’s just finishing an MFA from the School of Art at ASU, and her exhibition, Visibly Quotidian runs up until Valentine’s Day weekend. In Arizona, that’s also statehood day, and that’s an interesting interjection into the local identity.
Any attempts to broaden the scope of the locals is met with great resistance on the surface, but there is a solid core that breathes a sigh of relief and rebellion. Jaeger’s work is challenging, and extremely erudite. With a broad vocabulary in philosophy and theory, along with an astounding knowledge of the tropes of art and culture, she expands notions of just about anything that comes into her artistic gaze. The worlds she creates speak of otherness, nourishment, and longing, and reflect a deeply felt view of knowledge and things. There are more reasons why she is an exception, but those are necessary and sufficient. Her work in live art is a tremendous experience in destablization, and she is so charming and vicious that we don’t even notice the rug has been pulled, or sometimes, never existed at all.