Natalie Hegert

Los Angeles

Arts Editor at Southwest Contemporary

Arts Writer/ Editor @MutualArt @ArtSlant

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Articles

Hank Willis Thomas’s Pop Culture Platitudes Belong to an Alternate Timeline—Not the One We’re Living In

1 week ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Hank Willis Thomas’s LOVERULES offers a comprehensive survey of a decade’s worth of artwork but flounders in our current political crisis. LOVERULES—From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family FoundationJanuary 18–June 21, 2025University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson“There are so many wonderful places in Tucson, like the University of Arizona,” said Jordan B.
Unique New Mexico: Cognition Enhancer

2 weeks ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Cognition Enhancer in Santa Fe is a colorful public sculpture, molecular puzzle, and wild local legend all in one. Cognition EnhancerSanta FeWhat’s that jumble of colorful spheres resembling a humongous toddler puzzle right about where Saint Francis Drive becomes U.S. 285 in Santa Fe? Officially titled Cognition Enhancer, the sculpture represents a molecule magnified into towering metal.
At Forty, the Santa Fe Art Institute Has Big Plans for the Whole Neighborhood

2 weeks ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

In its first four decades, Santa Fe Art Institute dramatically evolved its approach to engaging with artists. Now it aims to transform the surrounding district. In the city of Santa Fe’s muted midtown district, the Santa Fe Art Institute stands out with its bright red exterior and striking geometric features.
Kat Kinnick: Collages of Geographical Memory

2 weeks ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Artist Kat Kinnick draws from her New Mexico surroundings to visualize a world more aligned with nature. As I approach Kat Kinnick’s home and studio, the view to my right reveals goats scheming in their pen beneath leafless cottonwoods. Nearby is a Ford van outfitted with a green wooden camper with a hand-painted sign reading, “GROOVY!”Kinnick later tells me that segment of the property houses musician and Madrid Film Festival co-founder Joe West.
Unique New Mexico: Deming Luna Mimbres Museum

2 weeks ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

The folksy-but-formidable Deming Luna Mimbres Museum houses impressive collections, from Mimbres pottery to historical photographs of impactful Chinese community members. Deming Luna Mimbres MuseumDemingAt the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum, you’re likely to be greeted by an octogenarian volunteer eager to regale you with tales of the region’s history.
Unique New Mexico: Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts

2 weeks ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

The Spencer Theater, with its soaring form echoing the surrounding mountains, exemplifies Antoine Predock’s design philosophy. Spencer Theater for the Performing ArtsAltoBetween Sierra Blanca to the west and Sunset Peak to the east, the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts perches high up on the Fort Stanton Mesa, perfectly situated within its surrounding landscape.
Queering Cowboy Culture with José Villalobos: It's a Quick, Rough Ride

1 month ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

José Villalobos: Rough Rider at Arizona State University queers the traditional masculinity inherent in cowboy culture’s objects of desire. José Villalobos: Rough RiderFebruary 22 – July 20, 2025Arizona State University Art Museum, TempeJosé Villalobos is queer multi-media artist who grew up on the border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, immersed in Norteño culture and his conservative Mexican family’s values.
Hank Willis Thomas’s Pop Culture Platitudes Belong to an Alternate Timeline—Not the One We’re Living In

1 month ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Hank Willis Thomas’s LOVERULES offers a comprehensive survey of a decade’s worth of artwork but flounders in our current political crisis. LOVERULES—From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family FoundationJanuary 18 – June 21, 2025University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson“There are so many wonderful places in Tucson, like the University of Arizona,” said Jordan B.
Review: “A Mountain of My Making” at Dord Fitz Gallery, Canyon

1 month ago | glasstire.com | Natalie Hegert

Since the abrupt closure of the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas, has a lot less gallery space for visual art. Luckily for the community and for students at West Texas A&M University , the university gallery in Mary Moody Northern Hall has an absolute stunner of a show that provides some respite from — and resistance to — our current zeitgeist of anxiety and loss.
Through Barbed Wire: Amarillo’s Invisible, and Hypervisible, Monuments

1 month ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Hallie Ayres follows the barbed wire strand to contrast the hypervisibility of Cadillac Ranch, the secrecy of Pantex, and the site-specificity of Combine City. This article is part of our The Hyperlocal series, a continuation of the ideas explored in Southwest Contemporary Vol. 11. In late 1982, peace activist Jim Douglas spotted an armored white train snaking into the Trident Naval Submarine Base in Bangor, Washington.