Natalie Hegert

1 week ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Don’t sit it out. These sixteen explosive exhibitions across the Southwest will keep the fire lit for your summer of resistance. Art can be a respite, an escape, or a luxury commodity for some. For others it’s a driver for social change, a way to expose inequity, and to present perspectives overlooked by the mainstream. There’s been some complaints of late about art being too political. But here in the Southwest, in the borderlands and at the front lines of climate crisis, we say bring it.

1 week ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Aisha Imdad’s exhibition of paintings, The Allegorical Gardens, is a stunning display of virtuosity and literary allusion. Aisha Imdad: The Allegorical GardensMay 17–July 3, 2025Women and Their Work, AustinAs relieving as a working HVAC system in the humid summer heat is to the body, so is Aisha Imdad’s paintings upon one’s eyes and mind.

3 weeks ago | southwestcontemporary.com | Natalie Hegert

Andrew Michler redefines sustainable design through hyperlocal, compassionate architecture shaped by climate, culture, and the evolving lives of its occupants. This article is part of our The Hyperlocal series, a continuation of the ideas explored in Southwest Contemporary Vol. 11. In the midst of a deepening global climate crisis with increasing rates of natural disasters, “hyperlocalization of architecture” and “passive design” are terms that might not immediately spring to mind.

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.

1 month 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.