Installation view of the Partners exhibit at Art Access with work by Ben Carbone, bottom left, Andrea Sophoenix, top left, and Allianys Pupo Restrepo, right.

Writing for 15 Bytes, the temptation is always to go straight to the art. In the case of the current show at Art Access, that might mean Allianys Pupo Restrepo’s “Royalty Playing Cards”—decks of classic playing cards that have been digitally printed. The actual decks are laid out beneath large prints of the face cards, which are available separately. The King looks like European royalty, while the Queen sports the glamorous curls of an actress from the silent film era. Just what “Elli” might have learned from mentor Martin Sanchez is anyone’s guess: the cards and their presentations look thoroughly professional.

But that’s not surprising at Art Access, where an alert viewer will spot unmistakable works by former Partners like Olivia Mae Pendergast, Caitlin Connolly, and Cori Redstone hung nearby on the office walls, archived among some of the many accolades Art Access has garnered. It’s been standard procedure since the halcyon days of Ruth Lubbers’ directorship that nothing separates the art space from the staff offices, or, for that matter, the mentors from their mentees, and as the program tags its 40th anniversary, current executive director Gabriella Huggins has clearly chosen to continue that democratic (with a small d) tradition.

One thing that is different this year is the way the works are arranged in the new gallery, a fairly large, oddly-shaped space that presents a challenge to coordinate. In the past, a straightforward division was generally employed, with each pair of mentor and mentee shown together. This year they seem to be shown independently, perhaps in response to the way individual objects converse on the walls. It’s a choice that can certainly be justified, though it challenges the audience to match works that presumably influenced each other in the making. For example, Giovinco Knox is showing two paintings that convey sophisticated ideas, and do so with a high degree of finish. “A Day in the Life” surrounds a vivid canine image that radiates living energy with three flawlessly crafted triangular frames, shaped like caution signs and painted in swirling, high-contrast colors. Knox is also showing “I/Me/Myself,” a striking diptych in which facing trapezoid panels create the feeling of two subjects—a man and a dog— encountering each other as they emerge through facing windows that seem cut right through the wall. His mentor, Alex Gregory, contributes several larger-than-life moth reliefs made of carved and painted wood with stained glass inserts. Both artists display a high level of craft and finish, suggesting that either Knox took these qualities from Gregory, or else they were very well chosen to work together.

Another pair consists of Ben Carbone and Jordan Brun. Carbone’s animal portraits, “Rabbit,” “Hummingbird,” and “Tiger,” employ heavily textured paint, scribbled backgrounds, and striking color choices in playful ways to produce the deliberately naïve effect of folk art. His mentor’s portrait of him, “Fidget,” marks an original approach.

The decision not to create individual spaces for each artist may have been influenced by Andrea Anderson, who shows under the name Andrea Sophoenix. Her no fewer than six paintings would have constituted the largest part of the show, and it’s also likely that showing them together would have diluted their impact. Mentored by Lon Begent, she seems to have spent time studying the wonders of Persian miniatures and to have produced her own fabled world of mythological illustrations.

Art Access can boast two distinctions: more Utah artists may have participated in its activities than have at any other venue, and as a scroll through 15 Bytes’ archive will document, more local writers have chosen to write about them. The physical space has changed at least twice over the years, larger and smaller in presumed response to the waxing and waning of fortune. Additionally, the City Library, U of U, and Bountiful Davis Art Center have taken turns hosting the Partners exhibition, which annually boasts the overall success of established artists mentoring emerging ones. Speaking of this year’s presentation, Grants Manager Mario Duran has called it “One of my favorites.”

Getting to Art Access has been somewhat challenging in recent years, but those who approach the project today, in Suite 110 of the Artspace—next door to their former complex and across the street from the now-lost Rio Gallery—will encounter a staff eagerly coming to meet them. It’s like a rebirth taking shape in a new version of an old favorite.

Alex Gregory, “Sheep Moth”

All images courtesy of the author.

Geoff Wichert

Geoff Wichert objects to the term critic. He would rather be thought of as a advocate on behalf of those he writes about.