The material conditions of being an artist in New York have a direct impact on the aesthetics and considerations taken in the studio and within an artist’s practice. While the return of the influence of Arte Povera and the prominence of post-studio practices can both can be attributed to ideological and conceptual decisions or to new “structures of feeling” in Raymond Williams’s terms, they can also be translated and defined through the prices of lumber, rising studio costs, and the commuting culture created through the gig economy.
Exhibition Opening Lair: Light and the Art of Stephen Hendee Lair is an immersive exhibition created for the High Desert Museum by artist Stephen Hendee. Hendee’s sculptures explore the spaces in which we live, both physically and virtually. Inspired by natural sciences, architecture, science fiction and digital culture, he uses color, light and space to create simulations of virtual worlds.