The Art of Community: Visual Sonnets At Branigan Cultural Center

Starting Friday, May 3, the Branigan Cultural Center presents The Art of Community: Visual Sonnets by Bruce Barton.  The exhibition concludes on June 1.  A reception takes place at the Branigan Cultural Center from 5:00pm to 7:00pm on Friday, May 3, during the monthly Ramble.

Who is Bruce Barton and how can his art be described?  Mr. Barton, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute also has advanced degrees from San Diego State and Pacific Western Universities.  He has studied in Paris and Venice and he artist who marches to his own drummer.  The majority of the near-photographic digital drawings that comprise The Art of Community: Visual Sonnets are bizarre juxtapositions of animals in human places and situations.  A dog rides shotgun in a pickup truck and a pair of polar bears dance atop a layer cake. Why?  Why not?  Barton refers to these works as “nature/culture dialectics,” an intersection of the natural world with the cultural life of humans.

An interesting aspect of The Art of Community: Visual Sonnets is that humans are absent.  Mr. Barton presents a world devoid of ‘us’ making his works even more atypical in what he refers to as in an ‘ordinary’ way.  In addition, he avoids using color.  He says, “People get arty about it – Oh, that’s beautiful color.’ I want them to see honestly what it is they’re looking at.”

The Branigan Cultural Center is located at Las Cruces at 501 North Main Street.  Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 9a.m. to 4:30p.m.  For more information, contact the Branigan Cultural Center at (575) 541-2154 or visit the Center’s website at las-cruces.org/museums.