Elmgreen and Dragset, Prada, Marfa, 2005. Location: US 90, Valentine, Texas, 26 miles NW of the city of Marfa.
Image courtesy of Vogue
Marfa, Texas holds a mythic status on every cultural connoisseur’s bucket list. We were lucky to make the voyage via El Paso with curator Michael Darling and other MCA Chicago VIPs, and we love to reminisce!
Among the must-see activities are a visit to the Chinati Foundation, with a tour of Donald Judd’s permanent installations that call out the importance of scale in experience.
Donald Judd at the Chinati Foundation.
Images courtesy of Chinati
Dan Flavin’s paintings in light are a wonder, memories of light, cold, and silent stillness of the locale. Truly special.
Image: Dan Flavin at the Chinati Foundation, courtesy of MoMA
Judd’s home and studios are to be experienced, absolutely. La Mansana de Chinati, known as “The Block”, is the site of his first large scale architectural projects, and his downtown spaces include the Architecture, Art, and Cobb and Whyte Houses, each offering a glimpse into the mind of Donald Judd and how he lived that you can’t gleam anywhere else.
Image courtesy of Suzanne Lovell, Inc.
Marfa, Texas is a charming confluence of art world interests in a small Western Texas town. From chic modern dining at Cochineal to Mediterranean for lunch (Food Shark), it’s best to time your selections to coincide with each location’s limited hours. We visited Maiya’s – twice!
Image courtesy of Food Shark Marfa
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Arber & Sons Editions. Expert printmakers Robert and Valerie Arber brought us into their process as they explained and shared years of work in Marfa collaborating with Judd, Nauman, Baldessari and more. They were generous and the visit was illuminating.
Another favorite, we were able to visit artist studios of those who have made the pilgrimage through the Lannan Residency Program or another, or those who put down more permanent roots. We were able to meet with and tour Charline von Heyl’s studio, and that of her husband, Christopher Wool.
When asked about her artist studio in Marfa, Texas, von Heyl told The Financial Times:
It is the light, but also the landscape and the silence. The light is sublime and the space metaphysical in a way. Suddenly you can tune into a microcosm, suddenly you have to deal with a lot of insects from scorpions to, I don’t know, grasshoppers, and suddenly you see more stars than you could ever have imagined. Suddenly you are aware of the macrocosm. You pay attention in a different way. In New York one is constantly overstimulated. Here in this skyscape you fall back into yourself in a way that I find allows my brain to relax. I need that to produce. I never knew how much I needed it, but I need it very much.
Above image, the sunset in Marfa. Courtesy of Suzanne Lovell, Inc.