San Antonio Express-News

New downtown art gallery debuts with show celebrating San Antonio women

by Deborah Martin

Passersby can't seem to resist the open doors at La Zona, the event and performance space on Commerce Street downtown.

Last week, a constant stream of people popped in to the new Art Everywhere Gallery to get a look at "Illuminated," the first exhibit in the space. 

"This place is just so super-special," said Angela Martinez, who runs Slab Cinema and helped pull the exhibit together. "And I think you saw when we opened the doors, people started filing in. and they file in all day and everybody is excited."

Photographer Anthony Garcia, whose images of women make up most of the show, said people are curious about the space that houses Art Everywhere because it's been shuttered for so long.

"It's a beautiful place, but it's been a storage unit," he said, noting they had to haul out all kinds of stuff to make it exhibition-ready. "So now, with these lights, it looks like something's going on. It's the beginning of something that could be really beautiful."

"Illumination" opened March 8 and will close this weekend with a celebration from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, including a performance by Patricia Vonne and Michael Martin at 8 p.m.

The gallery adds an indoor component to La Zona, which is programmed by Centro San Antonio. It is next to Texas Public Radio and the Alameda Theater, which is slowly being renovated. Festivals and theater productions have been staged in the building's courtyard, which also is home to "Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head," a gleaming steel sculpture by the Gao Brothers.

The interior of the building, which is owned by Blue Star Arts Complex developer James Lifshutz, had not been used. It seemed like the perfect place when the long-percolating idea of adding a gallery to Centro's public art initiative Art Everywhere started to gel.

"We’ve been doing things on the outside for about a year or so, and we thought, let’s take it step further and do something inside," said Andi Rodriguez, vice president of cultural placemaking for Centro. "The building is for lease. It’s not owned by us, but until it's being used, why not do something wonderful for artists?"

The gallery also adds to a growing swirl of activity in that part of downtown, which includes the San Pedro Creek Culture Park and UTSA's new downtown campus.

"Our hope is to breathe new life into this area and just make it wonderful for our community," Rodriguez said. "Ultimately, everything that we’re doing is to give opportunities to and raise awareness of artists."

That's the mission of Art Everywhere, which launched in 2020. By partnering with property owners and the Office of Historic Preservation, the project has showcased works by more than 165 San Antonio artists on walls and in storefront windows all over downtown.

"We’ve been able to really make a difference downtown in regard to art and telling our community’s stories," Rodriguez said. "The idea to expand Art Everywhere came from, how can we create more exposure and awareness for artists?"

There's still a raw quality to the gallery. One person who visited likened it to New York warehouse spaces.

"I went from, 'Let’s do a few of them' to 'Let’s fill 4,000 square feet of portraits,' " Garcia said.

There are some older portraits in the show, too, including one of the late theater artist and arts educator S.T. Shimi, as well as a panel devoted to Garcia's ongoing project re-creating album covers.

And there are several images of theater artist Marisela Barrera on display, including one of her in her Donkey Lady guise.

A large-scale image of Barrera striking a dramatic pose is on display directly across from the entrance.

"That’s called 'Our Mask,' " Garcia said. "A lot of times, especially when I pick up the camera, we put on a mask — put on a funny face, devil horns, we put on faces."

The show also includes a few self-portraits by the late Katie Pell, as well as images created by some of the artists whose portraits are on display, including Barbara Felix, Lauren Raye Snowe, Claudette Hopkins and Melissa Arangua.

"I was trying to get art from everybody — if you were featured here, let’s put your art up — so there would be this connective tissue," said Martinez.

Centro is accepting proposals for future exhibits in the space. In April, members of the MASA Collective will show there. And in May, Centro will celebrate the fourth anniversary of Art Everywhere in the space.

The gallery already is having an impact, Rodriguez said.

"When you have something with that kind of activity and that kind of energy, it makes the block feel completely different," she said. "I love the idea of art being used as a placemaking tool and reviving this energy."

March 20, 2024

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San Antonio Current

San Antonio photographer Anthony Garcia holding First Friday show of rock 'n' roll-inspired portraits

Garcia shot 100 black-and-white portraits of musicians, visual artists and other creatives during socially distanced sessions in the middle of the pandemic.

By Sanford Nowlin

San Antonio rock-scene veteran Anthony Garcia will show his black-and-white portrait photography in a First Friday exhibition centered around visual art from local musicians.

Garcia's contributions include some of the 100 black-and-white portraits he shot of local musicians, visual artists and other creatives during socially distanced sessions in the middle of the pandemic. He snapped the photos in his Jojodancerphotography Studio upstairs at Blue Star Art Complex, which is also hosting the exhibition.

"Basically, I had the keys to the place, and all of my artist friends weren't working, so it seemed like a way to stay creative," said Garcia, 52. "The whole vibe at the time was weird."

Garcia's pandemic portraits are moody, dramatic and exude the energy of rock band promo photos, something accentuated by Garcia urging his subjects to don denim and leather. They're also square like album covers, further driving home the musical connection.

"The whole black-and-white situation puts me in a rock 'n' roll mindset," Garcia said.

The show is Garcia's first formal exhibition as a photographer, a pursuit he's doubled down on since retiring earlier this summer from a 33-year career at UPS. Also included in the show are works by San Antonio musicians and visual artists Karl James Lubbering and Fred Himes; New York-based artist, illustrator and painter Michael Wally Olivarri; and Alamo City painter Eric J. Lozano.

A reception scheduled for Friday also includes musical performances from some of the participants.

The rock 'n' roll vibe of the show and the portraits stem from Garcia's participation in the city's live music scene. He played with the band Moorish Idol in '90s and more recently in La Chichada.

Indeed, Garcia's rep as a rocker predates his serious pursuit of photography. He began snapping photos at shows and doing band portraits about seven years ago in an effort to capture the visual energy of the local music scene.

"I would go see Sons of Hercules and nobody would be photographing them," he said. "I just thought, 'This is San Antonio at its finest and no one is documenting it!'"

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