The installation, which was created by making use of repurposed materials, offers visitors a stunning optical illusion that can be enjoyed at any time of the day or night. Cindi Reed, an art journalist for the Las Vegas Weekly, writes about the artists, what the installation means, and some previews for what is to come. > Read More

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I am very happy to see their next mural and exhibition projects come to reality thanks to ArtCulture PR.

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The 154-foot mural named “From the Land Beyond Beyond” covers the south wall of the Museum’s Reed Whipple building. Beginning with the Stardust Resort & Casino, which collapsed in 2007, Stanford’s mural design pays homage to early Las Vegas monuments. As a tribute to the Stardust’s Aku Aku Polynesian restaurant and Tiki Bar, the mural also features two Moai sculptures that was seen at the venue. The Sultan from the renowned hotel and casino known as The Dunes, which closed in 1993 to make way for the Bellagio, brings back found memories for local and tourists alike. > Read More

Dunes Hotel and Casino postcard showcasing the fiberglass Dunes Sultan, ca. 1960. Anthony Bondi Collection, The Neon Museum

Stardust Hotel and Casino Postcard, ca. 1960. Anthony Bondi Collection, The Neon Museum

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Almost everyone on the planet today is aware with Burning Man, the countercultural spectacle that annually attracts tens of thousands of ardent believers to the barren Black Rock Desert in Nevada to build a temporary city filled with enormous art installations and mind-expanding activities. However, much fewer people are aware that this zeitgeist-shaping powerhouse was developed by a small group of artists in the California Bay Area as part of an impromptu beach party with a few understated big ideas—and one very significant cobbled-together sculpture going up in flames at its conclusion. > Listen

Featured Image: Burning Man aflame. Photo: Daryl Henderson. Image courtesy Artnet News.

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“The politics don’t swarm out at you from Nanda Sharifpour’s installation One, on view in a large corner window of Soho Lofts, Las Vegas Boulevard and Hoover Avenue. A six-line poem, rendered in English and Farsi and backlit by bright, changing colors, One offers its commentary quietly, by induction; if you prefer political art delivered like a sack of doorknobs, walk nine minutes to Main Street for Izaac Zevalking’s mural Chain Migration (Lady Liberty bent over the hood of an ICE vehicle).

But make no mistake, Sharifpour means for One to be viewed through the lenses of current events, even if its topicality comes by way of 13th-century Persian poet Saadi Shirazi. His lines (sample: “All human beings are members of one frame / since all, at first, from the same essence came”) are a wisdom-of-the-past plea for the cross-cultural recognition of everyone’s common humanity. It’s underscored by the cycling colors, color being one rather obvious notion that divides us. Such are the times that if you stand there long enough, absorbing what should be a simple, not-at-all-contentious sentiment, multiple contexts eventually barge in to complicate it, turning the 763-year-old verse into a very contemporary critique: Why do we — why do you, the viewer — “feel not for others’ misery”? Add to any day’s headlines and shake thoroughly.

Born in Iran, now living in Las Vegas, Sharifpour conceived the piece around the same time the U.S. assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, President Trump threatening to bomb the country’s “cultural sites” if it retaliated. In a video about the making of One, she says the surging tensions between her homeland and her home “pressured my heart.” > Read More

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“Multi-media artist James Stanford is no stranger to creating art that merges past and present, reality and fantasy. In fact, Stanford is best known for his artistic work exploring themes of religion and spirituality, Zen Buddhism, and the metaphysical like his famed photomontage series, “Indra’s Jewels.” Now he’s brought this talent to another project, one that features prominently in Las Vegas’ ever-transforming landscape — a new large scale mural entitled, “From The Land Beyond Beyond.”

In June the Las Vegas-based artist finished his latest piece, the 154-by-19-foot mural painting on the Neon Museum’s newly acquired Reed Whipple building, which is located directly across from the museum. Stanford was commissioned by the Cultural Corridor Coalition to help beautify downtown Las Vegas. In his effort to do so, the artist drew from worldly and fantastical themes, as well as paid homage to the city’s famous Stardust Resort & Casino and Dunes Hotel & Casino, memorializing Vegas’ famed early days. The mural’s title, “From The Land Beyond Beyond,” was inspired by the 1958 film “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.”

Blending hallmarks of these casino properties, Stanford depicts the astronomical-themed Stardust neon signage and Moai carved lava statues, a reference to the Stardust’s Tiki bar and restaurant. On an adjoining wall panel, the artist painted a giant sultan overlooking the landscape, a reference to the Dunes property. Stanford used Dunn-Edwards Paints to bring his creations to life, and completed the project with the help of fellow artists Nanda Sharifpour, Ali Fathollahi and Milo Duffin. In his mural, Stanford seamlessly merges the city’s past into its artistic and cultural future with these images, displaying a heritage of art, design and commerce unique to Las Vegas.” < Read More

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Alison Chambers, the owner of The 705, commissioned me to curate the installation. It truly was a labor of love.

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Spencer is a multi-media artist that specializes in abstract and conceptual art. Combining interactive components with an eye for the ludicrous and whimsical, his approach offers a certain peace inside chaos. The installation may be viewed at Quivx, which is located on Charleston and Main in the center of the Las Vegas Arts District.

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