The Art of Ruins and How the West is One at the MFA Santa Fe

This diminutive sculpture by Charles Simonds is hidden in the corner of the courtyard at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe. Conservators are not allowed to go near it, and it is gathering dust and cobwebs until one day it will decay. (I'm guessing the museum is counting on this event happening to their investment later rather than sooner.

The museum shows work by artists who worked or work in New Mexico, the most well known being Georgia O'Keefe and Marsden Hartley.


A current exhibition "How the West is One" (until April 20, 2010) shows the union, rather than the splintering, of the three main cultural influences in the state: hispanic, american indian, and anglo.