MAKING PLACES, 2013

Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe

Making Places chronicled the life of two artists, Linda Fleming and Michael Moore. Meshing biography with mature bodies of work – some of which span 45+ years – the exhibition was a portrait of the individuals it highlighted, but moreover, it evidenced the possibilities and challenges of merging art and life. Making Places spoke to the interconnectedness of space, place, time, and the artists' abiding curiosity in cultivating an art-driven lifestyle together.

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Long before their introduction in 1987, Linda Fleming and Michael Moore were committed artists and builders. In 1968 Fleming co-founded Libre, a community of artists in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where each member in the community built a house by hand. Moore, after many years of exploring the northern deserts of the Great Basin, acquired a de-accessioned radar station near Winnemucca, Nevada, which he renovated as residence and studio. To their partnership they brought a commitment to art-making and a love of self-made architecture. For the past 25 years, the couple has created an art-centric life that has led to the creation of a network of urban and rural places. Their cyclical migration between Benicia, California; Wall Spring, Nevada; and Gardner, Colorado; is a catalyst for the development of their work. Working in different mediums, both draw inspiration and material from the desert and mountain environments surrounding their studios.

 

This was the first exhibition to jointly feature Fleming and Moore.