Las Cruces photographer’s ‘Beautiful Barbarism’ at Art Obscura Gallery

Art Obscura Gallery, 3206 Harrelson St. in Mesilla Park, will host a solo exhibition entitled “Beautiful Barbarism” that features the work of Las Cruces photographer David D. Sorensen, gallery owner Deret Roberts said in a news release.

The show opens Saturday, Nov. 13, and continues through Friday, Dec. 10. An opening reception will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 13. All guests should be vaccinated against Covid-19, wear masks and socially distance themselves.

“This show confronts the viewer with a provocative, yet aesthetic look at New Mexico’s less-proud interaction with the environment,” Roberts said.

The show is subtitled “New Mexico, (said but) True,” Roberts said, and is loosely grouped around six themes: the “Barbarism” title section that mainly addresses “the wanton shoot-it-up culture and the devastation left behind in the wilderness”; “Developing by Destroying,” which “highlights the carving up of the surroundings for new homes, fast food and mining”; “Desert Trash,” which “reminds that New Mexicans aren’t the most tidy of folks”; “Low Brow NM,” about “all our cultural institutions and the fabric of our overall social culture”; “Indifferent Neglect,” which “reflects the way entropy seems to rule here”; and “Graffiti Defacement,” which “shows the range of beautiful, destructive and impermanent graffiti that is so prevalent in our border culture.”

On hikes and travels around New Mexico, Sorensen “couldn’t help notice the rather casual and sometimes destructive way people treat their surroundings, whether their homes or the desert environment,” Roberts said. “‘Beautiful Barbarism’ confronts viewers with his provocative, aesthetic, interesting and sometimes even beautiful vision of who we are.”

“I was fortunate to be born with an artistic eye,” Sorensen said. “There can be a beauty and aesthetic to even the grubbiest of things, depending on the light and framing. New Mexico is what it is and I love living here.”

Roberts said Sorensen’s show “offers a mix of small, affordable and intimate pieces, along with larger, dramatic photographs, seen through the eyes of an artist.”

“Beautiful Barbarism” will be Sorensen’s first solo show since 2012, shortly after the artist moved to Las Cruces from Virginia, Roberts said.

Sorensen’s work was part of the “Here & Now” exhibitions at the City of Las Cruces Museum of Art and the New Mexico State University Art Gallery, Roberts said. And, Sorensen recently had 20 of his photographs included in the spring exhibition at the New Mexico Cancer Center in Albuquerque.

Sorensen is also a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and has represented Las Cruces as an artist in residence in Bundaberg, Australia for the first Wide Bay-High Desert International exchange exhibition between Bundaberg and Las Cruces, Robert said. Sorensen was invited to join The Border Artists in 2019.

Before beginning a full-time career as an artist in 2007, Sorensen served in the U.S. Marines and worked as a contractor supporting the international intelligence community, Roberts said.

Art Obscura is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Call 575-494-7256. Visit artobscuragallery.com and www.daviddsorensen.com.