 Photo and captions by Nancy Good. "As though launching a fiery javelin, The Man appears to fight the very fire that threatens to consume him," writes photographer Nancy Good, who captured these images at Burning Man, Nevada's Black Rock Desert dreamlike event. This year artists were encouraged to explore the similarities between 15th-century Florence and the festival, now in its 30th year.  "Entre Caballos" by Antonio Gómez For over a decade, Las Vegas photographer Antonio Gómez has captured the ritual of the modern Charrería, a tradition that links to the working vaqueros, the cattlemen of the Spanish-ruled west. (And from that came forth the American cowboy, and what is known as the modern rodeo). “More then the national sport of Mexico, it is something that evokes enormous pride in all Mexican no matter where they live,” says Gómez on his Kickstarter page for a planned book. “Charrería considers etiquette just as important as athletic agility." Gómez has curated his photography, that along with works by Mexican poet José María Limon, will be a document that uses text and image to present an intimate interpretation of a culture that shaped the West.
 Vegas Shoe. North end of Las Vegas, 2012. Courtesy Antonio Gomez. FIELD NOTES: A June 2014 visit to the office of photographer Antonio Gomez came after being introduced to his color work in his solo show,”Six Years of Solitude,” an exhibition at Brett Wesley gallery a year earlier. His series of isolated Luche Libre was based on a childhood recall of “El Blue Demon” and is stirring emotional work from an artist who dealt with solitude during uncertain migration to the U.S. from Mexico. During the visit Gomez shared other sets, including one that is a recurring theme from artists working in Las Vegas; the juxtaposition of reality and the simulated. That set by Gomez is now featured online at National Geographic’s “Focus.” When choosing which images to pair, Gomez considers three approaches. Along the lines of contrast, Gomez juxtaposes scenes that highlight the contradictory nature of Las Vegas, often building on the theme of Vegas as an adult playground. The second category is comprised of scenes that are physically or psychologically related, such as a similar object in a different context. That June visit also introduced me to his series of Mexican charrerías, or rodeos, that’s a contemporary connection to Mexican cinema, and by no accident, a connection to the compositions of Los Tres Grandes, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Siqueiros.
Gomez teaches photography at CSN. |
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February 2 – March 31, 2019 Artist Reception and Gallery Talk: Sunday, February 10, 2019, 4 p.m.–7 p.m. 
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