New Mexico’s capital is known for its dry climate, but in the summer, a tide of cultural events floods the high desert art haven. July 11–14, the Art Santa Fe fair will bring approximately 35 exhibitors to the city’s convention center. Participants in this 13th edition include modern and contemporary specialists Setford & Bridges, of New York and Paris, with a prismatic “Lightpaintings” installation by Stephen Knapp; 31Galerie of Toulouse, France, with Lambda prints from Alain Amiand’s “Hotel” series; Scottsdale’s Bonner David Galleries, featuring abstractions by Quim Bové and Gail Morris; and photographer Doris Hembrough, exhibiting her own startling color prints focused on textures and contrasts in the built and natural environments. The fair’s participants join the city’s 240 art galleries, which are mounting summer shows emphasizing regional artists. Bellas Artes has maquettes by noted ceramicist Ruth Duckworth, on view through July 27. Aaron Payne Fine Art is showcasing new works by Joyce Melander-Dayton from July 9 through 31.
Starting July 13, the region’s contemporary-art kunsthalle, site Santa Fe, presents “The Pearl,” a narrative exhibition by the Cuban-American artist Enrique Martínez Celaya that pursues his abiding interest in how the autobiographical informs the universal. Making use of his degrees in physics and quantum electronics, he will take over all 15,000 square feet of gallery space in an immersive, multilevel environment that features paintings, sculptures, and video—plus water and olfactory elements—to investigate ideas of home. The local James Kelly Contemporary gallery hosts a companion exhibition of preparatory and related works, through August 17.
Another summer tradition—the city’s many ethnographic art markets—capitalizes on Santa Fe’s history as a hub for North American trade. The biggest is the 10-year-old International Folk Art Market, July 12 through 14, which unites 190 artisans on Museum Hill in the largest such event in the world. Vendors, selected by jury, come from all over: Hungary, South Sudan, Myanmar, Peru. The event’s social good—artists retain 90 percent of their sales, the revenues of which can support entire communities in their native lands—is surpassed only by the staggering variety of traditional handicrafts, from ikat textiles from Timor to Uzbek miniature paintings, as well as inventive contemporary adaptations, such as etched bracelets made of PVC pipe from Namibia’s Kavango region.