Fairfield’s monthly First Fridays celebration of culture and community on September 1 brings live music, art openings, and open mic events.
Live Music at Cafe Paradiso
Cafe Paradiso on the square features Fairfield’s first persons of funkishness: Apocalypso Tantric Boys Choir—a.k.a. James Moore and David and Eric Hurlin on bass, drums, and keys. Stop through or get stuck in the goo, that is, if you can find a seat. The Choir’s forays into the wilds of wonder have attracted the masses, as well they should.
The Complete Hudson Collection at ICON Gallery
ICON Gallery, 58 N. Main St., opens a new show: its entire collection of 55 Shiva Linga paintings in the Hudson Gallery on the mezzanine. Ten years ago, David T. Hanson began working with Hudson, founder and director of New York art gallery Feature Inc., to organize an exhibition for ICON Gallery of a suite of 71 anonymous Shiva Linga paintings, all of which had been assembled by Hudson and French poet Franck André Jamme. Due to Hudson’s unexpected death, the exhibition was cancelled, but two years later, Hudson’s siblings granted Hanson permission to purchase 12 of the paintings. He subsequently organized an exhibition at ICON along with his color photographs of Indian temples.
Patricia Hudson was so impressed with this small show and the Fairfield community’s interest in it that she and her two brothers decided to generously donate the remainder of the paintings to ICON’s permanent collection. In response, ICON created a dedicated space to exhibit selections of the Hudson Collection along with related artworks.
Shiva Linga paintings are created anonymously on found paper in northwestern India. Made to awaken heightened consciousness, these devotional images are used for visualization and meditation as part of Tantra’s spiritual practices.
Despite their expression of an unbroken, centuries-old tradition, the works in this exhibition (made between 1966–2004) seem both timeless and utterly contemporary, possessing a remarkable affinity with 20th-century abstract art.
The main level of ICON Gallery continues to show the abstract work of Iowa City artist Steve Erickson.
Iowa Art Quilters and Fiber Artists
The Fairfield Art Association, located in the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, 200 N. Main St., presents Iowa Art Quilters & Fiber Artists, opening on Friday, September 1. Featured are 10 artists from across the state, with 30 quilt and fiber entries, many available for purchase. Artists include Barb Stewart, Jean Taft, Sue Kluber, Carol Trumbull, Rebecca Loew, Barbara Riggs, Kathryn Roe, Karin Grimes, Susan McIntyre, and Wendy Read.
“The Iowa Art Quilters began meeting in 2005 in Grinnell to encourage and support one another in making art quilts, or art made of fabric,” says Wendy Read. “By 2021, many members of our group had expanded their use of fibers to include art that could no longer be categorized as an art quilt, and our name was expanded to include all fiber artists.”
The group includes 20 members from around the state, and includes professional artists as well as amateurs just learning the many techniques available to make great art.
Enter Space at Art 52
Finally, the photographs of Bill Witherspoon are featured in Enter Space at Art 52, located at 52 E. Briggs. Throughout the month, the artist will be giving a series of lectures about his work and readings from his new book of the same title.