Hear from artists Andrew Alba and Doreen Wittenbols as they guide us through their latest series of paintings, ceramics, and installations from their first individual debut solo exhibitions in New Mexico. 
Alba's 'Lifted labor' consists of paintings and ceramics. Inspired by the neo-expressionists, he loves using thick, gestural applications of oil paint and repurposed construction materials to provoke emotional responses in his audience and critique our wildly complex sociopolitical present. He achieves this by juxtaposing the clean white walls of art institutions with the rough-hewn, everyday materials of workers. His use of non-traditional materials such as drywall mud, concrete, lumber, and drop cloths creates an aesthetic entrywaythrough which the working class can enter esoteric fine art spaces.
Doreen Wittenbols is a Dutch-Canadian visual artist based in New York City. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design. Her work encompasses single-session observational paintings and longer exploratory projects involving abstraction, installation, performance, serialized painting, and ephemeral art.
 
Since 2016, Wittenbols’ figurative painting practice has expanded to include the incorporation of sentimental or “souvenir” objects from her own life as well as found vintage items. Through installation projects and conceptually driven series, Wittenbols reworks these non-traditional art elements from female and queer LGBTQIA+ perspectives to alter or subvert their superficial significance in an attempt to question the patriarchy and assumed societal roles. Her exhibition 'Happening' will showcase these powerful messages.