Sam Falls at Ballroom Marfa

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—01. Video still from Untitled (Now), 2014.

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Considering Marfa's size, there's always an inordinate amount of interesting contemporary creative expression happening in the tiny, out-of-the-way artist’s community made famous by Donald Judd. Ballroom Marfa, founded in 2003 as a non-profit organization and arts space, is currently involved in two such events. The first is an exhibition of new works from the multidisciplinary artist Sam Falls that feature sound, video, sculptural and wall works which address his consistent investigation of time and transformation. Falls states, in relation to the works he’s created, "I was taken by Donald Judd’s outdoor work Untitled (15 Works in Concrete) at the Chinati Foundation, impressed by how fixed and changeless the works appear compared to the landscape and passing time. As a result I have created several works based off of my love for minimal form but replaced its defiance of nature with an integration of the environment and change. It should prove to be an exciting visual experience to see these pieces in a dynamic relationship to Judd’s works.” Alongside the opening of this exhibition, the venue is also co-presenting the Marfa Myths Festival with New York-based label Mexican Summer from March 13th to 15th. In its second year, with the likes of Grouper, Dev Hynes, Steve Gunn and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma on the bill, the festival’s roster is impressive enough to warrant a spur-of-the-moment trip to this high desert art oasis.  

—Ballroom Marfa