^{Colin Chillag, City in a Desert, 2003, oil on canvas, 65 x 88 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Modified Arts, Phoenix.}

Phoenix and Los Angeles are major western metropolises that sprawl over the arid environments from which they miraculously grew. Both locales boomed in the post-war years and are defined by the subdivisions, strip malls, office compounds and landscaping that developed long before a sense of community took root.

southwestNET: PHX/LA showcases new works by seven emerging artists from Phoenix and Los Angeles: Colin Chillag, Brian Cooper, Matthew Moore, Jared Pankin, Steve Roden, Keith Sklar and Shirley Tse. These artists investigate the factors at play in a new, western version of urbanism. From Shirley Tse’s photographs of inflatable forms in the desert to Colin Chillag’s thick, impasto paintings of power plants and highrises, the works explore civilization’s attempts to dominate nature and its unflagging adaptability.

The exhibition is curated by Erin Kane, SMoCA assistant curator, and Max Presneill, director of Raid Projects, Los Angeles. It is the fifth project in SMoCA’s on-going southwestNET series, devoted to the art, architecture and design of the Southwest.

^{Organized by the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.}

^{Local presentation made possible in part by the SMoCA Salon.}