Conexión Finale Patio Party

Featured Artists: Anihail Álvarez, Claire Hickman, Cristian Ybarra, Emily Quandahl, Evan Weselmann, Joshua McGarvey, John Alspach, Joshe Montaño, and Nichole Showalter.

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ABOUT ACME COLLECTIVE
ACME is a collective of interdisciplinary artists from the Twin Cities promoting art culture and music in an intersectional and inclusive way. Throughout the years, ACME’s experimental, avant-garde stylistic events have been uniting artists from various subcultures and generations with the aid of dance music and interactive installations.

Anihail Álvarez is a 25-year-old psychologist and artist born in Tamaulipas. Annie moved from the north to Guadalajara for reasons of violence in the city where he lived, this changed his ideas about art. Before the topic of his career was about exploring his inner world as a teenager of 15 years to replace this with ideas about transcending on the level of economics. She currently works acrylic on canvas and embroidery. Use these techniques to make sense of what you do. He is very interested in creating a new product but cannot lose sight of the irony generated by the innovative art. She conveys the hope that she had generated by start his career young and conveys disappointment at breaking old paradigms as she was forced to start her career all over again. She uses this process to reflect your way of seeing things with designs cold and messages of economic reality such as “nothing is impossible, multitask” or “this box says nothing” with the title innovation desensitizes.

Claire Ethier Hickman is a mixed media artist and designer based out of Minneapolis. Her work uses a combination of embroidery, photography, illustration, and painting and centers on the messy absurdities, contractions, and power dynamics of America in the early 21st century. 

Cristian Ybarra aka DIE/ASPORA is an up-and-coming queer Afro-Chicanx artist, DJ & curator. Growing up in the Twin Cities, Ybarra found solace & in their community through the queer MPLS DIY art & music scene, while gradually being adopted into the local goth & techno scenes respectively. Ybarra’s main priorities nowadays include honing in on their visual art, deejaying & curating safe spaces always with the biggest emphasis on making local MPLS dance floors more inclusive, accessible and QBIPOC centered.

Evan Weselmann is a Minneapolis-based artist and designer working primarily in illustration, animation, and painting. He creates looping drawings that focus on carving a relationship between positive and negative space through subtle color variations. Evan has worked with clients ranging from local mutual aid funds to international advertising agencies. He is currently represented by Closer & Closer. 

Emily Quandahl is an abstract artist and muralist with a multidisciplinary background based in Minneapolis. Her work is created in layers by experimenting with techniques and mediums while maintaining a balance between organic movements and harsh lines united by her use of color. With over 12 years devoted to classical viola, her work is inherently musical in its movements, and her process finds parallels to her music education through practice and repetition

Joshe Montaño was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. He studied Graphic Design and worked for seven years in advertising agencies, currently, he has dedicated the last five years and himself painting 100% of his time. Joshe’s goal is to spread good vibes to viewers through the colors and the messages that his visual work contains. He currently lives in Mexico and works independently.

Joshua McGarvey lives and works in Minneapolis. He received his MFA from the University of Minnesota, and an MA and BFA from Ball State University. He has received a number of awards and grants including the 2018 Jerome Emerging Artist Fellowship, 2017 and 2020 Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and a 2015-2016 Art(ist) on the Verge Emerging Artist Fellowship.

John Alspach has been making art in Minneapolis for over 30 years, much of that time as the operator of the art studio Shiny Robot. He was a member of the artist collective Rosalux and curated shows in condo spaces through Broadcast Exhibitions. His works are inspired by the colors and energy of the city streets.

Nichole Showalter is a Minneapolis-based fiber artist. While she has been embroidering for over a decade, most recently, she has shifted her creative focus to crafting tufted wall hangings. Her subject matter is largely sex-positive and greatly inspired by Georgia O’Keefe. She creates work that celebrates and honors one’s sexual autonomy and choice.