Happy Winter Solstice! Not only is today the shortest day of the year and the first official day of winter, it is a great opportunity for an art field trip to a Utah treasure.
The
Sun Tunnels is a land artwork by Nancy Holt, completed in 1976, consisting of four large concrete tubes, laid out in an open X configuration in the Great Basin Desert in Lucin, Utah . The nine foot diameter, 18 foot long tunnels are pierced by holes of varying size, that correspond with the pattern of selected celestial constellations such as Draco, Perseus, Columba and Capricorn. Each tunnel reacts differently to the sun, aligned with the sunrise, sunset, or the summer or winter solstice.
"Solstice" is derived from the Latin phrase for "sun stands still." This is because the sun's arc, after growing shorter and lower since the summer solstice, appears to stabilize, with the sun seeming to rise and set in the same two places for several days. Holt took this into account when strategically placing the tunnels, so they would align with the rising and setting of the sun for both the winter and summer solstice.
Holt described the sun tunnels as " an inversion of the sky/ground relationship-bringing the sky down to the earth."
Photograph by Laurence Belingard, 1999
So pack a lunch and take a road trip today. If you can't make it within the next couple days, make sure you see this fantastic work at some point - maybe plan ahead for the summer solstice. To get there: Get to Route 30 from either Interstate 84 (from Snowville, UT) or Route 223 (from Oasis, Nevada). Proceed on Route 30 to the Lucin cutoff (42 miles from Oasis, 83 miles from Snowville). Go south on the dirt road four miles to Lucin. Continue south from Lucin two and one half miles, then bear left, going east. You should be able to see the Sun Tunnels pretty soon. Go another two miles, bear right, and go one and one half mile to Sun Tunnels.
"It is a very desolate area, but it is totally accessible, and it can be easily visited, making
Sun Tunnels more accessible really than art in museums . . . A work like
Sun Tunnels is always accessible . . . Eventually, as many people will see
Sun Tunnels as would see many works in a city-in a museum anyway." -NH
Fun fact - especially for those that took our last suggested art field trip to the
Spiral Jetty a couple months ago - the creator of the
Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson, was the late husband of Nancy Holt. They shared a beautiful passion for environmental art, and made this art accessible for all to see.
We are excited to announce our newest artist to Mondo Fine Art - John Bell.
I was first introduced to John Bell's work through Adam Price, Director of the Salt Lake Art Center. John had contributed his talent to a special Utah art phenomenon - the 337 Project (orchestrated by Adam Price and his wife Dessi), where invited artists were asked to turn a condemned building into a public work of art, before it was to be torn down - a practice in impermanence. When I first saw John's work, I was impressed by his use of bold color and grasp of form and space. His work demands interaction - it engages you with his unique style and provocative subject matter. John Bell is like an architect, constructing a conversation in his work that combines relationships in time, space, and humanity, as he trail blazes his way into his own new genre. John brings a very unique voice to our collection of artists at Mondo Fine Art, and we are excited to share his work with you. - M. S.
Artist Statement:
Being a prolific and multi-disciplinary artist, Bell explores many different means of creative expression. Painting, print making, photography, sculpture, architecture and writing have all found their way into his work. Combining elements of abstract expressionism, geometric abstraction, post modern philosophy, pop art, modern sculpture, and the ideas and philosophies about space addressed in modern architecture to create a genre uniquely his own.
“I am always searching for a new pictorial language to add to my work. Once I finish with a set period of ideas and feelings, I have to find a new visual language to carry on, a new way to express an evolving sense of exploration and understanding by incorporating different forms and ideas into my visual vocabulary”. - John Bell
Bell’s current work evokes questions regarding pertinent issues, such as the impact of social networking and media influence, and the ever-fluctuating values of contemporary culture.
Proclaimed as an “Artist on the rise" by Salt Lake City Magazine, Bell's work has been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions, including most recently the Aqua Art Fair at Art Basel, Miami. Bell also showed at the Artist Fair in Miami, during Art Basel the previous year. He has had a solo exhibition and mural commission at Time Warner Center in New York City, as well as important shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. His work has been featured in a cover story for Utah Style & Design, and he has received reviews in Artists of Utah 15 bytes online, Salt Lake City Weekly, Artcotic.com, Juxtapoz.com, Catalyst, In Utah This week, Fox 13 News, Arkade magazine, NY Art World, Artnet and Blackbook magazine. Most recently, Bell's work was featured in an article in The Lead Miami Beach, reviewing Art Basel Miami 2009.
To see more of John Bell's work, click HERE
To view Bell's exhibition history and press, click HERE 
Happy Holidays to all our friends of Mondo! As our gift to you, we are offering, for a limited time only, free shipping* on all online artwork. We want to thank you for choosing to give the gift of art to your loved ones this holiday season. This special offer good through Dec. 20th.
Plus, we offer free gift wrapping and include a card. 
Title: Turpentine Cello
Medium: pastel on paper
dimensions: 6.5"x10"
These pieces convey so much mood. Aaron has a real talent for abstracting landscape. He draws you in to these impressionist rainy street scenes with light, color, and tone.
Aaron is a prolific emerging artist from Bountiful, Utah, who works in both pastel and oil. He has studied under one of our well known artists, landscape painter Michael Workman. Aaron paints both traditional and urban landscape - but both with a contemporary flair.
Title: Indigo Chaser
Medium: pastel on paper
dimensions: 6.5"x10"
If you are interested in either of these fantastic small works and would like more info (pricing, etc) please contact us. Also, if you are interested in seeing his more traditional works, we are happy to assist.
"I paint because I love to paint; I need to paint. I have things that I wish to communicate, and sometimes pictures are the best way of doing that. My favored mediums are oil and pastel. I have always had a fascination with impressionist painters.
I am intrigued by urban areas ignored by current culture. I have an unusual interest in freeways, refineries, and other industrial parts in and around Utah. These areas attract me purely for reasons of curiosity. I want to know how these areas contribute to and affect our world. These urban fixtures create the things we consume and are necessary for our current survival. I see these areas as the gritty source of the luxuries we enjoy. Many people do not see this seemingly absurd subject matter as beautiful. These areas of our own creation and they surround us. I see beauty in these areas because I must try to see beauty in the world, beauty is the core reason I continue to exist..."
To learn more about Aaron Bushnell and see more of his works, 
Title: December Taught Us to Fall
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions: 40"x30"
This beautiful piece is the latest painting from Angie's "Nest" series.
I was referred to Angie's work by a good friend of mine in San Francisco. While spending time in the Bay area in September, I was able to meet Angie in her studio and see the beautiful works in person.
I love the mood of her pieces. Whether she is painting nests in a blossoming tree, or a factory painted with the grit of time, there is emotion in the layers and texture of paint. She looks at the world with equinimity in terms of beauty and solace; this is communicated through her work.
"In my paintings, I attempt to capture the beauty in the often overlooked. Whether it is a bird on a telephone wire or a deserted factory, there is a quality to such objects that is at once lonely and captivating. My intention is that by drawing attention to such subjects, the viewer too, will appreciate their quiet, unassuming beauty." - Angie Renfro
Angie was named "Artist to Watch" by Southwest Magazine in October 2006 and was a featured artist in the August 2008 edition of American Art Collector. To learn more about Angie and her work - 
"The Art of Exchange" was all about how we exchange through art. We focused on smaller works, priced to make great gifts for the holiday season, as a literal exchange of those who wanted to give the beautiful and personal gift of art this year. Also, there is an emotional exchange between the art itself and the viewer - for those just starting to see themselves as a collector of original art.
We also focused on how art creates an exchange of ideas and connects one another in ways that transcend language and cultural barriers. Mondo has started a passion project called the 
At the holiday party, by silent auction of some photographs and a drawing from our first expedition in Uganda, we were able to raise enough funds to get art supplies for drawings and even a mural for the next expedition. A very special thanks to all that contributed!
We would like to thank our gracious hostess Kristy Blair, with 
We are excited to announce that our Italian artist, Eva Rorandelli, will be exhibiting her latest work at a solo show, "Post-Bodies", at the Fondazione D’Ars in Milan, opening October 27th. If you happen to be in Milan, we encourage you to attend. It will be a great show. 
"I believe that the artist and his art are only a part of the total human experience; the viewer in the world at large is the essential other part. I feel that a true work of art is like nothing else in the world. It is not essential to know how the artist thinks or how he believes he relates to his profession or his society. What he creates is his message. For me a work of art does not cry for comprehension, only for reaction at the level of art itself." - Ansel Adams
Thanks to friend of Mondo, Dallas G., for emailing us this quote. 
Last night was my first visit to the Spiral Jetty. It was late dusk by the time we arrived and the contrast of the black rock on the white crystalized salt flats was very dramatic. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you visit this fantastic earthwork. Here are directions to the Spiral Jetty so you can take a self guided tour: