a)sp."A"(c)e Studio Art Gallery

The garage door opens on this sleepy side street of Silver City, revealing altered terrain, one in which every surface has been terraformed by an obsessive collagist. The presiding artist, Jean-Robert Beffort, used to work as an architect, having a hand in designing the famous Earthships of Taos. Having founded his own art studio in 2009, he now sits at the door in a small chair day by day and shoots the shit with those who pass by, known and unknown.

Found objects are transformed to become one-of-a-kind sculptures and mobiles, riddled with doll heads and smacked with electric paint. He doesn’t seem to care that only a rare straggler darkens the door. He creates art for its own compulsive sake - art that is interactive, accessible, and generates a ripple effect of creativity.

Even the name of the studio takes many forms. Though you can call it simply “The A Space,” you will see that name twisted into every conceivable form it can be to the point of incomprehensibility. There is a massive trove of trinkets and broken ephemera that are made accessible to the public. ART ON A STICK, the in-house sculpture sessions hosted by Beffort, invites you to take whatever pieces catch your eye and create your own collagist object d’art. Come and revel in this temple of enthusiastic strangeness.