Before arriving in Phoenix in July, artist Bassim al-Shaker was living in Baghdad, Iraq, painting and drawing under the limitations imposed on contemporary artists there. Now, as a member of Combine Studios, he paints the contemporary art he was forbidden from creating back home.
Shaker’s experiences are unusual for a Combine resident, but the program offers several different opportunities for artists, Arizona State University Art Museum director Gordon Knox said.
Located on the corner of Third and Garfield streets, Combine serves as a small studio apartment complex, offering living quarters and workspaces for six artists, Knox said. Shaker is currently the only artist living at Combine.
Knox said residency lengths vary radically. Combine has had people stay anywhere from a year to only a week.
Combine Studios, in partnership with the ASU Art Museum, provides the resident artists an opportunity to develop their artistic talents by wrestling with issues, materials and ideas, Knox said. He added that the objective of Combine Studios is to have residents submerged in the art-making process.
“I decided to see if we could develop a residency program which would bring living artists to the Phoenix area to develop their projects, work with students, work with other artists and use it as an artist-led research unit,” Knox said.
The art residency program began on Valentine’s Day two years ago. Knox said inspiration for the creation of Combine Studios came from him spending 25 years creating similar successful programs across the globe.
According to Greg Esser, who works with both Combine Studios and the ASU Art Museum, Shaker had to deal with a Baghdad law that makes painting or drawing nude pieces illegal.
Shaker said art in Iraq focuses almost completely on classical styles with little variation. Because of this, he said, there is very little contemporary art found in Baghdad.
“Everything in Phoenix here is new,” Shaker said.
Past projects at Combine varied significantly by nature and novelty. The studio is partnered with multiple ASU departments, such as the School of Art, School of Film, Dance and Theater, College of Public Programs and even the School of Earth and Space Exploration, Esser said.
Esser said before the establishment of Combine Studios, another similar art program, the Desert Initiative, was already in place. Esser is the intiative’s director.
“Desert Initiative preceded (Combine Studios) and Desert Initiative actually helped get the residency program established in partnership with the museum,” Esser said.
The Desert Initiative is a large collaboration that encompasses both the ASU Art Museum and Combine Studios with the hope of raising awareness for key desert issues. A network of arts, cultural, scientific and design institutions support the Desert Initiative, like the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, according to one of its informational pamphlets.
“Some of the broad themes that Desert Initiative is investigating, in terms of desert-specific issues, are water use, land use and energy,” Esser said.
Future installations at Combine Studios include an all-Spanish literature used bookstore, arranged by Mexico City artist Pablo Helguera, which will be used as an art piece in February. Another future project, titled “Nanny Van,” was built by visual artist Marisa Jahn in New York in an effort to produce hotline and information lines for undocumented domestic workers so they know their rights and their obligations, Knox said.
While future projects are on the horizon for Combine, Shaker said he can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness for the future, as he thinks he will have to return to Baghdad after his work visa ends at the end of this year.
“I like it here,” he said.
Contact report at hmarrow@asu.edu
