Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art Announces New Immersive Installation, Recent Acquisitions
Alida Sun, a Berlin-based artist, is the first international artist to exhibit in SMoCA's _____ space (pronounced “blank space”).
From a coded sensory space to an exhibition of recent acquisitions for its permanent collection, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) has an eclectic spring lineup.
Alida Sun, a Berlin-based artist, is the first international artist to exhibit in SMoCA's _____ space (pronounced “blank space”), a community area near the Shop@SMoCA that debuted in 2023 as a free-admission exhibition space within the museum. “Alida Sun: Biophony” is a hand-coded, generative synesthesia environment that will open March 8 and run through Sept. 7, 2025.
Julie Ganas, curator of engagement and digital initiatives at SMoCA, a part of Scottsdale Arts, said “Biophony” will create an immersive, multisensory environment in _____ space, where museum patrons can sit and reflect.
“With much of her work being posted to Instagram, it is exciting to maintain the accessibility of Alida's work but present it in a new way,” Ganas said. “I am so delighted to share Alida's work at SMoCA and for _____ space to continue to be a platform for artists to experiment and expand their practice. I could not be more thrilled with how _____ space is evolving, and I cannot wait for everyone to experience Alida's work in person and on this scale.”
Grown from an ongoing algorithmic practice of code as embodied ritual and resistance, the audiovisuals of “Biophony” evoke local and extinct soundscape ecologies. While creating a sensory space for reflection and respite, “Biophony” questions how technology might aid humanity in archiving and connecting with wildlife and the land.
While SMoCA regularly exhibits new artists, like Alida Sun, the museum also holds in trust a collection that exceeds 2,000 artworks by more than 650 artists for the residents of Scottsdale. Another new exhibition, “This Just In… Recent Acquisitions @SMoCA,” highlights recent additions to the museum's ever-growing collection and celebrates the unexpected connections between works spanning a wide range of media. It will open March 8 and run through Sept. 7, 2025.
“This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to showcase the depth and diversity of our collection,” said Carrie Tovar, SMoCA's registrar and collections manager, who co-curated the exhibition with Ganas. “Many of these works, being recent acquisitions, have not been on public view before. We're excited to bring these artworks out of storage, allow them to interact in new ways and share them with our visitors for the first time.”
Varied approaches to themes of abstraction, the everyday and the self emerge throughout “This Just In…,” inviting viewers to reconsider the familiar.
These new exhibitions join two previously announced shows, including the ongoing “Cybele Lyle: Floating Seeds Make Deep Forms,” which opened in August 2024, and “There are other skies,” featuring works by multiple artists, which will open Feb. 22.
“Floating Seeds Make Deep Forms” is a site-specific installation by Lyle, a California-based artist, that reimagines deserts of North America as liminal expanses and positions architecture through the lens of queer space, a responsive site to the natural evolution of identity and environment. It will run through Aug. 10, 2025.
Exploring an international lineage of feminist art practices, “There are other skies” presents artwork by twenty-nine artists from six continents, many of whom are showing in the United States for the first time. It will run through June 1, 2025.
“There are other skies” artists include Sonia Boyce, Victoria Cantons, Liz Cohen, Zainab Fasiki, Chiara Fumai, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Martine Gutierrez, Lubaina Himid, Juliana Huxtable, Marcia Harvey Isaksson, Elsa James, Kyuri Jeon, Jesse Jones, Yuki Kihara, Fatima Mazmouz, Gulnur Mukazhanova, Josèfa Ntjam, Ada Pinkston, Agnes Questionmark, Alex Martinis Roe, Cara Romero, Shizu Saldamando, Selma Selman, Bahia Shehab, Buhlebezwe Siwani, Shinique Smith, Elena Tejada-Herrera, Bri Williams and Lorena Wolffer.
SMoCA — named “Best Art Museum” by the Phoenix New Times — is located at 7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. It is open Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit SMoCA.org for information.
Admission is $13–$16 for non-members; $10–$13 for students, seniors (65+) and veterans; and free for Scottsdale Arts ONE Members, healthcare workers, first responders, and patrons 18 and younger. Admission to the museum is pay-what-you-wish every Thursday and every second Saturday of the month. Save time and money by booking online at SMoCA.org.
“Alida Sun: Biophony” is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Julie Ganas, curator of engagement and digital initiatives. “This Just In… Recent Acquisitions @SMoCA” is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Ganas and Carrie Tovar, registrar and collections manager.
“Cybele Lyle: Floating Seeds Make Deep Forms” is curated by Lauren R. O'Connell, curator of contemporary art. This artwork is commissioned following W.A.G.E. guidelines. Support provided by World Class Sponsor The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
“There are other skies” is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art with Mimosa House and originally curated by Christine Eyene, Daria Khan, Jennifer McCabe and Maura Reilly. Assistant curators are Sandra Lam and Keshia Turley, with additional support from Danielle Ochoa, curatorial intern. Global curatorial advisors are Camille Auer, Giulia Casalini, Natasha Ginwala, Snejana Krasteva, Natalia Sielewicz, Gabriela Rangel, Lucía Sanromán, Olia Sosnovskaya, Stefanie Hessler and Indira Ziyabek. Support provided by World Class Partners: National Endowment for the Arts, Terra Foundation for American Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
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