TAOS, N.M. — Arte de Descartes XVII is open daily from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.  through September 9 at the Stales Gallery in Taos, N.M.

For 17 years, Arte de Descartes has issued an annual challenge to artists: Create a work of art from materials that are at least 90 percent found, recycled or repurposed.

The found objects used in the artwork are not only repurposed but often transformed so creatively that they are almost unrecognizable. A partial list of this year’s materials reads like steampunk poetry: Boat rope and fishing net washed up on a Hawaiian beach; rings of glass from the necks of used kombucha jars; wheelbarrows, barbed wire, lawnmower blades; horse blinders, door locks, bedsprings and bottle caps; shoes and boots and vintage clothing, and the limbs and faces of a startling variety of dolls.

The show features the work of more than 60 artists, including Mary Hoffman, Winter Ross, Jane Kwan and Julie Sutherland who all live in the San Luis Valley. 

The annual show is always fresh with very unique work in many medias, paper, glass, metal, cloth, plastic and what not? The idea is to create art from mostly recycled materials.

Lamps, tables, quilts, wall art and sculpture all grace the gallery in this highly unusual show.

Caption: Valley artist Mary Hoffman’s work is on display in the Arte de Descartes XVII show in Taos, N.M. Courtesy photo