11.09.2012

Shiprock - Upstairs at the Plaza

 
SHIPROCK GALLERY
 
A    F E A S T    F O R    T H E    S E N S E S
 
 

 
Photography by C. Whitney-Ward
 
When you step inside SHIPROCK GALLERY you're not expecting to see a magnificent 10 ft.-high buffalo hide teepee. Even more astonishing is that it  was hand sewn by Japanese clothing designer  Hiroki Nakamura. But then Shiprock owner Jed Foutz is always looking for new horizons for his seven-year old Gallery that is a handsome amalgam of  vintage and contemporary Native American art, jewelry,  mid-century furniture, and now clothing.
 
 
 
I had the blessing of growing up with beautiful people in a beautiful culture. 
 
 
 "SHIPROCK GALLERY is a convergence of my history and background," explains Jed, who was raised on the Navajo (Nation) Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico where his family has lived and run the Trading Post  since the 1860's. "I'm a fifth generation trader," says Foutz, who began working there when he was eleven. "When I was 18, I  left the reservation, thinking I'd enter the fashion world and never come back. But six years later, when my father was about to sell the trading post, I did come back and  took over for him. Seven years ago, I opened Shiprock Gallery in Santa Fe."
 
 
NOW BACK TO THE TEEPEE and Hiroki Nakamura..
 
Jed met  Hiroki - a Tokyo-based fashion designer -  at a NY fashion show and they've been friends ever since, collaborating on projects for the past three years. Last week Shiprock introduced  Hiroki's new line of clothing and accessories - VisVim - a beautiful amalgam of Native American and Japanese contemporary design.
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
"Hiroki is amazing," says Jed. "He learned how to make teepees from a Montana scholar who is the only person still making hide teepees. (To see Hiroki's Teepee project go to: http://visvim.tv/). "And his clothing line is in Bergdorf Goodman in NY. He's taken inspiration from my world - the Navajo reservation. You can really see all of that reflected in his designs. 
 
And as you walk around the Gallery, you see Jed's world filling every corner. "The Gallery ends up being everything that I love, including the people I work with."
 
 
 
 
CONCHO BELTS - 1880 - 1950
 

 
 
 
 
 
 SQUASH BLOSSOM NECKLACES - 1930'S
 
 
 
 
 
NAVAJO KETOHS 
 
 
 
ZUNI 1940'S BOLO
 
 
 
LARGE NAVAJO RED MOUNTAIN TURQUOISE BOLO
 
AND...so much more.
 


 
Shiprock-Navajo: Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings" or "winged rock" - rises nearly 1,583 feet  above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico
 
SHIPROCK GALLERY
 
53 Old Santa Fe Trail (upstairs) - Santa Fe, NM
On the Plaza
 
505-982-8478
 
 
TELL THEM CHASING SENT YOU!
 
 
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CHASING BITES
 
D E S S E R T   A S   T H E A T R E
 
 
I had lunch the other day at RESTAURANT MARTIN. Lunch was delicious, but dessert was even more wonderful.  Chef Martin Rios does all his own pastry and what was presented at table - a Hazlenut /Chocolate Pot de Creme - was pure theatre for the taste buds.  Let's see if I can capture all of the delights on the plate. There were bite-sized pistachio daquoise (cake bites);  carmel bananas, milk chocolate and Earl Grey ice cream; paper-thin chocolate meringue wafers; dabs of mango, concord grape and cilantro and basil puree; a crumbly sweet chocolate;and champagne gelee.
 
 
 
 
RESTAURANT MARTIN
 
526 Galisteo St.
505-820-0919
 
 
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