Albuquerque-based artist Lance McGoldrick is a bit hard to pin down. He’s done huge works and tiny works and presented entries in-between, but his newest exhibition inside the Window Box at the Vladem Contemporary wing of the New Mexico Museum of Art certainly falls under the former camp. I Love You, New Mexico, Te Quiero, Nuevo Mexico is basically half an Impala propped up to create a strange sort of light projection with its profile. The piece serves as an homage to McGoldrick’s Southwestern home, but also a reminder of the lowrider world, car culture itself, hip-hop communities and New Mexico’s sweet, sweet vibes. You can catch the piece right now should you walk by Vladem, but McGoldrick and the museum will offer a presentation event and talk this week to dig into its creation and intention a bit more (5:30 pm Friday, January 30. Free. 404 Montezuma Ave., (505) 476-5072). We spoke with McGoldrick to learn more. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. (Alex De Vore)
Did you feel any particular pressures—or freedoms—given the public-facing nature of the Window Box at Vladem Contemporary?
I used to do windows for Urban Outfitters, so when I was contacted by [New Mexico Museum of Art curator] Katie Doyle, who had a proposal for the Window Box, I had that experience to draw from and was really excited to work with the museum. This is my first big museum commission, and it was really fun to try to figure out something to do in that window. Urban Outfitters was not my art. I mean, I was executing creatively controlled stuff with only some freedom—Vladem was obviously me, and I knew right away I wanted to make a love letter to New Mexico. I had this idea to find an abandoned car in a field, plug headlights in and take a photo at sunset. I really enjoy the way the desert holds objects in this state of decay. On the East Coast, things rot away and are just…gone. Here, it holds them. I really like that, and it’s very motivating to me as an artist to think about my own existence…