It’s here, finally, the end of the world. It snuck up so quickly that I’d forgotten about it altogether. As the cycle of the Mayan calendar comes to an end, we prepare to say goodbye to the tumultuous 2012; to the latest tumultuous 52-year Mayan century cycle, and it can’t come a moment too soon. [...]
On Black Friday, while millions were buying iPads for their six-year-olds and guns for their holsters (handgun sales broke an all-time record this year), I was staring at art in Los Angeles. Since most major galleries were closed that weekend, I visited the Geffen Contemporary, LA MOCA and LACMA and ate local fare including frozen [...]
Who doesn’t love to receive art books around the holidays? Full of inspiration and far more special than your average paperback, the following books will warm the hearts of all the members in your immediate circle of friends and family. They’re also all available at Domy Books in Austin. Remember guys, shop local! 1) [...]
I know it’s not Texas, and it’s certainly not Miami, but there are some projects that are so well thought out, so surprising and so poetic that they should be shared outside the context they are in. A few days ago I had the pleasure of seeing a project that is just that: thoughtful, surprising [...]
A few weeks ago, I did a quick survey of what a copyright is and how to get one. But recent reactions to a news report expand what one has to understand about copyrights and ownership. I mentioned that one of the exceptions to copyright was a “work for hire,” where a piece is made under [...]
As another exploration of the catalysts that drive human behavior, Jill Magid has continued her investigation of gun violence in Texas with the exhibition titled Faust 24 at Galería Labor in Mexico City. Recently, the issues of context and translation have been on my mind more and more since I’m crossing a border and working [...]
How can good people appreciate despicable behavior? What can it seriously tell us about the values we hold? These questions are repeatedly addressed and challenged by artists and filmmakers, to be sure, but if you’ve been to see The Comedy, you’ve surely asked them as well. The Comedy isn’t really a comedy, but if you [...]
In celebration of the Menil Collection’s 25th anniversary this fall, Calvin Tomkins spoke at the Menil in conversation with director Josef Helfenstein. Because of the occasion, their discussion centered around artists connected to the Menils and Tomkins’ memories of John and Dominique de Menil. Tomkins even wore a kelly green tie in honor of John [...]
We arrived at Blue Star Thursday night to a performance of Justin Randolph Thompson’s Tossin’ the Rag as part of his exhibition Meet Me in the Bottoms. A rag doll was being thrown in the air from a blanket while the artist performed with a group of collaborators. They were accompanied by a small band facing [...]
If not completely exhausting, the end of each semester can be pretty gratifying. The students are relieved to be finished, turning in their last papers and tests, sometimes telling you they enjoyed the class and sometimes dropping anonymous notes on your desk. I teach art history at Texas State and at the closing of each [...]
In celebration of the Menil Collection’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the museum has mined its archives to produce Dear John and Dominique. Curator Michelle White and archivist Geraldine Aramanda have gathered a thoughtful collection of letters written to John and Dominique de Menil accompanied by ephemera, photographs and art objects. With low lighting, available seating and a [...]
Dave Hickey recently announced his retirement from art criticism, citing his disgust with the circus that the art world—particularly the world of contemporary art—has become. He also, in an article published online by The Guardian/The Observer, noted he’s working on a book that will be a “snarky diatribe on Christianity.” I met Dave in Austin about [...]
Paul Middendorf came to Houston for the first time as curator of the 2010 Big Show at Lawndale Art Center. He was impressed with the city and set up a series of ongoing artistic exchanges under the auspices of a non-profit he has run out of Portland, Oregon since 2005, galleryHOMELAND. Now he has opened [...]
This Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston is showcasing the artistry of filmmakers Stephen and Timothy Quay with a special series including six films spanning 25 years– from their early puppet animation masterpiece Street of Crocodiles to the Houston premiere of their latest film, Through The Weeping Glass. I remember–back before [...]
I headed down to Galveston last Friday to see “The Drawing Room, Part 2,” yet another fine offering from curator Clint Willour at the Galveston Art Center and to check out the old Sam Maceo house. Galveston is always full of surprises, I stumbled across a brothel along the way. Organized crime boss Salvatore “Sam” [...]
Second only to Halloween as an art-saturated holiday, the end of each year is an orgy of group gift shows, holiday decorating events, and year-end pleas from nonprofits happy to help tax-dodging donors. Here’s an incomplete roundup of upcoming seasonal happenings around the state:. I’ll be updating as we check off the last few weeks [...]
By the time this is published the new curator of modern and contemporary art at the Blanton Museum may have been announced. I was told last week that an offer has been accepted. I don’t know who the new curator will be, but the director of the Blanton, Simone Wicha, has assured me that, “Curators [...]
What & when are your copyright rights? Keep your hands off my image! The other Saturday I wrote a small musing on the art business practices; half the comments in the first two days were on copyright protection rather than gallery representation or sales to consumers. I had thought that this subject would be somewhat [...]
The Glasstire Drawing Project presents Chapter 2 of Michael Bise’s “Life On the List,” an autobiographical comic about life on the heart transplant list. For Chapter 1, click here. CHAPTER 2 Coverage of Houston artists has been made possible in part by the William A. Graham Fund.
I appropriately write this on “Small Business Saturday” and artists and galleries are among the smallest businesses around. But, as I say in the essay, few seem to know how this small business works on either the production or marketing sides. In my art education no one ever told me and I’m willing to bet [...]
