Laura Lark Loves You #6: Personal Best
It’s been a while. Many people have contacted me with the same question: “Doesn’t Laura Lark love me anymore?” To this I‘ve replied: “Laura Lark loves you as much as she ever did!” And I really, really mean it. I’ve had a lot going on here at home. There’s dirt out there that has ground its [...]
Blanton Museum Receives Iconic Fiberglass Sculptures By Luis Jiménez
The Blanton Museum has announced the acquisition of two large fiberglass sculptures by UT alumnus, Luis Jiménez, Progress II (1976/1999) and Cruzando El Rio Bravo [Border Crossing] (1989). “Over the past several months, Progress II has become one of the most visited works in the Blanton collection. Border Crossing is sure to draw similar attention. [...]
Meadows’ Coleman Gift: Five Proto-Modern Spanish Paintings
Alan B. Coleman, former dean of SMU’s Cox School of Business, and his wife, Janet M. Coleman have gifted the Meadows Museum with five important 20th century Spanish paintings (photos by Dimitris Skliris): Moulin Rouge, Exit to the Box Seats (Moulin Rouge, salida a los palcos), c. 1902, by Hermenegildo Anglada-Camarasa (1871-1959). Segovia, from Perogordo [...]
The year of Ken Price?
My first and likely only prediction for visual art in 2013: thanks to the retrospective that was organized by and debuted at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ken Price will lose his cult status and be embraced by the unwashed masses, and perhaps even by Michael Kimmelman. As a result, the legacy of [...]
“WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY” at the MFAH: All But Death, can be Adjusted…
Draped in camouflage, bunting, or shroud, war’s singular product is death. In face after face of WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, nothing is more abundantly clear than the awful intimacy of war and death. The exhibition begs the question, is our greatest modern efficiency murder? [...]
Start the New Year with a Funeral Party!
Houston artist Emily Sloan is inviting the public to start the new year right, with a Funeral Party on January 1! Although no actual deaths are involved, Sloan has included almost everything else in her participatory performance: an interactive funeral service (write a eulogy!), funeral pyre (bring your symbolic memorobilia!) improvised funeral music parade (bring [...]
Funeral History Museum Organizing Collector’s Group
The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston has proposed forming an association for Funeral Memorabilia Collectors. Their plans include providing a forum for guest speakers, shows, and gatherings. They’re inviting like-minded individuals to attend a preliminary meeting in January to help them organize and plan. The date is to be determined, contact Shelley Ott, [...]
RIPNEKST: Ex-Houston Graffiti Writer NEKST Has Died
Sean ??, aka NEKST has died. A noted graffiti writer since 1996, he began writing as Next in Houston, and was voted “best graffiti writer” in 2003, by the Houston Press, even as they suggested he move to escape relentless police pressure. He did a stint in Austin; Rachel Koper of Austin’s Women and Their [...]
Drawings!: My Favorites From Houston 2012
There has been a lot of excitement about painting in Houston this year, with Aaron Parazette’s In Plain Sight at McClain Gallery and a big exhibition planned for the CAMH’s 65th anniversary. But what about good old drawing? Often more humble and imaginatively evocative than painting, there have been some outstanding drawings shown in Houston [...]
DMA Leonardo Bid Rejected, But Let’s All Think About the Art of the Possible At the DMA Anyway
Michael Granberry reports in the Dallas Morning News that the DMA isn’t going to get the expensive Leonardo after all; (insert sigh, with relief, or disappointment, depending.) WHAT NOW?- it’s clear that the museum has, potentially, access to several tens of millions of dollars to acquire art, if donors think it’s worth it. Certainly enough, [...]
“Soldier, at Ease” at the Houston Center for Photography
Soldier, At Ease, at the Houston Center for Photography, runs concurrently with the extensive WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts. Both exhibitions include works by Tim Hetherington, Louie Palu and Erin Trieb. WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY focuses on an exploration of the role of photography in documenting various aspects of conflict, including the periods between fighting. Soldier, [...]
Inevitable Starchitecture: Romero’s Mexic-Arte Museum Maquette at the Guggenheim
The proposed big wheel/Aztec calendar design for a new Mexic-Arte Museum building on congress Ave. in Austin by Fernando Romero was part of the architect’s “You are the Context” exhibition and book launch held at the Guggenheim Museum on Dec. 12. Though widely criticised as stereotypically ethnic (with the Aztec calendar projection), too expensive, or [...]
De Vivi Mask Collection Donated to Mexic-Arte, on display in January
In other Mexi-Arte news, the museum has received the 300 piece Patricia and Carmine De Vivi Mexican Mask Collection. Mr. De Vivi began his visits to indigenous villages in the 1950′s and collected the masks used in rituals and dances. The De Vivis, who live in New Mexico selected Mexic-Arte Museum as the permanent home [...]
Beyond Constructed Dialogues
Constructivism in Latin America provided fertile ground for a plethora of different movements, proposals and ideas from the 1930s onward as seen in Constructed Dialogues: Concrete, Geometric, and Kinetic Art from the Latin American Art Collection, currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (only until January 6, 2013). The rich traditions of [...]
East Texas Evolution: News From Longview Museum of Fine Arts
Just after its 50th anniversary in 2008, the Longview Museum of Fine Arts began renovating its facade on Main St. in Longview. In 2011 it raised over$250,000 to begin work on renovations for its new ArtWorks: Creative Learning Center, an art space for creating and teaching, which opened in 2012 with artist, radio host, and [...]
Layer-Cake City: New Roman Excavation Finished, Subway, Under Art Center, Under Traffic Circle
Excavations for a new subway station in Rome had unsurprisingly, run afoul of “the most important Roman discovery in 80 years”, according to the Guardian (UK). While tunneling under the ancient Italian capital, railway workers uncovered an amphitheater built by the Emperor Hadrian in 123 c.e., which has been excavated and will open to the [...]
Houston Exports Art Car Jewelz to Baltimore Festival
Jewelz Cody, self described “Waterfowl Alignment Coordinator*” aka Artist Liaison/Coordinator & Producer for Art Car Weekend, who has been instrumental in coordinating the Houston Art Car Parade since it first began in 1986, will be curating the 20th Annual Art Car Show at the 32nd Annual Artscape festival in Baltimore, MD. Artscape, “America’s Largest Free [...]
Farewell, Domy, Farewell: Domy Books to Close Austin Store, Employee Take Over Creates New Farewell Books in February
After seven years as epicenter of alterna-zine culture in Austin, Domy books is closing. Houston businessman Dan Fergus, who owns Domy’s two locations has “withdrawn financial support” for the much-loved but presumably unprofitable store, which has been seeking alternative revenue by subletting sections of its gallery space to sub-retailers. Store manager/curator Russell Etchen is leaving, [...]
Inman Buys Into Midtown Redevelopment, Plans Studio/Office Complex in Historic Bermac Building
Kerry Inman, owner of Houston’s Inman Gallery, has closed a deal on the historic Bermac building building at 4101 San Jacinto and Cleburne St. in Midtown. Her company, Bermac Arts, LLC, plans to convert the 23,000sf space into artist’s studios and offices for arts-related businesses. She has selected John D. Blackmon, AIA, as project architect, [...]
Urban Artfitters League of El Paso Spreads Positive Murals Through Downtown Alleys
El Paso street artists Silver IsReal and Carlo Mendo have formed a new nonprofit, the “Urban Art Fitters League of El Paso” to paint downtown alleys with uplifting murals. Begun in April, their first project, “Make Love Not War” was a memorial to friends who died in an alcohol-related traffic accident. Painting with the permission [...]
