From the Archives: William Pope.L in Houston
William Pope.L, Foraging (asphixia version), 2008, Digital C-Print It was 2003 and “William Pope.L’s: eRacism was on view at Houston’s DiverseWorks as part of a national exhibition tour (also presented at Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine and Portland Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, and later [...]
South African President Zuma, Goodman Gallery Settle Lawsuit As Painting Is Removed From Show
Goodman gallery in Johannesburg has been under fire from the South African government for exhibiting an unflattering nude portrait of the country’s president, Jacob Zuma; the white artist and gallerist saw it as political satire, the African National Congress saw it as hurtful racial insensitivity. Maybe it’s both: in a rare example of reconciliation, the [...]
Seven Most Annoying Misconceptions About LA
Not unlike Texas, Los Angeles suffers from some art world stereotypes. In honor of our recently launched Southern California site, Glasstire SoCal, we present Los Angeles writer Carol Cheh’s “Seven Most Annoying Misconceptions About LA.” There are some interesting Texas parallels to be found; see number 2 in particular. Los Angeles is the most [...]
Mexic-Arte Museum: Striking a nerve.
I talk about Mexic-Arte Museum a lot and I always have. I have a long history with the institution, and I will say again that I want them to succeed and always have, and this is part of the reason I have been so vocal about their decisions. I will also say that nothing I [...]
Director as Docent: Campana Interviews Tinterow in Culturemap
Culturemap’s Joseph Campana reports on his face-to-face tour of some highlights of the MFAH’s collection with newish director Gary Tinterow. It’s one of the few interviews I’ve seen in print with the bespectacled ex-Met curator, and he comes off as a curator still, rather than a corporate CEO (the persona 0f choice for museum directors [...]
Green Acres: Habitable Spaces Expects First Residents This Fall
Scott Andrews of the SA Current recaps the progress being made over at Shane Heinemeier and Alison Ward’s Habitable Spaces in Guadalupe county, near Kingsbury, just off I-10 between San Antonio and Houston. The new artist residency focuses on rusticated sustainable living, using 100 acres of post oak forest and maequite as a blank canvas [...]
Richard Prince Copyright Infringement Case Update: Appeal Outcome Uncertain
Arch-appropriator Richard Prince’s lawyers are fending off a lawsuit from photographer Patrick Cariou, whose images of Rastafarians served as the basis for Prince’s Canal Zone series of works. Last year Prince’s works were judged to be infringing on Cariou’s, and unsold Prince paintings could potentially have been ordered destroyed. Prince’s appeal of the ruling was [...]
Art Treasures and Cheeses Ravaged by Deadly Italian Quakes
Jonathan Jones of the Guardian (UK) is worried about the art treasures at risk in the earthquake-ravaged regions of Northern Italy, extending other blogger’s worries over the effect recent seismic events have had on Parmesan cheese production. Not to seem inhumane, Jones admitted that “Yes, I know – people died, each more precious than any [...]
Photoality: Student Mural to be Unveiled at SA’s Washington Irving Academy
On May 30, Artpace’s Semester Program and Washington Irving Academy will unveil “Photoality,” a 12×8 foot mural made by 8th grade students in collaboration with San Antonio artist Mari Hernandez. Artpace’s Semester Program places a local artist “in residence” in schools to mentor students and help them create public artwork for their campus. This spring, [...]
DMA Considers Free General Admission: Perils of Pay Parking to Remain
A rumor that the Dallas Museum of Art is considering moving to free admission, confirmed by Jill Bernstein, the DMA’s communications czar, is the subject of discussion in the online D Magazine. Everyone’s in favor of not paying the current $10 admission charge, but canny museum-goers point out that, without a membership, parking itself in [...]
Singularity Transmission: Tower of Babel to be Rebuilt for Burning Man, by Texans!
Houston sculptor Troy Stanley and architect Brey Tucker are in the T-shirt and fundraising phase for “Singularity Transmission,” a temporary sound installation/structure for this year’s Burning Man festival. In keeping with this year’s theme “fertility,” the derrick-like structure combines not-so-subtle penis-and-vagina imagery, and will function as a sort of low-fi drop-in jam session: burners in [...]
Flatbed Founder Mark Smith Ends 40-year Run in Austin with Move to Indiana
After a productive twenty-three year partnership with Katherine Brimberry, Mark L. Smith, co-founder of Austin printmaking studio Flatebed Press, is moving on. In a blog post last week titled “Milepost 23” (recalling the venerable art venture’s 23-year history), Smith announced to the Austin art community that he has “done about all the damage I can [...]
Blaffer Remodeling, From a Student’s View
On Wednesday, Glasstire’s Rainey Knudson and Kelly Klaasmeyer were given a hard hat tour by the dapper Matt Johns of the Blaffer Museum, and they took the intern along! Me! As a student of the University of Houston’s painting program, I was itching to look inside the museum after hearing the construction all semester. I [...]
Salmon Debunks Artnet’s Silly Indices
Reuters’ hardheaded finance blogger Felix Salmon takes a critical look at “Artnet’s Silly Indices,” debunking the notion that contemporary art is an investable commodity, like stocks in the S&P 500, with remarkable clarity. Artnet’s indices track prices and investment performance for many major-name artists with nifty graphs based on auction results, but, according to Salmon, [...]
David Politzer at the Houston Center for Photography and Lawndale Art Center
David Politzer’s new series When You’re Out There debuts in two parts this month at the Houston Center for Photography and Lawndale Art Center. In both shows, Politzer plays with the tension between two environments that are—as he quietly points out—awkwardly united. The works deftly mediate the gap between nature and the space it occupies [...]
Mexic-Arte Museum: Someone has to say it…
Typically it’s fun to sit back and watch as the art world in Austin continues to grow, gain strength, respect, and generally produce quality art and artists despite its topsy-turvy art organizations that are relatively disconnected from the community. Recently, however, I’ve been alarmed and somewhat embarrassed by what I feel are incredibly unfortunate missteps [...]
Astrodome Consultants Recommend Multipurpose Re-Use, Sparing Shell
After considering four plans in the ongoing what-to-do-with-the-dome debate, Dallas based consultants convention Sports and Leisure have recommended a multi-use strategy, repurposing the eighth wonder of the world as a convention hall and a sports venue! This unsurprising revelation, presented to Harris County’s sports and convention agency, was the result of a study of four [...]
Karenni Weavers Find a Home at HAA Alliance Gallery
Culturemap‘s Joel Luks reports on Houston’s ethnic Karenni community, and the colorful weavings that have helped preserve a sense of identity for the group of refugees from Myanmar (Burma). The exhibition Weaving Home: Textile Traditions from Houston’s Karenni Community opens today at the Houston Art Alliance, part of their onging folklife and traditional arts series.
Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas at the Dallas Museum of Art
A forgotten series called Impressions of Dallas, last exhibited almost 60 years ago in New York City and exactly 60 years ago in its namesake, has been resuscitated by the Dallas Museum of Art’s European Art curator, the terrific Heather MacDonald. Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas conveys a prominent outsider’s dreamy Texas [...]
Houston Museum of Natural Science Unveils Bristly Triceratops Skin and Rare Three-Fingered T-Rex in New $85 Million Dino-Den
On June 2, one of the better paleontology halls in the country gets even better. Get this: the new installation includes 30 dinosaurs and large mammals in “action” poses, a real-bone T. rex with patches of original skin; touchable, fossilized dinosaur skin that allows you to pet a dinosaur; Quetzalcoatlus, an ancient pterosaur bigger than [...]
