The second whoppin’ big art fair has come to a close, and oh! I have so much to say that I doubt, what with today’s average attention span, any one will even make it to the end! As loyal readers know, the Texas Contemporary Art Fair was not my first rodeo. But it was the [...]
I’m with stupid
The New Art Fairs are Here! We’re Somebody Now!
Big cities with vibrant art scenes have big art fairs, right? Sure. So it stands to reason that Houston, home of lots of great art, should have one as well. In fact, Houston should have two of them. Oh, that’s right! They do! Since I didn’t really pay any attention to the scuffle concerning the [...]
The Laws of Averageness
This month’s (April 2011) Artforum features a book review by Joachim Pissaro and David Carrier on a new collection of essays edited by Alexis L. Boylan entitled Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall. Included in this volume are essays by various scholars, including Jeffrey Vallance, who curated an exhibition of Kinkade’s work. Many deal [...]
Performance Issues
When I officially embarked upon YESQUEST 2011 (Where I’d say Yes! to everything), I just didn’t think…well, I just didn’t think. As I’ve spent the last few years in front of the TV (my readers will know this about me already, so I’ll spare you the nearly paralyzing anguish I’ve suffered with the whole Two [...]
What by Whatever Works
A lot of people claim to look at the glass as half-full. What you don’t hear is crowing about the half-empty glass. But with the exception of Larry David and his ilk, who bitch for a living, most people don’t want to hear about a half empty glass. There’s nothing more unpopular than the American [...]
Let’s Talk Trash
While I lament the lack of legitimate arthouse venues to view offerings from the second annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival, I have to admit that I did enjoy seeing Waste Land (YouTube clip), a documentary made by Lucy Walker. Waste Land won the Audience Award at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It follows internationally [...]
Little Shops of Horrors
We all want our yearly scare in the season of Halloween. I know I do! Unfortunately, because my social life is, has been, and possibly always will be about as exciting as staring at a cardboard box filled with hair culled from my own brush, I rarely get out on this fun and fabulous holiday. [...]
Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop Dead
Like so many I know, whenever I find myself in a foreign land, another state, or even another neighborhood, I get that Golly, wouldn’t it be neat to live here syndrome. It’s annoying, and at this point in my life I’m not even fooling myself. I know I’ll die and rot in this very spot [...]
Iles & Rizzoli & Isles or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love TV
I am a lazy person. Iget lazier. But I decided, a while back, that I would bravely go where manyhave gone before (Dallas) to see what many have seen (The LucTuymans’ exhibition at the DMA). This is a big deal. Thanks to the internet, Irarely leave the house. I read in a recent Scientific Americanthat [...]
The Point Almost Poked My Eye Out
Photography’s treated pretty indifferently in the gallery scene around here. With a few exceptions (Amy Blakemore and Dana Harper are the only ones with longtime representation I can think of right off hand–but please, correct me if I’m wrong), straight photography doesn’t get too much play in Houston, and when it does, it’s relegated [...]
Put a sock on it
Okay, for those of you poor, pathetic types who just aren’t in step, I’m With Stupid is presently the avatar for the nearly universally beloved Whinybabyland. I’m hoping that I’m With Stupid will grow and flourish in ways that WBL never did, with these projections based solely on the hopes that I will actually get [...]