Fall 2008 Newsline by Blaffer Art Museum

fall 2008

NE W S L I n E

the Art Museum of the University of Houston

from the director I greet you as the newest member of the Blaffer Gallery staff. Last February, I began my tenure at Blaffer as Deputy Director. Roughly one month later, I stepped up to the post of Interim Director of the museum. Currently, Blaffer is conducting an active search for a new director, a position I anticipate will be filled by the end of the year. That said, I assure you that our museum is staying the course in presenting challenging, innovative, and exciting exhibitions and programs. We open our season this fall with two exhibitions. Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation will showcase snapshots and Polaroids that Warhol took in the 1970s and ’80s. A second exhibition, one exploring the determined optimism with which artists respond to the disappointments of modern life, Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion promises dynamic artwork by important contemporary artists from both the U.S. and abroad. Blaffer is teaming with other arts organizations to present a number of supplemental programs in conjunction with this exhibition. Former Blaffer Director Terrie Sultan, co-curator of Damaged Romanticism, returns to Houston for one such event. Check inside for details. In January, the Center for Land Use Interpretation presents Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry, an informational exhibition about how oil has sculpted the state’s terrain. Also look out for Electric Mud, guest-curated by David Pagel, featuring paintings and sculptures by some of the most prolific artists working in California today. Pagel is no stranger to Blaffer — he previously curated the exhibition Populence and has co-curated Damaged Romanticism.

Upcoming Events Friday, September 12 6 – 8 p.m. Opening Reception for Damaged Romanticism and Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends Saturday, September 13 11 a.m. Artists’ and Curators’ Roundtable Discussion and Exhibition Catalogue Book Signing for Damaged Romanticism Thursday, September 18 4 – 7 p.m. UH Arts Open House featuring Blaffer Student Association Red Block Bash

Thursday – Sunday, September 25 –27 7:30 p.m. The UH Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts presents Damaged Romanticism: Joan Tower Dudley Recital Hall/ Moores Opera House, University of Houston Wednesday, October 1 6 p.m. Contemporary Salon for Damaged Romanticism Saturday, October 4 Blaffer Membership Event Day Trip to Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Thursday, October 9 6 p.m. Lecture by Dr. Bradford Collins for Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends

Stay tuned for a fantastic year in which Blaffer continues to present bold and stimulating artistic programming.

Saturday, October 11 1 p.m. Studio Saturday

David L. Vollmer Interim Director

Wednesday, October 15 12 p.m. Brown Bag Gallery Tour for Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends

Saturday, October 18 8 p.m. Da Camera of Houston and the Mitchell Center present Chopin in Paris: Epigraph for a Condemned Book Cullen Theater, Wortham Center, downtown Friday, October 24 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Opening Reception for Young Artist Apprenticeship Program Exhibition Wednesday, November 5 12 p.m. Brown Bag Gallery Tour for Damaged Romanticism Saturday, November 8 8 p.m. Da Camera of Houston and The Mitchell Center present Damaged Romanticism Moores Opera House, University of Houston Pre-concert conversation with Sarah Rothenberg and 1 Terrie Sultan at 7 p.m. Post-concert reception at Blaffer Gallery Wednesday, November 12 6:30 p.m. The Foundation for Modern Music presents Music by Henryk Górecki and Osvaldo Golijov Friday, November 21 7 p.m. The Mitchell Center presents Poetry and Music: A Conversation The Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross Friday, December 5 6 – 8 p.m. Opening Reception for 2008 School of Art Annual Student Exhibition All events at Blaffer Gallery unless otherwise noted.

the SCENE AT BLAFFER

7 1. Visitors engage Woody Golden’s installation during the 2008 Masters Thesis Exhibition opening reception. 2. Veronica Reed (left) and Colette Vallot (right) at HOT on H-TOWN.

3. Cindy Toles (left) and Judy Nyquist (right) at HOT on H-TOWN. 4. Sasha Dela (left) leads a Brown Bag Gallery Tour during the 2008 Houston Area Exhibition. 5. DiverseWorks Co-Director Sixto Wagan (left) and choreographer Ronald K. Brown (right) during the Charles “Teenie” Harris: Rhapsody in Black and White opening. 6. Curator Claudia Schmuckli (left) and Shirley Rose (right) at HOT on H-TOWN. 7. Lucille Ewell (left), Alicia Murray (center), and Ray Carrington III during the Rhapsody in Black and White Brown Bag Gallery Tour.

Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion September 13 – November 15, 2008

Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion features fifteen internationally recognized contemporary artists working in painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and video. The artists are linked by their visual representations of how, in the face of the disillusionment and failures of modern life, romanticism has been replaced by defiant optimism, or “damaged romanticism.” Belonging neither to a style nor to a traditional school, the featured works all embody an outlook frequently forged in heartbreaking disappointment, but never resigned to pain or failure. Artists in the exhibition include Richard Billingham, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Edward Burtynsky, Sophie Calle, Petah Coyne, Angelo Filomeno, Jesper Just, Florian Maier-Aichen, Mary McCleary, Wangechi Mutu, Anneè Olofsson, Julia Oschatz, David Schnell, and Ryan Taber/ Cheyenne Weaver. Excerpts from Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion Exhibition Catalogue TERRIE SULTAN Above: Berlinde De Bruyckere Untitled, 2003 Four wooden cinema seats, fabric collage, woolen blankets 79 1/2 x 46 x 59 1/2 inches Courtesy the artist

In 1998 Thomas L. Dumm published “Resignation,” an essay examining the predisposition toward disappointment in life…. Dumm’s conclusions seemed to outline the core of the human condition on the

cusp of a new century. They also closely corresponded to my curatorial experience of the work of many artists who were formulating aesthetic responses to how occasions of rupture and loss in everyday life could in fact lead to optimism, even redemption. In 1999 I conceived an exhibition entitled Disappointment Richard Billingham Untitled #12, from the series Black Country, 2003 and Resignation to explore Color lightjet print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper ideas percolating in the mounted on aluminum, framed 44 x 54 inches visual arts, but set aside Courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London this project after the events © Richard Billingham of September 11, 2001, precluded the idea of dwelling on this topic.... By 2006 I simply could not ignore what my eyes were telling me. Although disappointment remained a significant theme into the twenty-first century, it became increasingly clear that other forces were in play, including historical influences as diverse as the baroque, neoclassicism, and especially romanticism. Out of this altered aesthetic landscape was born Damaged Romanticism, which focuses on how initial disappointment can be mitigated, so that rather than descending into disillusionment, hopelessness, or despair,

On View Left: Mary McCleary Nazi Pets, 2004 Mixed-media collage on paper 36 x 71 1/2 inches Collection Carol Windham, Clyde, Texas Courtesy the artist and Moody Gallery, Houston Right: Julia Oschatz Untitled (19-04), 2004 Acrylic, India ink, glitter on canvas 13 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York

what begins as morbidity can be transformed into optimism, dation for all of the modern movements that followed in the laughter, or even creative resurrection. According to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although romanticism concept of “damaged romanticism,” the often phantasmawas a complicated, often contradictory movement that difgorical exoticism of late eighteenth-century romanticism fered from country to country, decade to decade, art form crashes headlong into the present, where idylls as well as to art form — and even within individual artists’ oeuvres confrontations are modified by the clarity of pragmatic real- — it established the basis of what we think of today as ism. avant-garde art…. The works in the exhibition Damaged Romanticism capture the complexity of contemporary reality by giving form to ambivalent, even contradictory sentiments. Suffering is neither sugarcoated as some exquisitely masochistic sign of virtuous victimhood or gloriously symbolic martyrdom; nor does it provide an excuse to wallow in misery, malaise, and trendy world-weary cynicism. In Damaged Romanticism, rebellion, disillusionment, and defiance come together, strengthening and tempering each other much as heat tempers iron into steel…. DAVID PAGEL Romanticism is back. And it isn’t what it used to be. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, romanticism got off to a great start when such artists as J. M. W. Turner, John Constable, and William Blake in England; Francisco Goya in Spain; Caspar David Friedrich in Germany; and Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix in France struck out in new directions in the hope of making more powerful art. Producing impressively diverse works,they laid the foun-

But since the turn of the nineteenth century, much damage has been done to such a romantic vision, as well as to the world in which it takes shape. Romanticism fell out of favor in the mid-twentieth century, becoming a somewhat pejorative term used to describe naively dreamy works that are generally dismissed for being out of touch with reality, consumed by shortsighted self-involvement, and, for the most part, lost in an idealized world of nostalgic fantasy. Only recently, a growing number of artists have gone back, in their multilayered works, to romanticism’s fundamental principles, adapting and transforming—or recycling and customizing—the movement’s core values to suit the terms and needs of the present. Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion surveys these developments…. Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion was organized for Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, by Terrie Sultan, Director, The Parrish Art Museum (former Director, Blaffer Gallery); David Pagel, Assistant Professor of Art Theory and History, Claremont Graduate University; and Colin Gardner, Professor of Critical Theory and Integrative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. The exhibition and publication are made possible, in part, by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, the Cecil Amelia Blaffer von Furstenberg Endowment for Exhibitions and Programs, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Ellen and Steve Susman, Continental Airlines, and the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Jon Gould, undated

Apollonia Von Ravenstein, 1982

Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation September 13 – October 18, 2008 “I think anybody can take a good picture. My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous. It’s being in the right place at the wrong time.” Andy Warhol, 1979 No one worshipped celebrity like Andy Warhol or had such a clear understanding of myth-making and fame. He not only invented the term “superstar,” but also famously said that everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame. By the late 1970s, Warhol was a star in his own right. When he appeared in 1985 as himself on the 200th episode of the television show Love Boat, he walks across the deck in one 6

Billy Squier, undated

scene with a camera around his neck. “When did Andy Warhol become the ship’s photographer?” Isaac, the bartender, quips. A laugh track chuckles in response. For the last ten years of his life, whether he was in his studio or at a party, Warhol always had a small, point-andshoot Minox or Polaroid camera in hand. By some accounts, he shot a roll of film a day on average, and when he died on February 22, 1987, he left behind over 66,000 photographs. The pictures for the most part have remained in storage since his death, subject to a protracted legal battle over their appraisal. But this year, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the inheritor of the Warhol estate, has generously gifted groups of the photographs to institutions across the country, including approximately 150 Polaroids and black-and-white photographs to the University of Houston. Many people think of Warhol as a painter and filmmaker, but photography always played a crucial role in his artistic practice. His earliest paintings and drawings were made from found pictures of Hollywood stars and commercial

On View

Uncle Sam, 1981

Pia Zadora, 1983

Julian Schnabel, 1983

All photographs Collection University of Houston; Gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

products. Then in the mid-1970s, he started taking his own photographs. The Polaroid “Big Shot” was perfectly designed for his burgeoning business in portrait painting. It made colors even more vibrant and obscured any undesirable blemishes. The camera also allowed Warhol to take a stack of photographs quickly, and then show them to the sitter, who would help him choose the best shots to be made into a silkscreen and eventually a painting. Warhol’s studio manager, native Houstonian Fred Hughes, encouraged him to take commissions for portraits to help him pay the bills and make the transition from underground to mainstream media; Warhol would found Interview magazine in 1969 and eventually have his own show on MTV. Through Dominique de Menil, Hughes set up Warhol’s portrait session with curator Jermayne MacAgy, the results of which are now in The Menil Collection. Warhol’s Self-Portrait with Skull, another of his works in The Menil Collection, was inspired by Jamie Wyeth, whose photographs are in the UH collection. The selection of Warhol photographs given to the university

will be shown for the first time at Blaffer Gallery this fall in the exhibition Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation. They offer rare, intimate glimpses of Warhol’s life, from parties and vacations in Montauk with friends to portraits commissioned by personalities such as Princess Caroline of Monaco and the rock star Billy Squier. The exhibition, which has been organized by the team of Rachel Hooper, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Curatorial Fellow at Blaffer; Mike Guidry, Curator of Campus Collections; and Elspeth Patient, Blaffer intern and recent UH graduate, will offer a broad cross-section of Warhol’s photographic output in the 1970s and ’80s. The photographs are an invaluable resource for University of Houston students, and Blaffer Gallery is privileged to introduce Houston and the campus community to this latest addition to the university’s renowned collection. Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation has been organized in partnership with the University of Houston Public Art Collection. The exhibition has been made possible by a bequest through the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Don and Chris Sanders, Mixed Emotions Fine Art, Houston, Don and Shirley Rose, and Frank and Dorene Herzog. Media Sponsor:

Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry Center for Land Use Interpretation January 17 – March 28, 2009 In spring 2009, Blaffer Gallery will present an exhibition by the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI). Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry will be on view from January 17 through March 28. It is presented in collaboration with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, an interdisciplinary arts center at the University of Houston, and will serve as the culmination of the CLUI’s yearlong residency at the Mitchell Center. The CLUI is a research organization based in Culver City, California, that studies the landscape of this nation, and how it has been put to use and understood. The projects of this widely acclaimed group are presented in the form of informational exhibitions, guided tours, and an online database of sites across the U.S. Texas Oil will be the CLUI’s first major exhibition in Texas and one of its most ambitious projects to date. The exhibition will include photographs and informational texts on approximately 50 Texas sites that the CLUI has framed as discrete anecdotes in the overarching story of how oil has sculpted the state’s terrain. During its residency, the CLUI established a field station near the juncture of Buffalo Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel, an important nexus for the refining and transportation of oil in America. The CLUI is using the confluence of the bayou and the ship channel as a point of departure for its research, in the process uncovering curious and wondrous aspects of Houston that are often overlooked, even by those who live in the city. In addition to Blaffer programs, the Mitchell Center is organizing various public events in conjunction with Texas Oil, including tours of the bayou with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership; an art yard or sculpture garden of oil industryrelated objects at the CLUI’s field station; and a film series presented in partnership with Aurora Picture Show. 8

Top: A pair of arched pipelines designed to help regulate product flow at Rohm & Haas' Deer Park plant. This piece of land was once part of Dr. George Patrick's Deepwater Farm, a historically significant place that briefly served as the seat of power of the Texas Republic immediately after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Courtesy the CLUI Photographic Archive, 2003. Bottom: Buffalo Bayou under U.S. Highway 59; courtesy the CLUI

PREView Electric Mud January 17 – March 28, 2009 In spring 2009, Blaffer Gallery will present Electric Mud, organized by guest curator David Pagel, art critic for the Los Angeles Times and Associate Professor of Art Theory and History, and Chair of the Art Department, at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. Featuring the work of Brian Calvin, Anna Sew Hoy, Ron Nagle, Michael Reafsnyder, James Richards, and Patrick Wilson, the exhibition focuses on the physical similarities between clay and paint. By exploring the basic qualities of each medium, the works in the exhibition question readily accepted attitudes toward culturally sanctioned differences between art and craft, painting and ceramics, form and function, leisure and labor, and still life and real life. The six artists, all based in California, strive to make their materials “misbehave,” with paint behaving like clay and vice versa. All of the artists in Electric Mud work in the gaps between media. They carry on California’s tradition of fostering unconventional artists whose genre-bending works do not fit into established art-historical categories. Describing the six artists in the exhibition, Pagel says, “These mavericks do their own thing by not fitting into established categories. Their idiosyncratic works are not modernist purebreds, in the sense that they represent as-close-to-perfect-as-possible versions of what we have come to expect from certain lineages, genres, or media. Nor are they postmodern hybrids, in the sense that they are cut-and-paste samplings or mix-and-match patchworks of far-flung styles and sensibilities. Instead, the works in Electric Mud combine the exquisite resolution of the former with the intense discord of the latter.”

Brian Calvin, Sunny, 2007

Anna Sew Hoy, Display, 2007

Patrick Wilson, Desire, 2008

Special F e atu re John Scott 1940–2007 I first met John Scott while working for the New Orleans Museum of Art. In 2005, a few months before Hurricane Katrina, the museum organized a retrospective of his work. I was given the task of picking up the artwork from local collectors and from his enormous studio situated in an industrial area on the east end of the city. Collectors were eager to talk to me about the work and their relationship with John. After meeting him, I understood why.

acclaimed sculptors of the twentieth century. John was one of the most interesting, genuine, and generous artists that I’ve ever met, and I am grateful for having had the pleasure of working with him. Michael Guidry Curator, University of Houston Public Art Collection

John’s work is steeped in western tradition mixed with Caribbean, African, and Creole flavors. The improvisation of jazz was another major influence on him, and he often talked about his work in musical terms. He is well known for his kinetic sculptures, such as Prayer Meeting, 1996, created for the University of Houston–Downtown campus. Standing 27 feet tall and made of steel and aluminum, the sculpture draws on the artist’s memory of attending church services where parishioners would fan themselves to cool off in the extreme summer heat. Prayer Meeting consists of 30 stylized fans — elements that wave back and forth as the air moves — suspended on horizontal wires mounted within a roughly 10-foot diameter circle mounted on 12-foot pylons. Facing downtown Houston, the piece occupies the third-floor terrace of the main building. John was raised in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. His father, Thomas, was a cook and taught John basic carpentry skills. His mother, Mary Mable, encouraged him to be creative at an early age, teaching him embroidery as a boy. John studied art at Xavier University in New Orleans in the 1950s and later received his M.F.A. at Michigan State University in 1965. He returned to teach at Xavier that same year, remaining on the faculty until he fled to Houston prior to Katrina’s landfall. In 1992 he received a prestigious MacArthur “genius” grant. On September 1, 2007, John died in a Houston area hospital after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis. His work has been exhibited extensively throughout the U.S., and he remains one of the most highly 10

John Scott Installation view of Prayer Meeting 1996

blaf f e r’s an n ual gala

Gala co-chairs Nelson and Meg Murray (left) and Katy and Michael Casey (right).

Gala honoree Nancy Hixon, and her husband, Carter.

HOT on H-TOWN Sizzled with Success Blaffer Gallery hosted its annual benefit gala on Thursday, May 15. HOT on H-TOWN sizzled with success and raised nearly $175,000 for the museum’s exhibitions, publications, and educational outreach programs. Two hundred and eighty-five of Houston’s hottest celebrated Blaffer’s 35th Anniversary with a special viewing of the 2008 Houston Area Exhibition while taming the humidity with refreshing mojitos in the courtyard. Later in the evening, guests were escorted to the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture atrium for a delicious seated dinner prepared by City Kitchen. Revelers dined on tender southern-fried chicken topped with a sweet-n-spicy mango ginger chutney and capped the evening off with refreshing blackberry cobbler for dessert. While grooving to the tunes of DJ Sun, guests bid on artworks by some of the city’s finest local artists, including William Betts, Melissa Borrell, and Ariane Roesch.

Gala honoree Morgan Dunn O’Connor.

Terrie Sultan (left) with University of Houston President Dr. Renu Khator.

who wowed the crowd with her wit and enthusiasm during a brief speech on the importance of campus arts, and her husband, Suresh; Dr. John Antel, the Dean of the University of Houston’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and his wife, Susan; Susan and Dr. John Antel. honoree Nancy Hixon, a recently retired, longtime staff member at Blaffer, and her husband, Carter; honoree Morgan Dunn O’Connor, a former member of the UH System Board of Regents; Terrie Sultan, Director of The Parrish Art Museum and former Director of Blaffer Gallery, and her husband, Christopher French; Blaffer Advisory Board Chairman Russell Sherrill and his wife, Lisa; and a host of other art world luminaries. Thank you to all who contributed, attended, and volunteered to make this event a spectacular success. We look forward to seeing you next year! HOT on H-TOWN was sponsored by PaperCity Magazine.

In addition to gala co-chairs Katy and Michael Casey and Meg and Nelson Murray, special guests included Dr. Renu Khator, the President of the University of Houston, 11

by calling 713.481.2811 on your cell phone. From artists’ commentary to insightful background information, our audio tours give you a behind-the-scenes look perfect for both groups and individual visitors. Summer Programs Recap

Summer Arts Workshop participants take a tour of the 2008 Houston Area Exhibition.

Summer Arts Workshop Sets Record-breaking Attendance More than forty creative children, ages 6–12, participated in this year’s Summer Arts Workshop held in the month of July. Under the tutelage of Gwen Thompson (B.F.A., University of Houston) and Denise Marlowe (B.F.A., University of North Texas), the kids created paintings, sculptures, and drawings, and even turned shaving cream into inventive landscapes. Each activity connected with the lively themes found in the summer’s Houston Area Exhibition, and over the course of the three-week period, participants honed their artistic prowess. Guided Tours Now One Step Easier Have you ever wanted to bring your classes, peers, or social group to Blaffer for a free guided tour? Now you can sign up with the click of a mouse, using our online tour request form at www.blaffergallery.org. Our highly trained and friendly docents will provide your group with an informative tour of the current exhibitions in the museum. While you’re here, make sure to try out our expanding audio tour series 12

This summer’s programs were particularly engaging to our local community as both artists featured in the Houston Area Exhibition and many well-regarded members of Houston’s artistic community participated in Blaffer’s public events. Artists William Betts, Sasha Dela, Hana Hillerova, Hedwige Jacobs, Mindy Kober, Jonathan Leach, Ariane Roesch, Gabriela Trzebinski, Jeff Williams, and Audry Worster each explored the intricacies of their works in gallery talks. In two evening Contemporary Salons, leading members of our community also provided new insight into the exhibition. Participants included Diane Barber, Co-Executive Director, DiverseWorks; Ben DeSoto, photojournalist; Rick Lowe, Founder, Project Row Houses; Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, Director, University Museum at Texas Southern University; Christine Jelson West, Executive Director, Lawndale Art Center; and Madeline Yale, Director, Houston Center for Photography. Mark Your Calendar for Fall Events On Thursday, September 18, 4 – 7 p.m., the Blaffer Student Association (BSA) hosts the semi-annual Red Block Bash, this year held concurrently with a university-wide Arts Open House. In addition to free museum tours and

Musical performance by Minneapolis-based duo Beatrix*JAR during spring 2008’s Red Block Bash.

E Du cation/de v e lo pm e nt

refreshments, Fresh Arts Coalition members are partnering with us to provide entertainment, such as a t-shirt silkscreen station organized by DiverseWorks. We are also excited to present "Draw 'Til You Drop: Finding Texture," led by Francoise McAree, a painter and arts educator at the Rhode Island School of Design. We invite students to make their own artworks during this all-day workshop, finding objects on campus that can be used to illustrate texture in a transformative way. For more information about the Bash, visit www.blaffergallery.org/red_block_bash.html. To sign up for "Draw 'Til You Drop,” contact Katy Lopez at 713.743.9971 or klopez@uh.edu.

Students and adults create art during last year’s Studio Saturday.

On October 11, 1 – 4 p.m., art enthusiasts are invited to exercise their talents during Studio Saturday. Held in the Fine Arts Building courtyard, the event features free guided tours of the museum, free refreshments, and a unique art activity that will spark creativity. Whether working individually or collectively, participants are sure to enjoy the thrill of making art.

Is Blaffer in your will?

Blaffer Website Adds Interactive Features Your favorite interactive resources are now at www.blaffergallery.org. We’ve begun adding links to videos, podcasts, and online reviews on the Artist interviews are now online at exhibition Web pages. These added www.blaffergallery.org. features will help you learn more about our featured artists and work on view at the museum. Community Members Celebrate Blaffer Exhibitions Blaffer Gallery is proud to announce recent generous grants and in-kind contributions from the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in support of Existed: Leonardo Drew; from Continental Airlines in support of Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion; and from Chris and Don Sanders in support of Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation. Special thanks to Houston Endowment Inc. for its overwhelming support of the 2008/2009 exhibition season. We are deeply appreciative and extend our thanks to all for recognizing the importance of exhibitions and programs that operate on the cutting-edge of contemporary culture. It’s Annual Fund Time! Blaffer Gallery is gearing up for its third annual appeal. Please help us reach our 2008/2009 Annual Fund goal of $65,000. Be on the lookout for more information coming soon. As always, you can donate online through the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences giving website at https://giving.uh.edu/class/, or contact Susan Conaway at 713.743.9537 or seconaway@uh.edu.

Visit us at www.uh.edu/plannedgiving

B laf f e r Par tn e rs LEAD SPONSORS George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation Houston Endowment Inc. MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance Jane Blaffer Owen Joanne and Derby Wilson PROGRAM PARTNERS The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation Institute of Museum and Library Services Occidental Energy Marketing, Inc. Louisa Stude Sarofim Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Dorothy Carsey Sumner Ellen and Steve Susman The Visionary Initiatives Fund Vicky and Don Eastveld, Miranda and Dan Wainberg, Founding Members DIRECTOR’S COUNCIL Marita and Jonathan Fairbanks Gretchen and Andrew McFarland Lisa and Russell Sherrill DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE Jo and Jim Furr/Gensler John P. McGovern Foundation Chris and Don Sanders Texan-French Alliance for the Arts/ Levant Foundation Texas Commission on the Arts Texas State Bank DIRECTOR’S PARTNERS Nancy C. Allen Andrews Kurth LLP Baker Hughes Foundation Raymona and William Bomar Katy and Michael Casey Mary Kay and Robert Casey, Jr. Consulate General of France Linda and Simon Eyles Karen and Stephan Farber Claudia and David Hatcher Karen and Eric Pulaski Philanthropic Fund Cornelia and Meredith Long Nancy and Robert Martin The Michael & Rebecca Cemo Foundation Meg and Nelson Murray Judy and Scott Nyquist Jane Dale Owen Jennifer Smith and Peter Ragauss Richard Stodder Charitable Foundation Minnette and Jerome Robinson Carey C. Shuart

Stephen W. and Marilyn R. Miles Foundation Vinson & Elkins LLP VISIONARY PARTNERS Anonymous Donor Chinhui and Eddie Allen Emily Baker and Gerardo Amelio Mary Criner Blake The Brown Foundation Buck Family Foundation Kristen and David Buck Dr. Fran Sicola Cardwell Tammy and Bob Casey, III Center Point Energy Jereann and Robert Chaney Sallie Morian and Michael Clark Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Crescent Real Estate Equities Limited Rania and Jamal Daniel Marita and Jonathan Fairbanks Terrie Sultan and Christopher French Gastonia and Gordon Goodman Ryan Gordon Ann and Jim Harithas Pablo and Maria Cristina Henning Mary Johnston Joan and Marvin Kaplan Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner, III Gretchen and Andrew McFarland Lester Marks and Penelope Gonzalez Marks Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. The Mitsui USA Foundation Moody Gallery Mr. and Mrs. Robert N. Murray Morgan Dunn O’Connor Veronica Reed Shirley and Don Rose Karen and Scott Rozzell Wilhelmina R. Smith Hillary Stratton Cynthia Toles Nancy and Sidney Williams Isabel Brown Wilson E. Wayne Wood FOUNDING PARTNERS Carol and A. L. Ballard Toni and Jeffery Beauchamp Booker-Lowe Gallery and Lowe and Booker Charitable Trust Amy Sutton and Gary Chiles Sheila Coogan Susie and Sanford Criner David Stone Interior Design Krista and Michael Dumas Victor B. Flatt Global Imports for UBS Julie Greenwood Paula and John Hansen Nancy and Carter Hixon Houston Assembly of Delphian Chapters Leslie Hull Anne and Lee Leonard

Katherine and David Lucke Clare Casademont and Michael Metz Judy and James Nicklos Cabrina and Steven Owsley Edna and J. A. Robins Beverly and Howard Robinson Jackie and Richard Schmeal Lisa and Russell Sherrill Leigh and Reggie Smith William F. Stern Kelley and Harper Trammell Mr. and Mrs. Ronald B. Walker Wilhelmina W. (Beth) Robertson Fund THE MARTHA MEIER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUND Andrew T. Anton Lavinia and Stephen Boyd Mary Ann and Robert Brezina Linda Buchanan Peggy and Thomas Caskey Grayson Cecil Michael Chmiel Sallie Morian and Michael Clark Mabeth and Kenneth Coleman Nancy and Bert Corkill Joan K. Bruchas and H. Philip Cowdin Dean DeVoss Dianne and Robert Edmonson Jennifer Fichter Carol and Dave Fleming Michael France Cathy Coers and Jay Frank Edward Gomulka Caroline Caskey Goodner Paul D. Grossbard Amir Halevy Warren Haley Tissy and Rusty Hardin Helene and Tod Harding Adana and Chris Haynes Marilyn Hermance Bonnie Hibbert Julia Jervis and O.L. Kirkpatrick Billie Koetter Jim Kollaer Shirley A. Kopecky William Lewis Linda and David Lynn Gundula McCandless Terry S. Mahaffey Marsha Amdur Malev Pat Malone Marie Mansour-Partridge Martha Meier Family Estate Clark Martin Nancy and Robert Martin Emily Miller Betty Moody Nancy and Lucian Morrison National School of Public Relations Association Nolan-Rankin Galleries, Inc. Marilyn O’Connor and Don Gill Custom Homes

Monica and Mark Oathout Janet and Tony Parisi Ada Perry Terri and David Peterson Earline Jones and Mike Prescott Peggy Vineyard and Jim Pruitt Sally and Norman Reynolds Norma and Davis Richardson David W. Roark Shirley and Donald Rose Billie and John Schneider Natalie C. Schwarz Carolyn and Calvin Simpson Mary Ann and Neal Simpson Gina and Kenneth Sones Grayson and John Stokes Gwyn and Tolis Thanos Ann and David Tomatz Corinne and Charles Tracy Mary Faye and Peter Way Linda J. Webb Nancy and Jim Willerson Clinton T. Willour Dorothy Wright William A. Zugheri IN-KIND Seth Alverson Armando’s Mary and Bernard Arocha Basiques Deborah Bay Bergner and Johnson Design William Betts Melissa Borrell Bright Star Productions, Inc. City Kitchen Sasha Dela Jonathan Durham Emilie Duval Fotofest Michael Guidry Maria Guzman Kara Hearn Hana Hillerova Allison Hunter Hedwige Jacobs Andres Janacua Nicholas Kersulis Mindy Kober Jonathan C. Leach Lynne McCabe Marcelyn McNeil Masterson Design Mixed Emotions Fine Art Teresa Munisteri Jessica Ninci McKay Otto Peel Gallery Ariane Roesch Carolyn Rose Saint Arnold Brewing Company Savage Design Anthony Thompson Shumate TEBO Design Shane Tolbert Tootsie’s Sergio Torres-Torres Tupelo Grease Co.

Kelly Ulcak Katherine Veneman David Waddell Lillian Warren Jeff Williams Audry Worster Recent Gifts (As of August 6, 2008) The Adler Foundation AXA Art Insurance Corp. Gundrun and Karl H. Becker Devin Borden Cynthia and Laurence Burns, Jr. Antoinette Calvert Chris Cheaney Mary and Roy Cullen Russell Duesterhoft Colette and William Durbin Jennifer and John Elliott Catherine Essinger Diane and Harry Gendel Valerie and Wiley George Cindy and Allen Graham Mina and Dan Graur Robert T. Greenstein Cynthia and Ben Guill Kathy Heard Dorene and Frank Herzog Kim and Mike Howard Kerry Inman Betsy M. Johnson Mimi Kilgore Frazier King Sharon and Gus Kopriva Kroger Lawrence Markey, Inc. Ellen and Leo Linbeck, III Liza and Lee Littlefield Nancy and Erik Littlejohn Anstis and Victor Lundy Matilda B. Melnick Melissa Miller Diane and David Modesett Nancy Powell Moore Celia and Jay Munisteri Susan and Edward Osterberg Janet and Tony Parisi Beth and Wayne Pickett Pippa Wiley Insurance Agency Carol and Dan Price Lori Priess Lisanne and Jim Rogers Safeway, Inc. Brian Shaw Lucy Anderson and Jeff Shore Alisa Stevenson-Williams Patti and Ryan Stoddart Richard Stout Suzanne and John Sutterby Lori Anne Thomas Colette Vallot Lillian and Robert Warren David Ashley White Xiaojing Yuan All efforts are made to be accurate. If you identify incorrect information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at 713.743.9537.

B laf f e r G alle ry Par tn e rship s $35+ Community Partner

$250+ Leading Partner

$2,500+ Corporate or Director’s Partner

• 10% discount on museum catalogues and purchases • Advance notice to all exhibition previews, lectures and events • Invitations to select museum programs • Subscription to Blaffer Gallery’s newsletter, Newsline

All of Supporting Partner benefits plus: • Complimentary copy of any one Blaffer Gallery publication • Invitation to two special events organized by Blaffer Gallery

All of Visionary Partner benefits plus • Complimentary copies of select exhibition catalogues • Recognition on promotional literature for twelve months • Special cocktail reception with the Director

$100+ Supporting Partner All of Community Partner benefits plus: • 25% discount on museum catalogues and purchases • Invitation to one special event organized by Blaffer Gallery • Invitation to members-only day trip and travel opportunities

$500+ Founding Partner All of Leading Partner benefits plus: • Complimentary copy of any one exhibition catalogue • Recognition in Newsline

$1,000+ Visionary Partner All of Founding Partner benefits plus: • Invitation to private events to meet visiting artists and curators • Recognition on the museum’s entry wall

$5,000+ Corporate or Director’s Circle All of Corporate or Director’s Partner benefits plus: • The opportunity to host a private function at Blaffer Gallery • Dinner with the Director for two

Exclusive benefits for $10,000+ Program Partners, $25,000+ Major Contributors, and $50,000+ Lead Sponsors are available. Please call 713.743.9528.

M e mb e rship – Join th e B laf f e r ❑ New Membership

❑ Renewal Membership

Name (please print name as you would like to be listed)

❑ A check for made payable to University of Houston Blaffer Gallery is enclosed. ❑ Credit Card Number (MC, VISA, AmEx.,Disc.)

Address

City State Zip

❑ Supporting Partner $100+ ❑ Leading Partner $250+

Expiration Date

❑ Founding Partner $500+

Name (as it appears on card)

❑ Visionary Partner $1,000+

Signature

Phone Fax

❑ Community Partner $35+

Please complete and mail to:

Membership Office Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum of the University of Houston 120 Fine Arts Building • Houston, TX 77204-4018

8HHAA00730⁄4041⁄H0097⁄C0717⁄NA⁄41311-42904

❑ Corporate or Director’s Partner $2,500+ ❑ Corporate or Director’s Circle $5,000+ For more information call 713.743.9528 or visit us online at www.blaffergallery.org

Entrance 16 Cullen Boulevard

From I-45 South

Location

Parking

Blaffer Gallery is located in the Fine Arts Building on the University of Houston’s central campus, Entrance 16 off Cullen Boulevard, near the intersection of Cullen and Elgin.

Reserved parking for museum visitors is along the front of parking lot 16B directly across from the Fine Arts Building. Visitors parking in the reserved area should check in at the museum’s front desk.

Directions

Hours

From Downtown and points North:

To Do w

ntown

Hous ton

Elgin Avenue

Blaffer Gallery

45 From I-45 North

Take I-45 South toward Galveston. Exit #44C Cullen Boulevard. Turn right onto Cullen. Pass through the light at Elgin. Turn left into Entrance 16. From points South: Take I-45 North towards Downtown. Exit #44A Elgin-Lockwood⁄Cullen Boulevard and continue on feeder road. Turn left onto Cullen Boulevard. Turn left into Entrance 16.

Front Cover :

xhibitions

For information call

Celebutants, Groupies, and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation September 13 – October 18, 2008 Young Artist Apprenticeship Program Exhibition October 25 – November 15, 2008 2008 School of Art Annual Student Exhibition December 6 – December 20, 2008 Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry The Center for Land Use Interpretation January 17 – March 28, 2009

2009 School of Art Masters Thesis Exhibition April 11 – 25, 2009 Existed: Leonardo Drew May 16 – August 1, 2009

Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and University holidays. All exhibitions and related programs are free and open to the public. The museum is ADA compliant.

Jesper Just It Will All End in Tears, 2006 (video still) Anamorphic 35 mm film transferred to HDV, color, sound 20:00 Courtesy Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York © Jesper Just, 2005–2007

Andy Warhol Princess Caroline of Monaco, 1983 Polacolor ER, 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches Collection University of Houston; Gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

713.743.9530 or visit us online at www.blaffergallery.org

Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion September 13 – November 15, 2008

Electric Mud January 17 – March 28, 2009

Edward Burtynsky Shipbreaking No. 50, Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2001 C-print 22 1/2 x 45 inches Courtesy Charles Cowles Gallery, New York © Edward Burtynsky

Open Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Non-Profit Org. U.S.Postage PAID Houston, TX Permit No. 5910