FOLLY

ONE OF JORGE PARDO’S MOST AMBITIOUS ARCHITECTURAL

INSTALLATIONS TO DATE AS WELL AS THE SECOND GROVE COMMISSION, PUBLIC ART UHS’ FLAGSHIP TEMPORARY PUBLIC ART PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON.

IT IS A SITE-SPECIFIC RESPONSE TO WILHELMINA’S GROVE, ONE OF THE LAST ORIGINAL WOODED AREAS REMAINING AT UH.

BY ARTHUR DEMICHELI

Public Art of the University of Houston System (Public Art UHS), an arts organization that serves multiple campuses across the UH System and the greater Houston community, last Fall unveils its newest temporary installation: Folly by Mexico-based Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo. This work marks the third project in Public Art UHS’s temporary public art program and the second site-specific Grove Commission developed for Wilhelmina’s Grove, a serene on-campus gathering space anchoring the UH Arts District. The Temporary Public Art Program of the University of Houston System is generously supported by The Brown Foundation, Inc.

Jorge Pardo describes Folly as “… a group of paintings…a little building…amongst some trees…a folly…” Inspired by a garden folly—a decorative structure meant for delight rather than function—Folly blurs the lines between art, architecture and design. From the outside, the work appears to be a simple building; once inside, visitors are immersed in a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors, eclectic patterns and a variety of materials and scales. Pardo’s piece features laser-cut, hand-painted wall panels, which are complemented by the artist’s signature sculptural chandeliers. Folly is meant to be appreciated slowly, over time, as its overall experience changes with the shifting sun and lighting conditions.

Folly debunks traditional views on follies as purely ornamental structures that lack utility. Pardo’s intent is for the work to heighten the capacity to “structure to our looking” across the wooded space it inhabits. At the same time, he treats the interior as a vast canvas, folding in his ubiquitous palette of vibrant colors, dizzying patterns, and dramatic lighting elements. In this sense, Folly produces great visual delight yet, conceptually, it also begs us to question the distinctions between fine art and design.

Folly is on view through 2023. Public Art UHS invites visitors to explore Folly by visiting the installation during opening hours between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

About Public Art

Established in 1969, Public Art of the University of Houston System is the oldest, most significant and only collecting arts organization within the University of Houston System, the fourth-largest university system in Texas. Through robust programing, publications, research and collection, it serves diverse communities throughout greater Houston and Southeast Texas as well as stakeholders including more than 74,000 students and nearly 10,000 faculty and staff. Public Art UHS oversees the permanent collection of the four UH System universities, which is one of the most significant university-based art collections in the United States.

About Jorge Pardo

Born in Havana and raised in Chicago, Pardo studied biology at the University of Illinois but his gift for painting led him to pursue a BFA from California’s ArtCenter College of Design. His first show after graduation—an exhibition of reimagined household tools held at Tom Solomon’s Garage in 1990—completely sold out. Over the course of his career, he’s landed in the collections of the Whitney, MoMA, the Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou, among others, and earned a coveted MacArthur “Genius” Grant.