ArtHouston Magazine issue #13

{ CRYPTO VISION }

{ CALDER-PICASSO }

{ SCULPTURE MONTH HOUSTON }

{ ART POWER }

{ LATINX ART }

artH O U S T O N V I S U A L A RT S , C U LT U R E , R E V I E W S

ISSUE 13

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PUBLISHER’S LETTER 3

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Nobody ever changed the world by doing what everyone else was doing.

– Mark Cuban

ith the explosion of blockchain news, tweets for sale, and NFTs, you might be wondering how this new phenomenon is transforming the digital art world and what is an NFT? NFT stands for “non-fungible token” that are used to prove scarcity and ownership of a digital asset and are becoming increasingly popular in the art, music, and gaming worlds. An NFT can either be one-of-a-kind or can be one copy of many, in a blockchain, which keeps track of who has ownership of the file.

It’s a lot to digest! So in this issue, I’d urge you to read the in-depth article written by Morgan Cronin. We sent her on an assignment in New York City to decipher the NFTs and the latest crypto-craze.

NFTs can work like any other speculative asset, where you buy it and hope that the value of it goes up one day, so you can sell it for a profit. The market has grown, as eight-figure auctions have shown, and that’s good news for collectors and artists alike.

As a matter of fact someone recently bought a $69 million dollar piece of digital art, which surprisingly everyone can view online, download, store, print, and enjoy.

I have real difficulties grasping this abstract “ownership” of art you pretend that you own, and I wonder if we should treat NFTs like they’re the future of fine art collecting or just a bubble.

Yours faithfully.

John Bernhard

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CONTENTS

PUBLISHER’S LETTER 3

NEWS BITS 6

BOOK REVIEWS 10 COUPS DE CŒUR 12

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Crypto Vision Morgan Cronin 22

GALLERY LISTINGS 60

Calder-Picasso Sabrina Bernhard

REVIEWS 66

* SAIDA CARTER 72

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To See or Not to See John Bernhard 28

* STAC EY A L L E N 74

Niki de Saint Phalle Arthur Demicheli

EXPOSURE 76 COLOPHON 79

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Sculpture Month Festival Haley Berkman Karren 36

EDITOR’S PICK 80

Lauren Anderson JT Morse 42

Withstand: Latinx Art * Fresh Arts’ interviews

Amanda Andrade 48

HCCC: In Residence Arthur Demicheli 50

Reeves Art+Design John Bernhard 56

Art Power Karine Parker and Christian Perkins

ON THE COVER: Alexander Calder, My Shop, 1955, oil on canvas, © 2021 Calder Foundation, New York, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Sanctuary John Bernhard 70

Taco Art William Hanhausen

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news bits

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FALL BIANNUAL

Sawyer Yards

ENCHANTED: VISUAL HISTORIES OF THE CENTRAL ANDES The Menil Collection A survey of continuity and change in Andean visual cultures—from ancient civilizations through the 21st century—with the museum’s first display of ceramics, textiles, photographs, and festival dress from the region Running along the western side of South America, the Andean Mountains have supported a rich, interconnected series of civilizations and empires for more than 3,000 years. Surveying this captivating, multifaceted world, the Menil Collection Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes exhibition showcases works from the museum’s collection and loans from the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM. More than forty objects from different historical moments of Andean history are on view—including polychrome ceramic vessels of the Nazca culture (ca. 100 BCE–800 CE), important textiles from the Wari (ca. 600–1000 CE) and Chimú (ca. 1150–1450) civilizations, and 20th–21st century examples of elaborately embroidered esclavinas (short capes) and monteras (hats) worn during religious festivals in Peru. Complementing these objects is a selection of gelatin silver photographic prints by Pierre Verger, also known as Fátúmbí (1902–1996). Verger’s images of religious festivals in the Andes, taken between 1939 and 1945, highlight the costumes, dances, and dramatic moments of these annual events.

Rebecca Rabinow, Director of the Menil Collection, said, “Photographer Pierre Verger’s travels through the Andes in the 1940s were made possible, in part, thanks to the financial support of John and Dominique de Menil. The two portfolios of gelatin silver prints that he gave the couple at the time have never before been exhibited, which prompted Menil Curator of Collections Paul R. Davis to study the photographs along with related material in the collection. The resulting exhibition and online publication celebrating Andean visual cultures coincides with the 200th anniversary of Peru’s independence.”

Paul R. Davis, Curator of Collections, said, “This project led me to explore the museum’s permanent collection of Andean art more deeply and how it connects to the Menil’s rich institutional history. After meeting Verger by chance in 1941 while visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina, John and Dominique de Menil formed relationships with some of the leading scholars on the Andes and assembled a unique collection of objects from that area. The Menil is pleased to share these artworks in Enchanted, accompanied by a robust online publication.” The exhibition is on view until November 14, 2021.

The Fall Biannual is the ultimate event of the year, enthusiasts and even those looking to purchase their first piece of art shouldn’t miss the chance to view and shop thousands of original works by the artists at Sawyer Yards, Houston’s largest creative campus. They will once again open their doors for a vibrant evening filled with art during the Sawyer Yards Fall Biannual Art Show & Sale. More than 350 artists from six buildings including The Silos, Winter Street Studios, Spring Street Studios, Silver Street Studios, Summer Street Studios and Sabine Street Studios invite the public to view and shop thousands of original works while meeting the artists and enjoying a fantastic array of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, glass, photography, mosaic, mixed media and jewelry.

Discover new artists and add a piece to your collection.

The event is FREE! Saturday October 2, 2021 from 5–9 pm.

AFRO-ATLANTIC HISTORIES

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Left: Textile Fragment Depicting Male Figure, Plants, and Monkeys, ca. 1400. Chimú, Peru. Photo by James Craven.

Right: Pierre Verger, Untitled, Fiesta de la Virgen, Copacabana, Bolivia), 1939-45. © Fundação Pierre Verger

In October, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will debut the U.S. tour of Afro-Atlantic Histories, an unprecedented exhibition that visually explores the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade.

The exhibition re-examines narratives of westward diaspora through works spanning five centuries from Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe.

On view from Sunday, October 24, 2021 through Sunday, January 23, 2022

NEWS BITS 7

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE, PHOTOGRAPHER Museum of Fine Arts, Houston A trove of Georgia O’Keeffe’s photographs on view for the first time in Houston Georgia O’Keeffe is a groundbreaking figure of American modernism, widely recognized for her paintings of New York skyscrapers, radical depictions of flowers, and stark landscapes of the American southwest. Less known is that she quietly honed a photography practice just as distinct as, yet complementary to, her paintings and drawings.

This October, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents the first exhibition devoted to O’Keeffe’s photographic practice with the debut of Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer. Organized in partnership with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, the exhibition reveals the wider scope of the artist’s career through some 90 photographs from a previously unstudied archive—a discovery led by MFAH associate curator of photography Lisa Volpe. Photographs in the exhibition will be complemented by 17 paintings and drawings of landscapes, flowers, and still lifes from public and private collections across the country.

“Georgia O’Keeffe has long been the subject of exhibitions, portraiture, and volumes of scholarship. She captivated the art world with her works on paper and canvas, yet her photography has never been studied or known despite being essential to her practice,” said Gary Tinterow, Director, the Margaret Alek Williams Chair, MFAH. “We are pleased to present this revelatory exhibition and expand appreciation of one of the most innovative and expressive artists our culture has produced.”

While Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) forged a career as one of the most significant painters of the 20th-century, she also had a lifelong connection to photography. Captured on film throughout her life –in early family photos, travel snapshots, and portraits by acavalcade of photographic artists including her husband, Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) --O’Keeffe was no stranger to the medium.

She expressed her unique perspective through all aspects of her life, and bythe time she began her photographic practice in the mid-1950s, her singular identity and artistry were well developed.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer is the culmination of three years of research led by Volpe, who analyzed hundreds of works in different collections and identified more than 400 photographic images by O’Keeffe. Volpe attributed, dated, and catalogued the photographs by examining small details in the images and analyzing the artist’s distinct style.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer will be on view in theUpper Brown Pavilion of theMFAH Caroline Wiess Law Building from Sunday, October 17, 2021 through Sunday, January 23, 2022 before travelling to the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; the Denver Art Museum; and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Todd Webb, Georgia O’Keeffe with Camera, 1959, inkjet print, © Todd Webb Archive Georgia O’Keeffe, In the Patio VIII, 1950, oil on canvas, © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

VICKI MEEK

ART GRANTS

IN PLACE OF AN INDEX

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2021 Texas Artist of the Year

Houston Arts Alliance

FotoFest

Art League Houston (ALH) is honored to celebrate Dallasbased Artist Vicki Meek as the 2021 Texas Artist of the Year. Recognized as an artist, curator, writer, organizer and arts advocate, Meek’s career embodies the ethos of the Texas Artist of the Year award in her steadfast devotion to both the creation and support of the arts over the years.

Meek’s multimedia, interdisciplinary practice focuses on cultural memory, identity, and social issues in relation to the African diaspora, underscored by an underlying hope and emphasis on collective healing.

Meek’s exhibition at Art League Houston, The Journey to Me, thematically visualizes her development as an artist through a curated series of three site-specific installations extending throughout the ALH galleries.

Exhibition on view until February 5, 2022.

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) awards $5.6 Million in Grants to 132 arts and culture nonprofit organizations.

The grants will fund sponsored projects across the City that will offer public exhibitions, presentations, and performances in 2021.

“City funding offers critical support to arts and cultural institutions as well as individual artists,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Although the arts sector and artists sustained significant losses due to the global pandemic, they were still able to innovate, entertain, and bring joy and light into our lives. While economic recovery continues as vaccination levels rise, Houston recognizes art is integral to a vibrant city, and a necessary driver of our local economy.”

The funds were awarded via the Support for Organizations grant program, which supports nonprofit organizations and fiscally sponsored projects with annual arts and cultural programming that is available to Houston residents and visitors.

This competitive grant program is managed and administered annually by the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) and is funded by a portion of the City’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT).

Houston Arts Alliance is a local arts and culture organization whose principal work is to implement the City of Houston’s vision, values, and goals for its arts grantmaking and civic art investments. HAA’s work is conducted through contracts with the City of Houston, overseen

by MOCA. HAA also executes privately funded special projects to meet the needs of the arts community. In short, HAA helps artists and nonprofits be bold, productive, and strong.

To learn more visit: www.houstonartsalliance.com.

In Place of an Index is a group exhibition featuring 12 artists native to or currently living and working in Texas. The exhibition is produced and presented in conjunction with the 2021 Texas Biennial exhibition, A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon. The exhibition is a curatorial collaboration between Max Fields and Texas Biennial curators Ryan N. Dennis and Evan Garza.

In Place of an Index addresses historical narratives from a position of potentiality, rather than construct or add to a timeline, archive, or index of history and experience. Featured artists situate personal and political narratives outside of fixed contexts, and their work suggests that historical narratives are fluid, and can be revisited, rewritten, and reimagined. Featured artists’ respective practices address historical documentation and narrativization from the perspective of what Ariella Azoulay calls potential history, “[the] effort to make history impossible and to engage with the world from a non-progressive approach, to engage with the outcome of imperial violence as if it is taking place here and now.” The exhibition title, In Place of an Index, refers to Azoulay’s notion of potentiality, suggesting an alternative to an index of time, space, and experience that exists in opposition to a dominant ideology and forms of hegemonic narrativization. Through various photographic means, each of the featured artists use or make references to archives or archival images and histories, and in doing so invite or create new meaning, potentiality, and relations to contemporary media and culture.

Featured artists: Regina Agu, Travis Boyer, Tay Butler, Ja’Tovia Gary, Ryan Hawk, Baseera Khan, Autumn Knight, Annette Lawrence, Adam Marnie and Aura Rosenberg, Stephanie Concepcion Ramirez, Kara Springer.

On view: September 2–November 13, 2021 at Silver Street Studios 2000 Edwards Street, Wednesday–Saturday from 11am–5pm.

Vicki Meek. Photo by Nan Coulter

“As an artist obtaining a Master of Fine Arts at the height of the Black Power Movement, it is not surprising that my work embraces a political outlook...”

Tay Butler, The great Southern Drive (detail(, 2021. Found signs, clock, travel, ephemera, and images, silkscreen collage. Commissioned by FotoFest.

Courtesy of the artist.

JURAJ VALČUHA: NEXT MUSIC DIRECTOR Houston Symphony

NEWS BITS 9

Internationally acclaimed conductor Juraj Valčuha is the Houston Symphony’s new Music Director. Photography by Luciano Romano.

On July 14, Houston Symphony Board of Trustees President John Rydman and Executive Director and CEO John Mangum announced Juraj Valčuha as the Houston Symphony’s new Music Director. Valčuha will succeed Andrés Orozco-Estrada, whose tenure concludes at the end of the 2021-22 Season.

An internationally acclaimed conductor, Valčuha previously served as the Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai from 2009 to 2016. He also serves as Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, and First Guest Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

Valčuha made his debut with the Houston Symphony as a guest conductor in 2011. He returned to lead the orchestra during both the 2017–18 and 2020–21 Seasons, with programs that included Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, and Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. Musicians, trustees, and staff alike were drawn to Valčuha for his authenticity and passion, his artistic excellence, and his ability to wordlessly communicate through his deeply expressive gestures.

“We are thrilled to announce Juraj Valčuha as our next artistic leader,” said John Mangum, Houston Symphony Executive Director and CEO. “During our search for a new Music Director, we were fortunate to narrow our selection to a superb group of individuals. An incredibly accomplished conductor with precise attention to detail, Juraj stood out for his evident chemistry with Symphony musicians and his commitment to musical excellence. We know that he will build upon the work of the Music Directors before him to support the highest level of performance imaginable for our

musicians. I look forward to welcoming him back to the Jones Hall stage.”

“Our goal is to make the Houston Symphony accessible to the greatest number of individuals possible,” said John Rydman, President of the Houston Symphony Board of Trustees. “We were drawn to Juraj’s history of community engagement and his desire to foster the connection between our musicians and the surrounding communities. He is an extraordinary individual both on and off of the podium.”

“I’m honored to have been chosen as the new Music Director of the Houston Symphony,” said Juraj Valčuha.

“It was very rewarding to conduct the Symphony last March and bring joy and hope to a live audience during a difficult time. These musicians are open-minded and versatile, and I feel that we are in perfect harmony. We share a dedication to high artistic qualities and music making and I know we will create a unique and powerful musical experience for Symphony patrons.”

The selection is a result of a ten-member search committee led by Miles O. Smith, Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs of the Houston Symphony Board of Trustees, and made up of Houston Symphony musicians, board members, and staff.

Valčuha will return to Houston on May 27–29, 2022, to lead the orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Choral for the 2021–22 Season finale. He will make his first official appearance as Music Director of the Houston Symphony on September 17, 2022 and will return for nine weeks of the 2022–23 Season. More details will be announced in Spring 2022.

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book reviews

King Ranch A Legacy in Art

The Art of David Everett Another World

African Artists: From 1882 to Now

In King Ranch: A Legacy in Art, editors Bob Kinnan, William E. Reaves, and Linda J. Reaves have assembled a team of collaborators to present a beautiful, informative account of the ranch and its place in the artistic heritage of the region. Pairing original paintings by artist Noe Perez with insightful essays from curators Bruce Shackelford and Ron Tyler, this book celebrates the many ways “King Ranch culture” has enriched appreciation for the decorative, practical, and fine arts in Texas and the greater American West.

Texas A&M University Press, 2021

Austin artist David Everett was born and raised in Texas, and his work reflects an organic and wholly original Lone Star State ethos. His stunning vision and exquisite craftsmanship evoke nature’s essential grace and harmony in beautiful sculptures, bas-relief carvings, woodcuts, and drawings. The heart of the book is the abundant collection of breathtaking, full-color reproductions of Everett’s work. Here, the reader gains a vivid view of how Everett’s artistic instincts have been nurtured by life experiences and a maturing aesthetic rooted in tradition.

Texas A&M University Press, 2021

A groundbreaking A-Z appraisal of the work of over 300 modern and contemporary artists born or based in Africa. In recent years Africa’s booming art scene has gained substantial global attention, with a growing number of international exhibitions and a stronger-than-ever presence on the art market worldwide. Here, for the first time, is the most substantial survey to date of modern and contemporary African-born or Africa-based artists.

Working with a panel of experts, this volume builds on the success of Phaidon’s bestselling Great Women Artists in re-writing a more inclusive and diverse version of art history.

Phaidon Press, 2021

How To Become A Successful Artist

Andy Summers A Certain Strangeness

MAGNUS RESCH

GILLES MORA

Written for artists of all levels, ages and mediums the latest book from bestselling author Magnus Resch explores how artists can have a career in the field they love.

This is a must-have business guide for all artists, written by the leading specialist in the global art market.

Phaidon Press, 2021

Andy Summers, guitarist of the rock band The Police, presents the visual equivalent to his musical work in this career-spanning collection of photographs, accompanied by essays from Summers and prominent French photographer editor, and critic Gilles Mora. Copublication with Editions Hazan. University of Texas Press, 2019

NOE PEREZ

BECKY DUVAL REESE

PHAIDON EDITORS

Hollywood Shutdown KATE FORTMUELLER

A concise and timely analysis of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on film and television production, distribution, and exhibition in the first nine months of 2020. University of Texas Press, 2018

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coups de cœur

SCULPTOR

Michael Sean Kirby Michael Sean Kirby works with a variety of materials: bronze, stone, fiber, concrete and clay.

As both a sculptor and teacher, part of his practice is to question the potential of a line moving through space and creating a form. His current work introduces color and surface into a playful yet methodical working process. www.michaelseankirby.com

ARTIST

Chloe Darke Chloe Darke is currently an artist in residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. HCCC’s In Residence: 14th Edition features two of the pieces she has made during the course of her residency.

The exhibition will run until October 9, 2021. www. chloedarke.com

ARTIST

Sharon Kyle Sharon Kyle is an American multidisciplinary artist working in assemblage, mixed media, encaustic, painting, works on paper, and sculpture.

She often incorporates in her work found “ordinary” objects and industrial materials. www.sharonkyle.art

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ARTIST

Bismark Alejandro Rex “As an artist, one feels the civic duty to the people. Just as early graffiti spoke unspoken truths, as sacred as the ancient texts, to the primitive human cave drawings.

I consider my work as a study to beauty in art and respect to past minds that have developed us as a civilization.” https://iuplr.org/artist/bismark-alejandro/

ARTIST

LaMonté French LaMonté French is a self-taught abstract-expressionist artist born and raised in Houston, Texas.

He calls is work a “Simplistic Complexity”. Matching colors to words and layering canvases with raw materials and content. @french_lamonte

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CRYPTO V I S I ON

HOW THE ART WORLD IS CASHING IN ON NFTS

BY MORGAN CRONIN

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“You ever watch Sci-Fi growing up and you see spaceships?” Edward Zipco, Co-founder and Director of Superchief Gallery NFT asks while sitting across from me on Zoom. “You see these people living on planets that are normal people, how? There’s not like five billionaires with spaceships. It’s like… there’s spaceships and everybodys got them.”

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Zipco and I are discussing NFTs, which stands for “nonfungible token,” the blockchain, and cryptocurrency.

Buzzwords that seem to permeate mainstream media. In the most basic definition, NFTs can be defined as digital art. When I first heard the term NFT in the early days of the pandemic, I found myself scrolling TikTok and came across influencer and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary Vee, as he is referenced online, is the co-founder of restaurant reservation app Resy. He was also an early investor in Coinbase, Snap, Venmo, and Twitter. Gary Vee garnered a following with his brash, no-nonsense advice urging his followers into crypto, specifically NFTs. “NFTs are going be a big part of [our] lives. I really believe that. I think this is going to be a big market.” He says in one of his TikTok videos.

Superchief Gallery NFT is the first NFT Gallery in the world. When I asked Zipco why he wanted to dedicate a gallery solely to NFTs, he replied, “I think it’s important to focus on showing what these things look like when you own them and live with them. I think other locations are doing what they do and then selling you something for your phone. What I want to do with this specific gallery is to focus on what we do as curators, and as people in the community. If there is an opportunity to showcase NFTs at the highest level, that’s what we’re looking to do, and then bring our artists to that focus.”

On the surface, I had come to understand NFTs as limited-edition digital art, which is one use-case, but the function of the blockchain allows NFTs to expand exponentially beyond digital art. Jonathan Herman, Sports Marketer, and founder of BallerMR.com, explains NFTs as “a format to limit the duplication of digital content

Above: Superchief Gallery NFT, the first NFT gallery in the world in New York City.

Right page: Every Woman Biennial exhibition Previous spread: Jake Fried’s exhibition Photos by Kristin Otharsson Courtesy of Superchief Gallery NFT

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Yao Ming NFT Jersey , viewable with Adobe Aero and other augmented reality apps.

BallerMR’s 3D-AR NFTs can be made as small as a matchbook or as large as a 20-story building.

Photo courtesy of BallerMR.com.

by using blockchain technology that encrypts digital files.

NFTs allow users to verify the authenticity of a limited number of copies produced by the content creator, and therefore create scarcity and value appreciation for [the] collectible items.”

One of the most well-known crypto artists Beeple, pseudonym of digital artist Mike Winkelmann, made headlines when Christies auctioned his NFT “The First 5,000 Days” and sold it for a whopping $69.3 million. The piece is a collection of digital work that spans 13 years. Beeple entered the NFT market in October of 2020 when he heard how much money artists (many much less famous than him) were making. He started doing his own drops, including limited-edition sales of his “Everydays” collection, which drew attention from collectors Vignesh Sundaresan and Anand Venkateswaran, the founders of Metapurse. When

Sundaresan and Venkateswaran caught word of Beeple’s NFT drops, they began collecting the work early and were ultimately the ones to offer the $69.3 million bid.

Clive Thompson from The New York Times outlines the collectors’ plans for Beeple’s art saying, “for the first purchase – they bought plots in three online 3-D worlds and hired a team of designers to build virtual museums in each, filling them with Beeple’s art.” Thompson then described his virtual meeting with Sundaresan inside one of the museums where they wandered around as avatars. Thompson continues to relay that museums were only the beginning of their plan. Next, they wanted to turn Beeple’s work into a new cryptocurrency. They took the “Everydays” NFTs they had bought to create a new set of NFT tokens— 10 million in total— and called the new currency B2O. These tokens now represent fractional ownership in Beeple’s work, and Sundaresan and Venkateswaran will continue to pay Beeple royalties anytime his work is traded or resold.

“A big part of NFTs is royalties for artists,” says Zipco.

“To bring high level artists to this medium is to legitimize the medium. This is the first time that artists have been considered in the commercial application of their art. They are finally able to be considered long-term and taken care of in a more symbiotic relationship.”

This digital exploration of virtual museums is a foray into what serious crypto enthusiasts refer to as the metaverse.

It’s easy to imagine a future where we are surrounded by digital depictions of everything that we know in the tangible world. “The digital world, the metaverse, the NFT sphere is really exciting right now because it is at minimum a mirror to everything that we know that exists right now,” says Zipco. “The exciting part of it is that we finally don’t have that limitation because that is the bare minimum that can be achieved through this. It really is about what you can do when you escape the limitations of tangible realitywhat would you do? What would an artist do?”

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Herman and his team are forging a path on the AR trend by creating augmented reality NFTs. “We hire and work with artists to create augmented reality versions of realworld items. Pick your favorite singer and think about the microphone that she used when she did her first concert at Madison Square Garden. What if that microphone was created in augmented reality where the collector can, with these glasses, see it right in front of them? They can stand behind it in their living room and there’s only 20 in the world.”

Tech giants Facebook and Apple are already creating augmented reality glasses, and with the pandemic urging people to stay home, it makes sense why people have started curating a space for themselves in the digital world.

“We’ve had this shift because of the pandemic with people really staying at home more than going out,” says Herman. “A lot of people are going to be experiencing things sitting on their couch, so whether it’s augmented

“A

Zipco draws parallels between NFTs integration into the mainstream and his early days with the gallery when he wanted to showcase niche artists. “We were part of the underground New York scene when street art and graffiti was really just being allowed into the gallery system and fine art world,” says Zipco. “I watched our community go from not being allowed to participate, to being the darlings of this new type of art. When showing what digital artists from our community were doing, it was a lot of really great stuff, and we thought it was important to show, but we saw it was the same situation where they were being kept out of being taken seriously as something that has value and something that is art. We really had to fight to gain credibility and legitimacy for digital artists. Then NFTs came along, and we saw this as that moment. NFTs act as the mechanism that house digital art, which is arguably the medium of our time.”

big part of NFTs is royalties for artists. ”

reality, or virtual reality, a lot of people will be experiencing museums, and exhibits, and seeing art right from their home without actually going anywhere. This technology allows them to do that.”

The technology to which Herman is referring is the blockchain. In simple terms, blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change. It is essentially a digital ledger that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the server. It is also the place where crypto currency and NFTs exist. The uses of the blockchain are ever-expanding. Early adapters and supporters alike believe the technology is the next revolution, drawing many comparisons to the birth of the internet.

“The fact that there is a ledger online, on the blockchain, that proves provenance and can be transparent for the collector base, and much more accessible as people want to enter the secondary market to collect and sell, that’s never really been opened to the public to participate until this point,” says Zipco. “With major artists getting into the field, I think it’s how artists are going to use this as a new medium to express themselves and how the mechanism of an NFT will support transparency practices in the traditional art world as well.”

A main draw for NFTs and cryptocurrency is the decentralized aspect. Crypto artists, for example, can sell their work directly without the need for a hosting platform. Exchanges are peer-to-peer and logged on the blockchain. There is no way to con, and no way to scam because everything is coded on the digital ledger. What you see, is truly what you get.

While the blockchain may seem infallible, climate change activists are concerned with the amount of energy various cryptocurrencies utilize. “The project that’s being rolled out for Ethereum in the next 6-18 months is Ethereum 2.0–Ethereum 2.0 has a 99% reduction in electricity use which deals with that. Also, there are other crypto currencies that use a lot less, but the big deal is that the way energy is being gathered is changing.” Zipco tells me. “We are actually the first NFT marketplace that is carbon negative. When people buy NFTs from us, we’re purchasing verified carbon credits that more than exceed our use and that actively plant trees with satellite imagery.

It’s pretty sophisticated. We did the research and the due diligence to do it right.”

As for spaceships, Zipco says, “this is how it happens.

It’s cryptocurrency, and who gets involved now. It’s those who make the smart choices now. That’s how we get spaceships.”

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Calder-Picasso

BY SABRINA BERNHARD

Conceived by the artists’ grandsons, Bernard Ruiz–Picasso and Alexander S. C. Rower, and organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the exhibition explores the artistic synergy between two 20th-century icons and focuses on their exploration of the void, which both artists defined from the figure through to abstraction.

Pablo Picasso, Acrobat (Acrobate), Paris, 1930, oil on plywood, Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, Madrid. © 2021 Estate of Pablo Picasso, photograph © FABA, Hugard & Vanoverschelde

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Page 24 from left: Alexander Calder, Aztec Josephine Baker, 1930, wire, Calder Foundation, New York, promised gift of Holton Rower. © 2021 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yor. Pablo Picasso, Figure: Woman in Wire(Figure: femme en fil de fer), 1931, wire, Musée national Picasso-Paris, purchase, 1999. © 2021 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / photograph © RMN-Grand Palais, Adrien Didierjean.

Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso, seminal figures of 20th-century art, both ceaselessly challenged orthodox concepts about form, line, and space. The international touring exhibition Calder-Picasso, conceived by the artists’ grandsons Alexander S.C. Rower and Bernard RuizPicasso, presents a fascinating encounter between them.

The exhibition explores the artists’ prolific affinities through 80 works, integrating Calder’s paintings, drawings, and revolutionary mobiles and stabiles with Picasso’s radically inventive work in all media. Central to the many resonances is their shared conceptual interrogation of the void, or absence of space.

Calder-Picasso will be on view in Houston from October 31, 2021 through January 30, 2022 following presentations at the de Young museum in San Francisco and the High Museum of Artin Atlanta. Organized in partnership with the Calder Foundation, New York; Musée national Picasso-Paris (MNPP); and Fundación Alminey Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte (FABA), Calder-Picasso premiered at the MNPP in February 2019 before traveling to the Museo Picasso Málaga.

“I am enormously pleased to bring this acclaimed exhibition to the U.S., through our partners at the Calder Foundation and FABA and the Picasso museums in Málaga and Paris,” said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow. “The exhibition will be especially meaningful in Houston and at the MFAH. From director James Johnson Sweeney to patrons Ima Hogg, Sarah Campbell Blaffer and Caroline Wiess Law, the museum’s early champions of modernism made it possible for significant pieces by both artists to enter the collection in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”

“The stunning visual juxtapositions that this exhibition brings together are provocative, unpredictable, and dynamic,” said Ann Dumas, the Museum’s consulting curator of European Art. “They tell us much about the correspondence between these two great artists, as well as what makes them distinctive, allowing us to understand their process and unique innovations in a fresh, new light.”

American Alexander Calder (1898–1976) and Spaniard Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) were both born in the late

19thcentury to fathers who were classically trained artists.

Both headed for Paris as young artists; Picasso in 1900 and Calder in 1926. Though their lives and work shared many parallels, the two men were not close; known documentation shows them meeting on only four occasions.

Their initial encounter happened in April 1931, when Calder presented his first exhibition of non-objective sculptures at Galerie Percier in Paris. Picasso arrived before the opening to introduce himself and spend time with Calder’s radical works. Their paths crossed again in July 1937 at the Spanish Pavilion of the Exposition Internationale in Paris, where Calder’s Mercury Fountain was installed in front ofPicasso’s Guernica. They met again in Antibes in 1952 and Vallauris in 1953, after they had become celebrities and referents for their generation. By then, both had been recognized with retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York—Picasso in 1940 and Calder in 1943. Their work was also shown at the 1953 São Paulo Biennial, and both artists undertook commissions for UNESCO in 1958.

Calder and Picasso were both engaged by the relationship of volume to space. Calder explored the absence of mass in his sculptures, while Picasso expressed contortions of time in his figurative work.

Calder’s genius lies in his total recasting of the notion of sculpture. His figurative wire sculptures—defined by critics in 1929 as “drawings in space”—delineate transparent silhouettes, echoed by the shadows they project. In his abstract mobiles, Calder introduced the fourth dimension of time into traditional three-dimensional space. The mobiles are infinitely variable, blurring the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and choreography as they reset the traditional relationship between volume and void.

Picasso personalized his exploration of non-space, focusing on the emotional inner-self and collapsing the interpersonal space between painter and subject. His expressions of the void suggest a creative urgency, highly aware of mortality.

Both artists also pursued simplification to arrive at the essence of a subject. As Picasso simplified or purified the solidity of a figure, he gained access to its truth.

Alexander Calder, Acrobat, 1929, wire and wood, © 2021 Calder Foundation, New York, promised gift of Holton Rower, photograph © Calder Foundation, New York / Art Resource, New York

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to see or not to see

BY JOHN BERNHARD

WHAT IF ART SUDDENLY BECOMES INVISIBLE?

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Left page: A photo of Salvatore Garau’s Instagram post about the invisible art, Buddha in Contemplazione, in piazza della Scala, Milano, (Screenshot, Instagram) Below: Salvatore Garau, (Screenshot, Instagram)

“ I did not sell a ‘nothing’, but a void.

It is nothing more than a space full of energy.”

– Salvatore Garau

Are we witnessing the gradual disappearance of works? Last May, the invisible sculpture Io sono (I am) by Italian artist Salvatore Garau has been auctioned for $18,000 at the Italian auction house Art-Rite.

For the Italian artist, the void is a “place” of reflection.

Making an invisible sculpture constitutes “the perfect metaphor for the times we are living in”. In addition, the Sardinian artist gave strict instructions to the purchaser, who remained anonymous: the work must be installed in a private house, in the center of an empty room, and have a space of at least a five-byfive-foot free of obstruction.

“I did not sell a ‘nothing’, but a void. It is nothing more than a space full of energy. If we empty it and there is nothing left, according to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle - a concept of quantum mechanics - this vacuum has a weight. It condenses and turns into particles, and thus merges into us.”

This is not the first time that Salvatore Garau has presented an intangible work. Another of his invisible sculptures, Buddha In Contemplazione installation – a white square taped onto a cobbled street – has already taken over Piazza della Scala in Milan. ”You don’t see it but it exists; it is made of air and spirit,” he said of the piece. “It is a work that asks you to activate the power of the imagination, a power that anyone has, even those who don’t believe they have it.”

“When I decide to ‘exhibit’ an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain amount and density of thoughts at a precise point, creating a sculpture that, from my title, will only take the most varied forms,” Garau explained, adding: “After all, don’t we shape a God we’ve never seen?”

Art has often flirted with the invisible. This is not the first time that artists have questioned the notion of emptiness.

Already in 1958, the French artist Yves Klein, known for his monochrome paintings of a blue that bears his name (his famous International Klein Blue), produced the so-called “Void” exhibition at Iris Clert’s. The entrance to the gallery was through the hall of the building, visitors had to pass under a blue drapery which framed the door. The gallery windows and a display case inside were clouded blue.

Visitors were greatly surprised to discover a series of empty rooms with white painted walls. The void founded on nothing, which never begins and never ends. For Yves Klein it was a question of proposing an immaterialization of blue.

Just before dying, Yves Klein confided to a friend: “I am going to enter the largest workshop in the world. And I will only do intangible works there.”

Artists have long been known to play with and test the concept of value – in 2019, another Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan had a banana taped to a wall, which sold for $120,000 at Art Basel. And most recently, the boom in NFTs has also forced us to think about the value of intangible artworks.

Art, by nature, is considered to be a subjective field, it’s hard to say what does and does not constitute art today.

And the future of art definitely will continue to surprise us in so many aspects. The creativity, connection and communication it delivers will never change. But, what is changing is the way in which we connect with and purchase art, regardless of whether or not you can actually see it.

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NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE IN THE 1960S

BY ARTHUR DEMICHELI

The Menil Collection debuts first major U.S. exhibition to focus on the radical work of Niki de Saint Phalle during the 1960s—from the artist’s shooting paintings to her exuberant sculptures of women.

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Niki de Saint Phalle, Pirodactyl over New York, 1962. Paint, plaster, and objects on two wood panels, 98 × 122 × 11 in. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. Opposite page from top: Niki de Saint Phalle, Lili or Tony, 1965. Painted polyester resin, fabric, wire mesh, and collage, 81 × 51 × 51 in. Dragonfly Collection / Garance Primat. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. Photo by Aurélien Mole. Niki de Saint Phalle during a shooting session at Impasse Ronsin, Paris, 1962. Photo by André Morain

The exhibition Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s is the first show to focus on the experimental and prolific work of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) during this pivotal decade, featuring numerous works from European collections that will be displayed in the U.S. for the first time. The exhibition explores a transformative ten-year period in Saint Phalle’s work, when she embarked on two significant series: the Tirs, or “shooting paintings,” and the powerful Nanas, lively sculptures of the female form. Affirming the artist’s place in postwar art history, this show highlights these prescient works of performance, participatory, and feminist art, as well as her transatlantic projects and collaborations.

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s brings together major paintings, assemblages, and sculptures from this chapter in the artist’s career, as well as extensive film and photographic documentation from the Menil Archives.

Rebecca Rabinow, director of the Menil Collection, said: “Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s is the latest in a group of exhibitions organized by the Menil Collection that call attention to groundbreaking women artists, including our recent exhibition Virginia Jaramillo: The Curvilinear Paintings, 1969–1974; Roni Horn: When I Breathe, I Draw (2019); Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma (2018); and Lee Bontecou: Drawn Worlds (2014). Our Saint Phalle exhibition will include work that has never before been displayed in the United States, shedding light on the artist’s experimental processes, radical vision, and key role in contemporary art. The show will be accompanied by a scholarly book that is lavishly illustrated with archival photographs from this pivotal decade.”

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s opens with the artist’s Tirs, which she created using a .22 caliber rifle. Often standing in front of an audience, Saint Phalle and in-

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Niki de Saint Phalle, Gorgo in New York, 1962. Paint, plaster, wire, and objects on wood, 95 × 193 × 19 in. The MFAH, Gift of D. and J. de Menil. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation.

vited participants would shoot at white plaster surfaces that concealed imbedded bags of pigment or cans of paint, which would explode spectacularly upon the impact of the bullets. Saint Phalle explained that her intention was “to make a painting bleed.” Her paradoxical method of creating a work through destruction was intended as commentary on the ingrained violence of the culture, as well as a feminist assault the tradition of modern painting.

The exhibition continues with Saint Phalle’s explorations of gender identity through figural assemblages representing female archetypes, such as brides, mothers, goddesses, and monsters. Evolving from wall-bound reliefs to

colorful and freestanding sculptures, these increasingly monumental, liberated, and curvaceous female forms— with outstretched arms and powerful poses—developed into what Saint Phalle referred to as the Nanas, French slang for “girls.” These sculptures were begun in the mid and late 1960s, heralding the rise of an international feminist movement.

Michelle White, Senior Curator at the Menil Collection, said: “During the 1960s, Saint Phalle—the only female member of the French avant-garde group, the Nouveaux Réalistes—also collaborated with innovative American artists of her generation, such as Robert Rauschenberg

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and Jasper Johns. Within the male-dominated artistic circles on both sides of the Atlantic, her place in art history has been hard-fought. Her artwork from this time constitutes some of the most advanced work being done around emergent ideas of participatory art and was prophetic of feminist concerns related to the critique of painting and the representation of the body that will drive art in the decades to come.”

Jill Dawsey, Curator, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, said: “Saint Phalle’s performances and sculptural work of the 1960s put into circulation strikingly original representations of female agency and volition that

resonate strongly in our own moment. With their rambunctious life force, the Nanas became a vehicle for the artist’s exploration of women’s freedom and mobility in the public realm. Saint Phalle continuously experimented with their scale, using her figures to envision how women might, quite literally, take up more space in the world. Her trailblazing work presaged ideas and modes of making that would be elaborated by feminist artists in the in the 1970s and beyond.”

Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s will be on view at the Menil from September 10, 2021–January 23, 2022, and will open April 2022 in San Diego.

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I SCULPTURE M O N T H HOUSTON F E S T I V A L ALTAMIRA 2021

BY HALEY BERKMAN KARREN

The SITE Gallery at The Silos at Sawyer Yard is the main exhibition venue for Sculpture Month Houston.

Altamira: The Primal Urge to Create is the evocative theme of the fall 2021 iteration of Sculpture Month Houston.

Altamira refers to the Altamira cave paintings in northern Spain, which are understood to be humanity’s earliest preserved art, representing the origin of art and creativity.

Inspired by the Paleolithic cave paintings, and the resemblance of the architecture of the Silos to caves, Volker Eisele, the co-founder and curator of Sculpture Month Houston, asks the exhibiting artists to create art while imagining themselves as contemporary cave artists with access to modern technology.

Sculpture Month Houston was originally founded in 2016 by Eisele, Antarctica Black, and Tommy Gregory to increase representation of sculpture and installation art in Houston. They were looking for venues when they found the SITE Gallery of the Silos at Sawyer Yards, the innovative exhibition space formed from industrial grain silos.

They knew at once that the strange space would be the

FEATURE 33

Images from past Sculpture Month Festivals.

Clockwise: Patrick Turk, Shapeshifter, 2019.

David Greber, Your Greenest Stay, 2019.

Margaret Smithers Crump, A question of Balance, 2019.

Photos courtesy of Sculpture Month Houston.

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PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: ARIEL BOWMAN, ROBIN BAKER, CHRISTYN OVERSTAKE, JUSTIN BOYD, E L A I N E B R A D F O R D , E M I LY L I N K , S U S A N B U D G E , LARRY GRAEBER, SUGURU HIRAIDE, A L L I S O N H U N T E R , K AT H Y K E L L E Y, CINDEE KLEMENT, SUE ANNE RISCHE, JOHN RUNNELS, SHAWN SMITH, ANTHONY SUBER, DAMON THOMAS, AND NESTOR TOPCHY

perfect venue to build a case for installation art. Altamira: The Primal Urge to Create is the fifth iteration of this festival, which besides the main exhibition space at the Silos also includes other venues curated by Sculpture Month Houston as well as various participating art spaces, commercial galleries, and non-profit institutions. This dynamic festival is a celebration of sculpture and installation art across the city.

According to Eisele, “Sculpture Month Houston showcases installation art in Houston in much the same way we see installation art on a global scale at the Venice Biennale or documenta. Artists are excited to be able to mold space and get away from the white box atmosphere of the gallery and museum.” Eisele truly believes that participatory art and exhibitions invite a deeper level of connection and engagement with art.

Artists are eager for the opportunity to create artwork for the Silos, the main exhibition venue of Sculpture Month Houston. Cindee Klement is the only artist that has been selected twice. She exhibited her work in the 2019 festival, Outta Space, but when she heard the theme of Altamira, she knew that a piece she had conceptualized for many years would be a perfect fit. In her artistic practice, Klement explores issues of land conservation. For Altamira, she created Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus, a site-specific sculpture of a bison made from welded steel armature and covered in topsoil and dried native grasses, which considers the environmental interrelationship between bison and grass. She seeks to convey the historical significance of bison – they were famously depicted in the cave art of Altamira and continued to roam the North American continent until recently – and how they are integral to regenerative agricultural practices today.

The dark, cavernous space of the Silos pushed Susan Budge to create an intriguing installation that would only

Altamira 2021 selected artist Cindee Klement in her studio welding Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus, a site-specific sculpture of a bison.

Photography by Nash Baker

be possible in this unique space. Using her artistic language of ceramic sculpture, Budge placed an elevated abstract totemic sculpture in the center of the space, with numerous stars – some with eyes – suspended from the ceiling and the walls. She wanted to activate the space above the viewer, just like stars in the sky activate the space above the viewer when we are outside, encouraging internal investigation and appreciation for the mysteries of nature.

Anthony Suber expands upon the theme of Altamira through his work, which he sees as a dialogue between the past, present, and future that emphasizes human connection through shared memory and experiences.

His Afrofuturistic, multi-sensory installation consists of mixed-media figures with vestments and masks which respond to the viewer’s presence and activate though LED lights, motion detectors, and processing units. Films created with photographer and filmmaker Brian Ellison featuring choreography with the masks are projected into the installation, further activating the space.

Other artists featured in the exhibition are Suguru Hirade, who created a tall kinetic sculpture, and John Runnels, who installed libraries along the cylindrical walls of the Silos, a monument to the significance of printed books throughout civilization. Damon Thomas utilizes the cavelike nature of the Silos for his piece, Contact, a figurative tableau representing primordial man’s first meeting with the primordial wolf.

With this fall festival, Sculpture Month Houston has continued to accomplish its mission to promote sculpture and installation art in Houston. Altamira: The Primal Urge to Create is truly not to be missed!

Opening reception: Saturday, October 9, 2021, from 6 pm to 9 pm at the SITE Gallery Houston, 1502 Sawyer St., Suite 400, Houston TX 77007. The exhibit runs through December 4, 2021.

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Once Upon a Ballet Dancer:

Lauren

Anderson in Three Acts B Y

J T

M O R S E

“ THE AWESOME THING ABOUT DANCE AND THE ARTS IS THAT WHETHER A STUDENT MAKES IT OR NOT, YOU’RE CREATING AUDIENCES, BOARD MEMBERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, DIRECTORS, AND ADMINISTRATORS. AND YOU’RE ALSO EDUCATING A MORE COMPLETE CHILD.

”

A

FEATURE 37

Former Houston Ballet Principal Lauren Anderson as Odette in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake.

Photo by Jim Caldwell (1996), Courtesy of Houston Ballet

Act I Act I: Scene I

Centerstage is a little girl named Lauren; she’s an incredibly athletic child who loves to ride bikes and skateboards and who can run faster than all the boys in her neighborhood.

One day, Lauren takes her first ballet class. Initially, she isn’t so sure about this whole ballet thing.

Her feet don’t naturally move into the turned-out positions properly, the teacher has a funny accent and carries an intimidating walking stick, and little Lauren feels stupid for not knowing the foreign words and obscure rules of this bizarre ballet game. But by the end of her first class, Lauren realizes she has a superpower; she can jump higher than all the other girls in her class.

Skipping and leaping across the floor, Lauren truly shines.

From that day forward, she makes it her mission to soar higher than Eric, the lone boy in the class.

And soar higher she does.

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Act I: Scene II The lights come up on a young, black dancer attending a ballet performance with her mother.

Nine-year-old Lauren is incredibly excited to see what production the dancers will be performing.

The show turns out to be Firebird—a ballet the girl will come to cherish later in life. But, on that day, even more exciting to her than the choreography, the costuming, or the story are the dancers themselves.

Sitting on the edge of her seat, little Lauren watches as one black dancer flits across the stage then another and another and another. The astonished child turns to her mother and says, “Look, Mommy, there’s a whole stage of them. Dancers that look like me.”

The company turns out to be the illustrious Dance Theatre of Harlem and during that show, a dream of a dancing seed is planted; a future firebird begins to sing.

Act I: Scene III On the apron of the stage, sits a weary dancer who—at the mere and tender age of ten—has lost her love of ballet. The spark of joy in Lauren’s dancing heart has begun to flicker and fade.

Unexpectedly, however, a torchbearer—with a British accent and a kind soul—pops onto the scene and reignites the flame in the tiny ballerina’s heart. His name is Ben Stevenson, and he makes ballet classes fun and challenging. Mr. Stevenson allows young Lauren to compete with the boys, but also demands that she figure out how to refine her style and her skills.

“You can’t look like a flying armchair,” he says to her during class. “You must jump as high as the boys while still looking like a lady.”

Lauren boldly accepts his challenge and works extra hard to strike a balletic balance between being an athlete and being a lady of the stage.

Act II

“ AT THIRTEEN, THE ROLE OF ALICE TAUGHT ME THE ART OF ACTING IN DANCE. I HAD TO BE A SWEET, LITTLE GIRL—WHICH I WAS, SORT OF. I NEEDED TO LEARN HOW TO ACT WITHIN THE DANCE. IT WAS THE PERFECT LESSON, FOR ME, AT THE TIME.

Act II: Scene I

The curtain rises on a thirteen-year-old dancer whose father asks the director of the ballet school she attends whether or not his daughter will ever be a professional ballerina.

In young, impressionable Lauren’s presence, Mr. Stevenson replies, “Well, actually, no. She will probably not be a professional ballerina. However, she has a good singing voice and a great personality.

Broadway would probably be the best path for her.”

Lauren flees the room in tears, vowing to quit ballet forever. However, her father steps in and says, “No, you’re not quitting in the middle of the year. You’ll finish until summer then we can make a decision about your future in ballet.”

All goes dark, but when the stage lights come back up, the spring production postings are going up.

The show is Alice in Wonderland. As she runs to the casting board, Lauren’s heart races.

Scanning the list, the only Anderson she sees is printed next to the title role of Alice. Lauren

”

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Lauren Anderson in front of her house in Houston.

Photo by John Bernhard

ARTHOUSTON 40

assumes the school is bringing in another dancer with the surname of Anderson and that she, herself, has not been given a role, which doesn’t bother her too much—or so she tells herself—because she’s leaving at the end of the year anyway. However, feeling somewhat slighted, the precocious dancer storms into Mr. Stevenson’s office and demands an explanation.

To which, Mr. Stevenson replies, “Why darling, you’re Alice. That Anderson is you.”

Lauren pauses, considering this absurd idea for a moment before coming to the obvious conclusion that she can’t be Alice. Alice is white, tall, and beautiful with long, blonde hair and a lovely heart-shaped face. Mr. Stevenson turns to the disgruntled and confused young dancer and says, “You’ll be perfect, darling. You’re a dancer, and a dancer dances. The only color in art is on a canvas.”

Act II: Scene II Fourteen-year-old Lauren is auditioning for the School of American Ballet, known as New York City’s premier ballet academy. Although the young—but quite already accomplished—ballerina makes it through the end of the auditions, she soon receives a letter of rejection from the prestigious school.

This letter, this rejection, bruises her. But it does not break her.

Her dancing spirit cannot be broken. And she knows it.

Act II: Scene III Post high school graduation, Lauren feels ready to audition for her hometown’s ballet company. The director of the company only accepts four dancers as apprentices each year. Those special, chosen dancers must work through the summer intensive program to prove their worthiness.

The summer when Lauren is seventeen, she is chosen as one such apprentice.

Upon the conclusion of the summer program, Mr. Stevenson gathers the four apprentices into his office and in a quite serious tone says, “By all accounts, you have not done very well this summer. The teachers are disappointed in you. So, we’ve decided to offer you all contracts with the company.”

Having, just two years prior, decided her plan would be to flee to New York and become a dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as soon as she turns eighteen, the astonished Anderson throws that plan out the nearest window and squeals in delight as she calls her father to tell him she is now a fullfledged, professional dancer with the Houston Ballet Company.

“ AS OF AUGUST 2022, I’LL HAVE BEEN AN EMPLOYEE OF THE HOUSTON BALLET

Act III

FOR FORTY YEARS. I’VE BEEN A PART OF THIS SCHOOL AND COMPANY FOR FIFTY YEARS. THAT’S INSANE!

”

Act III: Scene I

The year is 1987, and Lauren Anderson has achieved the title of soloist with the Houston Ballet Company.

One afternoon, Ben Stevenson comes to her and says, “By all accounts, you’re going to teach in our school this summer.” To which Lauren replies, “But I’m not a teacher. I don’t know how to teach ballet.”

To which Mr. Stevenson asks, “How many classes have you taken?” To which Lauren replies, “Millions.”

To which Mr. Stevenson says, “Great. Just do what you know how to do.”

FEATURE 41

Ms. Anderson accepts Mr. Stevenson’s challenge and quickly falls in love with teaching. But she never really feels she has achieved greatness as a teacher until she retires from dancing herself. Why? Because only then does she stop performing for the students in her classes and starts really teaching.

Seeing the lightbulb of recognition in her student’s eyes—after they learn a new skill or term—becomes her utter joy, rivalling even that of her long-time love of performing.

Act III: Scene II A few years later, the accomplished and stunning Ms. Anderson is promoted to principal dancer with the Houston Ballet.

Flashing forward a few more years later, Ms. Anderson asks a well-respected fellow dance professional, “What makes a prima ballerina?” The seasoned and thoughtful response comes, “You. You are a prima ballerina because you have danced all the leading roles possible for a dancer to dance.”

Ms. Anderson flashes back to the age of seven, dancing her first role in The Nutcracker ballet. She is a mouse with whiskers and all. Looking through the set’s stairwell railing, young Lauren stares in awe at the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Years later, she finds herself dancing that very role then going on to fulfill that role for twenty years more, helping mold future generations of tiny Sugar Plum Fairies and fierce Firebirds-to-be.

Act III: Scene III The spotlight shines on this once-upon-a-time-ballet-student-turned-soloist-turned-principal dancer, who now works in the education and community engagement department for the Houston Ballet. Each day is different as Ms. Anderson engages with students primarily from economically disadvantaged schools—offering free programming, lectures, and master classes to children who otherwise might not have such opportunities to engage with the arts.

As the stage lights dim, the audience is left to wonder who knew that so many of Lauren’s dancing dreams would come true? Who knew that she would grow up to become a beacon for young dancers of color—opening doors to the possibility that they too might become prima ballerinas some day? Who knew?

Ben Stevenson and Lauren’s father stand in the wings, just outside of the fading light, enraptured as they watch Lauren leap higher than anyone else ever thought she could.

The End.

Former Houston Ballet Principal Lauren Anderson as Kitri in Ben Stevenson’s Don Quixote. (1997) Photo by Geoff Winnigham. Courtesy of Houston Ballet

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Left: Verny Sanchez Harmony connection 5 , 2020 Oil on canvas 58 x 58 in.

Right: Tina Hernandez La Cempacihuatl, 2020 Photo ink-jet print in a vintage frame, 31 x 26 ½ x 3 in.

Withstand:

Latinx Art in Times of Conflict

BY AMANDA ANDRADE

its first juried exhibition in its newly expanded building in April 2021. The temporary exhibition, Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of Conflict examines themes of social justice and human rights through the art of the local Houston Latinx community. The multi-media exhibition includes one hundred artworks handpicked by two incredibly knowledgeable curators: Gabriela Magana and Rosa Ana Orlando.

Born and raised in Mexico, Gabriela Magana is a young artist and curator currently pursuing a MA in Arts Leadership here in Houston. Her co-curator, Rosa Ana Orlando, is T H E H O L O C AU S T M U S E UM H O U S T O N O P E N E D

a museum specialist with more than fifteen years of experience in art collection management, exhibition planning and design.

Together, the curators selected one hundred artworks through an open call process, in which they invited local Houston artists to submit their art. Curator Magana says they wanted to hear directly from the Latinx community on “what impacts them, what they want to talk about, the images they are grappling with.” The exhibition would serve as a space to discuss difficult subjects, whatever

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they might be. Houston Latinx artists jumped at the opportunity, and the museum was soon overwhelmed with an abundance of submissions. The CEO of the Holocaust Museum, Dr Kelly J. Zúñiga, said in a statement, “we knew Houston’s vibrant art community would show up in force … and are delighted to feature the artwork of such talented artists.”

The selection process involved three aspects.

Artists were asked to share their ties with the Latinx community, and as well as an artist statement explaining the connection between the piece and the theme of Resistance & Conflict. The quality execution of the art was the third and final consideration. With over two hundred submissions, the curators had the tough task of narrowing it down to the final one hundred.

It was important to the curators and Holocaust Museum Houston that the exhibition be a space of social change.

Believing in the power of art to be transformative, they set out to create a physical space that can change minds and amplify voices.

The art featured in the exhibition fits the general theme of Resistance & Conflict, but participating artists interpreted the topic differently, discussing a broad range of subjects from border relations to gender roles. Standouts include artist Angela Corson, who explores social issues like domestic violence and the criminal justice system. Other artists, like Angel Castelán and Koomah focus on the local Queer Experience. These Latinx artists share their profound stories, statements and artworks. The curators hope that the exhibition will be a platform to examine any and all issues that impact the community, to foster conversations, and ultimately, to empower social change.

Gabriela Magana hopes visitors see their own lives reflected in the art. She says, “I hope this empowers people, makes them feel seen, and raises awareness on the subjects being discussed.”

The themes explored in Withstand are translatable to different backgrounds and communities. Latinx audiences will feel seen, but so will different communities. Ultimately, the art is about the human experience. Importantly, the physical location within the Holocaust Museum allows for a unique juxtaposition between the lessons of the Holocaust, and the issues brought up by the Latinx art.

The entire exhibition was planned with the modern digital age in mind. As a visitor walks through the space, they can use their smartphones to scan QR codes to learn more about each piece. Online, there is also a virtual walkthrough of the in-person gallery. This virtual tool aids those who are unable to visit in person, greatly expanding the audience of the show. Curator Magana says she hopes the virtual walkthrough will be used in classrooms. Additionally, there is also a virtual expansion of the exhibition, which includes new content and art not seen at the museum. The virtual expansion serves to develop on the same conversations and themes happening on-site, with new voices and artists.

Curator Rosado says ‘we hope that people outside of Houston would visit the virtual walkthrough, thus transcending the borders of our city. We also hope to have visitors from Houston exploring the virtual exhibition, and through it, expand on what they took away from the on-site.’

Guest juror Susana Monteverde, an art activator specializing in contemporary art, selected three artists from Withstand to win cash prizes for their work. The Holocaust Museum hoped the prize would encourage artists to participate, as well as serve to highlight the skill of the winning artists. “Selecting only three winners out of this multifaceted exhibition was one of the most challenging tasks in which I have engaged in a very long time” said juror Monteverde. “In selecting the prizes, I chose works that resonated long after I stepped away from viewing them.”

45

Clockwise from top: Alessandra Albin, To The Limit 2 , 2020, Bronze, 2 X 4 X 2 feet. Clinton Millsap, Could Be King, 2020, Iron oxide and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Jessica Carolina Gonzalez, The Respondent, inkjet print. Opposite page: Lorena Morales, Still Here, 2020, Sharpie markers on six pack rings, 80 x 72 in. Photos by Light42studio.

ARTHOUSTON 46

Wood Fancher Anthony The People of Mexico, 2017 Oil on canvas 48 x 60 inches

First place and a cash reward of $2,000 was awarded to Jessica Carolina González for her piece, The Respondent, an inkjet print from her series Es Una Lucha. The series is a visual study of the effects the bureaucracy behind deportation and legalization proceedings on the family.

Gonzalez superimposes the legal archive on archived family images, thus merging the intimate with the removed.

Second place, which came with a cash reward of $1,500, was awarded to Angel Lartigue for his piece, Forensic Burial Map of Cadaver After Exhumation #2 and third place, with its $1,000 prize, went to Clinton Millsap for his piece Could Be King.

“

WE KNEW HOUSTON’S VIBRANT ART COMMUNITY WOULD SHOW UP IN FORCE …

AND ARE DELIGHTED TO FEATURE THE ARTWORK OF SUCH TALENTED ARTISTS.

”

D R K E L LY J. Z Ú Ñ I G A

To visit the exhibition yourself, visit the Museum’s Mincberg Gallery and Spira Central Gallery before October 17, 2021. Sculptures are located in the adjacent Lester and Sue Smith Human Rights Gallery. Admission is free for those under 18, active military and their families, and museum members.

47

ARTHOUSTON 48

In Residence HIGHLIGHTS INNOVATION SKILL & SPIRIT OF HCCC’S RESIDENT ARTISTS

H O U S TO N C E N T E R F O R C O N T E M P O R A RY

(HCCC) presents In Residence: 14th Edition, an annual exhibition of work by its 2020 - 2021 resident artists, curated by HCCC Curatorial Fellow, María-Elisa Heg. This exhibition features work in paper, metal, clay, fiber, and stone by Chloe Darke, Abbie Preston Edmonson, Hong Hong, Hillerbrand + Magsamen, Stephanie Robison, Michael Velliquette, and Kirstin Willders. HCCC Curatorial Fellow MaríaElisa Heg notes, “The innovation, skill, and spirit of these artists embody what makes HCCC’s artist residency program so unique.

This edition opens just before HCCC’s 20th anniversary, a milestone that marks the resiliency and vibrancy of this program.”

The contemplative works of Hong Hong and Michael Velliquette harness the versatility of paper in each artist’s distinctive approach to this ancient medium. Hong embraces the ephemerality of paper and the physical act of pouring pulp, creating large-scale pieces

CRAFT

that change as they dry in the open air.

Velliquette carefully researches and chooses paper stock that will hold up to his meticulous process of building mandala-like, architectural sculptures that draw the viewer into a meditative state.

Ceramicists Abbie Preston Edmonson and Kirstin Willders express personal and societal experiences through their own visual vocabularies. For Edmonson, processing grief and trauma has led her to explore a metaphorical approach to material, using clay and paper as vessels holding deep wells of emotions that are often difficult to express. Willders encodes a ritual language into her ceramics to create a dialogue between queer identity and the historical use of reliquaries, adorning her vessels with talismanic arrangements of hair, metal chains, and sprigs of herbs.

Chloe Darke and Stephanie Robison explore the capacity of human perception with incongruent combinations of materials, ranging from quarried stone to

B Y

A R T H U R

D E M I C H E L I

cultivated bacteria, that invite curiosity, amusement, or even disgust. Darke fashions tools for an imagined arcane laboratory that seeks out and hides knowledge, inviting viewers to draw their own conclusions. Robison’s work combines the softness and malleability of felt with the rigidity of stone, undermining the expectations of each material, with hard sculptures that seem to melt and ooze and soft forms that feel capable of bearing weight.

Hillerbrand + Magsamen, the inaugural recipients of the new Interdisciplinary Craft + Photography Residency (presented in collaboration with Houston Center for Photography), use photography as both a starting point and a step in their craft process. Moving fluidly among photography, sculpture, and embroidery, their practice also encompasses filmmaking and set building to provoke inquiry, play, and experimentation.

On view until October 9, 2021.

49

Stephanie Robison, Pandemic, 2020.

Marble, wool.

6” x 8” x 5”.

Photo by John Janca

Hillerbrand + Magsamen, Alchemy for Thought, 2021.

Archival inkjet print and thread. 24”x24”. Courtesy of the artists.

REEVES ART + DESIGN

ARTHOUSTON 50

B Y

J O H N

Founded in 1969, this family owned best kept secret, Reeves Art + Design has been providing a quality selection of rare fine art and furniture for over fifty years. Second-generation owner Matt Reeves has kept up with ever-gentrifying Montrose, transitioning what was a designer-loved, curiosity-filled antiques shop into a thriving market focusing on fine art and custom furnishings.

B E R N H A R D Matt Reeves behind a painting from Ida Kohlmeyer in his gallery in Montrose.

Photo by Hannah Rees.

JOHN BERNHARD: There’s definitely

MATT REEVES: We have found that

a lot of change in how galleries are operating. You have been successfully open in Houston for the last 50 years with a unique approach and a very different concept. Can you tell us how everything started and how you evolved?

the key to this business is to be open and willing to evolve as the market continues to change. When my father, Paul, started this business in 1969 there was a significant demand for more traditional antique furnishings so he would take a truck to New York

GALLERY INTERVIEW 51

ARTHOUSTON 52

“

We are always excited to discover work from up-and-coming artists and give them a platform to share their work.

”

to get the highest quality pieces as they were being shipped into the country. As time went on and trends changed, we evolved with it, focusing more on fine art and design. While we still have a wide selection of these types of pieces today, we are in the processes of transitioning yet again and looking towards the future of design and art.

we continue to take in and send out pieces almost daily, it can be an overwhelming job to keep track of an inventory of over 5,000 artworks.

Luckily, we have a fantastic team that manages this ebb and flow of inventory. From intake, to processing, to hanging, they diligently work to keep everything as organized as possible.

We have even designed custom metal racks to display 100’s of works at a time!

array of local artists and collectors.

As our collection grows and we have more inventory online, that also helps to generate more people contacting us about their pieces. We are always happy to look at any artworks someone has available.

JB: You also have an extensive

of modern artwork. It must be difficult keeping track. Can you give a bit of inside information on how you operate?

JB: With over 5,000 eclectic mix of

arts from the 17th century to the present; where do you find the work?

collection of premier Texas artists from Dorothy Hood to Richard Stout.

You obviously develop close relationship with artists. Can you share the story of your first purchase – a painting from Richard Stout.

MR: To say that it is a juggling act

MR: Not to give away too many

MR: Of course! Before getting into

would be an understatement. As

secrets but we do work with a wide

this business, I happened to run

JB: You have an impressive selection

GALLERY INTERVIEW 53

Hundred’s of work of art are displayed in custom designed rack. Photo courtesy of Reeves Art + Design.

across an early example of Richard Stout’s plein-air paintings. I absolutely fell in love with the piece, but it was in rough shape and needed some work.

I was able to reach out to Richard Stout himself and he was gracious enough to restore it for me. Richard was a wonderful man to work with and I was lucky enough to work with him many more times throughout his career. Through that experience I fell in love with early Texas art and was inspired to base our business around the preservation of this work.

JB: Since you acquire so many works

in a month, I was wondering if you are taking art on consignment?

MR: While it depends on the

JB: Reeves Art + Design do represent

situation, we are always willing to work with a client who has work available. Consignment or direct purchase are both great options that we offer. We are also always interested in acquiring artists’ estates as well and work to help preserve their legacy.

artists. What does a typical relationship with artists look like?

JB: Do you partner or collaborate

with auction houses?

MR: No, we don’t really collaborate

with auction houses currently. As we continue to shift towards more custom furniture and design, we have found that selling in our showroom and online works the best for us.

MR: Yes, we do work with several

local artists as well as artists from around the country. We are always excited to discover work from up-andcoming artists and give them a platform to share their work. From selling their art on our online platforms to offering them our new gallery space for a show, we are always happy to encourage and support the artist community.

JB: What are some of the challenges

you foresee in the future?

ARTHOUSTON 54

Hundred’s of work of art are displayed in custom designed rack. Photo courtesy of Reeves Art + Design.

“ As time went on and trends changed, we evolved with it, focusing more on fine art and design. ” MR: As we continue to grow, the

biggest challenge we can foresee is the logistics of getting these pieces around the country when we are competing with the shipping times of larger companies like Amazon. When most people are used to 2-day shipping, it can be difficult to balance putting in the time and effort into caring for the pieces that we know they need with getting the items there as fast as possible. Since each piece that we sell comes with its own transport concerns,

we take the utmost care in preparing and packing every element. While this can mean slightly longer shipping times, you can be sure that your unique purchase is in good hands.

JB: So, what’s next? What’s in the

pipeline? Apparently you have a very hush-hush project under way.

MR: We are pleased to announce that

we now have an official gallery space to display art and rent to artists in the

front section of our showroom. We are combining the best of the traditional white-wall gallery space with the eclectic mix of art that we are known for. These front rooms are a blank canvas for any artist or designer to bring their vision to life. There is also a hush-hush project underway that we are very excited about! We just don’t want to let the “cattle” out of the bag too early!

55

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©2021 ArtPub, a publishing division of ArtHouston, is dedicated to designing, producing and publishing books on contemporary art and photography.

ARTHOUSTON 56

Compilation of student’s artwork from Felix Cook Elementary.

Collage by John Bernhard

Artpower Transcending through Art the ability of students and teachers to Be the Peace and the Hope they wish to see in their school community.

BY KARINE PARKER AND CHRISTIAN PERKINS

In December of 2020, the Felix Cook Elementary school (FCE), Texan-French Alliance for the Arts (TFAA), Be the Peace – Be the Hope (BTPBTH), Arts Connect Houston, and Artique Gallery teams joined forces to empower 200 Felix Cook students to develop and teach social and emotional skills through comprehensive workshops and integrated Fine and Performing Arts experiences.

For five months, 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students experienced a toolkit of Social and Emotional Skills that helped them: - Discover and celebrate their values, positive beliefs, strengths, talents, and dreams, - Understand their emotions through the cycle of an emotion, and befriend their brain,

- Strengthen their self-confidence, resilience, and communication, be kind and compassionate, and practice solidarity.

With this toolkit and Art reflections, FCE students improved their well-being and built a safer, more hopeful, peaceful, supportive, and loving school community! On May 21-23, 2021, ARTIQUE Gallery showcased their beautiful artistic reflective work.

This outstanding art show resulted from a 5-month collaborative and reflective work led by Chris Perkins, Felix Cook’s Arts Magnet Coordinator/ Administrator, and Karine Parker, TFAA/BTPBTH’s Executive & Program Director, with the support of their teams: Ms. Megan Klimitchek, Ms. Katrina Woods, and Mr. Eddie Gates for Felix Cook; Cynthia Ouedraogo and Shana Parker for TFAA/BTPBTH. The Social and emotional

ESS AY 57

‘‘

ARTHOUSTON 58

Education breeds confidence.

Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.

learning techniques combined with Fine and Performing Arts instruction and experiences were the catalyst for the students to express their sense of identity, unique emotions, empowering beliefs, need for resilience and connection, and hopes for the future. Christian Perkins shared: “Through serendipity, an unexpected synergy formed between my vision for my fine arts program and the mission of Be The Peace, Be The Hope. Their commitment to improving and positively impacting the lives of children to develop the whole-child addresses both the hierarchy of needs and the creative process. It is not limited to endproduct or focused solely on culminating events. During the sessions, I’ve had 4th graders open up about emotions and 3rd graders emboldened enough to sing and share their values and dreams. Be the Peace, Be the Hope encapsulates this in deed and word. As an administrator for Felix Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet, I speak for my school when I say, I am proud to have Be the Peace, Be the Hope.” The visual part of the show, beautifully curated by Yvonamor Palix, an internationally renowned art historian, left visitors uplifted and inspired by the students’ use of color, creativity, positive messages, and thought processes.

Yvonamor Palix shared: “I was honored and heart-struck to host “Be the Peace Be the Hope” through the art exhibition by students of the Felix Cook Elementary School.

These children, their parents, their teachers, their school principal are all together in harmony for the well-being of the children. This has been the seed planted by a beautiful project initiated by Karine Parker.” The show also included fantastic performances of dance and music students that inspired the audience. Karine Parker shared: “One of our missions at TFAA/BTPBTH is to foster solid and positive relationships and meaningful interactions among students through Arts, and between students and the community so that we can build a more resilient and hopeful future together. When we do that and create through collaborations, we model for the students what a truly collaborative experience is. My hope comes from witnessing the students’ growth and deeper wisdom.”

The words shared by Felix Cook’s teachers confirmed that reality, whether it was Katrina Woods, the dynamic Dance Teacher who shared: “A wonderful opportunity for our youth to be involved in something so necessary for our world today;” or Mrs. Megan Klimitchek, 4th-grade Teacher: “Be the Peace Be the Hope reflective in partnership and practice have executed their vision and inspired so many students to be empowered creatively,” or Eddie Gates, FCE Music Teacher: “During this time of Covid, it is reassuring to know we can still put on outstanding quality performances as a fine arts school. To Be the Peace Be the Hope, we are grateful for this partnership.”

Principal Shundra Harris-Mosley also shared: “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace. The Be the Peace, Be the Hope group brought all these things to my young scholars.” What Principal Harris-Mosley said was echoed by many students, like Elisa, a 3rd-grade student, who shared: “I learned during the program that even if I break myself, I am still good and amazing, and I will never give up on myself.” Or “I can put my feelings in art, and I love being hopeful,” or “I wanna be my dreams,” as Jayden shared.

“In the “Love Yourself” by Miranda Gonzalez-Candelas’ painting, included in the mosaic featured, here the empowering belief of self-love is on full display. Love Yourself features a girl’s figure with a sea of different colors making up her torso, which drip in a rainbow from her to the space below.

The beautiful colors inside of the girl make up her empowering beliefs of love, which become her potential to then go forth and spread that love to the rest of the world, perhaps even aiding in developing empowering beliefs in others.

By simply choosing to focus on loving herself, she can empower herself and those around her!” - Jordan Wolfman.

When we nurture Peace and Hope through Arts, anything is possible, including the opportunity and ability for each of us to become the peace and the hope we wish to see in the world.

Heartfelt thanks to John Bernhard and ArtHouston for supporting our much-needed work. www.bepeacebehope.org

59 FEATURE

HOW TO HELP CHILDREN IN AFGHANISTAN RIGHT NOW

Escalating conflict in Afghanistan poses a dire threat for children.

Save the Children is gravely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of children in Afghanistan. As violence sweeps through the country, children are being killed, injured and forced to flee their homes. We have been a leading charity in Afghanistan since 1976, reaching over 1.6 million Afghans in 2020. We will not abandon our work, staff, or the communities we’ve served. Our commitment to protecting children remains unchanged.

Your urgent support is needed now more than ever.

Checks/money orders should be mailed to: Save the Children, PO Box 97132, Washington DC, 20090-7132.

Please contact us at our Supporter Experience Center at supportercare@savechildren.org or 1-800-728-3843

ARTHOUSTON 60

gallery listings

BARBARA DAVIS GALLERY 4411 Montrose Blvd.

713 520-9200 BISONG GALLERY 1305 Sterrett St. 713 498-3015

BOOKER•LOWE GALLERY

John Slaby, Perpetual Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 31 x 42 in.

ARCHWAY GALLERY 2305 Dunlavy St. 713 522-2409

O C T. 2 - N O V. 4 , 2 0 2 1 John Slaby Solipsism

Meet the artist October 2nd at 2pm followed by ​a n evening reception from 5 - 8pm

AEROSOL WARFARE 2110 Jefferson 832 748-8369

ART MACHINE GALLERY 1502 Sawyer Street, #215 713 974-1562

ART OF THE WORLD GALLERY 2201 Westheimer Rd. 713 526-1201

ARTIQUE

1024 Studewood St. 281 467-6065 ART LEAGUE BAYTOWN 110 W Texas Ave, Baytown 281 427-2222

ANYA TISH GALLERY

4411 Montrose Blvd.

713 524-2299

ARADER GALLERY 5015 Westheimer Rd, #2303 713 621-7151 ARDEN GALLERY 239 Westheimer Rd. 713 371-6333

ART LEAGUE HOUSTON

1953 Montrose Blvd.

713 523-9530 ASHER GALLERY 4848 Main St. 713 529-4848

DIMMITT CONTEMPORARY ART 3637 W Alabama St #160 281 468-6569

FOTO RELEVANCE 4411 Montrose Blvd., #C 713 505-1499 Gspot GALLERY 223 East 11th Street 713 869-4770

4623 Feagan St. 713 880-1541

GALLERY SONJA ROESCH 2309 Caroline St 713 659-5424

CASA RAMIREZ FOLK ART 241 West 19th St. 713-880-2420

THE GITE GALLERY 2024 E. Alabama St. 713 523-3311

CATHERINE COUTURIER GALLERY 2635 Colquitt St. 713 524-5070

GALVESTON ART CENTER 2501 Market St. Galveston 409 763-2403

COMMUNITY ARTISTS 4101 San Jacinto, Suite 116 713 523-1616

GLADE GALLERY 24 Waterway Avenue The Woodlands 832 557-8781

DAVID SHELTON GALLERY 3909 Main St, 832 538-0924 DEAN DAY GALLERY 2639 Colquitt St. 713 520-1021 D. M. ALLISON GALLERY 2709 Colquitt 832 607-4378 DEBORAH COLTON GALLERY 2445 North Blvd.

713 869-5151

DEVIN BORDEN GALLERY 3917 Main St. 713 529-2700

GRAY CONTEMPORARY 3508 Lake St. 713 862-4425 GROGAN GALLERY 7800 Washington Ave. 713 980-2980 HARAMBEE ART GALLERY 901 Bagby St. harambeeartgallery.com JOSH PAZDA HIRAM BUTLER GALLERY 4520 Blossom St. 713 863-7097 HEIDI VAUGHAN FINE ART 3510 Lake St. 832 875-6477

61

Tania Botelho

Clovis Postali

Fariba Abedin

Gretchen Bender Sparks

Rolando Rojas

Alessandra Albin

Vicki Hessemer

Jatziri Barron

Kymn Harrison Fine Art

Lacy Husmann

Valentina Atkinson

Nichole Dittmann

Samson Bimbo Adenugba

Lyn Sullivan

Katherine Mason

Studio 102 281-660-5061 IG-@taniahbotelho

Studio 322 713-557-8731 www.alessandraalbin.com

Studio 317 713-724-0709 www.valentinaatkinson.com

Studio 215 832-696-5789 www.clovispostali.com

Studio 121 713-504-9118 www.vickihessemer.com

Studio 218 713-501-7290 FB-Nichole Dittmann Jewelry Designs

Studio 303 713-417-7777 www.faribaabedin.com

Studio 323 956-534-3222 www.Jatziribarron.com

Studio #306 832-938-1428 www.bimboadenugba.com

Studio 214 713-444-7562 www.gretchenbendersparks.com

Studio # 205 www.kymnharrison.com

Studio 312 281-520-1349 www.lynsullivan.com

Studio 304 713-724-0709 www.serranogallery.com

Studio 105 832-993-5583 www.lacyhusmann.com

Studio 115 713-828-5387 www.paintedwithlipstick.com

WHERE ART LOVERS AND ARTISTS CONNECT VISIT ARTISTS’ STUDIOS EVERY SECOND AND THIRD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

12-5PM

ALL VISITORS MUST ADHERE TO STATE AND LOCAL MANDATES REGARDING WEARING MASKS, SOCIAL DISTANCING, AND WASHING HANDS. THANK YOU AND STAY SAFE!

2000 EDWARDS ST. HOUSTON, TX 77007

SILVERSTREETHOUSTON.COM

ARTHOUSTON 62

gallery listings

HOOKS-EPSTEIN GALLERIES 2631 Colquitt St. 713 522-0718

ROCKSTAR GALLERY 5700 NW Central Dr #160 832 868-0242

HOUSTON CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY 1441 West Alabama Street 713 529-4755 HUNTER GORHAM GALLERY 1834 1/2 Westheimer Rd. 713 492-0504 INMAN GALLERY 3901 Main St. 713 526-7800 JACK MEIER GALLERY 2310 Bissonnet 713 526-2983

REEVES ART+DESIGN 2415 Taft St. 713 523-5577

James Drake

MOODY GALLERY

RUDOLPH BLUME FINE ART

2815 COLQUITT ST. 713 526-9911

1836 Richmond Avenue 713 807-1836

SHE WORKS FLEXIBLE 1709 Westheimer Rd. 713 522-0369

O’KANE GALLERY

PABLO CARDOZA GALLERY 1320 Nance St. 832 548-0404

LAWNDALE ART CENTER 4912 Main St, 713 528-5858

PERIMETER ART GALLERY 2365 Rice Blvd. Suite E 713 521-5928

McCLAIN GALLERY

REDBUD GALLERY

MONTERROSO GALLERY 1824 Spring Street # 104, 281 682-6628

NANCY LITTLEJOHN FINE ART 3465 B W. ALABAMA 832 740-4288

NICOLE LONGNECKER 1440 Greengrass Dr. 346 800-2780

SERRANO GALLERY

2000 Edwards St. #117 713 724-0709

UH-Downtown One Main Street 713 221-8042

KOELSCH GALLERY 1020 Peden St. 713 862-5744

2242 Richmond Ave. 713 520-9988

Valentina Atkinson

FOLTZ FINE ART

2143 Westheimer Rd. 713 521-7500

Peter Healy

303 E. 11th St. 713 862-2532

SICARDI AYERS BACINO GALLERY 1506 West Alabama St. 713 529-1313

OFF THE WALL GALLERY

5015 Westheimer Rd. Galleria II, Level II 713 871-0940

SIMPSON GALLERIES 6116 Skyline Dr. Suite 1 713 524-6751

Peter Max

TEXAS GALLERY 2012 Peden St. 713 524-1593

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ARTHOUSTON 64

SANCTUARY where

art is born B Y

J O H N

B E R N H A R D

1984 -

John Bernhard in his first studio.

F or artists, the spaces in which we work have a direct effect on creativity and productivity, so it is important that artist’s studios are designed for maximum inspiration. The studio is a place that supports total immersion in your creative process, a sanctuary where art is born; it is the most private and intimate place an artist can have.

World-renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell best described this perception when he said, “This is the place of creative incubation. At first, you may find nothing happens there. But, if you have a sacred place and use it, take advantage of it, something will happen.”

I’ve had many studios, all in Houston, and I loved each one, as they changed and evolved over the years.

My first studio was in a brand spanking new house in the boondock’s suburb of North Houston. The studio was upstairs in one of the bedrooms,

1994 Studio designed and built next to Memorial Park. and my darkroom was in the garage.

I enjoyed working in my home, but when my daughter was born, and my wife stayed home; I had to make a big step forward and moved out.

I rented a small building with office and warehouse space in a corporate park complex. It was there and then

that I realized that I needed to go somewhere else to work and create my art.

The surprising outcome of the move was that clients and buyers think you’re legit, and suddenly you take yourself just a little more seriously.

The working environment energized me. Business was good, therefore

ESS AY 6 5

2014 -

Model posing, Silver Street Studios.

within a few years I relocated into a modern office building closer to downtown. I was very lucky because it was love at first sight. I loved the floor plan of the management office so I told the executive she had to move out because I wanted her space. In a negative way she exploded in laughter, but days later she called me, she agreed and had the lease ready to sign.

I enjoyed the slick space, the floor to ceiling windows designed to let in plenty of natural light and views, but the honeymoon did not last. The

rent kept going up, I felt the time was right for taking on the next phase of my career, fulfilling a long time dream of owning something and being free from the financial burden of renting a studio. I designed and built a twostory 2,200 square-foot studio next to Memorial Park. I started to blossom in a space where every inch was carefully conceived. It was a labor of love.

I had no idea the impact working in my new cozy roost would have on my art career, but it had been tremendous.

I became even more productive and

never ran out of creative juice. I also learned how to throw amazing parties, which was the icing on the cake.

After twenty years, I decided to downsize a bit and wanted to move into a location where I would get more visibility to show my fine art work.

I realized the Sawyer Yard creative campus would be a great venue; I chose to move to Silver Street Studios because of its vibrant open studios’ events and frequent tenant exhibitions.

Right before the Covid outbreak, I moved to another studio which will probably be my last one. It is next to my new house, which I designed and built from the ground up again.

Now that I have taken ownership of my new studio, I have been able to reminisce at each of my studios and realize that they all had their own purpose at a certain time in my life.

In my early studios, I enjoyed the solitary lifestyle. Later in the collective studio, I enjoyed the hive of activity from artists in the building, the spontaneity of meeting my neighbors in the hallway, and sharing wine after hours.

I also feel as inspired now as I was then and I have begun to understand the full potential of an art studio.

Whether it is the personal space in your home or a remote studio, I believe the studio is a process, praxis, and a state of mind. But at the end of the day, my advice to a young artist thinking about studio space is to chew over your options carefully, do what is best for you, and go where your creativity thrives the most.

2019 Current studio.

ARTHOUSTON 66

reviews

Julian Charrière, The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories III, 2013, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth, mounted on aluminium Dibond.

Copyright by the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany

JULIAN CHARRIÈRE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART

This past Summer, The Dallas Museum of Art presented Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, the first US solo museum exhibition for the multidisciplinary FrenchSwiss artist. Julian Charrière creates work that bridges the realms of environmental science and cultural history. Based on scientific research and expeditions to remote regions of Earth, his sculptures, photographs, and films investigate the irreversible transformation of the natural world by human activity. Charrière references pre-human origins, global explorers of the past, present-day climate change, and the uncertain future of the planet.

While his works address environmental exploitation, they also emphasize nature’s magnificence and resilience.

“Charrière’s work is as thought-pro-

voking as it is seductive. His practice, rooted in film, sculpture, and photography, matches technical and formal achievement with conceptual rigor that situates the viewer in a rich network of scientific, art historical, and sociopolitical references. Although his art takes us on a journey to the ends of the earth and through geologic and historic time, the result is our increased awareness of interdependence and the wide-reaching impact of our actions in the here and now and on future generations,” said Dr. Anna Katherine Brodbeck, the DMA’s Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art and curator of the Dallas presentation.

“Charrière . . . endeavours to rediscover the feeling of astonishment that ancient man felt confronted by

nature,” wrote Mousse magazine when Towards No Earthly Pole premiered in Switzerland at Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI), Lugano.

Born in Morges, Switzerland, Charrière currently lives and works in Berlin. He studied at the Ecole cantonale d‘art du Valais in Switzerland and the Berlin University of Arts, where he was a student of Olafur Eliasson. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions worldwide, Charrière has exhibited as a member of the Berlin-based collective Das Numen.

This focused exhibition brought together five important bodies of work by Charrière, culminating with the artist’s most recent video project, Towards No Earthly Pole. The featured works exemplified Charrière’s diverse and exploratory practice.

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Karren Art Advisory is a full-service art advisory and appraisal firm specializing in modern and contemporary art and photography.

Art Acquisitions Collection Management Cataloguing and Inventory Fine Art Appraisals Exhibition Planning Art Experiences

713-907-5873 haley@karrenartadvisory.com www.karrenartadvisory.com

ARTHOUSTON 68

reviews

Mr. Brainwash, Smile ,2019, (detail). Courtesy of Art of the World

Martine Gutierrez, Neo-Indeo, page 25 from Indigenous Woman, 2018.

Courtesy of the Artist and RYAN LEE Gallery, NY.

MR. BRAINWASH

MARTINE GUTIERREZ

No Rules in Life marks the return of the prolific pop artist Thierry Guetta, popularly known as Mr. Brainwash to Houston and highlights the gallery’s second individual exhibition with the internationally recognized artist. Popular celebrities like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Johnny Depp, Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, and more, have propelled Mr. Brainwash to further fame with prominent purchases and displays of his work. Furthmore, he has collaborated with multiple important figures in the world including Banksy on a Sundance Film titled “Exit through the Gift Shop,” and was invited to the White House by former First Lady Michelle Obama to celebrate International Women’s Day in Washington, 2016. From the streets to the Vatican, Mr. Brainwash even worked alongside Pope Francis to create an artwork meant to raise funds for Scholas, the Pope’s personal foundation to serve the youth of the world.

A provocative street artist, Guetta works in cities around the globe, building recognition and garnering appreciation for his bright, technicolor style, largely inspired by art history and contemporary cultural icons. Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Kate Moss, Madonna—whether individually displayed or playfully juxtaposed, these emblematic celebrities are symbols of determination: the ultimate dream chasers, a central theme in Mr. Brainwash’s work.

Experiencing a pandemic has undoubtedly changed the lives of everyone, but the objective of this exhibitionf is to uplift viewers, reminding them to enjoy every moment of life. The exhibition No Rules in Life runs through October 31, 2021.

Martine Gutierrez is a chameleon-like artist whose photos, performances, and videos deconstruct glittery conventions of fashion, beauty, advertising, and glamour.

She instigates a similar reinvention of gender, race, and identity—translating her Mayan heritage and Guatemalan-American ethnicity into an evocative platform to (re) discover, embellish, and amplify bodies “outside of the binary.” Inspired by ancient Aztec deities that embody historical models of duality and gender-fluidity, Gutierrez explains, “My authenticity has never been to exist singularly, whether in regard to my gender, my ethnicity, or sexual orientation. My truth thrives in the gray area…” Within this amorphous arena of self-exploration, the artist explores the ways in which sexuality and style are constructed and propagated in popular media—from clothing lines and cosmetics to perfume, haute couture, and music videos.

This micro-survey of her career begins with early series where mannequins and sex dolls are positioned as idealized partners and surrogates—circulating in an uncanny space of mimicry, desire, and plastic intimacy. The amplitude of interwoven erotica, artificiality, and violence takes on added volume in her most recent works as Gutierrez pushes us to confront the many suggestions of this seductive synthesis.

The exhibition titled Radiant Cut is organized by Steven Matijcio, Blaffer Art Museum Jane Dale Owen Director & Chief Curator, and is on view until October 24, 2021.

ART OF THE WORLD GALLERY

BLAFFER ART MUSEUM

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Gabriel Martinez, Untitled, 2019, Found Fabric, 50x46 in.

Matthew Woodward, 181st Street (August 6) III, 2019, Pencil and Paint on Paper, 113 x 176 in.

GABRIEL MARTINEZ

MATTHEW WOODWARD

Anya Tish Gallery presents Desire Lines, the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of Houston-based artist Gabriel Martinez. Drawing on histories of both quilting and painting the exhibition features hand-stitched fabric paintings created from clothing found in the street on the artist’s travels throughout the city. Martinez employs the concept of the trace to explore spaces created for the body (garments, neighborhoods, factories, quilts) and the ways bodies, in turn affect and mark those spaces. The works in Desire Lines situate the artist as one body among many involved in the manipulation of the material. The paintings record the traces of global capital, evoking those who dyed and printed the fabric, those who assembled the garments, the people who wore and lost them, as well as the artist who places them back into circulation as luxury objects. They are an invitation for the viewer to consider not only their formal composition and the laborious nature of their production but also the disjunctive economies that enable such value shifts.

Desire Lines will mark the debut of Channel, Martinez’s sprawling floor piece for which he was awarded a Support for Artist and Creative Individuals Grant from the Houston Arts Alliance.

Visitors to the gallery can contribute to the creation of Cumulus, a large-scale wall drawing collecting the names of countries listed on their garments.

Born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Gabriel Martinez is an artist, writer, and performer living and working in Houston.

The exhibition is on view from Saturday, September 11 until Saturday, October 16, 2021.

On Longing brings together a series of new drawings by Matthew Woodward. Including works that span the last 4 years, these works showcase a changed direction for the artist. Woodward continues to examine the material and emblematic conditions of mourning; however, here he pivots to explore mark-making set strictly to black and white surfaces and contexts. Woodward’s body of work borrows heavily from the built-environment, responding to architectural language and symbols. In an effort to reclaim these symbols of architectural meaning, he removes them from their context, newly articulating and reshaping the symbol on his own terms. He engages this artistic research in a variety of milieus and materials, including the page. Woodward’s consistent use of paper gestures at the idiomatic (if unspoken) nature of architecture as a dominant yet under articulated aspect of culture-making. Architecture implicitly shapes our civic life. Encoded in its materials is an emotional charge to which the collective memory of a place is tied. Woodward’s works point at a desire to view architectural symbols as an antiquated temporal language that could offer tools to comprehend the irregularities and particularities of our own time. The drawings of On Longing are representational; yet lead the viewer into an experience of warping or reconfiguration. Separated from their original references, the symbols open the way for alternative meanings to emerge from within the their formal and material structure. Architectural symbols, changed in Woodward’s drawings, push away established values and open the door for a radical reassessment. On view September 11 - October 16, 2021

ANYA TISH GALLERY

GRAY CONTEMPORARY

ARTHOUSTON 70

TACO ART

W HAT L AT I NO A RT I S N OT.

BY

WILLIAM

HANHAUSEN

Classifying what leading Latino art is

describing the Pilsen Street Art and Chicago

supposed to encompass is not an easy task;

Muralism, that it has been distorted by the

simply having a “Latino flair” or Latino name

so-called “taco art” or “shoddy art” as he

does not categorize the work as Latino art...

also calls it!

My aim is to share my knowledge and

He calls it “taco art”, art that is as cheap

enrich our own bicultural intellect. As a

as a street taco and without any message

collector of Latino and Chicano, it took me

or value. “There is a nationalist infantilism”

some time to understand how we express

Raya affirms, which does not expand art

our ways as Latinos, how our brain and

in the community. This “art” is represented

rational structure work. We all presume

by easy and stereotypical iconographic

classifying Latino Art is delimited only by

images and instead of taking art seriously,

the usual and somehow mundane ways

they spend their time copying and redesign-

constantly placing it in the classical forms.

ing the same images. “This is a very simple

But yet I ask myself, how would you de-

and easy way of making art,” “painting

fine what it is against what it is not? What

Frida Kahlo has already reached the level of

uniqueness or similarity do they see that we

stupidity… They have already distorted it a

don’t? Undoubtedly, we are proud of who we

lot”. Said the artist in an article published by

are and all that we have in our culture, as we

offthebus.com/ laraza.com.

are “the real thing”. When this rich variety

Perhaps the term sounds offensive, but this

mixes with attitudes it becomes an urge to

pseudo art is a fact we see not only on the

communicate a message and some people

streets, where monotonal images are being

want to call it art. Unfortunately, it shows

utilized and copied time after time. Images

that some “artists”, have not thoroughly

distracting the seriousness of the real artists

studied the art of communication. It seems

and their art of communication. Where the

that they belong to a new generation that

characters are diminished by implementing

has lost their identity and is forgetting that

iconographic images in a totalitarian injus-

art as a communication channel has only

tice to a dystopian realism.

one purpose; to educate and enlighten.

As a viable solution to this devaluating

One of Chicago’s most important La-

contradiction the Museum of Contempo-

tino artists Marcos Raya recently said,

rary Art San Diego (MCASD) classifies the

OPINION 71

artists’ works in a very assertive way. In a

D o m e s t i c a n a : The feminist reworkings

recent exhibition “Arte despues del Chica-

of “Rasquache”, an underdog aiming to

nisimo” the curator catalogued Latino and

interrogate gender relations contradictory

Chicano art to each one’s origin and iden-

nature of the domestic and family world with

tities. Considering the bifurcation between

particular attention to religion and ideas

cultures, activities, expressions and mental

of domesticity replacing the conventional

spaces as cultural chronicles. In a flexible

macho culture and empowering the oppressed

and shifting way where the Latino culture

women.

mingles and coexist cleverly fitting reassuring colloquial words.

To make my point, I compressed a small account of each classification, where I think

Labor: Activism, related to working rights and conditions, and the physicality of manual labors recognition. Those who work and uphold the infrastructure of society.

the respect and depiction of every sub area

As Latinos, avoiding the devaluation of our

in this genre is all about. Conferring with

art is our duty! Not only in the muralism, but

the traditions and veneration of Latinos and

applicable to all forms of distorted Latino Art

artists everyday experiences.

where the lack of visualization and respect

Border: A permeable, flexible and shifting state where culture mingles and coexist.

Rasquache: An attitude–a kind of cultivated taste-favoring elaborated over the simple,

to our culture is present. Capturing all radical perspectives that are deeper into the psyche without any fear of an emotional scoop of shallow education of those pseudo artists.

the unrestrained over the confined, utilizing

I’m sure you will agree with me… Marcos’

diverse mediums and distinctive “Cholo” ico-

thought is right on target and goes way be-

nography representing strength and power.

yond the muralism!

From top: Marcos Raya , Private Collection, Chicago, IL Marcos Raya Drugs on war Collection of the author Opposite page: Delilah Montoya La Virgen, Collection of the author

SAIDA CARTER

F r o m l e f t : Model Ke’Ron - Designer ERA Vintage.

Stylist: Mendel McCoy. Photographer: William Gomez

Abby - Designer: ERA Vintage Stylist: Mendel McCoy. Photographer: Cameron Reed

ARTHOUSTON 72

73

I

n

t

Te l l u s a l i t t l e b i t a b o u t yourself.

I am a multidisciplinary, exploratory, self-taught artist. I was born in Houston and have always been an introvert in a very vocal family.

My family owned a private school and Baptist church on the north side. Everyone in my family worked there at some point. It was a major cornerstone of my early life. It was all consuming, and I remember this being my call to adventure. At 5, I remember sitting in church with wandering eyes, questioning everything and feeling out of place. Trying to find my voice, I began drawing a lot and writing poetry. I studied Communications: Photojournalism and English in college. My favorite classes that sparked my bliss were philosophy and sculpture. I ended up teaching English for about 13 years, encouraging students to imagine, critically think and understand the world through stories and words.

I’ve never stopped trying to find my voice or make sense of my life as a story.

For the past two years, my medium has been creating wearable art from used fabrics/clothing, designing clothes out of sustainable materials for editorials and fashion shows, videography, photography, storytelling and curating spaces for women that create freedom. I’m the owner and visionary of ERA Vintage (Everyday. Repurposed. Apparel.), which is an e-commerce business I created to be a platform for bridging yesterday’s throwaways into the future of rethinking fashion.

What upcoming project(s) are you working on?

I’m working on a project entitled “A Single Thread Weaves a Future” with Stacey Allen which is a part of Fresh Arts Space Taking Artist Residency program. This project is an exploration of time and sustainability draw-

e

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ing inspiration from accomplished and stylish Black women who revolutionized the Houston community and serve as a prototype for imagining a glorious Black future.

I’m working on an installation with my husband, Dennis, who is a landscape architect, multimedia artist, and cinematographer. We’re in the early stages of creating a multisensory installation in nature that’ll include things we love: a zen garden, a sanctuary, soundscapes, reflection, imagination, and visual bites that will allow visitors to escape beyond our current state of being.

I am also working to better enhance my business (ERA) to include an innovative team to help me birth multiple ventures since my business has grown. It’s a lot of work trying to become a better business owner, designer, and artist.

What was the very first independent creative project you worked on?

One of the first independent projects I directed and wrote was a play at Midtown Arts Center in 2006 entitled Kaleidoscope of Beauty: A Woman’s Journey from Surface to Soul. The play had 3 parts and featured many of my creative friends and a few actors that auditioned.

It was one of the most fulfilling moments, and it was well received by the community. It touched many topics that might’ve been uncomfortable, such as: sexual abuse, religious freedom, sexual exploration, women in hip-hop through break dancing, poetry, modern & African dance. It was a beautiful contribution to Houston.

Why do you create art?

To create a better world. To dismantle systems of thought that are not inclusive of black people, women, femmes, and anyone on the outskirts of what’s considered the norm in a compacted

and layered way. I’m working to make that clearer. Art is a medium I feel most comfortable and most uncomfortable in. It is a huge part of how I understand the world. I create art because it communicates my ideas much better than words ever could.

How do you define success?

Having a successful career as an artist is very important. It took a long time for me to honor this idea because I’m so used to traditional ways of living. As a young girl, it was not something heavily encouraged but I always found myself in those spaces. I define my own personal success as being able to explore, collaborate and share my work in private and public spaces while also being able to create a life of freedom, both financially and mentally, in the process. If I am able to make an impact in the world, inspire, and tell the story of how I had no background in art and made a living with it through discipline, reflection, and innovative ideas, I will have lived a successful life as an artist.

What recent projects or achievements are you most proud of?

To date I’m most proud of being selected for the Fresh Arts residency program! It has expanded my discipline and imagination. It’s placed me in a space to consider deeply how if given space and opportunity, what would you do with it. It’s made me analyze my strengths more than I have before. I’m so very grateful for this opportunity.

STACEY ALLEN

A b o v e : Stacey Allen. Photography by Dennis Holt.

R i g h t p a g e : Stacey Allen. Photography by Keda Sharber

A RT H O USTO N 74

75

I

n

t

Te l l u s a l i t t l e b i t a b o u t yourself.

I am from from Houston. Missouri City to be exact. I have a BA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and an MA in CrossCultural Studies from University of Houston - Clear Lake. I was most notably a member of the Urban Souls Dance Company. I co-founded Pretty Cultured with Felicia Woodard in 2013, an artistic collaborative that uses art as a voice for social activism, dialogue, and healing. We met Lindsay Gary in 2015, and from there we performed and created Movement Passport, a dance workshop that highlights dance cultures of the African diaspora and beyond.

Motherhood sharpened my artistic voice, which led to the birth of Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective, where I tell the stories of Black women and girls through dance.

What upcoming project(s) are you working on?

Currently, my project “A Single Thread Weaves a Future”, which I created with my collaborator Saida Carter, was on view last summer at Winter Street Studios as part of Fresh Arts Space Taking Artist Residency program. We are honored and amazed by the warmth and love we were shown by all the people who came to our opening reception. Next up, I will continue working on a children’s dance theatre project which is currently titled “The Fairytale Project” that infuses family oral history with time travel.

It’s going to be a great time, and it’s so important to me for Black children to see themselves. This project, which is funded by Dance Source Houston’s Spark Grant, is likely going to premiere next summer.

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What was the very first independent creative project you worked on?

I am truly a collaborator at heart.

I like to work with other creatives and bounce ideas off each other, so this is a hard question... I cannot say that I have done anything truly independently. Community and collaboration is the basis of my artistic style. Have I initiated ideas? Sure, but it has always been a collaborative process. I love bringing artists and creatives together..

What types of mediums do you work in?

I would say, generally, I am a dance artist and educator. I love to choreograph, but I put on my vision board for 2020 that I wanted to delve deeper into art and try my hand at curating (not that dance isn’t art, but the more conventional idea of art). Then, here comes the idea for “A Single Thread Weaves A Future”.

Not only is the tangible art curated but all the programming as well.

How do you define success?

Success to me is impact. As an educator, success is the positive impact on my students and then, in turn, their ability to think creatively.

Creativity and imagination is a predecessor to liberation.

What recent projects are you most proud of?

I am thankful for all the opportunities that I have both worked hard for and am generously given. The projects that stand out to me the most are “A Single Thread Weave a Future”, and “Formed in my Grandmother’s Womb”, which I co-created with Lindsay Gary, Felicia Woodard, and Cecilie Baxter for Project Row Houses’ Round 50: Race, Health, and Motherhood. I am also proud of

T h e m a t i c a l l y, w h a t i s your work usually about?

Black women and girls. The themes that impact us flow naturally from my mind, body, heart, and soul.

Why do you create art?

I create art because it allows me to share my stories with others.

Working as an artist can be difficult because I know that from the initial sketch until its fully completed I can only hope that others see it and feel something.

the work Pretty Cultured has done with “Movement Passport”. We’ve taken a pause, but I am excited to bring that back. I am also grateful to continue working on the “Fairytale Project”. This is special to me because I cannot wait to see my children’s faces when they see a live theatre production centering their family history.

A R TAHROT UH SOTUOSNT O7N6 7 6

exposure

JOHNNY BEAVERS

tattoosbyjohnnybeavers@gmail.com 512-934-0640

ALIA ALI

info@fotorelevance.com 713 505-1499

FARIBA ABEDIN

Silver Street Studios #303 Info@FaribaAbedin.com 713 417-7777

E X P O S U R7 E7 7 7

LYN SULLIVAN

Silver Street Studios, #211 www.lynsullivan.com Lyn@lynsullivan.com 281 520-1349

ARTHOUSTON 78

artH O U S T O N PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ArtHouston is published semiannually by ArtHouston Magazine, LLC. ©Copyright 2021. All right reserved. The entire contents of ArtHouston may not be reproduced in any matter, either in part or in whole, without written permission from the publisher. In addition, the artists within hold copyrights on their images and essays. Any use of or copying of their works without their written permission is in violation of the copyright law. ArtHouston Magazine, LLC. is not responsible in any way for mispellings, omissions, incorrect phone numbers or addresses.

Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, and other materials must be accompanied by postage and a self-addressed return envelope.

ArtHouston is not responsible for unsolicited submissions.

Address all correspondence to: ArtHouston Magazine, 9114 N. Allegro St. Houston, Texas 77080.

C O L O P H O N 7799

contributors

Jody (aka JT) Morse WRITER

JT Morse is a freelance, multi-genre writer based in Evergreen, TX. She pens everything from award-winning flash fiction to spec fic poetry to nonfiction articles for local and national magazines. Morse also teaches writing workshops for Writespace, Comicpalooza, HIA, and RWA. For more information, visit her social media pages: @JTMorseWriter.

Karine Parker-Lemoyne CURATO R, EDUCATO R

Karine Parker-Lemoyne is a Texan-French curator, visual artist, educator and community developer. She currently runs the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts.

Some of the major projects she developed include Go West 1 at UNESCO in Paris, the Houston citywide “Open the Door” public art program, and in 2015 “From A Space to A Place” that strives to meet the challenges of increasing urbanization.

Nathan Lindstrom PHOTOGRAPHER

Nathan Lindstrom is a commercial portrait and lifestyle photographer based in Houston with clients from all over the world. Having grown up in Iowa and lived in Argentina and Spain, Lindstrom draws on his experiences for inspiration. His work was included in two shows during the last FotoFest exhibition. Lindstrom has a studio in Silver Street Studios and lives with his wife and their dog, Kirby.

Morgan Cronin WRITER

Morgan Cronin is a New York City based writer, originally from Houston. She received her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and is currently a secondyear MFA candidate at the New School, where she is studying creative nonfiction. She has been a regular contributor to ArtHouston. Her work has appeared in the Culture Trip, Houston Press, and elsewhere.

Sabrina Bernhard WRITER

Sabrina Bernhard is a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, where she received a BA in International Relations and in French. She is working with ArtHouston to fulfill her passion for the arts, while further developing Houston’s admirable cross-cultural reputation.

Sabrina is passionate about travelling, contemporary arts, la Francophonie, music, and culture.

Arthur Demicheli WRITER, PHOTOGRAPHER

Arthur Demicheli is a freelance copywriter and photographer from New York who has worked in the marketing, advertising, and publishing industries since 1992. Recently, Arthur has been a dynamic part of ArtHouston’s team. He holds an MA in Humanities from the University of Geneva. He is an avid fan of art, film, and photograhy history.

Haley Berkman Karren WRITER

Haley Berkman Karren is an art advisor, independent curator, and writer.

She is the Founder and Director of Karren Art Advisory, where she specializes in modern and contemporary art and photography. She has many years of curatorial experience at international arts institutions.

She holds a B.A. in Art History from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.A. in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU.

Amanda Andrade WRITER

Amanda is a young art historian working on her Masters in Fine and Decorative Art and Design at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. In 2020, she graduated from the University of St Andrews with a Masters of Art with Joint Honours in History of Art and International Relations. Her interests include sustainable art, medieval devotional objects and baking for family and friends.

William Hanhausen WRITER

An art venture capital investor, former faculty Professor of Marketing at the Universidad Anahuac Mexico City.

Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Museum of Texas Art (MoTA) and member of the Latino Advisory Committee at the MFAH. While eschewing what he describes as “Latino Art is not Latin-American Art”, he is a maverick of “Latino and Chicano Art an Underrepresented American Style”.

ARTHOUSTON 80

editor’s pick

David A. Brown

David A. Brown offers a succession of related shots or scenes developing a single subject or phase of a film story.

Statement of work: The Sequence project deconstructs drawings and photographs into a familiar geometry by pushing and pulling depth of field, repetition and composition. Each piece starts off as a single drawing or photograph and it is abstracted through repetition. Creating this work is a meditative process which creates a sequence of images that I use to create visual phrases. Each image cluster is a visual playground offering the viewer multiple focal points, patterns and compositions to explore. This October, David A. Brown will have an exhibit of this work entitled Sequence: drawings and photographs at G Spot Contemporary Gallery. Opening reception Saturday, October 2, 2021, from 6pm to 8pm.

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ARTHOUSTON 82

REMEMBERING 9/11

Photography by John Bernhard

We w i l l n e v e r f o r g e t