Texas Collages A Tribute to Kurt Schwitters
November 19 - December 18, 2010
Texas Collages A Tribute to Kurt Schwitters William Reaves Fine Art offers an intimate the medium in their oeuvre. Like Schwitters, exhibition of collages inspired by the curthese artists similarly employ everyday marent Menil exhibition terials, printed paper, featuring the work magazine cutouts, and of Kurt Schwitters. various other found Although Schwitters objects in their colwas born and worked lage work, brilliantly primarily in Europe, achieving a final comhis massive volumes of position that visually collages permeated the expresses their indiart world encouragvidual formal characing a receptive climate teristics and aesthetic by artists and viewers philosophies. Reily, Grainary Mills, 1959 internationally. His experimentation and utilization with ephemClose examination of these works reveals era, various texts, color, and found materials how each artist develops and experiments ushered in an evolving apwith the medium of collage, preciation for a radical apachieving independent visions proach to visual creation that in their final composition. involved combining seemingly Certain recognizable elements mundane materials with a forof collage, such as ephemmal and symbolic objective. era, magazine and newspaper texts, book covers, and other Texas artists have always exfound materials are quickly perimented with various meevident in the works of Dorodia and materials to express a thy Hood, Russell Prince, wide variety of subjects, exBill Reily, and McKie Trotter. ploring the boundaries of their Each of these artists develops aesthetic sensibilities. The coltheir compositions through a lages presented in this exhibimultitude of textures and coltion by Bill Condon, Dorothy ors from carefully assembled Prince, Blush Response, 2008 Hood, Otis Huband, Leila and thoroughly planned mateMcConnell, Russell Prince, rials. The final composition shows Bill Reily, Richard Stout and McKie Trottheir skillful placement of these elements, ter show how each of these artists adapted resulting in the tonal balance of Hood’s
creations, the rhythmic movement of Reily’s geometric shapes and figures, the exquisite assemblages of text and color in Prince’s works, and the architectural landscapes of Trotter’s compositions.
Schwitters’s collages set a firm foundation for the avant-garde medium of collage, allowing the future generations of artists represented in this exhibition to continue to explore and push past the boundaries of traditional artistic media. We hope you enjoy these works and have a joyous holiday season!
Otis Huband and Leila McConnell similarly apply textual elements and blocks of color paper in their work, but elaborate upon aesthetic elements visualized in their painted compositions. Huband’s collages show his development of the figure using found materials, moving from an emphasis on text Huband, Untitled, 2006 to a more figurative subject built with solid blocks of color. Much like her paintings, McConnell’s collages incorporate ephemeral skies with poignant color components that draw your eye into the composition. The collage elements in Bill Condon’s and Richard Stout’s works are subtly blended into the composition, often requiring a “treasure hunt” to find the collage component. Stout uses Stout, Coming Home, 1967 a single collage material to inspire and build his final composition, while Condon skillfully merges found materials with more traditional artistic media to develop his final work.
-Sarah Beth Wilson and Leslie Thompson
Exhibition Checklist Artist
Title
Date
Medium
Size (inches)
1. Condon
Lovett Hall, Rice Institute
1973
watercolor, collage
7x11 1/2
2. Hood
Untitled 1
n/d
collage
32x20
3. Hood
Untitled 2
n/d
collage
29 1/2 x 20
4. Huband
Gertrude Stein
1989
collage
56x44
5. Huband
Two Moons to Choose
1994
collage
12x8 3/4
6. Huband
Untitled
2006
collage
11x8 1/2
7. McConnell
Collage #165
1987
collage
7 1/4x4 1/4
8. McConnell
Orange Sunrise
2008
collage
9 1/2x7 1/2
9. McConnell
Something in the Future
2008
collage
9 1/2x7 1/2
10. McConnell
The Way Up
1984
collage
9 3/8 x 6 1/4
11. Prince
Blush Response
2008
collage
6x4
12. Prince
Buffalo Landscape
2009
collage
14 1/2x18 1/2
13. Prince
My Dear Emma
2004
collage
7x5
14. Prince
Stay by Me
2009
collage
32x20
15. Prince
The Last Hour of the Last Day 2007
collage
7x5
16. Reily
Grainary Mills
1959
collage on board
17x23
17. Reily
Side Show (Carnival)
n/d
collage on board
25x29
18. Stout
A Cycle and Arrow
1988
collage
50x60
19. Stout
Coming Home
1967
collage
24x30
20. Stout
Patricia’s Dance
1987
collage
30x40
21. Stout
Still Life with Shaw
1987-87
collage
39 1/2x28 1/4
22. Trotter
Four Bushes
n/d
collage
4x16
23. Trotter
Untitled
1965
collage
10x19
1. Bill Condon Lovett Hall, Rice Institute, 1973 watercolor, collage 7x11 1/2 inches
2. Dorothy Hood Untitled 1, n/d collage 32x20 inches
3. Dorothy Hood Untitled 2, n/d collage 29 1/2x20 inches
4. Otis Huband Gertrude Stein, 1989 collage 56x44 inches
5. Otis Huband Two Moons to Choose, 1994 collage 12x8 3/4 inches
6. Otis Huband Untitled, 2006 collage 11x8 1/2 inches
7. Leila McConnell Collage #165, 1987 collage 7 1/4x4 1/4 inches
8. Leila McConnell Orange Sunrise, 2008 collage 9 1/2x7 1/2 inches
9. Leila McConnell Something in the Future, 2008 collage 9 1/2x7 1/2 inches
10. Leila McConnell The Way Up, 1984 collage 9 3/8x6 1/4 inches
11. Russell Prince Blush Response, 2008 collage 6x4 inches
12. Russell Prince Buffalo Landscape, 2009 collage 14 1/2x18 1/2 inches
13. Russell Prince My Dear Emma, 2004 collage 7x5 inches
14. Russell Prince Stay By Me, 2009 collage 32x20 inches
15. Russell Prince The Last Hour of the Last Day, 2007 collage 7x5 inches
16. Bill Reily Grainary Mills, 1959 collage on board 17x23 inches
17. Bill Reily Side Show (Carnival), n/d collage on board 25x29 inches
18. Richard Stout A Cycle and Arrow, 1988 collage 50x60 inches
19. Richard Stout Coming Home, 1967 collage 24x30 inches
20. Richard Stout Patricia’s Dance, 1987 collage 30x40 inches
21. Richard Stout Still Life with Shaw, 1986-87 collage 39 1/2x28 1/4 inches
22. McKie Trotter Four Bushes, n/d collage 4x16 inches
23. McKie Trotter Untitled, 1965 collage 10x19 inches
Houston’s Gallery for Early Texas Art
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