Texas Collages: A Tribute to Kurt Schwitters

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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