Editor’s Remarks: May 2013
Editor Nancy Wozny.
PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN.
There’s something about Sean Shim-Boyle’s Project Row House installation, Salt House, that speaks to the moment. A second fabricated chimney bisects the room, altering the interior just enough to wake us up to its reconfigured space.
We’ve all had our share of “keep calm and carry on” in recent weeks, all of which winds us back to what sustains us. Art, like salt, plays a part. And if you don’t believe me, head on over TEDxHouston and listen to Jane Weiner’s fierce dance/rant Salt. I hope you will find something in this issue to interest, or perchance, to sustain you.
Nancy Zastudil lends her insight to Marcelyn McNeil’s spacious canvases now on view at Anya Tish Gallery. We welcome Marene Gustin back to A + C’s pages in her preview of the Houston Palestine Film Festival.
In his Loose Ends column, Devon Britt-Darby sheds a tear for the Pollock that got away, channels the late Robert Hughes on Jeff Koons and ponders the relationship between Forrest Bess’s life and his art.
From Jerome Robbins’ mirror-holding humor in The Concert at Houston Ballet to Catastrophic Theatre’s reprise of Mickle Maher’s word fest, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, to Shen Wei’s minimalist The Rite of Spring, you can see that the arts soldier on in this city.
As always, A + C writers are a busy bunch. Our own Britt-Darby kicks off part one of his Art League Houston exhibition, appropriately titled Art Criticism and Reporting, with an artist talk at 7 p.m. May 17. Zastudil has organized The Fourth Dimension was Ha-Ha, in Other Words, That it is Laughter at the Blaffer Museum. The show opens May 31 at 6:30 p.m. and runs June 1 – July 20. Abby Koenig’s work, Back At Day One, Again, is included in Vox Feminina IV at Pandora Theater, May 3-11.
May’s Art/Ad Bomb comes courtesy of Houston artist Alexandre Rosa. Check out more of his work at www.alexandrerosa.net.
Here’s to carrying on, artfully and otherwise.
Uncharted Waters Coming to Anya Tish Gallery June 2013
The works of Joan Hall and Paul Booker will be featured in a unique 2 person exhibition in conjunction with PrintHouston 2013.
Joan Hall
Would You Swim the Ocean to Ease My Pain, 2007
Mixed Media, print on paper and Mylar.
105 x 151 inches.
Delving into the uncharted area between printmaking and sculpture, Uncharted Waters presents an alternative use of printmaking by integrating prints and found objects into wall-dependent sculptures. Both, Hall and Booker, draw their inspiration from the patterns found within nature that is reflected in their works of juxtaposing dimensions: Booker’s intimate objects alongside Hall’s monumental installations.
Joan Hall has long been concerned with the advanced deterioration of our natural environment. An avid sailor, Hall uses her vast nautical knowledge as inspiration for her large, wall-spanning sculptures that combine the beauty of nature with the elements that threaten to devastate it. Mixed media composed of resin, plastic and marine debris collected from the ocean is intertwined with digital prints on Mylar in an arduous process – occasionally requiring the hacking of materials.
The intimate sculptural pieces of Paul Booker, although initially appear as architectural structures, recall organic origins within nature’s choreography: flocks of birds, swarms of ants and schools of fish. Booker begins his process by printing hand-drawn designs onto individual strips of transparent Lexan. These strips are held together in a complex layering process using hundreds of pins traditionally used for the preservation of insects. Each completed work is a visual dichotomy of fluid motion projecting from the wall with a two-dimensional shadow cast through the transparent material it is constructed from.
Opening Reception:
May 31, 2013
6 – 8 PM
On View:
May 31 – June 30, 2013
For more info visit anyatishgallery.com
Pop Shop Houston
Indie Craft Fair, Art and Music Festival at Spring Street Studios May 11-12.
This is a little more than a shopping excursion. You’ll find independent artists, designers, and crafters of every media, plus cocktails, bands, and even family friendly activities.
- Over 50 Independent Designers
- Locally Made Goods, including t-shirts, records, vintage clothing and jewelry, handmade cards and prints
- The Smurfs animator, Gerard Baldwin, last living member of the Hana-Barbera creative studio (FREE 1″ Smurfette buttons to 1st 50 attendees!)
- Anne Marie D’Arcy Exhibiting Shapes Project by the late Dale Stewart
- Gal Pals and Those Lavender Whales perform live with DJs ADR and Reverberation
- Pi Pizza, Coreano’s, Happy Endings and Fat Cat Creamery
- AvantGarden will be serving cocktails including a special cocktail “the pop”
- Mobile Photobooth
- FREE Crafting for kids and families
- Children’s Author readings by Good Books in the Woods
FREE Admission
Editor’s Remarks: April 2013
Editor Nancy Wozny.
PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN.
It’s April. Cue the band.
No, really. I’m talking about the UH Marching Band, Spirit of Houston, in En Masse Studies in Etudes, a new composition by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) commissioned by the Mitchell Center, and directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Nancy Zastudil orients us to DBR’s deconstructed parade at Discovery Green in this issue.
Who says we don’t have spring in Texas? You may have noticed that the trees have turned blue between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive at Waugh Drive and at the Houston Parks and Recreation Department’s historic Gragg Building. Enjoy Amitava Sarkar’s photo essay on Konstantin Dimopoulos’ The Blue Trees, a project of Houston Arts Alliance with Galveston Arts Center and Galveston Island Tree Conservancy.
Puppets take over Houston every spring with the Puppetsploitation IX: Bobbindoctrin Mostly Annual Slam. Abby Koenig takes us inside Houston’s quirky puppet culture, while Zastudil gets the low down on Liz Magic Laser and Nora Chipaumire at DiverseWorks.
We did a little spring cleaning at the A + C house, making space for Devon Britt-Darby’s Loose Ends, a new monthly column of assorted topical tidbits and running commentary on the visual arts in Houston and beyond. In April’s edition, he ponders Bert L. Long Jr.’s legacy and the creeping Californication of a key Menil gallery, visits the Ken Price and Cindy Sherman surveys in Dallas and applauds The Art Guys’ stroll down The Longest Street in Houston.
I had hoped to include an ArtiCATS section this month, featuring the fabulous felines of Houston’s arts scene, but alas, arts folk just had too much going on for me to go all April fools on you. Know that it would have been hilarious.
Wishing you a month of renewal,
-Nancy
nancy@artsandculturetx.com
Is Your Summer PLAND?
PLAND is currently accepting applications, RSVPs, and inquiries for the 2013 Summer Residency Program, Building Program, and Special Projects and the deadline has been extended through April 15, 2013.
A Message from PLAND:
If you are a worker, maker, thinker, or doer who brings self-awareness, experimental processes, and creativity to what you do – and PLAND sparks some ideas for you – then we encourage you to apply to and participate in our 2013 summer programs.
We believe that a place is made by living in it and so the 2013 Summer Residency Program is focused on completion of PLAND’s Main House. We invite you to help us continue building and making PLAND by proposing a project that will increase on-site livability for visitors and future residents. Residencies span two to four weeks between June and September. Teams and collaborators are encouraged to apply. Click here to learn more and to download the application.
There is no formal application process for the 2013 Building Program. Instead PLAND takes RSVPs for related events such as work parties and workshops. The 2013 Work Parties take place June 13 — 17 and Sept 18 – 22. Contact PLAND for more information and to RSVP.
The Special Projects Program allows for projects and events that do not necessarily fit into the parameters of either the Residency or Building Programs, yet mirror the creative and innovative spirit of both. Applications to this program are primarily by invitation and often coincide with specific funding possibilities. Anyone who is interested in receiving more information may contact PLAND anytime after January 20.
Although humble, rugged, and not without its plentiful share of hardship, we offer you the opportunity to get in touch with the basics. Water, food, shelter, fire, weather, people, time, and space – all of these elements become the daily luxuries in which we invite you to indulge.
Applications are available at itspland.org. For questions or further information send an email to pland.info@gmail.com.
