- He is the son of Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee.
not sure what the title is, El Franco Lee II
- Junior's art looks inept and adolescent.
Blaqsheep vs Marvel, El Franco Lee II
- It troubles me to look at it--is Junior being ironic or is this work just plain dumb?
- You are meant to wonder this when you look at some of the work of, say, Mike Kelley or Lisa Yuskavage. But, y'know, really it's obvious that these two are clever postmodernists producing double-coded art.
- The only hints that he might be an ironist are his elite education (Yale, UH MFA) and where his art is shown.
- But for me, that just doesn't make up for the bad drawing and general stupidity of the work.
Blaqsheep vs. DC, El Franco Lee II
- If he were 16 years old and drawing this, I'd feel slightly embarrassed for him.
from "The Young Manhood of Dan Pussey," by Dan Clowes
- I'm reminded of the Dan Clowes story where Dan Pussey shows his art to Gummo Bubbleman.
- But I like to think I'm less naive than "Bubbleman"--I don't care if Junior is being postmodern. This art is horrible.
Blaqsheep vs. Triad
- I mean "Blaqsheep vs. Triad"--Jesus.
- But some of the art in the show was good.
Self-Portrait, Stephanie Toppin
- Like this.
La Llorona in Lilith's Garden, Delilah Montoya with Tina Hernandez, 2004
- And this.
La Llorona in Lilith's Garden, Delilah Montoya with Tina Hernandez, 2004, detail
- Here's a detail of that last one.
Mam E, Dawolu Jabari Anderson
- This one made me laugh. (Laugh with it, not at it.) Dude digs Kirby, eh?
These questions didn't get easier at my next stop for the night. An art group, I Love You Baby (ILYB for short), was showing at The Joanna.
- The Joanna is just an ordinary house on Graustark across from the University of St. Thomas.
- Its shows last one night only--on Friday, that was from 6 pm til 2 am.
- The group I Love You Baby is a collective of anarchic art punks.
- They were among the exiles from the Commerce Street Artist Warehouse who were in the movie by Skeezer Stinkfist. (They were ones who had the office Christmas party that degenerated into an orgy of destruction.)
- Their paintings seem a bit cleverer and more knowing than Junior's.
unknown title, ILYB
- I liked this one.
unknown title, ILYB
- And this one made me laugh.
- But even though they were basically exhibiting in someone's living room, context was everything.
unknown title, ILYB
- The work would seem ridiculously crude and inexplicable outside a gallery.
unknown title, ILYB
- One last I Love You Baby painting.
Still feel that way about Franco? I think he's one of the most exciting artists in Houston.
ReplyDeleteNothing I've seen since has changed my mind.
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