tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66336216657639393042024-03-17T22:03:48.398-05:00The Great God Pan Is Dead Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.comBlogger1628125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-24165566259268608202022-07-03T06:43:00.001-05:002022-07-03T06:43:29.830-05:00A Little Reminder that The Great God Pan Is Dead has Moved<p> If you have a subscription to this blog, you may have noticed that it has been silent for almost a year. While it would be reasonable to conclude that I just got bored with it and quit, I have in fact been writing on at a new blog host. The name of this new blog is stil<a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/">l <b>The Great God Pan Is Dead</b></a><b>. </b></p><p>Recent post have been on<a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/art-vs-war"> a Ukrainian ballerina who joined the army to fight the Russian invaders</a>,<a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/zhemao-and-the-invention-of-russia"> a Chinese fabulist who wrote over a million words of made-up histoty for Chinese Wikipedia</a>, and <a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/the-big-show-part-1">this year's version of Lawndale's long-running Big Show</a>. Come over and check them out! <br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-16123848376116201432021-11-10T12:07:00.002-06:002021-11-10T12:07:56.081-06:00Zine Fest is Coming!<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><div class="available-content"><div class="body markup"><p>This Saturday, at the<a href="https://www.orangeshow.org/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener"> Orange Show Center for Visionary Art</a>, <a href="https://www.zinefesthouston.org/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Zine Fest Houston</a>
returns for its latest iteration. It has been running every year,
except for last year for obvious reasons, since 2004. You may have gone
to the Orange Show in years past, but this is a brand new thing. There
is a large parking lot and covered structure behind the Orange Show
structure and <a href="https://www.orangeshow.org/visit-smither-park" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Smither Park</a>. That’s where the festival will be held. The space is covered but open to the elements, but the weather forecast is excellent.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-667-1000" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73791fb4-72d6-4f8d-8a0b-5022c2aef219_1000x667.jpeg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/73791fb4-72d6-4f8d-8a0b-5022c2aef219_1000x667.jpeg","height":667,"width":1000,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":244882,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F73791fb4-72d6-4f8d-8a0b-5022c2aef219_1000x667.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>This was <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/10/the-pan-review-of-zines-zinefest.html">Zine Fest in 2013</a>, held at the printing museum. <a href="http://printingmuseum.org/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">The Printing Museum</a> seems a logical choice for hosting a zine festival, but its crowded warren of rooms is not idea for setting up tables. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1080-1080" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48390d6d-fd38-4afe-9741-c0877d1f6acb_1080x1080.jpeg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/48390d6d-fd38-4afe-9741-c0877d1f6acb_1080x1080.jpeg","height":1080,"width":1080,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":101337,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48390d6d-fd38-4afe-9741-c0877d1f6acb_1080x1080.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>This is me <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2016/11/zinefest.html">manning my booth in 2018</a>, when they held the festival at <a href="https://lawndaleartcenter.org/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Lawndale Art Center</a>. </p><p>As I remind readers at the end of every post that <a href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=20503636&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegreatgodpanisdead.com%2F&utm_medium=widget" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">I have a Patreon account. There are two levels of support—”nymphs and dryads” pay $1/month. “Great Gods” pay $5/month.</a>
Great Gods get a premium for their support—they get one zine, produced
by me, mailed to them free of charge. I am working on the zine now—I
will be printing it up to sell at Zine Fest Houston and to mail out to
my patrons. I haven’t physically produced copies (working on that
today), but it has been written, illustrated, and designed.</p><p>And I want to preview to cover here.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2063-1453" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F303bb593-c7f6-49d0-858f-2cc6f087289a_1453x2063.jpeg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/303bb593-c7f6-49d0-858f-2cc6f087289a_1453x2063.jpeg","height":2063,"width":1453,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":893525,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F303bb593-c7f6-49d0-858f-2cc6f087289a_1453x2063.jpeg" width="451" /></a></figure></div><p>I hope I will see all of you there at <a href="https://www.zinefesthouston.org/2021-zfh-schedule/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Zine Fest Houston</a> this Saturday, November 13th, noon-6pm! </p><p>(And if you can’t make it to Zine Fest, I will be putting this zine up on <a href="https://exu.storenvy.com/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">my Storenvy store</a>. And if you’d like it for free, you can getting it by supporting my work <a href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=20503636" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">by becoming a patron.</a>)</p></div></div> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-45675002032473883102021-11-08T10:48:00.001-06:002021-11-08T10:48:18.591-06:00Kevin Cunningham on Founding and Moving On from Commerce Street Artists Warehouse<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><a href="https://www.3ld.org/staff-bios">Kevin Cunningham</a> is a playwright, director, and producer involved in New York theater through the organization he founded and runs, <a href="https://www.3ld.org/">3-Legged Dog Media and Theater</a>. But in the 80s, he was an art student then a writing student at the University of Houston. He was at Lawndale when it housed the art department, and he and Wes Hicks decided they wanted to maintain that Lawndale vibe in a new location. That location was the Commerce Street Artist Warehouse (aka CSAW), which existed from 1985 and 2007. I’m interested in CSAW and the effect it had on the Houston art scene, so I’ve been trying to speak to many of its early denizens. The first two parts of this project (it may be too grandiose to refer to these disparate efforts as a “project”) are my interview with Wes Hicks. (You can read <a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/wes-hicks-on-the-commerce-street">part 1</a> and <a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/wes-hicks-with-their-beards-and-everything">part 2 </a>here.) This interview was conducted in 2016 and transcribed earlier this year.</p><p>[<i>Note on the photographs</i>: unless indicated, I do not have permission to use any of the photos here, unless I’m the photographer. Please let me know if you own the copyrights to any of them and I will happily remove them.]</p><blockquote><p><b>“For a young artist, taking over 27,000 square feet changes your notion of the possibilities for scale.” — Kevin Cunningham</b></p></blockquote><p><b>ROBERT BOYD:</b> You were one of the first 4 people at CSAW. How did you four get together and how did it start?</p><p><b>KEVIN CUNNINGHAM:</b> It was actually me, Steve Wellman, and Deborah Moore and Wes Hicks. We all had studio space at the Lawndale Art Center. We were all graduate students or students there. And we were looking for large space where we could do big things. I can’t remember if it was me or Wes, but one of us ran across this old empty warehouse, 27,000 square feet. And it had about six inches of styrofoam dust coated all over everything. And we talked to the landlord, and there's no zoning or anything, so we got it for $1000/month. And we split that between ourselves. We each took a part of the space. Wes and Deborah decided they wanted to live there, so they took the front area. And we each took a chunk of the floor. We got these high-pressure cleaners and spent weeks spraying the place out. It was a mess, a massive mess. And a nightmare. We'd get fiberglass in our skin. It probably was not very wise in terms of toxicity. But we were taking care of our own toxicity at the time.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Before that, you were a grad student at UH art? Getting an MFA?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I was getting a BFA in sculpture and installation art, and I got really bored with my sculpture, which is how I ended up where I am now. I was tired of objects just sitting there. So I was actually taking a sophomore creative writing class, and I realized I had to turn in a short story the next day, so I just started writing a list of all the junk that had accumulated in my studio, as if I were an archeologist from the 40th century. I turned it in in desperation to my instructor. The next day, <a href="https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=Donald+Barthelme">Donald Barthelme</a> came storming into my studio with the story in his hand. "Did you write this?" I was like, "Uh... Yeah..." He was my favorite author at the time. I don't know if you've ever seen a picture of him. He sort of looked like God. And I said, "Yes." And he said, "Come with me." He took me and walked across campus into his graduate creative writing workshop. So I ended up getting a masters degree in creative writing and literature there at the UH Creative Writing Department.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1887-1280" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35b74497-a43a-4fa2-abdb-8b571dccc378_1280x1887.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/35b74497-a43a-4fa2-abdb-8b571dccc378_1280x1887.jpeg","height":1887,"width":1280,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":929165,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35b74497-a43a-4fa2-abdb-8b571dccc378_1280x1887.jpeg" width="434" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1887-1280 {
padding-bottom: 147.421875%;
padding-bottom: min(147.421875%, 1887px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1887-1280 img {
max-width: 1280px;
max-height: 1887px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i> </i></span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Donald Barthelme. This photo is from the collection of the University of Houston and is not used with permission.</i></span> </figure></div><p>It was a little bit before we formed CSAW that I ended up in the creative writing program. I was going through the creative writing program while I was working at CSAW.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> So while you were at CSAW, were you creating visual art?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah. I was mostly making these big, crazy artists books.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> I read about them.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I was also working to try to incorporate video and sound into my sculpture at that time, too. And I also had begun doing these built performance events... Another thing that happened was that Don was insistent that I take poetry classes. And the poetry instructor at the time was this woman who began her poetry classes by saying, "You know, I've had writer's block for the last eight years." I still don't believe in writer's block. Randy Watson and I got in trouble because we flooded the workshop with 12 poems each a day. I tried to get out of it by sending a piece of fiction to <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9781585678846">Edward Albee</a>, who was just then starting to teach at UH. To my shock and surprise, he called me up and said, "Is this Kevin Cunningham?" And I said, "Yes." "I would like you to join my playwriting workshop." I was one of his first playwriting students at UH. He became my friend and mentor for many years after that. So, I was also starting to move into theater at the time I was a student there at Commerce Street. I was doing lots of these collaborations, these performance installations with Michael Galbreth.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1454-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65ab4154-0552-4918-a478-954f0e9df957_2400x2397.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/65ab4154-0552-4918-a478-954f0e9df957_2400x2397.jpeg","height":1454,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1356292,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="639" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65ab4154-0552-4918-a478-954f0e9df957_2400x2397.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1454-1456 {
padding-bottom: 99.86263736263736%;
padding-bottom: min(99.86263736263736%, 1454px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1454-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1454px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>[Photo of Edward Albee by Suzanne Paul, Edward Albee, 1999, gelatin silver print, printed 2001, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Clinton T. Willour in memory of Kaye Marvins. © Estate of Suzanne Paul.]</i></span></figure></div><p><b>BOYD:</b> So, it does seem like the performance scene, such as it was, in Houston was very theater-oriented.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Like everything in Houston, at that time, one of the great things was that there weren't really any rules. And there were a lot of people who were getting together and trying different things. And Commerce Street in its best incarnations embodied that. There were a lot of painters at CSAW, but almost all of the artists who were working there got into performance or performative stuff. <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/search?q=Michael+Galbreth">Michael Galbreth</a>, did these endurance pieces there (where he'd lay face down in a big pile of sand for 24 hours). Wes was playing around with performance, and Deborah has always been a performer. She had her crazy, accordion-playing trickster character which she would embody. And Jim Pirtle also was involved. He wasn't a person with a studio, but he was there. Wes and I tried to keep that back bay open as a performance area. Where people could do performances. It was unequipped. The way we did things back then has now become one of my preoccupations which was that there was a lot of performance art that happens with clip lights. The reality was that performances are greatly enhanced by technology. We didn't do much technology. So yeah, we took that space over, cut out our little areas based on what we could afford, which wasn't much. I was working part-time at the Contemporary Arts Museum for six bucks an hour and I ran the Diverse Works bookstore at the same pay rate.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u2-vi-9Y1Go/YYlUBngkrRI/AAAAAAAAfOw/6zT_G0zZXochzUVBjtwDDVGwE9-29MIxACNcBGAsYHQ/Michael%2BGalbreth%2B2013.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u2-vi-9Y1Go/YYlUBngkrRI/AAAAAAAAfOw/6zT_G0zZXochzUVBjtwDDVGwE9-29MIxACNcBGAsYHQ/w427-h640/Michael%2BGalbreth%2B2013.jpg" width="427" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i></i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Michael Galbreth in 2013 at</i><i> Notsuoh. Photo by Robert Boyd</i></span></p><p><b>BOYD:</b> I remember that store. I bought zines there.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> We were [at CSAW] and a couple of different guys rolled up in interesting cars. Nestor Topchy rolled up one day, in an old station wagon with some spherical forms in the back of it. Wes talked to him first. He invited him on in and gave him some space just to do some big objects; he wasn't going to stay or anything. And he ended up staying. And then Rick Lowe rolled up in a convertible one day. I think he was coming in from Alabama or Mississippi. I can't remember which. He introduced himself and just fell right in. I think Robert Campbell was the next person who came in, then <a href="http://www.deborahcoltongallery.com/International/artist/virgil-grotfeldt">Virgil Grotfeldt</a>. </p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Grotfeldt was older, right?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah, Virgil was older. He was really on a roll in his painting. He needed a place where he could focus, and do things looking forward. It was real ad hoc. It just formed partly out of an existing network and partly out of people just wandering in. Nestor and Rick, you know.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> I talked to Nestor and he said he'd gone over to Lawndale because he'd been accepted into the MFA program, and someone told him about Commerce Street. So he just drove over.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah. From my perspective, he just rolled up. I think Wes, Steve and I were out of school by then.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> What about the performances at CSAW? Aside from the one you told me about with Michael Galbreth. The one's you were involved with--were they theatrical in nature?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I would classify them as experimental theater. Lyn Miller directed some of them. He's still in Houston somewhere. Malcom McDonald was involved in a few crazy things, and Wes staged some things back there, a few really dangerous things. We did a piece called <i>Sisyphus Distracted</i>, which was a piece about a 7/11 worker. That was done by <a href="https://catastrophictheatre.com/personnel/joel-orr/">Joel Orr</a>. He wrote the script and I directed it. There were all kinds of little performance art or dance kind of things that would happen there, almost spontaneously. One of the things that would happen is that these big parties would happen. People would do things spontaneously. There was a lot of that sort of thing going on. But generally speaking, it was mostly quiet around there, except for, you know, like Wes's temper tantrums.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> I've heard a little bit about that. Nestor said that's why he moved out.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah. Most people did. Left because Wes was so difficult.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> I have the letter from the rest of CSAW evicting Wes. It lists a series of grievances. They all seem to be very recent grievances from those people, but it seems like they must have come right from the start.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah. Pretty much.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> What about exhibits that were shown at CSAW while you were there? Were there many or any of visual art?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah, there were several. Almost always it was a mix, you know. Once the walls were up, which took some time, we would put together exhibits. Different people would curate. I think Robert Campbell curated a couple of them. Wes was really active with Deborah in curating stuff. I did a couple of exhibits myself, and they almost always included a performance component in the back bay, and it included a party, of course. There was a pretty active scene there for about four years, probably.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> How long were you there?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I don't know. [<i>laughter</i>] I’m a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, now. I think I was probably there for two or three years. I was being advised by both Barthelme and Albee to leave Houston and move to New York. In 1990, two things happened. The <a href="https://www.blueman.com/">Blue Man Group</a> came on a P.S.122 field trip to <a href="http://diverseworks.org/">Diverse Works</a>. And I was actually able to help them get a big chunk of the show they were mounting at the time which turned out to be the Blue Man Group show that’s still running in New York. So they became convinced that I was a production stage manager, and offered me a job. And at the same time, Edward Albee gave me a residency at the Barn, his artist retreat in Montauk. I just moved to New York and started working with the Blue Man Group.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> This would be around 1990 or so.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> 1990. Yeah, so I think this was probably when I left Commerce Street. I was probably still there at that time.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> What about writing? I know you wrote several things for the <i>Public News.</i></p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I wrote for the <i>Public News</i> and for the <i>Houston Press</i>. Right before I left town, I made the mistake of pointing out a pattern of undue influence by <a href="https://pazdabutler.com/">Hiram Butler</a> in the Texas collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, and was blackballed from writing in Houston.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> <i>The Public News</i> surely wouldn't give a shit about Hiram Butler.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> No, it was the <i>Houston Press</i>.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Really? Why do you think that would be the case?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> That's just the way things were run back then. It was a tiny, tiny group of highly influential people out of River Oaks that were running everything. They didn't like to be embarrassed.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Was this something you said in an article or what?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I outlined a pattern of what appeared to me to be undue influence by Hiram Butler and <a href="https://www.mfah.org/blogs/inside-mfah/meet-the-mfah-curator-alison-de-lima-greene">Alison De Lima Greene</a> on the curatorial selections at the Museum of Fine Arts Texas art collection. Almost every Texas artist who was in that collection at the time was represented by Hiram Butler.</p><p>The article had no effect but to get me blackballed from writing about art in Houston. I started writing at the <i>Houston Press</i> with an article about the NEA when <a href="https://melchin.org/">Mel Chin</a> was singled out by them. I had done a few reviews. Mostly I focused on institutional criticism and commentary of institutions. Criticism of institutions in Houston. As Houston artists, a lot of us were getting national and sometimes international recognition for our work, but in town we were always as sort of class-Z cheap labor force, and so we couldn’t get any cred in Houston for a long time. I think the Art Guys were the first to get anything in the Contemporary Arts Museum. Surls and Chuck Duggan and those guys--Earl Staley and Derek Boshier--came to Houston with existing reputations. They didn't have the same problem that local home-grown boys did. There was also some competition from the Core program between Lawndale and the Core program--we all got together socially a lot, but the folks in the Core program seemed to have more of a leg up than the locals. There was a lot of controversy about that always; a lot of grumbling.</p><p>It was published. That's why I got blackballed. The response to that article was unnecessarily defensive. I'm just a schlub everyday-Joe artist writing my pain and pointing out a pattern. It was a pattern that was embarrassing to some people.</p><p>I wrote one about how <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Bullock">Bob Bullock</a> bought paintings and shot them for target practice.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Bought paintings from whom?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Houston artists. I can't remember who the artists were exactly. But he apparently bought this painting and used it for target practice.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> It wasn't finished until he shot it.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I'll admit that it was a good idea, I thought.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Criticism by the gun. What a weird thing to do. If you don't like a painting, why buy it in the first place?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> In talking to him, it wasn't that he disliked the painting. He just got a wild hair up his ass.</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> I'm not sure how CSAW is thought of in Houston. The way it developed in the end is kind of emblematic of what happens to really critical art movements all over the planet really. A little less in Europe. But here in the United States, artists often come into a really blighted area and take over a space. Basically, what happens is their lawyers come in and see the space then take it over and turn it into high end lofts.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> That didn't happen with CSAW. It's still an artists’ space. But the rents are higher.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> So it's rich artists.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> It's Sunday painters, really.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah. Those aren't artists. People who started CSAW, most of them anyway, have spent their lives making art as professionals, usually at pretty great personal cost. None of us are wealthy. Some of us are kind of well-known or famous. Have created work, that, you know--my work has been in the Venice Biennale and Sundance. Sort of the lawlessness of Houston was one of the ways that place could happen. Also, it was kind of inevitable given the way that Houston runs. It was a company town that sort of controlled by a pretty small cadre of wealthy people at that time. I don't know what it's like now. That CSAW would ultimately be taken over by people with money. It will succeed to death, which is how a lot of these things happen. Here in New York, it's become the business model for real estate people.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Yeah. For sure.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> That's sort of sad because, in its early days, anyway, it was really a nexus for creativity in Houston. And a lot of people came through that building that contributed significantly to Houston's art world and its credibility there. Walter Hopps was hanging around. It was a very fecund place, an environment where creativity was really the only thing that was going on, almost. It's hard to find those places. Now I have a place here in New York, <i>3LD </i>that's grown out of my experience at Commerce Street Artists Warehouse, a 12,500 square foot art/technology center down below ground zero that's built out of the ground floor of a parking garage. My rent here is $24,000 a month and my electric bill is $16,000 a month. A lot of creativity happens here, but there's a huge preoccupation with survival and money. It interferes with that a lot. It didn't exist in the early days of Commerce Street. We could always come up with 1000 bucks for the landlord. There was no zoning or code requirements so we could actually outfit the place as we needed without undue expense or permitting or any of that crap. That was nice. And probably now non-existent.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> There are places a little bit like that now, where people manage to take over skuzzy old warehouses on the East Side. But you're right--it's harder to do, and I think it's more expensive. One thing about Commerce Street is that people left who went on to buy things. Jim Pirtle owns a building; Project Rowhouses is owned by itself. They don't have to worry about someone evicting them.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> A lot of us did go on and maintain our bad habit of turning unused industrial spaces or blighted spaces into something good. Rick's probably the best example of that. I also have a pretty well-run art/technology center here in New York. Jim is Jim: he's going to do what he does in his own inimitable way. The thing is, here in New York, that pattern has driven the city to a point where we're reaching a point of cultural stagnation. Where we're more of a tourist center, and it's very, very difficult for a young artist to get started. In 1996, the New York Times asked Richard Foreman, the experimental director, the grandfather of experimental theater in New York, what was the biggest thing standing in the way of a young artist in New York, and he said, real estate. It's truer and truer every day now. Now we're overrun by large, multinational retail entities and banks competing with artists. We don't have a snowball's chance in hell. I'm here, and I just finished my second big eviction fight with my landlord, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and sometimes I long for those days when you could just take over a warehouse, clean it up, and make art.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> Have you thought about moving further from Manhattan?</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> Yeah. If I didn't have a 30-year-lease, I would have been in Berlin 10 years ago. The environment for the arts in the United States is not just difficult, it's absolutely hostile. There are many. many forces arrayed against people who want to create new things. It's not just financial/real estate. There're also ideological issues. The culture wars have just gotten worse. I started my art career in 1980. Curated my first group show right when the culture wars were really starting, and we haven't seen it stop. The philanthropic support for the arts has cratered. After this recession, we lost the Rockefeller Foundation, American Express left cultural funding. Altria is gone a long time ago. All the big foundations that used to fund culture either don't fund culture at all, or they require the cultural activity to serve some other purpose that doesn't have anything to do with art-making: education, or social good. The idea of art as a primary human activity that's important to human culture--has almost disappeared in the United States. I go to Europe and tell people I'm an artist, they treat me like I was saying I was a doctor or lawyer or something. It's an honorable profession that requires perseverance and a long apprenticeship. And here, I'm still sort of a cross between your crazy uncle and the town drunk. I have to prove myself as a business person before they'll talk to me or help me with any resources. It's almost untenable in a lot of ways.</p><p>But we keep doing art. You can see behind me that there's a plaque from one of my plays that goes around somebody's neck that says Don Quixote. There's another plaque next to it that's going to be Sisyphus. It's different now. It's not the same as it was back then. It's much more difficult in all spheres. It is what it is. That opportunity in that moment was really special in Houston. I think it was a really great mix of things happening at the same time that produced a few really good artists. And what produced them was an environment of absolute intellectual and maybe even moral freedom. A feeling that you could do whatever you wanted to with impunity. And there was a huge community behind you. I don't know what it's like there now, but I get the sense that the support structure is much less vibrant, and that there isn't as much new blood flowing through the city as their used to be in terms of art.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> There's nothing quite like CSAW. One thing that I think CSAW sort of embodied was a change in direction for art in Houston. A lot more performance. It was a painters’ town before Commerce Street came along. Right when Commerce Street came along, it had just celebrated painterliness by having the <i>Fresh Paint</i> show.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> We had Mel Chin running around. He was interesting. He did a lot of different things. At James Harithas’ house, there were still big parties there where Staley would be there and Surls and Burt Long and... The other thing is that Commerce Street Artists Warehouses wouldn't have existed without Lawndale. Surls took over that big warehouse on behalf of the University of Houston, that environment gave a big, open concrete space that you can get messy in. It became a necessary modus operandi for all of us, I think.</p><p><b>BOYD:</b> I think that kind of thing encourages performance. It happened in New York back in the 60s when they started doing Happenings. These people had lots of loft space, and they do something in the loft space besides paint. Let's have a bunch of people do some kind of performance of some kind. The big space idea was helped the direction of Houston's art change somewhat from individual painters in their studios to people getting together and doing crazy things at Commerce Street or Catal Huyuk or Zocalo or where ever.</p><p><b>CUNNINGHAM:</b> For a young artist, taking over 27,000 square feet changes your notion of the possibilities for scale. I wouldn't have done the films I've done, I wouldn't have done 30,000 square foot major media installations, probably. I never would have even thought about that if I hadn't had my experience at Commerce Street and Lawndale.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-10781450642727192722021-11-03T15:02:00.000-05:002021-11-03T15:02:01.916-05:00Looking At Art Around Town<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">I started out this weekend driving out to Sharpstown to <a href="https://thealtaarts.org/">Alta Arts</a>. I have a lot to say about this relatively new art organization. Their new structure, pictured below, is amazing. And Sharpstown, just outside the Loop, needs some art. The question is, is Alta Arts the organization to facilitate this? It can’t be denied that they have put their money where their mouth is. Their galley is the whitest white-cube in town.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1080-1080" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F562d17a6-73ce-4296-8f6e-6374bb284cc3_1080x1080.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/562d17a6-73ce-4296-8f6e-6374bb284cc3_1080x1080.jpeg","height":1080,"width":1080,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":22464,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F562d17a6-73ce-4296-8f6e-6374bb284cc3_1080x1080.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1080-1080 {
padding-bottom: 100%;
padding-bottom: min(100%, 1080px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1080-1080 img {
max-width: 1080px;
max-height: 1080px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The current exhibit, abstract painters by David Hacker is only the second in this new space. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-953-795" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee779318-aceb-4d16-b1e8-814ae48d8b0c_795x953.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ee779318-aceb-4d16-b1e8-814ae48d8b0c_795x953.jpeg","height":953,"width":795,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":113713,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee779318-aceb-4d16-b1e8-814ae48d8b0c_795x953.jpeg" width="534" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-953-795 {
padding-bottom: 119.87421383647798%;
padding-bottom: min(119.87421383647798%, 953px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-953-795 img {
max-width: 795px;
max-height: 953px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Alta Arts Director of Programming, Alexander Squier, told me that Hacker’s work is purely abstract, but I kept seeing landscape elements. That space between landscape and abstraction made me think of <a href="https://www.theartstory.org/artist/diebenkorn-richard/">Richard Deibenkorn</a> or, closer to home, <a href="http://www.houstonarthistory.com/houston-art-history-basilios-poulos">Bas Poulos</a>. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1905-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f8b403-3953-4e53-8692-596cbbf7e15f_2259x2956.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a3f8b403-3953-4e53-8692-596cbbf7e15f_2259x2956.jpeg","height":1905,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1077067,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f8b403-3953-4e53-8692-596cbbf7e15f_2259x2956.jpeg" width="489" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1905-1456 {
padding-bottom: 130.8379120879121%;
padding-bottom: min(130.8379120879121%, 1905px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1905-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1905px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Over at Front Gallery, which recently celebrated its 10th annivesary (<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/10/kim-dingle-at-front-gallery.html">I was there for its first show, Kim Dingle</a>). Their current show feature work by<a href="https://www.erikawhitney.com/"> Erika Whitney</a>. The painting above is called <em>Intentions</em>. This painting reminded me of word paintings by <a href="http://danafrankfort.com/">Dana Frankfort</a> and <a href="https://www.moma.org/artists/6448">Christopher Wool</a>. Closer to Frankfort than Wool. Legibility is not the function of these painted words. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1724-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fefc5d5ce-686c-4c50-a2e8-3075afdbfd30_2768x3277.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/efc5d5ce-686c-4c50-a2e8-3075afdbfd30_2768x3277.jpeg","height":1724,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2077530,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fefc5d5ce-686c-4c50-a2e8-3075afdbfd30_2768x3277.jpeg" width="541" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1724-1456 {
padding-bottom: 118.4065934065934%;
padding-bottom: min(118.4065934065934%, 1724px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1724-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1724px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>But only a couple of them feature painted words. This one is called <em>Wacky Garden</em>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1054-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a89f7bd-6b00-42e0-b502-f821a5759c05_3432x2484.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6a89f7bd-6b00-42e0-b502-f821a5759c05_3432x2484.jpeg","height":1054,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1401883,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="463" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a89f7bd-6b00-42e0-b502-f821a5759c05_3432x2484.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1054-1456 {
padding-bottom: 72.39010989010988%;
padding-bottom: min(72.39010989010988%, 1054px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1054-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1054px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>This is <em>You’re Getting Warmer</em>. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1088-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8996d5b9-e259-4cca-978d-c746d2676759_3399x2540.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8996d5b9-e259-4cca-978d-c746d2676759_3399x2540.jpeg","height":1088,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1790448,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="478" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8996d5b9-e259-4cca-978d-c746d2676759_3399x2540.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1088-1456 {
padding-bottom: 74.72527472527473%;
padding-bottom: min(74.72527472527473%, 1088px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1088-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1088px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Over at Bill Arning Exhibitions, I looked at a big group show. <em>Led Zep</em> by Austin artist <a href="http://alyssakazew.com/">Alyssa Kazew</a> made me laugh. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F403f4e2f-0af0-4275-b4e1-5eaa5091dbb0_3456x2304.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/403f4e2f-0af0-4275-b4e1-5eaa5091dbb0_3456x2304.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2492143,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F403f4e2f-0af0-4275-b4e1-5eaa5091dbb0_3456x2304.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>As you can see from this detail, she lays down the black paint wet on a red underpainting, then scrapes away the darker paint. The effect has an uncanny feeling of memory for me. Like <a href="https://www.the-philosophy.com/proust-madeleine">Proust and his madeleine</a>, this gives me strong high school nostalgia. Of desks that have had rock and roll bands and logos carved into them—Led Zep, Skynnard, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. I am transported back to Memorial High School in the late 70s looking at this painting.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1717-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9e3f300-d190-4424-bc93-3000e3bb7c39_2781x3279.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c9e3f300-d190-4424-bc93-3000e3bb7c39_2781x3279.jpeg","height":1717,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2470827,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9e3f300-d190-4424-bc93-3000e3bb7c39_2781x3279.jpeg" width="543" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1717-1456 {
padding-bottom: 117.92582417582418%;
padding-bottom: min(117.92582417582418%, 1717px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1717-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1717px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>I’ve seen <a href="https://lawndaleartcenter.org/studio-artist/gerardo-rosales/">Gerardo Rosales</a>’s work before at the <a href="https://blafferartmuseum.org/carriers/">Blaffer Art Museum</a>. It is colorful and intense. It almost sparkles. This painting is called <em>Danta</em>, which is Spanish for “elk.”</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1742-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff587b8a-e461-438d-9d99-ac3d5b913e54_2757x3299.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ff587b8a-e461-438d-9d99-ac3d5b913e54_2757x3299.jpeg","height":1742,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3071572,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff587b8a-e461-438d-9d99-ac3d5b913e54_2757x3299.jpeg" width="535" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1742-1456 {
padding-bottom: 119.64285714285714%;
padding-bottom: min(119.64285714285714%, 1742px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1742-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1742px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Another sparkly painting is <em>Tigra Mariposa</em> (“Tigra” doesn’t translate into English, but is similar to “Tigre” meaning tiger. A Mariposa is a butterfly.) When I saw it, I instantly recalled Gabriel García Márquez’s descriptions of Macondo in <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780060883287">One Hundred Years of Solitude</a></em>. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F116fbe72-1bd3-49b3-9efb-04547c4b8886_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/116fbe72-1bd3-49b3-9efb-04547c4b8886_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3640135,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F116fbe72-1bd3-49b3-9efb-04547c4b8886_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>I thought of Macondo because every square centimeter of <em>Tigra Mariposa</em> is teeming with life.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-90069408789729101652021-10-31T14:59:00.000-05:002021-10-31T14:59:00.656-05:00"With their beards and everything" -- part 2 of the interview with Wes Hicks<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">This is part 2 of my interview with Wes Hicks about the origins and early years of the Commerce Street Artists Warehouse. <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2021/10/interview-with-wes-hicks-about-commerce.html">In part 1</a>, Hicks discussed the very beginnings of the art space. In this part, I wanted to look at some of the artists who had spaces there or who were just hanging out a lot.</p><p><strong>ROBERT BOYD</strong>: Now I want to ask about specific people. You've already mentioned a bunch of them. I just want to get from your point of view capsule biographies of them. I'm going to start with <a href="https://www.houstonpress.com/news/transformation-of-robert-campbell-6572369">Robert Campbell</a>. I know he was a neurologist and did a lot of community work.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-684-1000" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc09586e4-3b66-479e-9e3a-cea73d32eb4a_1000x684.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c09586e4-3b66-479e-9e3a-cea73d32eb4a_1000x684.jpeg","height":684,"width":1000,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1014219,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="438" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc09586e4-3b66-479e-9e3a-cea73d32eb4a_1000x684.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-684-1000 {
padding-bottom: 68.4%;
padding-bottom: min(68.4%, 684px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-684-1000 img {
max-width: 1000px;
max-height: 684px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This photo is from <em>Texas Magazine</em> published by the <em><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/">Houston Chronicle</a></em> on September, 17 1989 and was taken by <a href="http://www.pshowell.com/index.php">Paul S. Howell</a>. It is obviously not used with permission.</span></p><p> <strong>WES HICKS</strong>: Robert Campbell was definitely the patron saint of Commerce Street. He saved Commerce Street. Danny, I can't remember his name--he'd owned an art gallery that had shown my work and he was a collector of mine. And he connected Robert Campbell with us. A lot of my friends like <a href="http://www.paulkittelson.com/">Paul Kittelson</a>, David Kidd, Jackie Harris--they were kind of all bailing on the project and never actually got involved. All the people we were counting on to populate this space from Lawndale had other plans. The whole thing was going to go bust, then Robert Campbell walked in and just had the faith in us. He changed everything. He saved the place.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: OK. What kind of art did he do?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: He was very eclectic. He was very religious. He was at the time wanting to become a priest in the Catholic Church. They told him that they thought that wasn't a good idea because he'd have to spend years studying, and with his medical skills, he could just become a devout Catholic and help the church work in Central America. And would be better than him becoming a priest. All that sounds crazy.</p><p>Robert was very... I don't know how to say it. It was like hanging out with a Buddhist monk or something. He was a really calming spirit at a time when me and Kevin and Deborah and all those other people--we were pretty wild and prone to real emotional situations. Robert could calmly come in and calm things down. I'm not sure how it all would have gone forward in the early days without Robert Campbell. Pretty soon after he got there, he found out he had the AIDS virus. Then it was sort of downhill for him from there.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: What about <a href="http://artofdeb.com/art/resume.html">Deborah Moore</a>. I know she was your girlfriend, right?</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-693-1000" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3572c1eb-cc9a-4e84-8e33-6e5dc480c4d5_1000x693.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3572c1eb-cc9a-4e84-8e33-6e5dc480c4d5_1000x693.jpeg","height":693,"width":1000,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1062695,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="444" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3572c1eb-cc9a-4e84-8e33-6e5dc480c4d5_1000x693.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-693-1000 {
padding-bottom: 69.3%;
padding-bottom: min(69.3%, 693px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-693-1000 img {
max-width: 1000px;
max-height: 693px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Another photo by Paul S. Howell from the Houston Chronicle. Deborah Moore and her accordion.</span> </p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yes, she was my girlfriend. I met her through Kevin and Jane at an Urban Animal party. She was this little Urban Animal skatepunk who when I first met her. Full of safety pins and stuff. Hair cut like one of those English models from the 1960s. With a purple streak or something in her hair. I just fell in love with her immediately. I was at her apartment in the Heights one day and there was this incredibly technically-proficient sailboat painting on the wall--quite a large one. I thought it was a photograph, but then when I looked at it, I could see it was a painting. She said she painted it. You can paint like that? You know that much about painting that you can paint that realistically. You could learn from us some other things about painting. You should be an artist! Oh, OK. I always wanted to be an artist. It just went from there. Her role at Commerce Street was she was an incredibly sound business minded person. She took care of the business.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: I know she was the treasurer, which meant collecting the rent and paying the bills while she was there.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: She was highly responsible. Deborah was an incredibly responsible human being. And very strategic. And her father was a lawyer--she was working for her father at the time as a legal secretary. She brought all of that expertise with her. That solved all our problems because I had no idea about any of that stuff.</p><p>She understood contracts, leases, lawyers. And she wasn't shy about dealing with any of that stuff. Not that there was that much to do compared to what there would be today. Looking back at it, it was all really simple stuff. You get the power bill, you paid it. One of that was really difficult stuff. Even though I could do it, but I was never really the type of person--a steady person like that.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: How about Kevin Cunningham. He was someone you knew from Lawndale, right?</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-366-543" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fae56d252-e3f5-49ff-8e14-1aba75cf34ab_543x366.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ae56d252-e3f5-49ff-8e14-1aba75cf34ab_543x366.jpeg","height":366,"width":543,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":57997,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="366" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fae56d252-e3f5-49ff-8e14-1aba75cf34ab_543x366.jpeg" width="543" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-366-543 {
padding-bottom: 67.40331491712708%;
padding-bottom: min(67.40331491712708%, 366px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-366-543 img {
max-width: 543px;
max-height: 366px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kevin Cunningham from the 3-Legged Dog web page. Photographer unknown</span>.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Kevin was like my best pal. He's a great guy. He's a real theoretician. He's a great reader and was actually better read that anyone else at Lawndale. The truth about Lawndale was that everybody was a practicing artist there. Surls and Dougan and Moira Kelly--the people who ran Lawndale--most of our teachers like <a href="https://www.moma.org/artists/688">Derek Boshier</a>... it was all hands on. We talked about philosophy and art theory and all that, but there was a distinct anti-intellectual streak at Lawndale which Kevin and I were on the other end because we did like to read and we did read like James Joyce <em>Ulysses</em> and we did want to talk about that. At parties, other friends would laugh at us. So that's what Kevin and I... were really into the world of ideas. That's probably why he stuck around with me. Commerce Street was a big conceptual project from our point of view.</p><p>Kevin wasn't there very long. He was only there for about a year. He couldn't make his rent. We probably did have disagreements about the performance bay and the quality of artists we were letting in. I had a very bad take from the Lawndale experience. Basically, if you wanted to be an artist, and you were really committed to it, it wasn't for me to say, oh, do you have a degree? What do you know about art? It was really more about your degree of commitment. Kevin was more about set standards, maybe only let grad students in. And things like that. We probably disagreed about that. We also disagreed about the use of the space. I'm not sure if Kevin left because of disagreements or because of the direction he was moving in, which was towards literature and theater.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: He told me he moved to New York because Edward Albee and Donald Barthelme said, you're not going to make it as a writer in Houston.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: There was a lot of that to it.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Next on my list is <a href="https://www.ricklowe.com/">Rick Lowe</a>. You say he was there pretty early on. He must have just showed up in Houston, right?</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1034-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4f502d89-1fb3-46db-ba63-e26df49f0b56_2048x1454.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4f502d89-1fb3-46db-ba63-e26df49f0b56_2048x1454.jpeg","height":1034,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":518759,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="455" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4f502d89-1fb3-46db-ba63-e26df49f0b56_2048x1454.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1034-1456 {
padding-bottom: 71.01648351648352%;
padding-bottom: min(71.01648351648352%, 1034px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1034-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1034px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Nestor Topchy (left) and Rick Lowe (right) transporting some art to a gallery in 1990. Photographer unknown.</span></p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Rick must have heard about it and he showed up. That was one of the things Kevin and disagreed with is because Rick didn't really have an arts theoretical background, there was some disagreement about whether Rick should be allowed in. I think that's what Kevin and I disagreed on because I thought Rick was committed enough. And wanted to have go at it, and it was all about getting people to go.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Steve Wellman. Who is he?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Steve Wellman is like my best friend in the world and always has been. We met at Lawndale. He was just painting. Everything about painting we agreed with. We started this thing where he would paint a picture and I would be jealous of how good it was so I would paint the same picture, only better. [laughter] And he would go, you know, I can paint it better than you, so we drove each other all the way through university. By the time we were in our last year, we were collaborating not directly on canvases but in a whole way of thinking about painting and art. Basically we felt like we were developing a universal language that crossed all the arts--music, theater, painting, sculpture. We were looking forward to kind to a kind of multi-media future. We didn't know anything about computers. We saw a future where there was a multimedia super-art form, kind of like the glass bead game--Herman Hesse's <em>Glass Bead Game</em>. We were real soulmates. I really was broken up when he didn't get involved with Commerce Street. It makes perfect sense because he's a kind of private person. He was not going to paint in a big public space with a bunch of hooligans all around us.</p><p>He shared a studio with Kevin Cunningham. But he never was able to really get into working there. It was too far away from the Heights where he lived. He had to ride a bicycle back and forth. It just didn't work out for him. The way Steve worked was very private. Very quiet. Commerce Street was developing in a direction that was very loud because you had this big open building and a lot of people coming and going. If you weren't able to deal with distractions, Commerce Street was going to be a hard place to make work.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: How about <a href="https://www.carolyntourneyflorek.com/">Carolyn Florek</a>?</p><p>HICKS: She built one of the first spaces in the front of the building. She was a very important very important figure painter. She never lived there. I don't know how long she was there for--maybe two years? Three years? She was an important pioneer. A lot of people--Marci Hardin: do you know that name?</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Yes.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Marci Hardin, yeah. Marci Hardin and Carolyn Florek were two people who built out two of the first spaces in the front of the building and kind of defined how the walls were going to go, the standards for the doors. The standards for the electricity run through the spaces. They were real important in that sense regardless of what they were doing artistically in those spaces.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1552-1247" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2d55e466-72ec-473d-a38c-dd10b13c9097_1247x1552.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2d55e466-72ec-473d-a38c-dd10b13c9097_1247x1552.jpeg","height":1552,"width":1247,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":439479,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2d55e466-72ec-473d-a38c-dd10b13c9097_1247x1552.jpeg" width="514" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1552-1247 {
padding-bottom: 124.45870088211709%;
padding-bottom: min(124.45870088211709%, 1552px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1552-1247 img {
max-width: 1247px;
max-height: 1552px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Hand-drawn floor map from October 21, 1986</span></p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: She was there right the beginning--from close to the beginning in 1985.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: She would have been one of the first tenants, after the five of us formed the corporation. And Marci on the other side. If I had my diaries still, I would have all this stuff. But I don't have it with me. James Bettison was fairly early on, too. Virgil Grotfeldt was really early on. He built a space next to Carolyn's.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: He was older, right?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah, he was an older guy. Rick and I knew him... his wife Deborah was involved with Diverse Works in some capacity. I can't remember what exactly. She wasn't quite the director, but she was working pretty high up at Diverse Works. Virgil had a house painting company and Rick and I worked for Virgil.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Let me ask about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor_Topchy">Nestor Topchy</a>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1346-1000" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2d80783-10cb-4629-8f76-423652c96bc8_1000x1346.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e2d80783-10cb-4629-8f76-423652c96bc8_1000x1346.jpeg","height":1346,"width":1000,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":366922,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2d80783-10cb-4629-8f76-423652c96bc8_1000x1346.jpeg" width="475" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1346-1000 {
padding-bottom: 134.60000000000002%;
padding-bottom: min(134.60000000000002%, 1346px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1346-1000 img {
max-width: 1000px;
max-height: 1346px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This is<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2014/04/retemplo.html"> Nestor Topchy in 2014</a>. Photo by Robert Boyd</span></p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah, Nestor rolled up. He was sent to us by Moira Kelly. He moved from Baltimore to be a graduate student at UH/Lawndale. When he came down, his parents gave him a station wagon. He put all his stuff in it. He came down to Lawndale and didn't really have anywhere to live, so Moira Kelly pointed him over to us. We gave him some space in the front of the building and it took off. Nestor is one of those guys who gets up in the morning, has art for breakfast, art for lunch, art for dinner. Just a maniacal worker. He had a great time at Commerce Street.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: There's a guy named Mike Scranton--is that correct?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah. Mike Scranton was a sculptor who took over Nestor's studio when Nestor moved out to start Zocalo in the Heights. And Mike Scranton moved into that space and occupied it for well into the 90s. Lee Benner has made some videos about Mike Scranton. I don't know if you've seen them.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: I haven't.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: It seems like there were a whole bunch of painters in there.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: There were a lot of sculptors, too. And a lot of performance artists. A lot of the performance artists and musicians never had spaces there. They just came there. A lot of times, some of them like Kevin Jackson for instance--have you ever heard of him?</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Yeah.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1580-1266" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F51e74571-e4f6-48a9-a99e-5949f23393fb_1266x1580.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/51e74571-e4f6-48a9-a99e-5949f23393fb_1266x1580.jpeg","height":1580,"width":1266,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":597328,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F51e74571-e4f6-48a9-a99e-5949f23393fb_1266x1580.jpeg" width="513" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1580-1266 {
padding-bottom: 124.80252764612953%;
padding-bottom: min(124.80252764612953%, 1580px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1580-1266 img {
max-width: 1266px;
max-height: 1580px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Cabaret Voltaire flyer, featuring Culturcide, Perry Webb’s (aka Mark Flood’s) band</span></p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: He was in a band with Deborah. He also about the same time. I think he was running Cabaret Voltaire, which was a little kind of punk offshoot alternative music scene place kind of around the corner from Commerce Street on the other side of the railroad tracks. Kevin was really instrumental in a lot of the things at Commerce Street. Things like lighting, electrical problems, sound issues. Getting us totally in-tune with what the latest stuff going on in the alt-music scene. There were a lot of people like that didn't have spaces in Commerce Street but who were really important.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: John Calloway?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: John Calloway moved in fairly early. He's a friend of Lee Benner's originally. Now we're pretty good friends. He's an art collector. He owns his own oil company (or did).</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Was he the one who was trying to teach himself how to be a marble sculptor?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah. He was a really interesting character because he imported tons of marble from Carrara, Italy. Giant blocks the size that Michelangelo would have loved to have had. And the same quality, too. He had a helper called Dan, who we called Dan the Man. He was an ex-Marine, but you would have never guessed it, because he was such a lovely, light-hearted roly-poly little fellow. You would have never guessed he was trained to be a marine sniper or whatever. He lived in John's studio with all these giant marble blocks from Carrara, Italy. I'm smiling. It was a real unusual situation. It was really interesting. It was fun.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: What about James Bettison. When did he show up?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: He showed up only like about six of seven or eight months after we were going.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: So that would be 85 or 86, right?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: There was this kind of wave of artists, especially female artists with Marci Hardin, Carolyn Florek, and I think there were one or two others. And these people were fairly gentle, quiet people. They wanted a place to paint and the way Commerce Street was going with sculptors moving in and the performance bay being a big music, loud, performance scene. I don't think it fit them.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: One of them would be Liz Ward, right?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Oh, yeah. <a href="http://www.moodygallery.com/Artists/Ward/Liz.html">Liz Ward </a>would definitely not have fit in well with Commerce Street because of her quiet, introspective nature.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: According to my notes, she was there for at most a year.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah, she was, but it didn't work out for her. I don't know why, but I bet, just knowing Liz personally, it was too loud.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: What about <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/08/dont-get-excited-youre-not-invited.html">Mark Flood</a>.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/07/its-mark-floods-world-links.html">Mark Flood</a> was <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/11/no-art-in-houston.html">Perry Webb</a>.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Perry Webb, right.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Perry Webb was not a shrinking violet so he was quite capable of handling the punk scene.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Yeah, he made plenty of noise himself. He had a studio...</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah, he did a lot of work there, and across the hall from his studio when Virgil moved out, he took over Virgil's space and turned it into a little gallery that he called The Screen Door, I think. Because it had a screen door on it. And he curated shows there of his interests. He did a lot of his own shows there. A lot of early shows of "Eat Human Flesh"--his first show of that and things like that. And that was a really great addition to Commerce Street. We could hang art up and down the hallway and hang art in the performance bay, but we didn't have a white wall gallery with lights and everything. He did all that. Actually, we adopted that space ourselves. He wasn't paying rent on it. We turned it into the gallery space at Commerce Street.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Michael Batty? I know he wasn't at Commerce Street, but he wrote about Commerce Street.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Michael Battey was at Commerce Street a whole lot.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: One of the hangers-on.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I don't think of him as a hanger-on, because I think there were the people who added a lot of vigor to the place. They did stuff. Michael Battey was one of the people that...</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Did he have a studio?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: No, I don't think he did have a studio. I don't think he was into studio art at the time. He was a writer.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: He wrote a lot.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: A lot of these guys like Michael Battey were pivotal in bouncing ideas off and thinking about the way a show should go. The intellectual atmosphere that surrounded the place was completely enhanced by characters like Michael Battey. I have pictures of him in the hallway sitting around with me and Jim Pirtle and Nestor and Rick Lowe. Pirtle standing with his little polyester shirt paintings and everyone drinking heavily and talking. Who knows about what, but we were talking.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: What about <a href="https://glasstire.com/2019/08/27/malcom-macdonald-1955-2019/">Malcolm McDonald</a>?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Malcolm McDonald was so pivotal to Commerce Street that you can't tell the story of Commerce Street without mentioning Malcolm. He created Chez Imbecile with Robert Rosenberg.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1870-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22b41c-4293-4fb2-ba78-bed4de565713_1689x2169.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ea22b41c-4293-4fb2-ba78-bed4de565713_1689x2169.jpeg","height":1870,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3151786,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22b41c-4293-4fb2-ba78-bed4de565713_1689x2169.jpeg" width="498" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1870-1456 {
padding-bottom: 128.43406593406596%;
padding-bottom: min(128.43406593406596%, 1870px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1870-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1870px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Also known as Chef Bob.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Chef Bob. Robert Rosenberg and Deborah Moore. That was a really important step because they gave me a reason to say that the Performance Bay was working. Chez Imbecile was kind of the first regular thing that went on there, and it brought in tons of people to see the space. Basically, it made a name for CSAW. ZZ Top showed up.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1872-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff76341c4-37a4-4db3-bec7-1e075e9516f2_1689x2171.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f76341c4-37a4-4db3-bec7-1e075e9516f2_1689x2171.jpeg","height":1872,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3597714,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff76341c4-37a4-4db3-bec7-1e075e9516f2_1689x2171.jpeg" width="498" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1872-1456 {
padding-bottom: 128.57142857142858%;
padding-bottom: min(128.57142857142858%, 1872px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1872-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1872px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Really?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah, with their beards and everything. They just swanned in one night--or several nights. Billy Gibbons came back a couple of times, I think. They put the Performance Bay and Commerce Street on the tourist map for people from the right side of town.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Chez Imbecile--what was their deal? Were they doing performance, or what?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: It was kind of like taking off of modern theater in a sense. It was a restaurant that served spam. Then there would be various performances and dancers and music. The audience was in the middle of it. There wasn't really a defined break between the audience and the show. You were in it. If you came there, you were part of the show. People tended to come there to show off. Some of the performances were planned, and others, people would show up and just do their thing. It was very uncontrolled. And there was also this whole thing with Malcolm. He was a very volatile figure, as you've probably heard. He would lose it occasionally. That became part of the performance, too. It was a pretty amazing dada-istic, fluxus, all that stuff. It was way out there. It was always something to talk about until next week.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Was he a visual artist at all?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: No, I would say he's an MC. He was like an MC.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: How about <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/style/luxe-life/article/A-Heights-home-built-with-light-love-and-art-15394489.php#photo-19649344">Jack Massing</a>. He was there, right?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah, Jack came in. He was one of the original people I wanted to come in but he didn't come in with us until later. He built a little, tiny cube space in the performance bay. It was probably only 40 x 40 feet. It may have been smaller, 30 x 30. The ceiling was 20 feet high. He built a little loft in there and Jack filled it with all of his gadgets and little sculptures he was doing at the time. It was really beautiful. One of the most visually, esthetically pleasing studios in the whole space. And Jack used the Performance Bay and did some really amazing performances there. The one I remember the most, they got maybe 100 or 50 truck springs, suspension springs from 18-wheelers and they dropped them out of the ceiling, which was really high. Like I said, it could have been 22, 23 feet. And the springs would hit the concrete floor and then they would bounce madly in all directions. And he did this with an audience of about 50 people standing around in a circle. And some of these truck springs weighed 50 lbs. [It was an Art Guys performance call <em>50 at Once</em>] If anyone had been hit, they would have been wiped out. I don't know how he rationalized it that he could actually do that to an audience. But he did and it worked out great, and it was one of the most amazing things you've ever seen. The sound and the visuals--it was pretty incredible.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: You wrote several articles for the <em>Public News</em>. How did that come about?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I wrote a lot of articles for them actually because I had always been interested in writing. I was writing the whole time I was at Commerce Street. I have a daily diary. It's real spotty and kind of intimate and probably real whiny. It represents the voice of an immature whatever age I was then. {laughs] Anyway, it would be fun to look at it again. I just kind of gravitated towards the editors of the <em>Public News</em> and said, yeah sure--I'll write for you. They aren't paying anything, I don’t think. I started writing criticism of art shows.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: I read your review of <em>Fresh Paint</em>, which to me is sort of the end of a certain era in Houston, when painters were the most important artists there were.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I kind of figured I was out of my league writing about art, plus you can't write bad reviews of people you are going to the next art show and hanging out with because they'll hate your guts. I started writing music reviews and stuff like that.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: How involved were you with music, with rock bands and so on.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I just kind of hung out. Like I started hanging out at the Island when the Dead Kennedys were playing there in 1981. When we were running Commerce Street, I got to know J.R. Delgado of the Axiom pretty well.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: I went to the Axiom back in those days.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Commerce Street was really close to the Axiom; we moved our crowds back and forth between them sometimes, like there'd be a late-night show at the Axiom after an art opening at Commerce Street. We collaborated on things. I think that the poetry slam that J.R. did with Rebecca Johnson while Commerce Street was still going, I think that may have had something to do with people at Commerce Street because we all participated heavily. I don't know if J.R. would have thought of a poetry slam by himself because he was more of the music scene than the art scene. And that was a really big success for the Axiom. Wednesday night poetry slams would pack in 300 people--heavy drinkers--all night, they'd actually throw people out at 2 o'clock in the morning on a Wednesday night. It was great. So anyway, I got into that and J.R. said, look, I'm getting out of the business; this is a big opportunity for you. You should jump in here and take over. You could do it. I said no. Actually, I thought about it but I just didn't have it together so some other guys took it over. They turned it into a real headbanger/heavy metal place.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Was it still called the Axiom then?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I think they kept the name the Axiom. They only lasted for like six months. Then they lost their lease because they were so inept. They just drove it into the ground. And it was just like an empty building with a shingle hanging out front and J.R. was just, "Somebody's got to do this." So I pulled together some investors for not very much money, so we went in there and gave it a go.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: What year was that? That was when <a href="https://www.houstonpress.com/music/last-of-the-catal-barons-6573107">Catal Huyuk </a> began? [A little research shows that it opened November 3, 1992 and closed a year later]</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-743-564" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b75a522-c5bf-486d-9b70-aaca0cb70cee_564x743.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7b75a522-c5bf-486d-9b70-aaca0cb70cee_564x743.jpeg","height":743,"width":564,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":162049,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="743" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b75a522-c5bf-486d-9b70-aaca0cb70cee_564x743.jpeg" width="564" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-743-564 {
padding-bottom: 131.73758865248226%;
padding-bottom: min(131.73758865248226%, 743px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-743-564 img {
max-width: 564px;
max-height: 743px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: Yeah. I'm not sure what year it was either. We were really communicating with <em>Public News</em>. It could have been 91 or 90.</p><p>It just rolled on. We were open like 7 nights a week. We hardly ever closed for holidays or anything. It's just all one big huge blur to me. It seemed like it lasted six months but before we turned around, it lasted three years or something.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Why did you pick such an obscure, intellectual name as <a href="https://houstonpunkart.wordpress.com/category/catal-huyuk/">Catal Huyuk</a>?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: That was probably a huge mistake.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: [laughs] It's interesting that you picked the oldest--that along with Jericho are the two oldest human habitations or human towns, I guess. And that's interesting, I guess.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: We saw that what was going on at the Axiom really came from the Island--have you heard about the Island? It was in Montrose right next to highway 59 and Westheimer. I believe (I'm not an expert) that the Island was the first punk club in Houston. It started in the 70s. And that's where the scene started. Then it kind of moved finally. I don't know what happened to it, but you know it's gone. That whole scene moved out to the Axiom which was there for who knows how long. So Catal--we felt like we were building on its ruins. You know how those ancient Turkish towns how there are layers and layers of building that built up. All this history. We were just the latest layer on top of that.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: OK, that's a good reason to name it after the oldest town in the world.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: And we thought that punk music and this art thing that we were doing was connecting into this primal, Mother Earth thing. Phil Bergeron, the guy who started the club, was my main business partner--were deeply influenced by James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis at the time. And Joseph Campbell. <em>Hero of the Thousand Faces</em>. We were just really living that stuff.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: I want to talk about leaving Commerce Street. I have a letter--I have no idea if it was ever sent to you--from 1994. It's an eviction letter. I don't even know who it was from, except that it is apparently from people at Commerce Street.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1091-1000" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd476ac5c-9f6e-4f9d-bfec-381083f3a4ae_1000x1091.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d476ac5c-9f6e-4f9d-bfec-381083f3a4ae_1000x1091.jpeg","height":1091,"width":1000,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1676303,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd476ac5c-9f6e-4f9d-bfec-381083f3a4ae_1000x1091.jpeg" width="587" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1091-1000 {
padding-bottom: 109.1%;
padding-bottom: min(109.1%, 1091px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1091-1000 img {
max-width: 1000px;
max-height: 1091px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Wes Hicks painting. Photo by Paul S. Howell.</span></p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: What happened is that Deborah left Commerce Street.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: In 92, I think.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: She ran off to New York with David Kidd and basically dumped me. I was heartbroken. That's when I met Phil Bergeron. He started Catal Huyuk, and then I got involved in Catal Huyuk and running Commerce Street. Catal Huyuk was a seven-day affair that was actually a business and Commerce Street all fell onto me to run the business side of it, too. To create the bills and stuff. Basically, all the people who at the beginning at Commerce Street had already moved along in their lives and all these new people came in. I was a mess, basically. I was doing so much stuff with the music scene over at Catal. I wasn't doing much painting--zero painting. At one point, I was so confused I tried to go back to art school to study art history. That didn't work out either. Then I had a collapse. It just all collapsed. They evicted me. That's what everybody wanted. It was time. It was time to go. I should have actually gone when Deborah left. I wasn't mature enough or I wasn't focused enough. They made a go--it lasted how many years after that?</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: Until 2007.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: That's right. They didn't need me anymore. I should have had the smarts to get out of the way, but I didn't. And part of it was that I'd been there so long that I had the 4 or 5 thousand square foot space full of stuff. I was suffering from pleurisy on and off. I was sick a lot. I just couldn't handle it.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: What did you do after Commerce Street.</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I moved to the Heights for a little while. Then I got a job as chief preparator with Laguna Gloria Museum in Austin, Texas. I moved there, and then I got involved Tim Adams making animated computer stuff. Thought that that was the greatest end-all be-all deal And Ken and I worked on some projects for...I can't remember his name...This guru... Terrence McKenna. We became Terrence McKenna followers. Then I got involved with the Apple corporation in tech support. There were all these internet startups, we were playing around with that. Then I eventually found Donna in Australia and moved out here.</p><p><strong>BOYD</strong>: How did you end up in Australia?</p><p><strong>HICKS</strong>: I'd lived overseas when I was a kid in Indonesia. I was raised in Indonesia. I went to high school at the Joint Embassy School in Jakarta Indonesia. Actually, I went to the same school in Indonesia as Barack Obama. But he was so much younger than me that I never knew him. Then I had an Australian girlfriend named Donna Bryant, then I reconnected with her online and we had a good internet romance and I came out here and never went back.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-78694460985369494682021-10-29T14:22:00.000-05:002021-10-29T14:22:42.712-05:00Interview with Wes Hicks about Commerce Street Artists Warehouse, part 1<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In 1985, some grad students in the U.H. art program were about to be kicked out. Their crime? They had completed their degree requirements and were graduating. They had studios at Lawndale, an off-campus site where the UH art department moved to after its on-campus building was damaged in a fire. It had been acting as the U.H.’s art department’s home since 1979. It was an enormous former factory and provided studio space for many of Houston’s best young artists as well performance space. (The story of Lawndale’s rise and triumph is told in <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9781623496326">Collision</a></i> by Pete Gershon.) A couple of these art students, <a href="https://www.3ld.org/staff-bios">Kevin Cunningham</a> and <a href="https://www.saatchiart.com/wes_hicks">Wes Hicks</a> decided to take their impending eviction and to try to recreate the Lawndale experience. They found a new ex-factory and established an art center containing studios and a large performance space. For legal reasons, it ended up with the name <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/176623902417018">Commerce Street Artists Warehouse</a>, or CSAW for short. In 2016, I interviewed several of the early residents of CSAW. I have finally gotten around to transcribing some of them and editing them.</p><p>Hicks is a painter. He grew up in Indonesia, studied art at the University of Houston, co-founded Commerce Street, and lived there until he was evicted in early 1994. While he was there, he ran the punk rock club, <a href="https://www.houstonpress.com/music/last-of-the-catal-barons-6573107">Catal Huyuk</a>. This is kind of a long interview, so I am going to split it into several parts. Below is part 1 of my interview with Wes Hicks. In part 2, we’ll discuss some of the people who had studios or hung out at CSAW. The photos included come from various sources and I have tried to identify the source if I know it.If anyone knows where a given photo is from, please let me know!</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2015-1313" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0e68cb8-5958-4337-beca-98a16592c04c_1313x2015.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a0e68cb8-5958-4337-beca-98a16592c04c_1313x2015.jpeg","height":2015,"width":1313,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":312902,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0e68cb8-5958-4337-beca-98a16592c04c_1313x2015.jpeg" width="417" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2015-1313 {
padding-bottom: 153.46534653465346%;
padding-bottom: min(153.46534653465346%, 2015px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2015-1313 img {
max-width: 1313px;
max-height: 2015px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Wes Hicks at Commerce Street Artists Warehouse (photographer unknown)</span></figure></div><p><b>ROBERT BOYD</b>: You were a student at UH. Is that correct?</p><p><b>WES HICKS</b>: Yeah, I was a student at the University of Houston, and which at the time was mainly Lawndale if you were a painting or sculpture student. We thought of ourselves as students of Lawndale University more than anything.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: My understanding is that you guys wanted to find someplace that had a similar feel to Lawndale, but that you ran yourself.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Well, that was kind of it. Basically, what happened was we were all kind of getting booted out of Lawndale because we'd finished as many of the courses you could take there. They needed us to move along. Because we were seniors or graduate students who finished the program. Of course, we just wanted to stay on, but <a href="http://www.moodygallery.com/Artists/Stack/Gael.html">Gael Stack</a> who was in charge said, "OK, this is your last semester here." I thought the idea was to organize a lot of the Lawndale friends that I had to start a communal art space in the warehouse district, emulating what all Lawndale was but with just us going it alone.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: How did you find the Commerce Street location?</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Kevin Cunningham did that. What happened was that all our friends kind of peeled off because basically they thought we were crazy. Except for me and Kevin Cunningham. Kevin knew <a href="http://www.leebenner.com/www.leebenner.com/home.html">Lee Benner</a> through the skate scene, the<a href="https://www.chron.com/local/history/culture-scene/article/Jousting-with-the-Urban-Animals-11063869.php"> Urban Animals</a>. He took me to a party there in the building at Commerce Street, which at the time was just one big huge empty room with a lot of water on the floor, no lights or electricity, all the Urban Animals were skating around. That's how we kind of found it. We talked to Lee Benner; he knew the landlord because the landlord was Lee Benner's landlord. We just kind of went from there, one step at a time.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: When you found it, it was you, Kevin Cunningham, <a href="http://artofdeb.com/art/artguys.html">Deborah Moore</a>. <a href="https://www.ricklowe.com/">Rick Lowe</a> was there at the very beginning, right?</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: No, he wasn't. It was basically me, Deborah, Kevin and Jane--Jane Ludham--she was like a support team for Kevin. Then Jackie Harris and Steve Wellman and all those people were just kind of hanging around but no one would commit, so the whole thing looked like it was going to fall apart, then people just started showing up out of the woodwork, like Dr. <a href="https://www.houstonpress.com/news/transformation-of-robert-campbell-6572369">Robert Campbell</a>, then Rick Lowe. He was in very early on. We had to form a corporation because the landlord couldn't imagine signing a building without a corporate lease back in those days. We had to form a corporation, which as you know is really easy in Texas. Just 250 bucks and you drive to Austin. I think it was me, Robert Campbell, Kevin, Deborah, and Rick Lowe were the original corporate shareholders. We owned the thing, but none of that mattered. It was just for the landlord.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: So that's where those five names came from--they were on the paperwork, basically.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Yeah, and we did have a structure where we would have votes and decide what we were gonna do. There were five of us, so if three voted one way and two voted the other. But we all agreed on everything pretty much. The big thing was about a third of the building in the back.</p><p>That was the big thing for me was the performance bay; it's almost a third of the building. It's a big huge empty room with really high ceilings and giant skylights, a massive entrance so that a huge crane could go in and out through giant steel doors. It's just this incredibly beautiful, almost perfectly square space. A little rectilinear with these giant pillars. I really wanted to keep that a communal performance bay that was open to anyone--not just us--that came to us with a good idea. We were going to do shows there regardless of quality or ideological baggage in the sense of "This is our art style--we don't like your art style." It's just going to be open to the public pretty much. I had to constantly fight for that. I think Deborah was pretty much on my side. This was always a bone of contention. Because she could have rented the space out and made all the rents much cheaper.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: Put up some walls and made some studios.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Exactly. From the very beginning I was challenged. Jackie Harris wanted to use the space for her art cars. Make it into a giant art car development thing. From the very beginning, this was the big battle. I think that if I had lost and it had been developed into studios, then Commerce Street wouldn't have been Commerce Street.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: Kevin Cunningham made a really good point--you give a bunch of artists who are used to working in studios 27,000 square feet, suddenly doing a painting isn't enough. You have to fill that space somehow, and filling that space meant having a party or having an exhibition or having a performance of some kind.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Yeah. In essence, that is what Lawndale was. Lawndale had a huge performance bay that was run by crazy, out-there people. First <a href="https://jamessurls.com/">James Surls</a> and then <a href="https://www.chuckdugan.org/resume">Chuck Dougan</a> then Moira Kelly. And they always brought in really cutting-edge stuff that blew away the whole Houston art scene from Philip Glass doing operas early on; Moira Kelly having the Replacements come and really crazy bands that became famous later played Lawndale. The students were the stagehands, the volunteers who did all the work. That's where we go kind of like an apprenticeship. By the time we were starting Commerce Street, Kevin and I pretty felt like, hey, we can do this ourselves. Because we had learned from Moira Kelly and Dougan and James Surls and everyone how to it, and had worked with people who were masters of their craft on Philip Glass and stuff like that. And even if we didn't actually work with these people --have you ever heard of the band Sun Ra?</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: Yeah.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: They played at Lawndale a lot, and I just kind of hung around with them and we just absorbed this stuff, as a really young person talking to the Sun Ra guys and telling us how it all goes down and what to do and the lives and touring. It was just a mind-blowing experience. When we had to leave Lawndale, we wanted that. Also, the economic situation in Houston at the time was almost impossible to imagine nowadays. The warehouse district was an abandoned wilderness. Literally a wilderness.</p><p>We were surrounded by abandoned warehouses. At that time, they hadn't all started to burn down. In the late 80s, people started to burn warehouses down for insurance money. Also, it was the deindustrializtion of the United States going on. The warehouse we were in was used by Westinghouse to build giant electric motors for ships. That had been gone for like 20-30 years by the time we got there.</p><p>[Commerce Street] was a totally black building. No lights. Rubbish in the front. All the toilets were rubbished. Homeless people had been crashing there. It was full of water because the ceilings were leaking. In the very back where Dr. Robert Campbell decided to build his space the roof was collapsed in an area of about 8 by 10 feet. And underneath that, plants were growing. So it was like a cave. In the daytime the sun would shine in. Actually, it was really beautiful. Pigeons and bats were living in there. It was just completely wild.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T6xlf8fqifI/YXxI0dsKakI/AAAAAAAAfNU/HTIVbK5KhRsjwNxs4Hwmb5gOg3NrRmP6ACNcBGAsYHQ/9-12-85%2BMichael%2BBattey%2Bcommerce%2Bst%2B06.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1474" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T6xlf8fqifI/YXxI0dsKakI/AAAAAAAAfNU/HTIVbK5KhRsjwNxs4Hwmb5gOg3NrRmP6ACNcBGAsYHQ/w461-h640/9-12-85%2BMichael%2BBattey%2Bcommerce%2Bst%2B06.jpg" width="461" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A photo from the late, lamented <i>Public News</i> in 1985. Photo by T. Ventura.</span><p><b>BOYD</b>: What did you have to do to make it habitable?</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Well, first we had to get permission from the landlord. And then we just started cleaning up. We made a deal with the landlord that she'd get an electric box for the front of the building. She'd bring the electricity to the building, and she would fix the roof. And once that was done, we'd start paying rent to the tune of I believe $1800 or $2000 a month. Which works out to about 14 cents per square foot, I think if I've got my numbers right. So that's what she did and that's how it started. We had this kind of very tenuous situation with the city, where the fire marshals were coming over and letting us do things that were plumbing and electrical ourselves, as long as we got electricians to come check it and make sure it was all done right. It was kind of an interesting relationship we had with the city.</p><p>Because of Houston's laissez faire no-zoning thing, they were willing to let us do really crazy stuff. They were shaking their heads--the fire marshal people. And they did weird things, too. Like one time, we were gonna do a huge benefit for the South Texas Nuclear protest project, because they were gonna build a nuclear plant in South Texas on Padre Island or some place. All these bands were going to play there and do a fundraiser for the protesters. The fire marshal came around and wrote me something like 13 citations for violations, and I knew this guy. He said, you know, if you're open tonight, I'm going to come here and arrest you; then he goes, if you're not open tonight, I'm just going to tear up these citations and we can just forget this ever happened.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: So what did y'all do?</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Oh, we weren't open that night. We told the 13 bands or however many there were that the show was shut down, which sucked ass. I can't go to jail and shut down this space. That was the end of that. But they actually moved it to another warehouse space. Some artist who apparently weren't aware of the situation. The fire marshal came there and arrested them and shut down their space. We were always at the mercy of the cops and the fire marshals who made it very clear to me that we existed only because they wanted this.</p><p>I don't think the cops really cared too much or the fire marshals cared too much about whether those buildings burned down or not. That was one of the things about Commerce Street, in relationship to the fire marshals and <a href="https://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-axiom-6574860">the Axiom</a>, too. Because the way they were set up, you couldn't actually have a fire like those nightclub fires where 200 people died in Brazil and stuff. That couldn't happen in these places because there were all these giant exit doors that were open. Because it was so hot in Houston. People could just stampede out in a fire scenario.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: Once you started building it out as a studio space, at first it was just one big open space, right? How quickly did you guys build up walls and stuff.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Well, actually it was two big open spaces. The back part of the building (the performance bay) was the original Westinghouse warehouse that was built in the 1920s or maybe even earlier. It was all wood with giant cypress posts that were like 18 inches by 18 inches, holding up a giant wooden ceiling. And that's now been demolished and taken away. It's a car park. And then the front of the building was added for war effort for World War II to build electric motors for the Victory Ships.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: The ones that were turned out pretty quickly for Great Britain.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Yeah, exactly. They were making these giant motors there--these huge electric motors that weighed many tons. That's why the foundation of Commerce Street was this big, huge six-foot concrete block. It was because they had many tons of electric motors. It was two giant buildings and there was a wall between them with two big doors. We started almost immediately building walls. People that wanted them. That was totally individual. Some of the earliest complete studios were Dr. Robert Campbell--built his out pretty quick. He picked one of the worst corners of the building to build in. His walls in the back had to be 20 feet high. I don't know how high the ceiling was. More than two layers of sheet rock. So yeah, like 18 to 20 feet tall. And <a href="https://www.johncalaway.com/statement">John Calloway</a> built a big studio back there. <a href="http://balecreekallengallery.com/jack-massing-bio">Jack Massing</a> built a little studio in the back space. And up front we decided where the corridor was going to be, and because of the way the steel beam structure was and the ceiling and the beams. You could kind of see how each space was going to be this rectangle, 1200 square foot. Like 30 ft by 40 ft. We designated all the studio spaces and when you moved in (all the early people), you either hired somebody or you built walls.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: People lived somewhat in their studios, right? Some did.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: A lot of people did. Most of the really hard-core artists did because they were young and that's what they had to do. But then about half the people didn't.</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: Did you live in the studio?</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Yeah, I lived upstairs. There was a front office part of the building--that's where the toilets were and kind of an entrance foyer, and then there was an upstairs. It must have been the executive offices. And that was a big brick building with hardwood floors that were painted over. We put two studios up there and one of them was mine and the other--it may have been <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/search/label/Nestor%20Topchy">Nestor Topchy </a>and Rick Lowe were the first people to occupy that space upstairs. Nestor and Rick were living upstairs with me, opposite in offices. They were in the western wing and I was in the eastern wing.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-953-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fab21e6d7-6d6d-465e-a610-0241328f010f_3156x2066.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ab21e6d7-6d6d-465e-a610-0241328f010f_3156x2066.jpeg","height":953,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":939445,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="419" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fab21e6d7-6d6d-465e-a610-0241328f010f_3156x2066.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-953-1456 {
padding-bottom: 65.4532967032967%;
padding-bottom: min(65.4532967032967%, 953px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-953-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 953px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Another shot from the<i> Public News </i>by T. Ventura. Wes Hicks (left) and Sid the dog (right)</span></p><p><b>BOYD</b>: What happened in the Performance Bay?</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: The Performance Bay was mostly performances. But then, I gave myself a show there. Mike Scranton had a huge show there. Nestor had a huge big show there. It lent itself really well to big sculptures, like Nestor's spheres, Mike Scranton's dinosaurs. We did hang art on the walls, too. There was a long hallway. There's a long hallway that goes down to the front. We would hang art all the way down that hallway. Perry Webb's gallery could also be filled with art. It was more intimate and small. Also, more delicate because you could actually lock that room up. If something like prints that were more valuable, framed with glass or something, you could lock those up. At this time the building was open to the street 24/7. Nothing really ever happened, but in the middle of the night, drunk people could run up and down the hallway and knock art off the walls. People could ride motorcycles through the building. That’s what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Flood_(artist)">Perry Webb</a> provided us with—an art space that looked like a traditional art gallery. It didn't operate like a traditional art gallery. A lot of times we hung art salon style. But I think all the best shows there were not art shows of paintings. Some of them were maybe sculpture shows. But they were soundscape, industrial music, performance; those were the shows that really captured the spirit of the age and the space and the part of the city we were in better than anything, in my view. Things like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_Worship">Crash Worship</a>-- I think they played two shows there. Have you ever heard of them?</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: No.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: They were a San Francisco drumming group that would just work up the crowd into a trance, and everybody just starts jumping up and down, lighting fires, and then they just move around the building and break out into the street, this whole crowd becomes incredibly tribal. And they had a huge following in Houston. So 300, 400, 500 people would show up for their shows, and form this big, huge hopping mob. People would pass out and go into speaking in tongues. Things like that were real shamanistic in a way. Real connected with the wilderness aspect. We were in an urban wilderness.</p><p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/00Of39IyjBg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This is Crash Worship playing at The Abyss in Houston in 1997.</span></p><p><b>BOYD</b>: Back then, streets like Commerce St. didn't have tons of traffic.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: In the middle of the night there was no traffic. Really after 6 o'clock at night the traffic died down to zero. Also, Commerce St. at that time was six or seven lanes wide. Two or three hundred dancing down the street, half naked, lighting fires and drumming didn't bother anybody. No one would call the police on them. And the police, if they showed up, they'd just watch. It was a wilderness area, an urban wilderness. The warehouses were abandoned around us. People from <a href="https://www.houstonisd.org/hspva">HSPVA</a>--there was a group of them that would come out to our shows. This is like 86 or 87. And they would do stuff like drop acid and climb around these abandoned warehouses. I was always a bit concerned for them because they went into places that were pretty scary in the dark. In the full moon. We did crazy thing. It was a true wilderness--you could do anything you wanted.</p><p>It was an urban wilderness--not like a national park wilderness. We had these industrial music bands like <a href="http://voiceofeye.com/">Voice of Eye</a>--have you ever heard of them?</p><p><b>BOYD</b>: No, I haven't.</p><p><b>HICKS</b>: Jim Wilson was one of the founders of Voice of Eye with his girlfriend Bonny. They pioneered a lot of that industrial music in Houston and played at Commerce Street maybe a hundred times. Often to crowds of 10. <i>[laughter]</i> But it didn't matter--it really didn't. Also with the acoustics of the Performance Bay--four people doing industrial, abstract sound--was also incredibly romantic. I felt really connected to the romantic artists of the 17th century. All that crazy stuff.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-54773741926827226292021-10-22T11:54:00.002-05:002021-10-22T12:13:37.824-05:00Some Sculpture Month Highlights<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Sculpture in inconvenient. It takes up a lot of space and it therefore difficult to collect. There is a funny quote that is variously attributed to Barnett Newman and Ad Reinhardt: “Sculpture is something you bump into when you back up to look at a painting.” As far as I know, Reinhardt never made sculptures, but Newman did. You can see one of his, <i>Broken Obelisk</i>, in Houston in front of the Rothko Chapel. (And at the University of Washington, at Storm King and at the Museum of Modern Art.)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1946-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31345218-0b3e-4ade-b8f4-77b86387efb2_1980x2646.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/31345218-0b3e-4ade-b8f4-77b86387efb2_1980x2646.jpeg","height":1946,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1746732,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31345218-0b3e-4ade-b8f4-77b86387efb2_1980x2646.jpeg" width="479" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1946-1456 {
padding-bottom: 133.65384615384613%;
padding-bottom: min(133.65384615384613%, 1946px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1946-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1946px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Admittedly, sculpture can be almost anything now, an idea put forth in the classic essay, “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/778224?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Sculpture in the Expanded Field</a>” by Rosalind Krauss, 1979. The anythingness of sculpture was pushed even further in Thomas McEvilley’s book, <i><a href="https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/allworth-press/9781581150230/sculpture-in-the-age-of-doubt/">Sculpture in the Age of Doubt</a></i>. </p><p>Since 2016, every other year (except 2020) has had a “<a href="http://sculpturemonthhouston.org/">Sculpture Month</a>” here in Houston featuring a month of sculpture exhibitions at multiple venues across Houston. I want to speak briefly about two of the venues and the sculpture within them. One is a venue I mentioned earlier this week where <a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/nestor-topchy-at-the-silos">Nestor Topchy did his performance</a>—<a href="https://www.sawyeryards.com/map-and-directory/properties/silos-at-sawyer-yards">The Silos</a>. Topchy’s performance was part of Sculpture Month (going with the almost infinitely malleable definition of sculpture). The rest of the silos were also used for a variety of site-specific sculptures. </p><p>The first one I came across after entering the space was by <a href="https://shawnsmithart.com/">Shawn Smith</a> called UnNatural Influence, made of plywood, ink, acrylic paint and silk flowers.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F796d4429-aaf5-4bdd-9c7e-b4bdbe41ce99_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/796d4429-aaf5-4bdd-9c7e-b4bdbe41ce99_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3669517,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F796d4429-aaf5-4bdd-9c7e-b4bdbe41ce99_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>It is a classically Texas subject, a bucking bull, but made out of blocks of wood that imitates pixels. In some ways, this feels like a very traditional sculpture—a single, free-standing object meant to look like a specific thing. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Praxiteles">Praxiteles </a>would recognize this sculpture, except maybe for the pixelation effect. He would have been most amazed by the artificial lighting effect, which combined with the cave-like interior of the Silos provides a dramatic shadow.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3fbf9282-43cf-48f5-be22-084b3b73924c_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3fbf9282-43cf-48f5-be22-084b3b73924c_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4219569,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3fbf9282-43cf-48f5-be22-084b3b73924c_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>That shadow makes me think of neolithic hunters sitting around a fire in a cave, recounting their hunt for the wild auroch. Aurochs were wild cattle in Europe and Asia that went extinct around 1650. There are depictions of them in cave paintings, including four painted on the walls of the caves at Altamira in Spain. And Altamira is the name of this exhibit, perhaps in honor of cave-like interiors at the Silos.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7ae8f520-d2a9-4df8-936f-98e49a43213e_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7ae8f520-d2a9-4df8-936f-98e49a43213e_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3538286,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7ae8f520-d2a9-4df8-936f-98e49a43213e_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://www.susanbudge.com/">Susan Budge</a> made an installation that made use of the entire silo she had. Stardust features a central object, surrounded by other objects. There is a small floor-level hole in the wall of the silo, into which Budge has placed several ceramic objects and lighted with a warm, incandescent light—in contrast to the dark, bluish light for the rest of the silo. It makes me think of a campfire. Above the central object are star-shaped ceramic figures.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fcadc0b-0112-4b91-85dc-f92fea1d1971_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4fcadc0b-0112-4b91-85dc-f92fea1d1971_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3528951,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4fcadc0b-0112-4b91-85dc-f92fea1d1971_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>I took them as representing actual stars. In the center of the ceiling of the silo is a large ceramic eye, seemingly gazing down on the scene below. If the theme of the exhibit as a whole is based around our primal need to create as represented by the paintings on the cave wall at Altamira, then what Budge has created perhaps is a depiction of hunter-gatherer types sitting around a campfire with a totem under the stars. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc2d2bb59-7e11-4daf-b362-72a647208ea4_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c2d2bb59-7e11-4daf-b362-72a647208ea4_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3499942,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc2d2bb59-7e11-4daf-b362-72a647208ea4_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The largest piece was by<a href="http://kathykelley.us/about/"> Kathryn Kelley</a>. Kelley is an artist I’ve written about <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/02/in-high-seat.html">frequently </a><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/09/kathryn-kellys-anxiety.html">in the</a> <a href="http://robertwboyd.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-like-art-1-kathy-kelly.html">past</a>. Her work always combined a fierce physicality and emotionality and an intellectual underpinning. This probably helps explain why she moved away from the Houston area to get a PhD in studio art. Since she moved, I haven’t seen any new work from her locally, which made me sad. But she’s back for Sculpture Month. This three-part installation is called <i>Disproportionate Dream Fragments</i>, and visually doesn’t seem all that distinct from her earlier work. Instead of using cut-up inner tubes as material, she has found new, grungy recycled material to work with. I always worry that I might catch tetanus from just <i>looking</i> at Kelley’s sculpture. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a211a5d-971f-4901-87b1-505a91f7e0a5_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9a211a5d-971f-4901-87b1-505a91f7e0a5_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3543245,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a211a5d-971f-4901-87b1-505a91f7e0a5_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The rusty bedsprings, the loose nails, all adds up to a somewhat dangerous installation. I know that there are artists who have approached this level of pure grunge, especially assemblagists like Robert Raushenberg, Wallace Berman, Ed Kienholz, and George Herms (some of my favorite artists). And yet, none of those artists has ever given me a feeling of physical menace like Kelley does.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb84926e8-01b8-45d5-923d-505206d20cb2_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b84926e8-01b8-45d5-923d-505206d20cb2_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3491260,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb84926e8-01b8-45d5-923d-505206d20cb2_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>That chair could kill you. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61b7a3e7-3101-4823-a8b8-61e9d9e1f10c_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/61b7a3e7-3101-4823-a8b8-61e9d9e1f10c_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3595658,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61b7a3e7-3101-4823-a8b8-61e9d9e1f10c_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>What these photographs utterly fail to convey is the clautrophobic sensation of being in these silos with the work. Kelley didn’t make it easy to breeeze through—you kind of have to squeeze past stuff to see everything. And I hardly need to say that photographing all the work in a given silo is next to impossible.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd848952a-2ccb-4649-8758-25e2a5de9d80_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d848952a-2ccb-4649-8758-25e2a5de9d80_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3512788,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd848952a-2ccb-4649-8758-25e2a5de9d80_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 {
padding-bottom: 150%;
padding-bottom: min(150%, 2184px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2184-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2184px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The installation seems to represent a homey, domestic interior made from scratch by a troglodytic family who only knew about things like beds, chairs, and wardrobes from television images. Their cargo cultic approximations of “home” are dangerous to use and not terribly functional.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb04126c3-f599-42e0-9fe3-b6890c3f5477_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b04126c3-f599-42e0-9fe3-b6890c3f5477_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3669771,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb04126c3-f599-42e0-9fe3-b6890c3f5477_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Having said this, I suspect that Kelley has a well-thought-out reason for everything, amply backed by theory and with a highly personal underpinning. This has frequently been the case with her earlier artwork. Kelley <a href="http://kathykelley.us/">keeps a blog</a>, but for the past few years, most of her posts have been about why an artist should write. It feels like a very solopsistic project, an artist writing about artists writing. Lots of quotations and excerpts. Her writing is dense and poetic. I was hoping there might be some clues about <i>Disproportionate Dream Fragments </i>there, but I didn’t see any—nothing obvious, anyway.</p><p>The other Sculpture Month show I wanted to touch on was also a group show held at the house of sculptor <a href="https://michaelseankirby.com/">Michael Sean Kirby</a>. I like house galleries and apartment galleries. I couldn’t imagine doing it myself—my tiny apartment is too cluttered. But Kirby’s house is kind of perfect for this, presumbly because he, unlike me, is capable of keeping it tidy. The show in his house was called “After Altamira” and featured six artists. I’m going to mention two, partly because of all the photos I took that night, they had the only ones that came out good. I do want ot give a shout-out to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLNpiIhyXQ">Ronald L. Jones</a>’ unphotographable installation, <i>Cavity</i>. His work, mostly made of webs of yarn stretched over a space, is extremely difficult to photograph.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f006051-d5d4-40ea-865c-de45937c6fce_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6f006051-d5d4-40ea-865c-de45937c6fce_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4028209,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6f006051-d5d4-40ea-865c-de45937c6fce_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://www.kamilaszczesna.com/home">Kamila Szczesna</a> is a Galveston artist who often works with spherical shapes wrapped in stretchy materials. But for this exhibit, the spheres came out of their wrappings. The piece above, <i>interwoven</i>, is made of mouth blown glass and hair. The glass spheres look so delicate, like soap bubbles. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5eb29e1-b96d-4d93-872f-e7a34e7951ca_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e5eb29e1-b96d-4d93-872f-e7a34e7951ca_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3696574,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5eb29e1-b96d-4d93-872f-e7a34e7951ca_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://www.patrickrennerarchive.com/">Patrick Renner</a> is an artist I’ve followed for years, <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/05/by-robert-boyd-patrick-renner.html">writing </a>about <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/04/patrick-renners-geology-lesson.html">his work </a>on <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/07/inputoutput-at-joanna.html">my blog</a> and <a href="https://glasstire.com/2020/03/11/patrick-renners-bounty-at-redbud/">for other publications</a>. His work is closer to the assemblagists I mentioned above than Kathryn Kelly art is—one can certainly see a little George Herms in <i>introvert</i> above. With Renner’s assemblage work, the component parts often have a personal meaning. In this case, they include “the only remaining side of a trick music box my paternal grandfather made when I was a kid” and a “bat house that used to be on my parents’ house.”</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F225cd7e7-70db-46df-8cc8-01f06d1fe8d7_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/225cd7e7-70db-46df-8cc8-01f06d1fe8d7_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3658429,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F225cd7e7-70db-46df-8cc8-01f06d1fe8d7_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The spookiest detail was this tiny bat skeleton encased in acrylic. </p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-87410702752511999402021-10-19T11:51:00.001-05:002021-10-19T11:51:57.471-05:00Browsing Through Zines at El Rincón Social<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">I can’t remember who told me this or where I read it, but it’s been said that for photographers, the ultimate goal is a book. I think this was said in contrast with other kinds of visual art, where artists might be working towards an exhibition or a museum retrospective or a large public commission. When I heard that assertion, I thought of classic photobooks like <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9783865215840">The Americans</a></i> by Robert Frank, <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9781597111744">Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph</a></i>, or <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780870703782">William Eggleston's Guide</a></i>. But a beautiful hardcover book is not the only way to present your work in a permanent published format. There are many publications that do it, and the most modest of these are zines. They are often self-published, but some very small presses put out tiny photobooks. I think of these publishers as the equivalent of small poetry presses. The small press impulse is to me where the vitality of publishing comes from (whether prose, poetry, art, photos, or comics), occasionally bubbling up to larger publishers and more mainstream means of distribution. What this means is that if you want to experience these publications, you have to seek out the world of alternative press—usually through small-scale book fairs or zine festivals. (Or through the mail directly from the publisher—some I’d recommend are <a href="https://www.cattywampuspress.com/">Cattywampus Press</a>, <a href="https://www.xartistsbooks.com/">X Artists Books</a>, <a href="http://deepvellum.com/">Deep Vellum</a>, <a href="https://hostpublications.com/">Host Publications</a>, and <a href="https://uglyducklingpresse.org/">Ugly Duckling Presse</a>. I’ve bought books that I love from each of these publishers.)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-900-900" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad4865e3-3d03-447d-beb7-b2aa7fd03ca1_900x900.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ad4865e3-3d03-447d-beb7-b2aa7fd03ca1_900x900.jpeg","height":900,"width":900,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":159777,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad4865e3-3d03-447d-beb7-b2aa7fd03ca1_900x900.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-900-900 {
padding-bottom: 100%;
padding-bottom: min(100%, 900px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-900-900 img {
max-width: 900px;
max-height: 900px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>This is why I was at Uncle Bob’s Photo Zine Market on the afternoon of October 16. It was a one-day zine festival held at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/elrinconsocial/">El Rincón Social</a>, a somewhat obscure art space/artists studio complex just east of downtown Houston. I’ve been there many times before and seen a few spectacular <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/11/exiles-at-el-rinc.html">exhibits</a> and <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/04/patrick-renners-geology-lesson.html">installations </a>there. The flyer above was apparently designed by @jadeolantern, about whom I can find nothing online. Nice flyer, though!</p><p> El Rincón Social is a large, high-ceiling warehouse space with plenty of room for people to set up tables. They had about 15 exhibitors. It was a small festival, but while I was there, it was lively. In a way, this was a warm up for the bigger zine festival occurring next month: <a href="https://glasstire.com/2021/10/09/zine-fest-houston-is-back-and-in-person-and-features-artist-traci-lavois-thiebaud-nov-13/">Zine Fest Houston</a> will be held on November 13 at the <a href="https://www.orangeshow.org/">Orange Show</a>. Uncle Bob’s Photo Zine Market seems to have been one in a series of small zine-oriented events leading up to the big day. That seems like a good way to build some enthusiasm, especially given the fact that Zine Fest had to shut down during 2020 for Covid reasons. </p><p>I was there to spend a little money on photo zines. The first I bought was <i>This Is Punk no. 1</i> by <a href="https://hmmagazine.com/author/spayne/">Skyler Payne</a>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92f3b730-1409-4f61-929e-44334fac0083_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/92f3b730-1409-4f61-929e-44334fac0083_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3690301,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92f3b730-1409-4f61-929e-44334fac0083_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Here is Payne manning his very homey booth. <i>This Is Punk</i> is a documentary photo zine about the late, lamented <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzgerald's">Fitzgerald’s</a>, a rock and roll club in Houston. Payne has apparently been going to punk rock shows since he was 11, taken by his punk-rock parents. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2250-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1997cc-18d1-4d9a-acc9-f798833c81ec_1590x2457.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9a1997cc-18d1-4d9a-acc9-f798833c81ec_1590x2457.jpeg","height":2250,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1138784,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1997cc-18d1-4d9a-acc9-f798833c81ec_1590x2457.jpeg" width="414" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2250-1456 {
padding-bottom: 154.53296703296704%;
padding-bottom: min(154.53296703296704%, 2250px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2250-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2250px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Payne writes on the first page the following dedication:</p><blockquote><p>In memory of Fitzgerald’s</p><p>Where many fans found their favorite bands</p><p>Where many bands found their favorite fans</p></blockquote><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1117-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc46d716-2459-4c52-8ba4-a731e74f89df_3167x2429.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dc46d716-2459-4c52-8ba4-a731e74f89df_3167x2429.jpeg","height":1117,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2271882,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="491" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc46d716-2459-4c52-8ba4-a731e74f89df_3167x2429.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1117-1456 {
padding-bottom: 76.71703296703298%;
padding-bottom: min(76.71703296703298%, 1117px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1117-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1117px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>I have no idea who this band was, but I like the way that Payne tinted their shirts. I wonder if they ever play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eCe1ldrOtU">“The Dicks Hate the Police”</a> in homage to early Texas punk rock. </p><p>Next I stopped by Jason Dibley’s table where he was displaying his monomaniacal zine series, <i>Broomzine</i>. Photos of brooms. That’s his thing.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6DRdUek1VJM/YW71oK9M-zI/AAAAAAAAfLI/lwK2cgJ3FAAJp65wfogXECpj3bbXhDiaACNcBGAsYHQ/DSC_0042.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6DRdUek1VJM/YW71oK9M-zI/AAAAAAAAfLI/lwK2cgJ3FAAJp65wfogXECpj3bbXhDiaACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/DSC_0042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>He may have a personal identification with brooms, since he is as skinny as a broomstick himself. I’ve bought earlier issues of <i>Broomzine</i>, so I asked what was new. I think this is the newest issue.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-951-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33ede4ed-07ed-49f2-a134-cf8c1efa62eb_2136x1395.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/33ede4ed-07ed-49f2-a134-cf8c1efa62eb_2136x1395.jpeg","height":951,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":889890,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="418" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33ede4ed-07ed-49f2-a134-cf8c1efa62eb_2136x1395.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-951-1456 {
padding-bottom: 65.31593406593407%;
padding-bottom: min(65.31593406593407%, 951px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-951-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 951px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>That is the front cover on the right and the back cover on the left.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-974-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02967e50-f370-48ea-96fb-d5f189622283_2127x1423.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/02967e50-f370-48ea-96fb-d5f189622283_2127x1423.jpeg","height":974,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":803600,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="428" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02967e50-f370-48ea-96fb-d5f189622283_2127x1423.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-974-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.8956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.8956043956044%, 974px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-974-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 974px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>And this is the center spread. The whole publication is 18 pages long (17 of which have full-bleed photos of brooms in situ, and one blank page). In stark contrast to <i>This Is Punk</i>, these do not appear to be photos of something that excites Dibley. The broom is a humble object, and focusing a body of work on brooms, shown without commentary or interpretation, a group of photos that are staggeringly mundane, is weirdly moving.</p><p>My next acquisition was <i>Eggs Eggs Eggs</i>, a photo-collage zine printed on a single piece of paper, sliced and folded.. It was a clever bit of origami and had the benefit of not needing staples.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1258-997" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F56b73ebe-22a9-4c2d-acc9-107ead971781_997x1258.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/56b73ebe-22a9-4c2d-acc9-107ead971781_997x1258.jpeg","height":1258,"width":997,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":257878,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F56b73ebe-22a9-4c2d-acc9-107ead971781_997x1258.jpeg" width="507" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1258-997 {
padding-bottom: 126.17853560682046%;
padding-bottom: min(126.17853560682046%, 1258px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1258-997 img {
max-width: 997px;
max-height: 1258px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>It was created by <a href="https://msha.ke/k.llages/">Anastasia Kirages</a>, one of the organizers of this event and of <a href="https://www.zinefesthouston.org/meet-zfh-co-organizers/">Zine Fest as a whole</a>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-904-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d31989a-2655-43dd-960f-5dd4c8d05d4c_1996x1239.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4d31989a-2655-43dd-960f-5dd4c8d05d4c_1996x1239.jpeg","height":904,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":454368,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="397" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d31989a-2655-43dd-960f-5dd4c8d05d4c_1996x1239.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-904-1456 {
padding-bottom: 62.08791208791209%;
padding-bottom: min(62.08791208791209%, 904px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-904-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 904px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The basic idea is a fried egg plus a thing. Eggs are funny and incongruous juxtapositions are funny. </p><p>Of all the photo zines I got that day, the most beautifully designed was <i>Mealtime</i> by <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/sebastien-boncy-photographs-houston/">Sebastien Boncy</a>. He was manning his table with <a href="https://juliedevries.com/home.html">Julie De Vries</a>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a60bbf0-44d3-4e77-a436-de03e09e93b0_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3a60bbf0-44d3-4e77-a436-de03e09e93b0_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4280711,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a60bbf0-44d3-4e77-a436-de03e09e93b0_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>Boncy also specializes in the mundane in his photos, but his eye looks at the world. One rarely sees a person in his photos—just the ghosts of their presence. <i>Mealtime </i>is full of such ghosts.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-899-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fde219a24-4ef6-4a88-8616-5e82c486784a_2461x1519.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/de219a24-4ef6-4a88-8616-5e82c486784a_2461x1519.jpeg","height":899,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":638450,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="395" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fde219a24-4ef6-4a88-8616-5e82c486784a_2461x1519.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-899-1456 {
padding-bottom: 61.744505494505496%;
padding-bottom: min(61.744505494505496%, 899px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-899-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 899px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>The remnants of meals past, the places where people eat. All with arresting compositions and colors.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-948-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7894eb00-4dbb-47fe-82f6-2d075d504b06_2343x1526.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7894eb00-4dbb-47fe-82f6-2d075d504b06_2343x1526.jpeg","height":948,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":537933,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="417" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7894eb00-4dbb-47fe-82f6-2d075d504b06_2343x1526.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-948-1456 {
padding-bottom: 65.10989010989012%;
padding-bottom: min(65.10989010989012%, 948px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-948-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 948px;
}</style></a></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-937-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fccb7a786-7919-4527-a67a-9c4c3637463f_2440x1571.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ccb7a786-7919-4527-a67a-9c4c3637463f_2440x1571.jpeg","height":937,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":869920,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="412" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fccb7a786-7919-4527-a67a-9c4c3637463f_2440x1571.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-937-1456 {
padding-bottom: 64.3543956043956%;
padding-bottom: min(64.3543956043956%, 937px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-937-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 937px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>That was Uncle Bob’s Photo Zine Market. In the entrance was a photobooth set up where a woman was taking polaroids for $5. She said they were raising money for a friend, but I don’t know why the friend needed money, or who the friend was, or who the photographer was. But I spent my $5 and got this polaroid. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-478-355" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbc4ed52b-84ae-4745-9037-e593d95f8131_355x478.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bc4ed52b-84ae-4745-9037-e593d95f8131_355x478.jpeg","height":478,"width":355,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":42211,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbc4ed52b-84ae-4745-9037-e593d95f8131_355x478.jpeg" width="475" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-478-355 {
padding-bottom: 134.64788732394365%;
padding-bottom: min(134.64788732394365%, 478px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-478-355 img {
max-width: 355px;
max-height: 478px;
}</style></a></figure></div><p>This tells me that maybe I shouldn’t wear stripes. A valuable lesson that I plan to ignore in the future.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-42691450633838884302021-10-18T09:35:00.002-05:002021-10-18T17:19:32.833-05:00Nestor Topchy at the Silos<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ba14add-5581-42bc-8f50-ef19908cb41b_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6ba14add-5581-42bc-8f50-ef19908cb41b_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4102984,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ba14add-5581-42bc-8f50-ef19908cb41b_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>On October 16, <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2014/04/retemplo.html">Nestor Topchy</a> did a performance at <a href="https://www.sawyeryards.com/map-and-directory/properties/silos-at-sawyer-yards">the Silos</a>, perhaps the strangest and most awkward visual art venue in Houston. The Silos are actual grain silos, defunct artifacts of industrial agriculture. The Silos has 34 disused silos that it uses to display art. The spaces are a real challenge for artists. They are round, for one thing. Topchy’s performance made use of the round space. Topchy told me the performance did not have a name because at the last second before the performance, he changed what he planned to do. </p><p>The silo space he was in had a large round platform a couple of inches high, covered by a circular piece of unprimed canvas. The walls were covered with paper. In the center of the canvas was a dummy covered in black and white fabric. Hanging from the center of the ceiling was a sphere. It appeared to be a light covering.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1425ff90-ff76-4250-948c-e0e4fa536e04_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1425ff90-ff76-4250-948c-e0e4fa536e04_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4009216,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1425ff90-ff76-4250-948c-e0e4fa536e04_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>Before Topchy came out, <a href="https://www.freepresshouston.com/visual-vernacular-volker-eisele/">Volker Eisele</a>, one of the founders of<a href="http://sculpturemonthhouston.org/"> Sculpture Month Houston</a>, came out to talk about the performance. He discussed Topchy’s connection with artist <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2020/11/robert-boyds-book-report-yves.html">Yves Klein</a> and in particular about International Klein Blue, the pigment that Klein invented and that Topchy has used frequently in the past in his sculptures and performances. But this must have been one of the last minute changes—Topchy did not use IKB.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb5e1084-cf3e-458e-afca-81babf0a8eb4_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/db5e1084-cf3e-458e-afca-81babf0a8eb4_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3734752,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb5e1084-cf3e-458e-afca-81babf0a8eb4_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>He used <a href="https://pigment.tokyo/article/detail?id=10">sumi ink</a> in the performance. He mentioned to me beforehand that he was going to use sumi ink. I asked him if he was going to grind it in person. Ordinarily, sumi ink comes in a compressed, solid block that the artist grinds on a <a href="https://www.learnshodo.com/shodo-tools-guide">suzuri stone</a>, mixing it with water to get the density of black desired. But it turns out you can buy sumi ink in a bottle, and Topchy had two bottles of the stuff that he poured into the sphere. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdff1a9ef-836c-4a4c-8b6e-e1def8b54bc6_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dff1a9ef-836c-4a4c-8b6e-e1def8b54bc6_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3680426,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdff1a9ef-836c-4a4c-8b6e-e1def8b54bc6_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>Once the sphere was full, Topchy pulled a plug from the bottom of the sphere to let the ink leak out. He then set the sphere swinging in a circle.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb70b1070-12a2-4051-8d2f-b69e0c450f75_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b70b1070-12a2-4051-8d2f-b69e0c450f75_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4115657,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb70b1070-12a2-4051-8d2f-b69e0c450f75_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8e7abc0e-91e3-4fe5-8ff9-88648887e725_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8e7abc0e-91e3-4fe5-8ff9-88648887e725_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3701005,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8e7abc0e-91e3-4fe5-8ff9-88648887e725_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>As it spun around, it produced a fuzzy ink line on the canvas. At first the line was pretty distinct, but as the watery ink soaked into the unprimed canvas, it the line started to fill in.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1c6161e-11b8-4b81-b948-52d129f5cb33_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a1c6161e-11b8-4b81-b948-52d129f5cb33_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3608189,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1c6161e-11b8-4b81-b948-52d129f5cb33_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>Topchy knocked the dummy over so it was laying face up. He took off his jacket and let the ink pour directly onto the dummy’s face.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65f34781-2906-46d7-b862-cb38b5edb28c_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/65f34781-2906-46d7-b862-cb38b5edb28c_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3593389,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65f34781-2906-46d7-b862-cb38b5edb28c_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1bc2cff4-a4fd-4673-b183-821f8ea1b214_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1bc2cff4-a4fd-4673-b183-821f8ea1b214_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3585371,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1bc2cff4-a4fd-4673-b183-821f8ea1b214_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>He wrestles the dummy, which appeared to be pretty heavy, and mashed its ink-covered face into the wall. Then he lay down directly under the sphere.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2d8bec5-8cde-480f-b0e8-9eba73f4f083_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b2d8bec5-8cde-480f-b0e8-9eba73f4f083_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4057722,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2d8bec5-8cde-480f-b0e8-9eba73f4f083_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>He let it drip ink into his mouth. Then he did something on the side of the silo which I couldn’t see from the angle from where I stood. The silos are not really conducive for audiences to view performances within.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc43a2b8-b461-4a7a-a24a-98646d066cd7_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dc43a2b8-b461-4a7a-a24a-98646d066cd7_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4201882,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc43a2b8-b461-4a7a-a24a-98646d066cd7_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>He bowed to the audience.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2184-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff547fac1-df35-4232-8528-d9e6f1779a2e_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f547fac1-df35-4232-8528-d9e6f1779a2e_4608x3072.jpeg","height":2184,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3698947,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff547fac1-df35-4232-8528-d9e6f1779a2e_4608x3072.jpeg" width="427" /></a></figure></div><p>And the performance was over.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9ef2741-848b-4869-aca5-9ad8ae780604_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b9ef2741-848b-4869-aca5-9ad8ae780604_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4075831,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9ef2741-848b-4869-aca5-9ad8ae780604_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>Once it was done, one could enter the silo and see what he was doing on the wall. He sprayed the ink from his mouth over his hands to create a negative impression of them.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F28e0f8b1-f61e-452d-9941-44dbd575a4aa_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/28e0f8b1-f61e-452d-9941-44dbd575a4aa_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3571733,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F28e0f8b1-f61e-452d-9941-44dbd575a4aa_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>This form of negative hand stencils is one of humanity's earliest forms of art, found in cave paintings all over the world.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-511-717" contenteditable="false" draggable="true" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88f465d2-8246-4405-8c36-a3e3fd3f1a2b_717x511.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/88f465d2-8246-4405-8c36-a3e3fd3f1a2b_717x511.jpeg","height":511,"width":717,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":128244,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="456" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88f465d2-8246-4405-8c36-a3e3fd3f1a2b_717x511.jpeg" width="640" /></a></figure></div><p>This is from <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/936/">Cueva de las Manos</a> in Argentina. They are estimated to be between 13,000 and 9,500 years old. </p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-83929833617105401992021-10-14T15:32:00.003-05:002021-10-14T18:15:07.715-05:00It's Emily Peacock Season<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Sometimes an artist shows up in multiple venues at one time. Right now, one can see Beth Secor at <a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/the-houston-fall-art-season-part">UH Downtown</a> and at <a href="https://www.inmangallery.com/exhibitions/33-beth-secor-the-solace-found-in-sentience/overview/">Inman Gallery</a>. And Emily Peacock has a show at <a href="https://lawndaleartcenter.org/exhibition/emily-peacock-2/">Lawndale </a>and Jonathan Hopson Gallery. I wrote about <i><a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/funny-ha-ha-and-funny-strange">die laughing</a></i><a href="https://thegreatgodpanisdead.substack.com/p/funny-ha-ha-and-funny-strange"> </a>at Lawndale and just want to mention <i>lightweight</i>, on view through December 5 at<a href="https://www.jonathanhopsongallery.com/current.html"> Jonathan Hopson Gallery</a>. I just want to mention two pieces.</p><p>Peacock is a photographer, although her artistic practice has evolved into multiple streams—the creation of objects, films, videos, paintings, etc. But she returns to photography here with a series called <i>Bayou Behemoths</i>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fVgxSkTTx_I/YWiRNITKwfI/AAAAAAAAfKE/wzNZ2buJnYUoqT40IV9E7G2oWBW4NJDTQCNcBGAsYHQ/Bayou%2BBehemoths%2B1.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fVgxSkTTx_I/YWiRNITKwfI/AAAAAAAAfKE/wzNZ2buJnYUoqT40IV9E7G2oWBW4NJDTQCNcBGAsYHQ/w427-h640/Bayou%2BBehemoths%2B1.JPG" width="427" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Emily Peacock, <i>Bayou Behemoth</i>, photograph, 2021</span><p>These photos of kudzu were taken on purple film. They look ominous, like the setting for a horror film or science fiction film on an alien world.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lDXvUn22lHg/YWiSWeq-gTI/AAAAAAAAfKU/eTiKqaCPG5cXH8Vnwf2--qRTIi3vYxTgQCNcBGAsYHQ/Bayou%2BBehemoths%2B8.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1423" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lDXvUn22lHg/YWiSWeq-gTI/AAAAAAAAfKU/eTiKqaCPG5cXH8Vnwf2--qRTIi3vYxTgQCNcBGAsYHQ/w445-h640/Bayou%2BBehemoths%2B8.JPG" width="445" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Emily Peacock, <i>Bayou Behemoth</i>, photograph, 2021</span><p>And this one is like a giant, fuzzy dick protruding from the bayou.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QenCFureLc4/YWiSv-Q3NVI/AAAAAAAAfKc/Vu2Z6VbbIzgeK5slK5PoU-viY7M_5MayQCNcBGAsYHQ/Bayou%2BBehemoths%2B3.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1471" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QenCFureLc4/YWiSv-Q3NVI/AAAAAAAAfKc/Vu2Z6VbbIzgeK5slK5PoU-viY7M_5MayQCNcBGAsYHQ/w459-h640/Bayou%2BBehemoths%2B3.JPG" width="459" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Emily Peacock, <i>Bayou Behemoth</i>, photograph, 2021</span></p><p>The low angles on these make them loom over the viewer. The <i>Bayou Behemoths</i> are wonderfully creepy.</p><p>Then there is this piece, which on first glance feels like an inexplicable found object.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YEYUVPBPco0/YWiTQzFgyWI/AAAAAAAAfKk/RrkF0WZzrqYPicPW56SRy_9HxSATcXYawCNcBGAsYHQ/Flavin%2BSkates%2BAugust%2B4th%252C%2B2021%2B1.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2028" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YEYUVPBPco0/YWiTQzFgyWI/AAAAAAAAfKk/RrkF0WZzrqYPicPW56SRy_9HxSATcXYawCNcBGAsYHQ/w635-h640/Flavin%2BSkates%2BAugust%2B4th%252C%2B2021%2B1.JPG" width="635" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Emily Peacock, <i>Flavin Skates: August 4th, 2021</i></span></p><p>A pair of brightly colored rollerskates on a chrome-plates serving tray. What can they mean?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gCHIXJjwXmo/YWiTTCNquEI/AAAAAAAAfKo/xJoDGt-MYNstdbSJfnYU9j-eSFA_iofEwCNcBGAsYHQ/Flavin%2BSkates%2BAugust%2B4th%252C%2B2021%2B4.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1599" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gCHIXJjwXmo/YWiTTCNquEI/AAAAAAAAfKo/xJoDGt-MYNstdbSJfnYU9j-eSFA_iofEwCNcBGAsYHQ/w499-h640/Flavin%2BSkates%2BAugust%2B4th%252C%2B2021%2B4.JPG" width="499" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Emily Peacock, <i>Flavin Skates: August 4th, 2021</i></span></p><p>There is a story behind them which the artist told me herself at the opening. But she told me that for a certain reason that anyone would understand, “I am not advertising it if you know what I mean.” So I got to hear the story, but you don’t. If you run into Peacock at an opening or just socially, ask her yourself. The story behind the skates is bonkers.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-16647939855981159392021-10-05T20:10:00.003-05:002021-10-05T20:21:00.325-05:00The Artist is an Illegitimate Cosmonaut<p><b> by <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html">Robert Boyd</a></b></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U_zwSLpaflM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><p>Today I reviewed <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9781846380044"><i>Ilya Kabakov: The Man Who Flew to Space from his Apartment</i></a>, a short book by Russian art critic<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Groys"> Boris Groys.</a> It's a short book--only 60 pages (many of which are full-page illustrations). It's basically an essay on a single piece of art, <i>The Man Who Flew into Space from his Apartment</i>.<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2018/09/the-experimental-group-ilya-kabakov.html"> Ilya Kabakov </a>is one of my favorite artists. He was an "official artist" in the Soviet Union, which means he was a member of the Artists' Union and did work for the state--in his case, for state publishing houses, because he was a children's book illustrator. But he had other things he wanted to express, and developed a double art practice--one official, and one unofficial. But even in his unofficial art, he used the skills he had gained as a book illustrator. This narrative underpinning to his otherwise highly conceptual art is something that Groys reiterates in his book, along with the idea expressed in the title of this post, which is a quote from Groys' text (<a href="http://www.kabakov.net/">Kabakov </a>the unofficial artist was a little like a fictional character trying to become a cosmonaut in his own apartment) and the idea of "Cosmism," a Russian philosophical movement with its roots in the 19th century. "Cosmism" is a topic that fascinate Groys--he published a book about it in 2018, and it is the subject of an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlH1UPkcMaY&t=814s">interesting lecture he gave that can be found on YouTube.</a><br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-23115035082593496132021-10-04T19:10:00.001-05:002021-10-04T19:14:22.082-05:00How High the Moon<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> by Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p><a href="https://moody.rice.edu/exhibitions/wall-clarissa-tossin-8th-continent"><i>The 8th Continent </i></a>is the title of a new artwork by Brazilian artist <a href="https://www.clarissatossin.net/">Clarissa Tossin </a>now on view in the Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University. Some followers of the Houston art scene may recall that Tossin was a <a href="https://www.mfah.org/education/fellowships/core-program/archive">Core Fellow</a> from 2010 to 2012. During her time in Houston, she was in two Core Exhibits at the old Glassell school (<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/03/2011-core-exhibition.html">one of which I wrote about</a>), and in exhibits at Sicardi Gallery and the Houston Center for Photography.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O0Ld5kGxYKs/YVuBsjO4LuI/AAAAAAAAfI0/EAgDs1d9HiAait8kx5tvCOYZDIVSsWPfACNcBGAsYHQ/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2B1.2.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O0Ld5kGxYKs/YVuBsjO4LuI/AAAAAAAAfI0/EAgDs1d9HiAait8kx5tvCOYZDIVSsWPfACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2B1.2.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Clarissa Tossin, <i>The 8th Continent</i>, three tapestries with metallic thread, 2021</span></div><p><i>The 8th Continent</i> are a series of tapestries produced with metallic thread on a jacquard machine, a type of loom invented in the 19th century that used punch cards to communicate the design to the machine--it was a precursor in a way to the computing machines of the next century. But the large tapestries are meant to recall those produced during medieval and Renaissance times. These were <a href="https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/veblen-goods/">Veblen goods</a>--they signified the wealth and power of their owners (although they did have a practical purpose--buildings then were drafty and poorly insulated, which tapestries helped). The metallic thread in <i>The 8th Continent</i> also are design to recall the ostentatious wealth display of ancient tapestries. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9IcF63H8r4Y/YVuETpoyojI/AAAAAAAAfI8/BYYRzqY4AiIk5yYGCs9VJaqt0OfDC0QSwCNcBGAsYHQ/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2Bcenter%2Bpanel%2B2.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9IcF63H8r4Y/YVuETpoyojI/AAAAAAAAfI8/BYYRzqY4AiIk5yYGCs9VJaqt0OfDC0QSwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2Bcenter%2Bpanel%2B2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Clarissa Tossin, <i>The 8th Continent </i>center tapestry, tapestry with metallic thread, 2021</span><p></p><p><i>The 8th Continent </i>was produced with the cooperation of Rice’s <a href="https://rsi.rice.edu/">Space Institute</a> and Houston’s<a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/"> Lunar and Planetary Institute</a>. They depict areas on the poles of the moon that are possible sites for future moon missions. It is thought that in some of the shadows of some crater--shadows that are never exposed to the sun--there may be water ice. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1_jGgfJALY4/YVuFicADbHI/AAAAAAAAfJE/GR0oHN5iifoXMGJYednexdF5HLeg2i4iQCNcBGAsYHQ/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2Bright%2Bpanel%2B2.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1_jGgfJALY4/YVuFicADbHI/AAAAAAAAfJE/GR0oHN5iifoXMGJYednexdF5HLeg2i4iQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2Bright%2Bpanel%2B2.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Clarissa Tossin, <i>The 8th Continent </i>right tapestry, tapestry with metallic thread, 2021</span></div><p>Tossin used high-contrast photos as her source material, which make the shadows seem even darker than they might otherwise. The black in the tapestry is especially black, presumably because the sewn surface traps light very well. </p><p>So why should these lunar locations be the subject of this modern tapestry? The idea is that because of a 2015 treaty, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html">Artemis Accords</a>, the USA might be able to mine the moon, particularly to extract water from these dark craters to make rocket fuel from. Why go to the moon to get the water? After all, we have plenty on Earth. But the problem is that it takes a lot of energy to lift rocket fuel away from Earth. A lot of what we're doing when a rocket lifts off is lifting the fuel itself.<a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/19/1001857/how-moon-lunar-mining-water-ice-rocket-fuel"> So if we want to go further than the moon, it would be useful to produce the rocket fuel on the moon and lift off from there</a>. Earth's gravity would still be a drag, but much less so if we were leaving from the moon. So think of these tapestries as trophies of a future colonial possession.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p_-7owsbqVY/YVuInqKFiBI/AAAAAAAAfJM/HkgOMbkqQ1oqUawI9w1eqDMuBpgdCEQDQCNcBGAsYHQ/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2Bleft%2Bpanel%2B1.1.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p_-7owsbqVY/YVuInqKFiBI/AAAAAAAAfJM/HkgOMbkqQ1oqUawI9w1eqDMuBpgdCEQDQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/The%2B8th%2BContinent%2Bleft%2Bpanel%2B1.1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Clarissa Tossin, <i>The 8th Continent </i>left tapestry, tapestry with metallic thread, 2021</span><p></p><p></p><p>(As an aside, they fact that we would even consider going to the Moon to get water shows how absurd it is that science fiction films posit aliens coming to Earth to get our water, as in <i>Oblivion </i>(2013). Why would they drop into our gravity well when water is plentiful in the solar system--on the moon, on various other moons like Europa and Ganymede, and in comets.)</p><p>I saw this exhibit on September 24, when it was officially installed. The artist was present. I met her and said, "Parabéns<span class="link dlink"></span>," which is Portuguese for "Congratulations." She spoke Portuguese back to me and I was immediately lost--I know it a little, but not enough to converse.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KjQzVMbC0to/YVuPKz7qsaI/AAAAAAAAfJU/NuuWr4QRSPwDU1qbGtfG16-sYXCOweA6wCNcBGAsYHQ/Clarissa%2BTossin.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KjQzVMbC0to/YVuPKz7qsaI/AAAAAAAAfJU/NuuWr4QRSPwDU1qbGtfG16-sYXCOweA6wCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/Clarissa%2BTossin.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Clarissa Tossin in the Brochstein Pavilion</span></div><p>Looking at her CV, it seems that in her most recent works, she is looking at science fiction themes. She has always been interested in Modernity, and what is science fiction but Modernity persisting? (Except for the more dystopian branch of the genre.) But linking this futuristic notion--lunar colonization--with the past--medieval tapestries--places this work is a postmodern space, if I may be allowed to use a term that already is starting to feel antique. Colonizing the Moon won't have the huge cost borne by colonized populations, but there could be conflicts. The Artemis Accord is supposed to prevent that--it defines how far apart different nations' outposts must be from one another. But people are good at finding reasons to fight. </p><p>The location of <i>The 8th Continent</i> is interesting. Brochstein Pavilion is not an art gallery, as should be obvious from the photo above. It's a small cafe with spaces for student to get some coffee and study. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZlTo7YM8SQg/YVuR03VMTVI/AAAAAAAAfJg/M_kKmxoCcmcT0VgG-Q3oJV77k61vNPnMQCNcBGAsYHQ/Brochstein%2BPavilion%2B2.1.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZlTo7YM8SQg/YVuR03VMTVI/AAAAAAAAfJg/M_kKmxoCcmcT0VgG-Q3oJV77k61vNPnMQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Brochstein%2BPavilion%2B2.1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Brochstein Pavilion</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />It was built in 2007 (long after my student days here in the early '80s), and architects, Thomas Phifer + Partners, made no effort to fit it in with the original <span class="module__title__link">Mediterranean design style of Ralph Adams Cram. Trying to contextualize buildings into Cram's original vision is something that Rice has done sporadically since the founding of the university over a century ago, and the result is a mish-mash of architectural styles. The Brochstein Pavillion seems perfect for its purpose, and students seem to enjoy hanging out there. And I suspect that <i>The 8th Continent </i>is just the sort of artwork that will appeal to the nerds of Rice University.<br /></span></div><br /> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-65745402811134709312021-09-30T07:26:00.003-05:002021-09-30T08:41:11.708-05:00Funny Ha-ha AND Funny Strange<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p>I want to write a brief note on <a href="https://emilyannpeacock.com/home.html">Emily Peacock</a>'s new exhibit which is up at <a href="https://lawndaleartcenter.org/exhibition/emily-peacock-2/">Lawndale Art & Performance Center </a>through January 15, 2022. The name of the show is <i>die laughing</i>. </p><p>I've been following Peacock's work for a long time. <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/04/every-year-more-mfas-are-loosed-on.html">The first time I saw her work and was aware of it was in 2011</a> when she was part of the MFA exhibit at U.H. That was a great class--Francis Giampietro, Britt Ragsdale and Jeremy Deprez were three of the class of 2011, along with Peacock. I've <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/03/if-charlie-parker-was-gunslinger-thered.html">written </a>about <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/03/goin-mobile-with-lens-capsule.html">Peacock </a>and<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2016/12/honorable-mention.html"> her work</a> several times over the years, but more than that, I've acquired work by Peacock, supported her film project, <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2012/10/why-i-did-pan-art-fair.html">had her exhibit in the Pan Art Fair</a> (a satellite to the Texas Contemporary Art Fair in 2012), published <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2015/07/introducing-exu.html">her work in the single issue of <i>EXU </i></a>that I published (still available from from<a href="https://exu.storenvy.com/"> the Pan store</a>), and become friends with the artist. Because of this long-time relationship, I am reluctant to try a full-on piece of criticism about <i>die laughing</i>. But I do want to show off some of the works and maybe comment briefly about some of them.</p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1uE6p0i6_s4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Fast Burning Type</i>, double-sided video, "every rock my son has ever handed me," nylon fibers, 2021</span></p><p>I love that the list of materials includes "every rock my son has ever handed me." I like that it suggests that the first time that happened, Peacock decided, "I'm going to keep this." And between the time I met her, when she was a student, and now, she has a son! Family has always been a major factor in Peacock's work, and the death of her mother was the catalyst for some powerful work </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r4BxBzDGB6I/YVWozQJkxTI/AAAAAAAAfHU/Wml0Ofi2opgu78G_OVK5ht6PwvbhDr2SwCNcBGAsYHQ/Feels%2BFunny.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1866" data-original-width="2048" height="584" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r4BxBzDGB6I/YVWozQJkxTI/AAAAAAAAfHU/Wml0Ofi2opgu78G_OVK5ht6PwvbhDr2SwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h584/Feels%2BFunny.JPG" width="640" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i></i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>My Very Own OOF</i>, spray paint on canvas, 2021</span></p><p>Peacock is a funny artist and a funny person. I've heard her do stand-up and she's not bad. She never shies away from humor in her work--she is never afraid that it might make her seem unserious. And Peacock's OOF does directly refer to <a href="https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79298">Ed Ruscha's painting <i>OOF</i>.</a> Another artist who was not afraid to be funny. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OwDAOIVc2cc/YVWpRtTEfKI/AAAAAAAAfHg/xP5MsBFt8bQzh9Rf0XfXgFW46f7C4uwHQCNcBGAsYHQ/Helluva%2BPerformance.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1576" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OwDAOIVc2cc/YVWpRtTEfKI/AAAAAAAAfHg/xP5MsBFt8bQzh9Rf0XfXgFW46f7C4uwHQCNcBGAsYHQ/w493-h640/Helluva%2BPerformance.JPG" width="493" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Helluva Performance</i>, archival inkjet print mounted to aluminum, 2021</span></p><p>The after years of making photos of the previous and current generation of Peacocks, I guess it's time for the next generation to get some lens time. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aUvGFZBL4n8/YVWpvw1fNPI/AAAAAAAAfHo/vV-nDveF7UMQ7hx-RRy6aklDELHnS0NQACNcBGAsYHQ/Tastes%2BFunny.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aUvGFZBL4n8/YVWpvw1fNPI/AAAAAAAAfHo/vV-nDveF7UMQ7hx-RRy6aklDELHnS0NQACNcBGAsYHQ/w427-h640/Tastes%2BFunny.JPG" width="427" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Tastes Funny</i>, trophy, fruit roll-up, fruit by the foot and aluminum pedestal. 2021</span><p>Somehow I doubt that <i>Tastes Funny</i> is archival. </p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8TQVyo5V4B0/YVWqFnFFx4I/AAAAAAAAfHw/G-ldPI-ayEE7YG-Z8tCH5LkEV_0oj3g5ACNcBGAsYHQ/Tastes%2BFunny%2Bdetail.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1461" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8TQVyo5V4B0/YVWqFnFFx4I/AAAAAAAAfHw/G-ldPI-ayEE7YG-Z8tCH5LkEV_0oj3g5ACNcBGAsYHQ/w456-h640/Tastes%2BFunny%2Bdetail.JPG" width="456" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i></i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Tastes Funny </i>detail, trophy, fruit roll-up, fruit by the foot and aluminum pedestal. 2021</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a data-original-height="2725" data-original-width="1154" height="240" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bVmyUF_sDcA/YVWqfGyrbmI/AAAAAAAAfH4/c7x4adu7riwkBmLr_xOURRr01EOW_KRrACNcBGAsYHQ/Funny%2BBone.JPG" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bVmyUF_sDcA/YVWqfGyrbmI/AAAAAAAAfH4/c7x4adu7riwkBmLr_xOURRr01EOW_KRrACNcBGAsYHQ/Funny%2BBone.JPG" width="102"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RS_5TGz9KwA/YVWrx_xxXMI/AAAAAAAAfIc/LRuHruUMSEMGEuwG851DSswPCw3KuzragCNcBGAsYHQ/Funny%2BBone.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2725" data-original-width="1154" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RS_5TGz9KwA/YVWrx_xxXMI/AAAAAAAAfIc/LRuHruUMSEMGEuwG851DSswPCw3KuzragCNcBGAsYHQ/w272-h640/Funny%2BBone.JPG" width="272" /></a></div><p><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Funny Bone: I Don't Feel Til It Hurts</span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">, plaster cast of the artist's elbow, 2021</span></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RKSka8UcKqk/YVWq5nW4aFI/AAAAAAAAfIE/E5gefpjCv7EaXQfxXDnUhOM_x36yd4vywCNcBGAsYHQ/Funny%2BBone%2Bdetail.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1652" data-original-width="2048" height="515" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RKSka8UcKqk/YVWq5nW4aFI/AAAAAAAAfIE/E5gefpjCv7EaXQfxXDnUhOM_x36yd4vywCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h515/Funny%2BBone%2Bdetail.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i> Funny Bone: I Don't Feel Til It Hurts </i>detail, plaster cast of the artist's elbow, 2021</span></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NRsTCkAgAKg/YVWq9rkikdI/AAAAAAAAfIQ/4fdzKNEvouQjCeUwFowPFzxCknLUFOwEQCNcBGAsYHQ/Increase%2Bthe%2BContrast.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1870" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NRsTCkAgAKg/YVWq9rkikdI/AAAAAAAAfIQ/4fdzKNEvouQjCeUwFowPFzxCknLUFOwEQCNcBGAsYHQ/w584-h640/Increase%2Bthe%2BContrast.JPG" width="584" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i> Increase the Contrast</i>, Plexiglas, vinyl & two lawn chairs, 2021</span><p>When I first encountered Peacock's work, she was strictly a photographer. For some artists, mastery of one medium is at least part of their goal as an artist. But for some, what they want to express requires a certain flexibility. I wonder if specialization is a product the progress--as human knowledge increased, it became more and more difficult to be good at everything. That makes sense in the sciences and in knowledge fields, but I wonder why the arts were dragged along in this movement towards ever-increasing specialization. Peacock may have gotten a degree in photography, but her work, while always including photos, has moved beyond the simple statement: "Emily Peacock is a photographer." Emily Peacock is an artist.<br /></p><p><br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-35229773176636756292021-09-27T16:19:00.003-05:002021-09-27T16:19:38.990-05:00Liminal States/Silver #2<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> by Robert Boyd</b></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-paI6RjE94No/YVInuUd1qdI/AAAAAAAAfGo/xaCuggLRjDYR6ly1im-F-_J9qI4-HFBrQCNcBGAsYHQ/Liminal%2BStates%2BSilver%2B%25232.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-paI6RjE94No/YVInuUd1qdI/AAAAAAAAfGo/xaCuggLRjDYR6ly1im-F-_J9qI4-HFBrQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Liminal%2BStates%2BSilver%2B%25232.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jim Nolan, <i>Liminal States/Silver #2</i>, mixed media, 2019</span></div><p>I am a material boy. I love to own things, especially if those things were created by artists. But because I was laid off shortly after COVID started, I haven't been spending money on art. (If you're hiring, call me!) But a few days ago, I got a new piece of art, which you can see above, hanging in my grimy apartment. It is a work by <a href="https://jimnolaninfo.wixsite.com/close-up">Jim Nolan</a>, an old artist friend of mine. </p><p>I think I met him when he was giving a brief talk about his work in a Lawndale Big Show about 11 years ago. His work was distinguished then by it's somewhat rough-hewn, craft-less approach. I wish I had a recording of his talk, but I remember that he concluded with a statement like this: "If you keep working on a thing, does it get better?" I'm paraphrasing from memory. It seemed like a strong statement against craft. But nowadays, he is still creating artworks that veer into the conceptual, but he is also doing work as a potter. It seems that he has embraced craft.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-17thS32UP4A/YVIqDZujIRI/AAAAAAAAfGw/lS3_Rj8os2c8anGFi9QoGR4WanSy2g56ACNcBGAsYHQ/Liminal%2BStates%2BSilver%2B%25232.3.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1825" data-original-width="2048" height="571" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-17thS32UP4A/YVIqDZujIRI/AAAAAAAAfGw/lS3_Rj8os2c8anGFi9QoGR4WanSy2g56ACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h571/Liminal%2BStates%2BSilver%2B%25232.3.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jim Nolan, <i>Liminal States/Silver #2</i>, mixed media, 2019</span></div><p>I've <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/08/art-out-in-world-jim-nolans-shifting.html">written </a>about<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/02/jim-nolan-at-art-palace.html"> Nolan's work </a>several <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2010/11/its-better-to-regret-something-you-have.html">times</a> over the past few years. And I thought it would be fun to celebrate this new acquisition with a short post about this work.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qAcB1GE3SGI/YVIqpxPWu3I/AAAAAAAAfG4/JJRtyBPUI9g79NZOdXYGShuyIbSEuqciACNcBGAsYHQ/Liminal%2BStates%2BSilver%2B%25232.2.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1926" data-original-width="2048" height="602" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qAcB1GE3SGI/YVIqpxPWu3I/AAAAAAAAfG4/JJRtyBPUI9g79NZOdXYGShuyIbSEuqciACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h602/Liminal%2BStates%2BSilver%2B%25232.2.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jim Nolan, <i>Liminal States/Silver #2</i>, mixed media, 2019</span></div><p>The whole thing is a wooden construction, including the hand-built black frame. The gray square in the center is wood painted with silvery paint. The holes are neatly cut, and about an inch or two beneath the surface is a mirror.</p><p>What is it all about? I have no idea. But Jim has told me that all his art is in dialogue with the work of earlier artists. That feels a little masturbatory, but lets be realistic--except for "outsider artists", every artist is in some way in dialogue with the past. I don't mean to suggest that we have a Harold Bloomian anxiety of influence going on here, but why not?</p><p>I don't have an explanation that's better than that, but I'm sure if you buy him a beer, Nolan will tell you something...<br /><br /><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-81502599424365621032021-09-25T22:58:00.000-05:002021-09-25T22:58:20.597-05:00Robert Boyd's Book Report: 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> by Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m7aN6BhhLio" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p>Today I report on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780691208015"><i>1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed</i></a> by <a href="https://ehcline.com/">Eric H. Cline</a>, a professor of classics and anthropology at George Washington University. The subject here is an event early in human history known as the <a href="https://humanjourney.us/ideas-that-shaped-our-modern-world-section/the-bronze-age-collapse/">Bronze Age Collapse</a>, when all of the empires and kingdoms of the Eastern <span class="module__title__link">Mediterranean and Near East collapsed more-or-less simultaneously around 1200 B.C.. (Other bronze age civilizations include the early Chinese kingdoms and the Indus River Valley Civilization. China was not really affected by the Bronze Age Collapse and the Indus River Valley Civilization had collapsed earlier.)</span></p><p><span class="module__title__link">The old theory was that a group of sea-faring marauders (called the Sea People) destroyed all the big empires. This theory has taken a beating as archeological techniques have become more sophisticated (especially underwater archeology, seismic archeology, and the study of ancient pollen that indicates when periods of drought occurred) and also as new ancient cities keep being found. In fact, I suspect if there is a new edition of this book in 20 years, some conclusions will have been superceded by new discoveries.</span></p><p><span class="module__title__link">So much of what Cline writes seems possible to write about today. I expect climate change may produce new mega-droughts, new famine, and new migrations. And while it's happening, we might not even be aware that a new dark age is commencing. Cline points out that the Hittites, for example, were not aware that all of their fellow civilizations were collapsing while it was happening.</span></p><p><span class="module__title__link">I recommend the book--Cline is a lively writer and it's useful to have an index and a list of names of the historical figures. But Cline has also done <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRcu-ysocX4&t=3s">some good lectures online</a>.<br /></span></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-16580528446204293432021-09-20T13:28:00.003-05:002021-09-20T13:56:25.350-05:00The Houston Fall Art Season, part II<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p>In my first installment, I visited four exhibitions. In this one I shall discuss seven! This was Saturday, September 11--an auspicious anniversary. 20 years ago, 2977 people died of a terrorist attack. Now we get 1400 or so dying every day of a mostly preventable disease. And it is this disease that kept most of us collectively from going out to see art for a year and a half. But now that many of us are vaccinated and masked in public, we can venture some public art viewing. On September 11, I first went to the <a href="https://www.uhd.edu/academics/humanities/news-community/okane-gallery/Pages/2021-Faculty-Exhibition.aspx">UH Downtown faculty art exhibit</a>, at the<a href="https://www.uhd.edu/academics/humanities/news-community/okane-gallery/Pages/okane-gallery-index.aspx"> O'Kane Art Gallery</a> on campus. I've seen dozens of great exhibits here over the years, but it has a low profile amongst Houston art spaces.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BoElmKq1JTg/YUc24pyFkgI/AAAAAAAAfAY/yNDOuFO84F8r5QAa0ZyzAKJ5af0EQWUjwCNcBGAsYHQ/Floyd%2BNewsum%2BRow%2BHouses%2Bin%2BRed.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="2048" height="442" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BoElmKq1JTg/YUc24pyFkgI/AAAAAAAAfAY/yNDOuFO84F8r5QAa0ZyzAKJ5af0EQWUjwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h442/Floyd%2BNewsum%2BRow%2BHouses%2Bin%2BRed.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Floyd Newsum, <i>Row Houses in Red</i>, 2018, gouache on paper</span></div><p>It takes a second to see the row houses in <a href="http://www.floydnewsum.com/about">Floyd Newsum</a>'s gouache drawing, <i>Row Houses in Red</i>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I0aI_NsdYZI/YUc32MFbFUI/AAAAAAAAfAg/WF0pRpoV33I5a96dJFJK_giz0QoBRzCMQCNcBGAsYHQ/Patricia%2BHernandez%2BPink%2BEdge.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1604" data-original-width="2048" height="502" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I0aI_NsdYZI/YUc32MFbFUI/AAAAAAAAfAg/WF0pRpoV33I5a96dJFJK_giz0QoBRzCMQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h502/Patricia%2BHernandez%2BPink%2BEdge.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Patricia Hernandez, <i>Pink Edge</i>, 2021, acrylic and oil on clay board</span><br /><p></p><p> Patricia Hernandez got one of the worst <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/01/newsflash-thomas-kinkade-and-his-art.html">reviews </a>I ever wrote on this blog, back in 2011. But I love these paintings. Slashing and disturbing, with their toothy, partially open mouths.</p><p>Patricia Hernandez and I both studied art and art history at Rice, and she subsequently founded Studio One Archive Resource, devoted to preserving local art history, which is of great interest to me. Alas, Studio One Archive Resource is now defunct.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j4T9wiQ5OAQ/YUdJNJ9csUI/AAAAAAAAfBY/sWAO7PF46usS_HP7RWimkYcIH5efOZIsgCNcBGAsYHQ/Patricia%2BHernandez%2BUntitled%2B%25233.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j4T9wiQ5OAQ/YUdJNJ9csUI/AAAAAAAAfBY/sWAO7PF46usS_HP7RWimkYcIH5efOZIsgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Patricia%2BHernandez%2BUntitled%2B%25233.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Patricia Hernandez, <i>Untitled #3</i>, 2021, Acrylic and oil on clay board</span><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hgiNpJFZ_D0/YUdKI0CXmNI/AAAAAAAAfBk/0nEXMQvYCXkZfv_nQEasawYY8q9oWKNyACNcBGAsYHQ/Mark%2BCervenka%2BPast%2BGrievances%2BRecede%2BBefore%2BImmeasurable%2BDinstance.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1560" data-original-width="2048" height="488" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hgiNpJFZ_D0/YUdKI0CXmNI/AAAAAAAAfBk/0nEXMQvYCXkZfv_nQEasawYY8q9oWKNyACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h488/Mark%2BCervenka%2BPast%2BGrievances%2BRecede%2BBefore%2BImmeasurable%2BDinstance.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mark Cervenka, <i>Past Grievances Recede Before Immeasurable Distance</i>, 2020, oil on canvas</span></div><p>I don't really know <a href="https://www.uhd.edu/academics/humanities/undergraduate-programs/fine-arts/Pages/bios-cervenka.aspx">Mark Cervenka </a>or his art, but he is the director of the O'Kane Gallery at UHD. I liked this picture because of the silent watcher standing in the ruins of a recently destroyed city. It reminded me of images of Stalingrad, but, alas, there are so many destroyed cities that Cervenka could <br />have used as a model. (I wonder if he is related to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exene_Cervenka">Exene Cervenka</a>.) </p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lES0PUKDZjs/YUdMdK2Nr8I/AAAAAAAAfBw/Hkd1Zoa4xVM-VaXhIRf0deqTXdliX2v4ACNcBGAsYHQ/Mason%2BRankin%2BThe%2B%2BMint%2BOpen%2B2.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1731" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lES0PUKDZjs/YUdMdK2Nr8I/AAAAAAAAfBw/Hkd1Zoa4xVM-VaXhIRf0deqTXdliX2v4ACNcBGAsYHQ/w541-h640/Mason%2BRankin%2BThe%2B%2BMint%2BOpen%2B2.JPG" width="541" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mason Rankin, <i>The Mint Open</i>, 2021, found objects, automotive</span></div><p><a href="https://masonrankin.com/projects">Mason Rankin</a> is another artist about whom I know nothing, but looking at his work online, this crushed car is very atypical. His website shows him to be a photographer and teacher of photography. But let artists work outside their comfort zones!. I am curious--did he crush the car himself (like John Chamberlain might have done), or did he find it this way?</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ij01BuD17Rg/YUdOT0Gi_1I/AAAAAAAAfB8/YfhUVAeTFI0yzkzruYHfhV6LpbshAJvWQCNcBGAsYHQ/Beth%2BSecor%2BExoduster%252C%2BKansas%2B%2528sometime%2Bin%2Bthe%2B1870s%2529.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1818" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ij01BuD17Rg/YUdOT0Gi_1I/AAAAAAAAfB8/YfhUVAeTFI0yzkzruYHfhV6LpbshAJvWQCNcBGAsYHQ/w568-h640/Beth%2BSecor%2BExoduster%252C%2BKansas%2B%2528sometime%2Bin%2Bthe%2B1870s%2529.JPG" width="568" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Beth Secor,<i> Exoduster, Kansas, (sometime in the 1870s)</i>, 2008, embroidery on textile</span></div><p>Last of all, let's look at one of the pieces <a href="https://www.inmangallery.com/usr/library/documents/main/artists/57/bs_resume_2021_9.pdf">Beth Secor</a> exhibited in the show. It's an old piece from 2008, which struck me as a little odd. But one can see her new work now at<a href="https://www.inmangallery.com/exhibitions/33-beth-secor-the-solace-found-in-sentience/overview/"> a solo exhibit at Inman Gallery</a>. <br /><br />After UH Downtown, I went to a place that is in my neighborhood that I had never visited before (although I've walked by it many times). The<a href="https://houstonlibrary.org/gregory"> African American Library at the Gregory School </a>is part of the Houston Public Library System. What specifically interested me was a small exhibit they were having of artwork from the John L. Nau III Collection of Texas Art. One interesting thing they did here was to show self-taught artists alongside more academically trained artists. In other words, the insiders and the outsiders shared wall space for once. This seems especially necessary when showing the work of African-American artists since for so long, many of the greatest African-American artists were denied the training their white peers got. They weren't outsiders by choice.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N9cBxFHCls8/YUdu7zHmg2I/AAAAAAAAfCk/Ga3iO7Lp3TYju10KKZ9OPnjcVRTP4bE-ACNcBGAsYHQ/Kermit%2BOliver%2BSunday%2BMorning.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="2589" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N9cBxFHCls8/YUdu7zHmg2I/AAAAAAAAfCk/Ga3iO7Lp3TYju10KKZ9OPnjcVRTP4bE-ACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h300/Kermit%2BOliver%2BSunday%2BMorning.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kermit Oliver, <i>Sunday Morning</i>, n.d., acrylic on board</span><br /></div><p><i>Sunday Morning</i> is one of two beautiful <a href="http://www.hooksepsteingalleries.com/node/924">Kermit Oliver</a> paintings in the show. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Lt7plv8RhE0/YUd8FqKylcI/AAAAAAAAfCs/T0CNEZMewqYHaMWwFGore8cWOsE3j4tVgCNcBGAsYHQ/John%2BBigger%2BUpper%2BRoom.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1591" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Lt7plv8RhE0/YUd8FqKylcI/AAAAAAAAfCs/T0CNEZMewqYHaMWwFGore8cWOsE3j4tVgCNcBGAsYHQ/w496-h640/John%2BBigger%2BUpper%2BRoom.JPG" width="496" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">John Biggers, <i>Upper Room</i>, 1984, lithograph</span></div><p>And there are several choice<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Biggers"> John Biggers</a> pieces. A few more recent pieces are part of the collection, as well.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UjMeVNlZwvA/YUd81uarWPI/AAAAAAAAfC4/FssvNsRtOLAvJbc1sWnqT0Ih7bamaPwAwCNcBGAsYHQ/Bert%2BLong%2BChalice.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1671" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UjMeVNlZwvA/YUd81uarWPI/AAAAAAAAfC4/FssvNsRtOLAvJbc1sWnqT0Ih7bamaPwAwCNcBGAsYHQ/w523-h640/Bert%2BLong%2BChalice.JPG" width="523" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Bert Long, <i>Chalice</i>, 1975, lithograph</span></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UJlc36ghSVA/YUd9UBQRJZI/AAAAAAAAfDE/TZZEFKa2CB0NAQJQ1mBXhuie3H9JvUmLACNcBGAsYHQ/James%2BBettison%2BDomestic%2BBliss.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1729" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UJlc36ghSVA/YUd9UBQRJZI/AAAAAAAAfDE/TZZEFKa2CB0NAQJQ1mBXhuie3H9JvUmLACNcBGAsYHQ/w541-h640/James%2BBettison%2BDomestic%2BBliss.JPG" width="541" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">James Bettison,<i> Domestic Bliss</i>, 1988, lithograph<br /></span><p></p><p>But as I mentioned earlier, what makes this exhibit really special is the inclusion of so-called "outsider" artists as the equals of the trained artists.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MzLLBN1-_Vs/YUd-NxHLn0I/AAAAAAAAfDM/bF4S83licxcb_FefYG5pmmFInk5mXdp0wCNcBGAsYHQ/Rev.%2BJohnnie%2BSwearingen%252C%2BCotton%2BPicking.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1951" data-original-width="2048" height="610" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MzLLBN1-_Vs/YUd-NxHLn0I/AAAAAAAAfDM/bF4S83licxcb_FefYG5pmmFInk5mXdp0wCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h610/Rev.%2BJohnnie%2BSwearingen%252C%2BCotton%2BPicking.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p>Rev. Johnnie Swearingen,<i> Cotton Picking</i>, 1976, oil on masonite<br /></p><p>The <a href="http://www.webbartgallery.com/rev-johnnie-swearingen">Reverend Johnnie Swearingen</a> was born in Brehnam. Texas, in 1908 and became interested in painting around 1950. The way these things work is that after some time working totally outside the knowledge of the "art world", and artist like Swearingen gets discovered. These discovery stories are often quite fascinating, but what they suggest is that many Johnnie Swearingens of the world never got discovered and their work remains unknown.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e04vQdCFkRw/YUeCMQb6iII/AAAAAAAAfDc/13XCEqoZAJkhXwl5vumjx0tSMdrDC3EbwCNcBGAsYHQ/Frank%2BAlbert%2BJones%2BGrandps%2527s%2BDevil%2BHouse.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2001" data-original-width="2048" height="624" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e04vQdCFkRw/YUeCMQb6iII/AAAAAAAAfDc/13XCEqoZAJkhXwl5vumjx0tSMdrDC3EbwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h624/Frank%2BAlbert%2BJones%2BGrandps%2527s%2BDevil%2BHouse.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Frank Albert Jones, <i>Grandpa's Devil House</i>, 1952, colored pencil on paper</span></p><p><a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artist/frank-jones-2495">Frank Albert Jones </a>was a prisoner in the Texas State Prison system. He saw ghost, devils and "haints" that he drew as confined in devil houses. I wonder if that reflected the circumstance he found himself in, where criminals were confined in their cells. Here is a detail from the drawing above:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--Uc4ZZpoihg/YUeBuNPYTYI/AAAAAAAAfDU/oYveCpvJErIBJeUM_yszkxYTRweQyVbiQCNcBGAsYHQ/Frank%2BAlbert%2BJones%2BGrandps%2527s%2BDevil%2BHouse%2Bdetail.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--Uc4ZZpoihg/YUeBuNPYTYI/AAAAAAAAfDU/oYveCpvJErIBJeUM_yszkxYTRweQyVbiQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Frank%2BAlbert%2BJones%2BGrandps%2527s%2BDevil%2BHouse%2Bdetail.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Frank Albert Jones, <i>Grandpa's Devil House </i>detail, 1952, colored pencil on paper</span><br /><p></p><p></p><p>Next I went over to the galleries on Colquitt, which seem to be slowly disappearing. Soon the beautiful <a href="https://arquitectonica.com/architecture/">Achitectonica </a>building that has long housed art galleries will be the home of nothing but fancy marble floor-covering stores (which would be a case of replacing one type of high-end bourgeois retail establish with another, I guess.) First I went to <a href="https://heidivaughanfineart.com/">Heidi Vaughan Fine Art</a> for a solo show by <a href="https://www.patrickmcgrath-art.com/">Patrick McGrath Muniz</a>. No one can deny his skill as a painter, but I was unmoved by them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GtzTdHEuNa0/YUdTEmUaRSI/AAAAAAAAfCE/vvazFmQ-ErE0BSIB7e-s6RNY-XGJ-q0JQCNcBGAsYHQ/Patrick%2BMcGrath%2BMuniz%2BDiasporamus.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1436" data-original-width="2048" height="448" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GtzTdHEuNa0/YUdTEmUaRSI/AAAAAAAAfCE/vvazFmQ-ErE0BSIB7e-s6RNY-XGJ-q0JQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h448/Patrick%2BMcGrath%2BMuniz%2BDiasporamus.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Patrick McGrath Muniz, <i>Diasporamus</i>, 2018, oil on canvas</span></div><p><i>Diasporamus</i>, painted soon after Hurricane Harvey, may stir a few terrifying memories for Houstonians. </p><p>Across the alleyway from Heidi Vaughn Fine Art is <a href="https://www.graycontemporary.com/">Gray Contemporary</a>, which was showing two exhibits; a solo exhibit by <a href="https://www.matthewwoodwardart.com/">Matthew Woodward</a> and a small group exhibit in the back gallery. Matthew Woodward's work was some of my favorite that I saw this weekend.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WPCMHZ4Bk4w/YUdVQCBalII/AAAAAAAAfCM/KIaHaE5WUSAafpo1Y5qwGvqTE7Y4g6oLgCNcBGAsYHQ/Matthew%2BWoodward%2BEdgecomb%2BBlvd.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1852" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WPCMHZ4Bk4w/YUdVQCBalII/AAAAAAAAfCM/KIaHaE5WUSAafpo1Y5qwGvqTE7Y4g6oLgCNcBGAsYHQ/w579-h640/Matthew%2BWoodward%2BEdgecomb%2BBlvd.JPG" width="579" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matthew Woodward, <i>Edgecomb Boulevard</i>, 2018, pencil, paint on paper</span></div><p>His work has a kind of simple idea. Find some attractive, old-fashioned architectural detail and draw it very large on paper. But because he'd drawing it white on slashing black-painted underpainting, on rough brown paper that is often torn, it makes the idea of a ruin stand out. As artworks, they remind me a little of English "Follies", gardens from the 17th and 18th century that were designed to look like ruins. I can't say exactly what I liked so much about these, but I was moved by them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6ajMHn49iAE/YUdXCQqk23I/AAAAAAAAfCU/_IY56gY7-OEGfr-RksLpMUYb9rC039AyQCNcBGAsYHQ/Jen%2BRose.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="2048" height="470" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6ajMHn49iAE/YUdXCQqk23I/AAAAAAAAfCU/_IY56gY7-OEGfr-RksLpMUYb9rC039AyQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h470/Jen%2BRose.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Jen Rose, <i>Tiny Monster Under Your Bed,</i> 2021, porcelain and nylon cord</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OzkMa1QhW5Q/YUdXffBoCcI/AAAAAAAAfCc/ijQvrtqESioxQdta4Qksq0Nly5-EZ-tEwCNcBGAsYHQ/Monique%2BLacey%2B1.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1705" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OzkMa1QhW5Q/YUdXffBoCcI/AAAAAAAAfCc/ijQvrtqESioxQdta4Qksq0Nly5-EZ-tEwCNcBGAsYHQ/w533-h640/Monique%2BLacey%2B1.JPG" width="533" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Monique Lacey, <i>Hyperbole Unus</i>, 2021, bronze</span></div><p>The back gallery at Gray was filled with tiny sculptures, each one a only a few inches in any dimension. It was a nice little collection. </p><p>A quick stroll down the street and I was at Moody Gallery, where one of their best known artists James Drake was exhibiting a huge drawing (along with a lot of preparatory drawings). <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ra3wRWZpTI4/YUeMHpama1I/AAAAAAAAfDk/BU9fgx3-1mApcpHz1K2DfHc5tltW3oKVgCNcBGAsYHQ/James%2BDrake%2BCan%2BWe%2BKnow.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="930" height="329" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ra3wRWZpTI4/YUeMHpama1I/AAAAAAAAfDk/BU9fgx3-1mApcpHz1K2DfHc5tltW3oKVgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h329/James%2BDrake%2BCan%2BWe%2BKnow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />James Drake, <i>Can We Know the Sound of Forgiveness</i>, 2021, charcoal on paper mounted on canvas</p><p>I've greatly enjoyed James Drake's artwork for years, but this one doesn't really move me.</p><p>In the back room, they had a small group show up. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WC9uUYS34BI/YUhlVeuaPqI/AAAAAAAAfD0/8a4XlbDbQ_AyaeBDr2491bdDyYufJbj7wCNcBGAsYHQ/Terry%2BAllen.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1893" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WC9uUYS34BI/YUhlVeuaPqI/AAAAAAAAfD0/8a4XlbDbQ_AyaeBDr2491bdDyYufJbj7wCNcBGAsYHQ/w592-h640/Terry%2BAllen.JPG" width="592" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Terry Allen, <i>Rage</i>, 1995, etching, aquatint, collage</span><br /><p></p><span class="child"></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x6sJh9h4tYQ/YUhlCVYNR2I/AAAAAAAAfDs/mhiRm5xB4UMInIsT3w7ehBJJMYbmkHSgwCNcBGAsYHQ/Melissa%2BMiller.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1838" data-original-width="2048" height="575" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x6sJh9h4tYQ/YUhlCVYNR2I/AAAAAAAAfDs/mhiRm5xB4UMInIsT3w7ehBJJMYbmkHSgwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h575/Melissa%2BMiller.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Melissa Miller, Forest Fire, 2019, oil on canvas</i></span><p></p><p>I couldn't photograph either of these pictures head on because gallerist Betty Moody was in the middle of the room on a ladder adjusting the track lighting.</p><p>I next went to Hooks-Epstein Gallery. One of the biggest changes of the COVID times was the death of Geri Hooks. She cofounded the gallery in 1969, making it one of the longest lived galleries in Houston. (Texas Gallery and Moody Gallery are both up there in longevity, but I don't know which of the three is the oldest)> Hooks died in June, and I have been wondering what the future holds for the gallery. I don't know who owns it now. But it is still in business. </p><p>The currently have a small group show up. A bunch of old favorites of mine have their work on display. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YPYJjaV-QKk/YUhuLFKgWCI/AAAAAAAAfD8/8KaSNq9fliU6yZPy7iJvnCN1wHmGQsmjACNcBGAsYHQ/Mark%2BGreenwalt.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1598" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YPYJjaV-QKk/YUhuLFKgWCI/AAAAAAAAfD8/8KaSNq9fliU6yZPy7iJvnCN1wHmGQsmjACNcBGAsYHQ/w499-h640/Mark%2BGreenwalt.JPG" width="499" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mark Greenwalt, <i>I Spot Eye Spot</i>, 2021, graphite, acrylic on panel</span></div><p>Mark Greenwalt was the subject<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2009/08/super-deformed-medieval-dudes.html"> of a post in the first year</a> of <i>The Great God Pan Is Dead,</i> just over 12 years ago. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w16st5YW_ok/YUh51d2fFLI/AAAAAAAAfEE/c04FKrZ1cuYacGMcbIHvet4UPQRAVYCnQCNcBGAsYHQ/Mayuko%2BOno%2BGray.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1573" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w16st5YW_ok/YUh51d2fFLI/AAAAAAAAfEE/c04FKrZ1cuYacGMcbIHvet4UPQRAVYCnQCNcBGAsYHQ/w491-h640/Mayuko%2BOno%2BGray.JPG" width="491" /></a></div><p><br />Mayuko Ono Gray, Pulsating Still Life--Composition in Green, 2021, graphite on paper</p><p>I appreciate the irony of naming a graphite drawing "Composition in Green." It was also intersting to see a <a href="https://www.mayukoonogray.com/">Mayuko Ono Gray</a> piece without Japanese characters woven into the composition. Here she goes for a Dutch still-life with bubbles added.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4rKkBVw-Su0/YUiFHELcD9I/AAAAAAAAfEM/ddZJf0xKJC8Igpz_tNX6pN9VDh2rlRqJwCNcBGAsYHQ/Clara%2BHoag.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="3037" data-original-width="1035" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4rKkBVw-Su0/YUiFHELcD9I/AAAAAAAAfEM/ddZJf0xKJC8Igpz_tNX6pN9VDh2rlRqJwCNcBGAsYHQ/w218-h640/Clara%2BHoag.JPG" width="218" /></a></div><p>Clara Hoag, <i>Sailor</i>, 2021, ceramic<br /><br />Clara Hoag was in the gallery that day. I asked her about the black coloring on the feet, whether it was a glaze applied before firing or paint applied afterwards. The answer was neither. The piece was apparently fired more than once and the pigment around the toes was applied between firings. (All of which is to say that I am ignorant of the techniques of ceramics.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZurY1Z_rrds/YUitsV_yLjI/AAAAAAAAfEU/1JMkAg4booQoQwPBdoqLLjucSaGnic1BQCNcBGAsYHQ/Ann%2BJohnson%2BBuck.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1464" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZurY1Z_rrds/YUitsV_yLjI/AAAAAAAAfEU/1JMkAg4booQoQwPBdoqLLjucSaGnic1BQCNcBGAsYHQ/w459-h640/Ann%2BJohnson%2BBuck.JPG" width="459" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ann Johnson, <i>Buck</i>, 2021, transfer print, embossing, found objects</span></div><p>I've always loved Ann Johnson's practice of printing photographic images on surfaces that normall aren't used to print photographs.</p><p>From there, I went over to McClain Gallery where Shane Tolbert was having an opening. I haven't seen Tolbert in years, because he moved away. He currently lives in New Mexico. But he was in Houston for his opening.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M2n6h_XykAY/YUi85hQcuTI/AAAAAAAAfEc/_H16_A8qzQkIp0WpLpN5rCDiBslZ_HevACNcBGAsYHQ/Shane%2BTolbert%2Bwith%2BBlood%2BHarmony.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="2048" height="454" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M2n6h_XykAY/YUi85hQcuTI/AAAAAAAAfEc/_H16_A8qzQkIp0WpLpN5rCDiBslZ_HevACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h454/Shane%2BTolbert%2Bwith%2BBlood%2BHarmony.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Shane Tolbert discussing his work, standing in front of <i>Blood Harmony</i>, 2021, acrylic on canvas</span></div><p>My memory of Tolbert's work when he was still in Houston was that is was much more pale than the work on display at McClain. This show was full of bold, brightly colored work.</p><p></p><div class="separator"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jtdstCafe7g/YUi9w_PCpRI/AAAAAAAAfEk/hHOr-BlHvvYYKgFKxsPxzoVCP9EcTtf4gCNcBGAsYHQ/Shane%2BTolbert%2BRope%2BThrower.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1554" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jtdstCafe7g/YUi9w_PCpRI/AAAAAAAAfEk/hHOr-BlHvvYYKgFKxsPxzoVCP9EcTtf4gCNcBGAsYHQ/w485-h640/Shane%2BTolbert%2BRope%2BThrower.JPG" width="485" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Shane Tolbert, <i>Rope Thrower</i>, 2021, acrylic on canvas</span><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KbRWFqs1FwY/YUi-NrtxIiI/AAAAAAAAfEs/BJT-XSmGvKEx-imJrn2x7DKKAZRK7o3cACNcBGAsYHQ/Shane%2BTolbert%2BElectric%2BNetting.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1730" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KbRWFqs1FwY/YUi-NrtxIiI/AAAAAAAAfEs/BJT-XSmGvKEx-imJrn2x7DKKAZRK7o3cACNcBGAsYHQ/w541-h640/Shane%2BTolbert%2BElectric%2BNetting.JPG" width="541" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Shane Tolbert, <i>Electric Netting</i>, 2021, acrylic on canvas</span><br /></div><p>It was great to talk to Tolbert, and I was happy to see, for the second time that weekend, Tudor Mitroi.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--NMhMWfbwnc/YUi-wK7W7QI/AAAAAAAAfE0/wRHq71w9ZaMFgx5EIio0tr0E0NYV4n63wCNcBGAsYHQ/Shane%2BTolbert%2Band%2BTudor%2BMitroi.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--NMhMWfbwnc/YUi-wK7W7QI/AAAAAAAAfE0/wRHq71w9ZaMFgx5EIio0tr0E0NYV4n63wCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Shane%2BTolbert%2Band%2BTudor%2BMitroi.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tudor Mitroi (left) and Shane Tolbert (right)</span></div><p>My last stop of the day was the concrete cube at 4411 Montrose, which houses several galleries. Two of the galleries there have been there as long as I have been writing about at in Houston. One location, David Shelton, has been there for a few years, and the other two locations are like cursed restaurant locations. No gallery seems to last long in them. One of these is currently vacant, the other is the location of Foto Relevance. Foto Relevance is a bizarre name for a gallery--the word "relevance" seems particularly out-of-place, all the moreso for the surreal exhibition on display now. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wgMZYs9_jTg/YUjAqCVRr6I/AAAAAAAAfE8/vhk-8flNFLISxaI1SsgCrALMrVIGFfkPACNcBGAsYHQ/Pelle%2BCass%2BVolleyball%2Bat%2BNorthwestern%2BUniversity.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1422" data-original-width="2048" height="444" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wgMZYs9_jTg/YUjAqCVRr6I/AAAAAAAAfE8/vhk-8flNFLISxaI1SsgCrALMrVIGFfkPACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h444/Pelle%2BCass%2BVolleyball%2Bat%2BNorthwestern%2BUniversity.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pelle Cass, <i>Volleyball at Northwestern University, Close</i>, 2018, inkjet print on heavy matte rag paper</span><br /><br /><p></p><p>Pelle Cass sets up his camera over a playing field of one kind or another, takes 100s of fotos, then layers the figures and balls over one another using Photoshop. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MJkxWBLZmq4/YUjBb7XjO4I/AAAAAAAAfFE/Xh5FuaMEcskWZ5IfJo0s0C78hfC8og2rQCNcBGAsYHQ/Pelle%2BCass%2BDartmouth%2BSoftball.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MJkxWBLZmq4/YUjBb7XjO4I/AAAAAAAAfFE/Xh5FuaMEcskWZ5IfJo0s0C78hfC8og2rQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Pelle%2BCass%2BDartmouth%2BSoftball.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pelle Cass,<i> Dartmouth Softball</i>, 2019, inkjet print on heavy matte rag paper</span><br /><p></p><p>Next was Anna Mavromatis at Barbara Davis Gallery. I don't know Mavromatis, even though she is based in Houston, as far as I can determine. For this show, she made monoprints of dresses or even made dresses themselves that were hung from the ceiling.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bbITXXNf2Ko/YUjEP_48AvI/AAAAAAAAfFM/Ds96Myn_nWkOGKIUTZH7o74uekNkseZaQCNcBGAsYHQ/ANNA%2BMAVROMATIS%2BDaybreak.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bbITXXNf2Ko/YUjEP_48AvI/AAAAAAAAfFM/Ds96Myn_nWkOGKIUTZH7o74uekNkseZaQCNcBGAsYHQ/w427-h640/ANNA%2BMAVROMATIS%2BDaybreak.JPG" width="427" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Anna Mavromatis, Daybreak, 2021, old dictionary pages folded and stitched to form the bodice of a young girl's dress, cyanotypes on coffee filters</p><p>The blue and grey come from the means of making this object. The images have to do with the early 20th century struggle to gain the right to vote for women.</p><p>Benjamin Edmiston had a solo exhibit at David Shelton Gallery. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DeqQUIYPK6E/YUjFfbtDuKI/AAAAAAAAfFU/HNlcG9veVvEyU6CZWdqVU6ZuMaPge2yigCNcBGAsYHQ/Benjamin%2BEdmiston%2BSundown.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1730" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DeqQUIYPK6E/YUjFfbtDuKI/AAAAAAAAfFU/HNlcG9veVvEyU6CZWdqVU6ZuMaPge2yigCNcBGAsYHQ/w541-h640/Benjamin%2BEdmiston%2BSundown.JPG" width="541" /></a></div><p><br />Benjamin Edmiston, Sundown, 2021, oil, flashe and wax on linen</p><p>What I liked about Benjamin Edmiston's paintings of crooked groups of parallel lines was the way they reminded me of badly stacked books--because that is the environment I live in. These would be good paintings for book-lovers. The paintings are completely abstract, but we humans like to find patterns in randomness. It's why we see images when we look at clouds.</p><p>The last gallery I'll mention is Anya Tish, and the show she had was perhaps my favorite of the weekend. It was an exhibit of new pieces by Gabriel Martinez.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xeWbkoEncHc/YUjI7G3d5bI/AAAAAAAAfFc/Vnhcoe7IP9giGx8QcezEEUcfU-jlKuFwgCNcBGAsYHQ/Gabriel%2BMartinez%2BUntitled%2B1.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1851" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xeWbkoEncHc/YUjI7G3d5bI/AAAAAAAAfFc/Vnhcoe7IP9giGx8QcezEEUcfU-jlKuFwgCNcBGAsYHQ/w579-h640/Gabriel%2BMartinez%2BUntitled%2B1.JPG" width="579" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Gabriel Martinez, Untitled, 2019, found fabric</p><p>As you can see, this is a piece made of fabric scraps assembled and quilted. I have to confess that I own one of Martinez's quilted fabric pieces--the most recent piece of art that I've acquired. Back in January, he sent out an email that he was raffling off a piece of art to raise money for the Houston Food Bank. I decided to take a chance and bought my $50 raffle ticket. And I won! It's a small piece, hanging on my wall right now. And it was nice to see the body of work that this small piece was a part of.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D6PgocUXpE0/YUjKdu_2QII/AAAAAAAAfFk/r00-hkgwDXQiatdP7p8CP7KYAy7frtXBwCNcBGAsYHQ/Gabriel%2BMartinez%2BChannel%2B2.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D6PgocUXpE0/YUjKdu_2QII/AAAAAAAAfFk/r00-hkgwDXQiatdP7p8CP7KYAy7frtXBwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Gabriel%2BMartinez%2BChannel%2B2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />Gabriel Martinez, <i>Channel</i>, 2021, found fabric</p><p>This was the second rug-like piece I saw that weekend (the other being <i>Snake </i>by Matt Messinger). If I had either one of them, I would never walk on them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--tBpUzAHfh8/YUjLQ2XQmaI/AAAAAAAAfFw/LCqJku-IUx4VqAAJQ_kxAPfAK4ISnnRdACNcBGAsYHQ/Gabriel%2BMartinez%2Buntitled%2B7.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1594" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--tBpUzAHfh8/YUjLQ2XQmaI/AAAAAAAAfFw/LCqJku-IUx4VqAAJQ_kxAPfAK4ISnnRdACNcBGAsYHQ/w499-h640/Gabriel%2BMartinez%2Buntitled%2B7.JPG" width="499" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Gabriel Martinez, <i>Untitled</i>, 2019, found fabric</span></p><p>Martinez was at the opening and we were able to have a good discussion about this body of work. When they are described at "found fabric", that is a literal description of Martinez' process. All the pieces of cloth he used were from pieces of clothing he found discarded on the street. It's weird, but if you walk around inside the city, you are almost certain to find a variety of discarded clothes. And every piece has a story that you will never know. Martinez would pick them up, bring them home, and launder them. Then he cuts them up into scraps and produces these quilts.</p><p>We talked at first about assemblage art: Robert Rauschenberg, Wallace Berman, and George Herms. Martinez had been at a residency with Herms and the two bonded. Herms is 86 years old now, and his assemblage work was produced using detritus. So Martinez is a contemporary exemplar of assemblage. But Martinez made a point to emphasize the quilting part of the work. He told me that there is a tradition of quilting in his family. Martinez is not just continuing a hundred year old artistic tradition, he is also continuing a family craft tradition. </p><p>I found these works beautiful and moving. I like them because of how they look, but also because they have a good story.</p><p>That was my Fall 2021 art season weekend.<br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-12796402389186955632021-09-18T13:13:00.002-05:002021-09-18T13:13:17.050-05:00Book Report: I Shock Myself by Beatrice Wood<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UfGjVkykI6Q" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p>Today I report on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780764355950"><i>I Shock Myself,</i></a> a memoir by American ceramicist <a href="https://beatricewood.com/biography.html">Beatrice Wood</a>. I'm primarily interested in her for her early friendship with Marcel Duchamp and other early dadaists who made their way to New York during the World War I.<br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-85892414483163838612021-09-18T12:17:00.008-05:002021-09-18T21:00:20.380-05:00The Houston Fall Art Season, part 1<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">The world of art galleries is divided into seasons. I don’t say “the art world” because I consider the gallery world to be a small subset of the art world. But traditionally, we have a fall season that starts just after Labor Day and a spring season that starts just after New Year. Summer is traditionally a dead season. (The bookselling world is divided the same way, as are school years.) I think this comes out of the New York City art gallery world, although I may be wrong. The idea was that everyone was on vacation during the summer, so it made no sense to open your big shows after Labor Day. Why this should be as true in Houston as it is in New York, I don’t know. But for a long time, we got “fall collections” of warm clothes utterly inappropriate for the volcanic heat of Houston—we take our cues from New York, whether it makes sense to do so or not.</p><p>I started my personal fall art season by visiting <a href="https://foltzgallery.com/">Foltz Fine Art</a>, the<a href="https://www.menil.org/"> Menil Museum</a>,<a href="https://www.artleaguehouston.org/"> the Art League</a>, and <a href="https://glasstire.com/venues/arc-house/">ARC House</a> on Friday. Let’s go through them one by one. There will be a lot of photos in this post and not much criticism. First, let’s look at the large group show at Foltz, The Show is called <i>Texas Emerging: Volume II</i> and featured a lot of work by six artists: <a href="http://erikaalonso.art/portfolio/">Erika Alonso</a>, <a href="https://dconnersculpture.com/">Dylan Conner</a>, <a href="https://www.foltzgallery.com/artist/laura-garwood">Laura Garwood</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/peterhealypaintings/">Peter Healy,</a> <a href="http://artsandculturetx.com/texas-studio-matt-messinger/">Matt Messinger</a>, and <a href="https://meribethprivett.com/">Meribeth Privett</a>. Of these six artists, I was only really familiar with Conner and Messinger, both of whom I have pieces by in my personal collection.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-970-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F67a5b997-90f1-4f00-b673-c0e5919a352a_4363x2908.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/67a5b997-90f1-4f00-b673-c0e5919a352a_4363x2908.jpeg","height":970,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2389633,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="426" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F67a5b997-90f1-4f00-b673-c0e5919a352a_4363x2908.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-970-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.62087912087912%;
padding-bottom: min(66.62087912087912%, 970px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-970-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 970px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Foltz Fine Art interior</span></figure></div><p>Connor’s work is sculptural, made with salvaged metal and creamy white polymer gypsum. The salvaged metal often has a patina or layer of rust.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F27d2199e-40fd-4d32-9403-9d870a909b32_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/27d2199e-40fd-4d32-9403-9d870a909b32_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3221731,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F27d2199e-40fd-4d32-9403-9d870a909b32_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Dylan Conner, <i>Succulents</i>, 2021, Steel pipe with natural patina, salvaged medical oxygen tanks, and polymer gypsum</span></figure></div><p>I know from experience that the works are quite heavy, but what I like about them is their elegance and almost biological.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0836ade2-5f38-4c6e-98f3-cb198def2361_4267x2845.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0836ade2-5f38-4c6e-98f3-cb198def2361_4267x2845.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1780372,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0836ade2-5f38-4c6e-98f3-cb198def2361_4267x2845.jpeg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Dylan Conner, <i>Wasteland Coral</i>, 2019, steel from pipe with natural patina, polymer gypsum, reclaimed foundry equipment with refractory residue, partially charred hardwood timbers from pallet, and steel hardware</span></figure></div><p>These pieces are like pieces of random metal with abstract polyps growing out of them. And I was astonished to see them in Foltz Fine Art, since I have always thought of it as a gallery that specializes in midcentury Texas artists (like<a href="https://foltzgallery.com/show/reaves-foltz-fine-art-new-richard-stout-12019"> Richard Stout</a> and Stella Sullivan, whose<a href="https://glasstire.com/2018/10/21/stella-sullivan-and-the-art-of-seeing/"> retrospective show I reviewed in </a><i><a href="https://glasstire.com/2018/10/21/stella-sullivan-and-the-art-of-seeing/">Glasstire</a></i> in 2018) and landscape art. But looking at their recent exhibits, I see that more and more of the shows have featured contemporary artists. I hope that they don’t lose their focus on early Texas modernists because they are the only commercial gallery that makes an effort to remember our regional art history. But I approve of them showing younger artists.</p><p>I missed <i><a href="https://foltzgallery.com/show/foltz-fine-art-emerging-texas-vol-1">Texas Emerging: Volume I,</a></i> which going by what is on the Foltz website must have been fantastic and perhaps even more daring than this iteration of the show. Most of the artists this time around are painters (Conner being the major exception, though several of the artists have at least some three-dimensional works). I have nothing against painters, of course, and I don’t expect Foltz to start showing installation art or video art anytime soon.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1454-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49dd471d-5166-4151-83d9-c7c741a551b3_2774x2770.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/49dd471d-5166-4151-83d9-c7c741a551b3_2774x2770.jpeg","height":1454,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1418967,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="639" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F49dd471d-5166-4151-83d9-c7c741a551b3_2774x2770.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1454-1456 {
padding-bottom: 99.86263736263736%;
padding-bottom: min(99.86263736263736%, 1454px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1454-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1454px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Meribeth Privett, <i>The Journey</i>, 2021, acrylic on canvas</span></figure></div><p>One of the artists I had never heard of was Meribeth Privett, who does these large, gestural abstractions. I’m always a little surprised when I see an artist in 2021 doing abstract expressionist painting, a style that reached its zenith 60 odd years ago. But while we are mostly well and truly over post-modernism, one thing that it gifted us was to tell is that the entire history of art was ours for the plundering. If what you want to express is best expressed with a more-or-less defunct art style, go for it!</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1490-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1123d1ea-c9a1-45e8-8280-868631410112_2678x2741.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1123d1ea-c9a1-45e8-8280-868631410112_2678x2741.jpeg","height":1490,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1137394,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1123d1ea-c9a1-45e8-8280-868631410112_2678x2741.jpeg" width="625" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1490-1456 {
padding-bottom: 102.33516483516483%;
padding-bottom: min(102.33516483516483%, 1490px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1490-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1490px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Meribeth Privett, <i>To the Heart of the Matter</i>, 2021, acrylic on canvas</span></figure></div><p>I know nothing about Privett, so I went to her website. In addition to painting, she offers up her services as a “<a href="https://meribethprivett.com/pages/creative-coaching">creativity coach</a>”. OK, I’m not exactly sure what that is. Which probably means I could use some creativity coaching.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1370-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb3f3b291-e409-49e3-8285-00b2b7d62c2b_2963x2788.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b3f3b291-e409-49e3-8285-00b2b7d62c2b_2963x2788.jpeg","height":1370,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":802267,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="602" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb3f3b291-e409-49e3-8285-00b2b7d62c2b_2963x2788.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1370-1456 {
padding-bottom: 94.0934065934066%;
padding-bottom: min(94.0934065934066%, 1370px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1370-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1370px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Laura Garwood, left<i>: Untitled (burgundy, red yellow, white)</i>, 2019, right: <i>Untitled (Dark purple, Yellow, Pink Stripes)</i>, 2018, both are oil and acrylic on canvas</span></figure></div><p><a href="https://www.moma.org/artists/4285">Barnett Newman </a>called and wants his sublimity back. Laura Garwood is another artist I’ve never heard of. I used to have at least an inkling of pretty much every artist in Houston, but as time (and isolation) goes on, I know fewer and fewer of them. One great thing about going to all these openings was that I got a chance to reconnect with a bunch of them.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1705-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0ede0ce-c550-448d-a9c4-87b629f70fac_2611x3058.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a0ede0ce-c550-448d-a9c4-87b629f70fac_2611x3058.jpeg","height":1705,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1469937,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0ede0ce-c550-448d-a9c4-87b629f70fac_2611x3058.jpeg" width="547" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1705-1456 {
padding-bottom: 117.10164835164835%;
padding-bottom: min(117.10164835164835%, 1705px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1705-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1705px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healy, <i>Assemblage #1</i>, 2020, found wood, oil paint, resin</span></figure></div><p>Peter Healy is another artist I don’t know personally, but I think I’ve seen his work around. As far as I can tell from various crumbs online that I’ve found, he is based in Houston but is from Northern Ireland. All of his pieces in this show were fun and attractive. <i>Assemblage #1</i> is made of “found wood”, but despite that, it looks quite slick and polished compared to other assemblage artists (I’m thinking of Wallace Berman, George Herms or, here in Houston, <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/search/label/Patrick%20Renner">Patrick Renner</a>). I prefer my assemblage to feel a little more rough-hewn, a little more “street”, but Healy’s assemblages are attractive.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9fccdcaf-7d98-4963-883b-759d8cee2e89_3308x2206.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9fccdcaf-7d98-4963-883b-759d8cee2e89_3308x2206.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":943617,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9fccdcaf-7d98-4963-883b-759d8cee2e89_3308x2206.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healy, <i>Clouds</i>, 2021, spray paint on wood</span></figure></div><p>Healy is also a painter, producing jaunty abstractions.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1167-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9219e4d-ad2a-47b1-b30f-9b2123f01d82_3255x2609.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c9219e4d-ad2a-47b1-b30f-9b2123f01d82_3255x2609.jpeg","height":1167,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1332526,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="513" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9219e4d-ad2a-47b1-b30f-9b2123f01d82_3255x2609.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1167-1456 {
padding-bottom: 80.1510989010989%;
padding-bottom: min(80.1510989010989%, 1167px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1167-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1167px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healey, <i>Untitled</i>, 2021, oil and spray paint on wood panel</span></figure></div><p>These have the feel of midcentury illustration in a way.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2091-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd039512b-1649-404a-a57a-f122fa5549ba_2219x3187.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d039512b-1649-404a-a57a-f122fa5549ba_2219x3187.jpeg","height":2091,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1006643,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd039512b-1649-404a-a57a-f122fa5549ba_2219x3187.jpeg" width="446" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2091-1456 {
padding-bottom: 143.61263736263737%;
padding-bottom: min(143.61263736263737%, 2091px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2091-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2091px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healy, <i>The Watcher</i>, 2020, acrylic on canvas</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1440-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37d1d9fe-e57b-4e0d-9159-fe522d3236f4_2571x2542.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/37d1d9fe-e57b-4e0d-9159-fe522d3236f4_2571x2542.jpeg","height":1440,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":834951,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="633" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37d1d9fe-e57b-4e0d-9159-fe522d3236f4_2571x2542.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1440-1456 {
padding-bottom: 98.9010989010989%;
padding-bottom: min(98.9010989010989%, 1440px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1440-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1440px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healy, Community #2, 2021, acrylic on canvas</span></figure></div><p><i>Community #2</i> is like a model sheet for little abstract figures for an animation.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F50a8f6e5-f2cc-4e71-8f4e-25aa898fd8ae_4608x3072.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/50a8f6e5-f2cc-4e71-8f4e-25aa898fd8ae_4608x3072.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3303447,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F50a8f6e5-f2cc-4e71-8f4e-25aa898fd8ae_4608x3072.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healy, <i>Community #2</i> detail</span></figure></div><p>Having seen the model sheet, I want to see the story that they star in.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2581-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a4dd6e1-db70-40df-b3c3-22dfcfef8154_2172x3850.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1a4dd6e1-db70-40df-b3c3-22dfcfef8154_2172x3850.jpeg","height":2581,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1569561,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a4dd6e1-db70-40df-b3c3-22dfcfef8154_2172x3850.jpeg" width="361" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2581-1456 {
padding-bottom: 177.2664835164835%;
padding-bottom: min(177.2664835164835%, 2581px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2581-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2581px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peter Healy, <i>Untitled</i>, 2019, found wood and gold leaf</span></figure></div><p>This piece made with found wood has that rough hewn quality that I like.</p><p>Matt Messinger is an artist I know personally. From where I sit, I can look at a painting/collage that he made. I remember first seeing his work at the 2011 Big Show at Lawndale. He has been around in the Houston art scene but has never gotten the recognition that I think he deserves. For this exhibit, Foltz Fine Art gave him his own room within the gallery.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1041-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37019898-18df-41f5-ad4e-e05d4022846a_3482x2489.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/37019898-18df-41f5-ad4e-e05d4022846a_3482x2489.jpeg","height":1041,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1315628,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="458" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37019898-18df-41f5-ad4e-e05d4022846a_3482x2489.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1041-1456 {
padding-bottom: 71.49725274725274%;
padding-bottom: min(71.49725274725274%, 1041px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1041-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1041px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A wall full of Matt Messinger pieces</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fab36cbeb-d207-4710-be2b-22a4e8b82ccc_4185x2791.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ab36cbeb-d207-4710-be2b-22a4e8b82ccc_4185x2791.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2258853,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fab36cbeb-d207-4710-be2b-22a4e8b82ccc_4185x2791.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A table full of small Matt Messinger pieces</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2790-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd75e97d3-8078-4271-aca9-72fdffe436ec_2405x4608.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d75e97d3-8078-4271-aca9-72fdffe436ec_2405x4608.jpeg","height":2790,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2206604,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd75e97d3-8078-4271-aca9-72fdffe436ec_2405x4608.jpeg" width="334" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2790-1456 {
padding-bottom: 191.62087912087912%;
padding-bottom: min(191.62087912087912%, 2790px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2790-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2790px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Serpent Rug</i>, 2020, oil house paint and resin on found textile</span></figure></div><p>Messnger uses all the space in this little room to show his art. Imagine having the <i>Serpent Rug</i> on the floor of your home. Would you ever walk on it?</p><p>The first work I saw by Messinger seemed to reference quite old pop culture (the piece I own is a silhouette of a Fleischer Brothers’ Popeye, a cartoon series that was produced in the 1930s). But nowadays, Messinger seems to produce mostly animals and mythological beasts, in a way that suggests totemic use.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2704-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F808a2e35-892d-4be1-9c8c-b0f8d02f979b_2300x4271.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/808a2e35-892d-4be1-9c8c-b0f8d02f979b_2300x4271.jpeg","height":2704,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1314466,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F808a2e35-892d-4be1-9c8c-b0f8d02f979b_2300x4271.jpeg" width="345" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2704-1456 {
padding-bottom: 185.71428571428572%;
padding-bottom: min(185.71428571428572%, 2704px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2704-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 2704px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Double Hydra</i>, 2021, oil and gesso on linen</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1580-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F334602ee-0c5a-4d40-8792-f98be10b84c6_2487x2699.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/334602ee-0c5a-4d40-8792-f98be10b84c6_2487x2699.jpeg","height":1580,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":885546,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F334602ee-0c5a-4d40-8792-f98be10b84c6_2487x2699.jpeg" width="590" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1580-1456 {
padding-bottom: 108.5164835164835%;
padding-bottom: min(108.5164835164835%, 1580px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1580-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1580px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Double Chupacabra</i>, 2020, oil and black gesso on canvas</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f14e7ed-2fe4-488a-984f-aaebe183ff80_3425x2283.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5f14e7ed-2fe4-488a-984f-aaebe183ff80_3425x2283.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1210826,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f14e7ed-2fe4-488a-984f-aaebe183ff80_3425x2283.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Owl</i>, 2021, watercolor on found paper</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1152-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6377fae3-6663-480c-8d88-d476614b8852_2725x2156.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6377fae3-6663-480c-8d88-d476614b8852_2725x2156.jpeg","height":1152,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":682726,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="506" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6377fae3-6663-480c-8d88-d476614b8852_2725x2156.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1152-1456 {
padding-bottom: 79.12087912087912%;
padding-bottom: min(79.12087912087912%, 1152px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1152-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1152px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Theodore</i> , 2021, oil, gesso and linen on panel</span></figure></div><p>OK, I suspect that <i>Theodore</i> is not a totemic spirit animal. I’m guessing he is just a house cat. \</p><p>In addition to these works on paper and paintings, Messinger also produces three-dimensional work, often assemblage based.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-971-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a324693-6874-44b3-9dd9-2b47eeb65e8a_2599x1733.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6a324693-6874-44b3-9dd9-2b47eeb65e8a_2599x1733.jpeg","height":971,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":679217,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="427" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a324693-6874-44b3-9dd9-2b47eeb65e8a_2599x1733.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 {
padding-bottom: 66.68956043956044%;
padding-bottom: min(66.68956043956044%, 971px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-971-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 971px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Shoe</i>, 2019, wood and nails</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-901-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe368fb3c-7d8f-4b97-9a69-406646d89b30_3939x2438.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e368fb3c-7d8f-4b97-9a69-406646d89b30_3939x2438.jpeg","height":901,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1530899,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="396" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe368fb3c-7d8f-4b97-9a69-406646d89b30_3939x2438.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-901-1456 {
padding-bottom: 61.88186813186813%;
padding-bottom: min(61.88186813186813%, 901px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-901-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 901px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matt Messinger, <i>Driftwood Serpent #2(black)</i>, 2021, drift wood, gesso and oil paint</span></figure></div><p>After I visited Foltz Fine Art, I went over to the Menil Museum to check out <i>Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s. </i><a href="https://nikidesaintphalle.org/">Niki de Saint Phalle</a> was one of the artists in <a href="https://www.theartstory.org/movement/nouveau-realisme/">Nouveau réalisme </a>movement in France that started in 1960 which included such artists as Yves Klein, Arman, César, Mimmo Rotella, and Christo. It is often seen as the French version of Pop Art, though with Yves Klein and Christo, it doesn’t feel all that Pop. And really, the work by Niki de Saint Phalle in this show seems, at best, tangentially related to Pop.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1936-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7ba43d2-5fce-4e4d-a152-ab8f79bb4e29_1469x1953.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f7ba43d2-5fce-4e4d-a152-ab8f79bb4e29_1469x1953.jpeg","height":1936,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":768718,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7ba43d2-5fce-4e4d-a152-ab8f79bb4e29_1469x1953.jpeg" width="481" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1936-1456 {
padding-bottom: 132.96703296703296%;
padding-bottom: min(132.96703296703296%, 1936px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1936-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1936px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Niki de Saint Phalle, <i>Tu est moi</i>, 1960, objects, wood, plaster, and paint</span></figure></div><p>One thing that was in the air at the time all over the Western World was assemblage. I was reminded of Robert Rauschenberg looking at <i>Tu est moi</i>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1834-977" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7385e5e-8f88-40a6-8866-61036a426672_977x1834.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a7385e5e-8f88-40a6-8866-61036a426672_977x1834.jpeg","height":1834,"width":977,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":821968,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7385e5e-8f88-40a6-8866-61036a426672_977x1834.jpeg" width="341" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1834-977 {
padding-bottom: 187.71750255885365%;
padding-bottom: min(187.71750255885365%, 1834px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1834-977 img {
max-width: 977px;
max-height: 1834px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Niki de Saint Phalle, <i>Cathédrale</i>, 1962, Paint, plaster, and objects on wood</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-2186-1032" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1211129-1148-4443-b44e-8572db59d31a_1032x2186.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a1211129-1148-4443-b44e-8572db59d31a_1032x2186.jpeg","height":2186,"width":1032,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":564264,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1211129-1148-4443-b44e-8572db59d31a_1032x2186.jpeg" width="302" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-2186-1032 {
padding-bottom: 211.8217054263566%;
padding-bottom: min(211.8217054263566%, 2186px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-2186-1032 img {
max-width: 1032px;
max-height: 2186px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Niki de Saint Phalle, <i>Tir de Jasper Johns</i>, 1961, Plaster, wood, metal, concrete, newspaper, glass, and paint</span></figure></div><p>One series of works she did in the early 60s were called Tirs. “Tir” is French for “shot”. Saint Phalle would build plaster constructions with bags of paint on them then shoot them with a rifle wo let the paint run down over the painting. She often invited other artists to participate in the shooting part. In this example, she takes one of the most famous images that Jasper Johns painted repeatedly, the target, and used it as an <i>actual</i> target. She made four bullseyes as well as a large number of bad shots. The lightbulb and can with paintbrushes directly refer to specific works by Johns. It seems perfect that Saint Phalle took Johns idea of a target for its intended purpose. Johns took something that had no aesthetic value—a target—and turned it into art. Saint Phalle returns it to the world by shooting it.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1769-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7247c26-3139-4c92-9ee9-8072761f6970_1768x2148.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e7247c26-3139-4c92-9ee9-8072761f6970_1768x2148.jpeg","height":1769,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1006485,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7247c26-3139-4c92-9ee9-8072761f6970_1768x2148.jpeg" width="527" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1769-1456 {
padding-bottom: 121.49725274725273%;
padding-bottom: min(121.49725274725273%, 1769px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1769-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1769px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Nike de Saint Phalle, <i>Lili ou Tony</i>, 1963, Painted polyester resin, fabric, wire mesh, and collage</span></figure></div><p><i>Lili ou Tony</i> is an examples of Saint Phalle’s series of giant, colorful female figures called “Nanas.” She started doing Nanas in the mid 1960s. Perhaps the most famous Nana was <i><a href="https://womennart.com/2018/08/22/hon-by-niki-de-saint-phalle/">Hon</a></i>, created in 1966 in the Moderna Museet de Stockholm. Here the Nana was gigantic, on her back, with her legs spread, and an entrance at Hon’s vagina that visitors could enter. I’m curious to know what was inside Hon. Unfortunately, they did not attempt to reproduce Hon for this exhibit.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1728-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc8edf477-1027-40b5-a35d-9ac21f116373_2858x3392.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c8edf477-1027-40b5-a35d-9ac21f116373_2858x3392.jpeg","height":1728,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1021620,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc8edf477-1027-40b5-a35d-9ac21f116373_2858x3392.jpeg" width="539" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1728-1456 {
padding-bottom: 118.68131868131869%;
padding-bottom: min(118.68131868131869%, 1728px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1728-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1728px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Vicki Meek, <i>Elizabeth Catlett Political Prints & Sculptures Reimagined</i>, 2021</span></figure></div><p><a href="https://vickimeekart.com/">Vicki Meek</a> is th<a href="https://www.artleaguehouston.org/2021-vicki-meek">e 2021 Texas Artist of the Year at the Art League Houston</a>. Every year they pick an artist (or a collective, as when <a href="https://havelruckprojects.wixsite.com/havel-ruck-projects/projects">Havel & Ruck </a>were honored in 2009) for the honor. I don’t know all that much about Meeks. I saw an exhibit she curated at Project Row Houses a few years ago, Life Path 5: Action/Restlessness, back in 2009. But “curated” is the wrong word. Meek collaborated with all the artists on their installations. But aside from that one exhibit, I haven’t seen much of her installation-based artwork. One cool thing about the Texas Artist of the Year exhibits is that the Art League publishes a small monograph about the selected artist. So now I have a book about Meek to catch up on her work. For the exhibit, there are several large works, some of which are wall art but closer to installation in their polyvalence. For instance, <i>Elizabeth Catlett Political Prints & Sculptures Reimagined</i> features not only a central image of a stretched out American flag, it features also African sculptures on two small shelves on either side of the flag, with reimagined political posters above and below the flag.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1399-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12aff7b9-a4fc-44de-b8f9-90fd6e67c33c_3096x2974.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/12aff7b9-a4fc-44de-b8f9-90fd6e67c33c_3096x2974.jpeg","height":1399,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1489727,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="615" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F12aff7b9-a4fc-44de-b8f9-90fd6e67c33c_3096x2974.jpeg" width="640" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1399-1456 {
padding-bottom: 96.08516483516483%;
padding-bottom: min(96.08516483516483%, 1399px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1399-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1399px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Vicki Meek, <i>Elizabeth Catlett Political Prints & Sculptures Reimagined</i> detail, 2021</span></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1524-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff8e25d16-6d50-4438-b545-858cdacc1737_2887x3021.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f8e25d16-6d50-4438-b545-858cdacc1737_2887x3021.jpeg","height":1524,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2286478,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff8e25d16-6d50-4438-b545-858cdacc1737_2887x3021.jpeg" width="611" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1524-1456 {
padding-bottom: 104.67032967032968%;
padding-bottom: min(104.67032967032968%, 1524px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1524-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1524px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Vicki Meek, <i>Elizabeth Catlett Political Prints & Sculptures Reimagined</i> detail, 2021</span></figure></div><p>And what makes it even more installation-like is that it faces an almost identical piece on the opposite wall. Identical in format, but the surrounding political prints are different.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1941-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55d22386-b47b-4663-a96a-f8f6b30e6dfd_4128x3096.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/55d22386-b47b-4663-a96a-f8f6b30e6dfd_4128x3096.jpeg","height":1941,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3227658,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55d22386-b47b-4663-a96a-f8f6b30e6dfd_4128x3096.jpeg" width="480" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1941-1456 {
padding-bottom: 133.31043956043956%;
padding-bottom: min(133.31043956043956%, 1941px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1941-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1941px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Vicki Meek, <i>Elizabeth Catlett Political Prints & Sculptures Reimagined</i> detail, 2021</span></figure></div><p>There are more large installations in the front gallery.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1941-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b1028c0-3887-4a56-8463-acc6d3341290_4128x3096.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1b1028c0-3887-4a56-8463-acc6d3341290_4128x3096.jpeg","height":1941,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3502288,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1b1028c0-3887-4a56-8463-acc6d3341290_4128x3096.jpeg" width="480" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1941-1456 {
padding-bottom: 133.31043956043956%;
padding-bottom: min(133.31043956043956%, 1941px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1941-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1941px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Vicki Meek, <i>They paved the way: In homage to my ancestors</i>, 1992</span></figure></div><p>This is a recreation of an older piece. Standing in the background are artists <a href="https://nickandjakestudio.com/home.html">Jake Margolin (left) and Nick Vaughan</a> (right), who were out with their extremely energetic baby. One of the reasons I like these openings is that I get to catch up with old friends. The last time I saw either of these two artists was before COVID, before they had a son to drag along to exhibits.</p><p>From the Art League, I drove over to ARC House for a small <a href="https://www.catherinecolangelo.com/home">Catherine Colangelo </a>show. ARC House is a private house built on stilts after Harvey to be relatively flood resistant. They have been hosting art exhibits for several years now.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1892-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa08a48-664b-4196-8fd7-4921fffe45dd_2534x3293.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7fa08a48-664b-4196-8fd7-4921fffe45dd_2534x3293.jpeg","height":1892,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1476453,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fa08a48-664b-4196-8fd7-4921fffe45dd_2534x3293.jpeg" width="493" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1892-1456 {
padding-bottom: 129.94505494505495%;
padding-bottom: min(129.94505494505495%, 1892px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1892-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1892px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Catherine Colangelo, <i>Eye Flower</i>, 2018, gouache and graphite on muslin over wood panel</span></figure></div><p>This exhibit showed mainly older works by Colangelo. A week later, a show of her new work opened at <a href="http://www.frontgallery.com/">Front Gallery</a>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1816-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29a28ddc-88cb-47b5-a663-ca39155da6ff_2580x3218.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/29a28ddc-88cb-47b5-a663-ca39155da6ff_2580x3218.jpeg","height":1816,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1618697,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29a28ddc-88cb-47b5-a663-ca39155da6ff_2580x3218.jpeg" width="513" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1816-1456 {
padding-bottom: 124.72527472527473%;
padding-bottom: min(124.72527472527473%, 1816px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1816-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1816px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Catherine Colangelo, <i>Protector Shield</i>, 2016, gouache and graphite on muslin over wood panel</span></figure></div><p>And as with many of the exhibits, I got to speak with artists I hadn’t seen in over a year. I saw Catherine Colangelo, of course, but also <a href="https://www.shsu.edu/academics/art/contact/mitroi/">Tudor Mitroi</a>, who has had an exhibit at ARC House early in 2020, before COVID shut everything down.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 image2-1941-1456" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0050c5c0-bd55-4b69-bc4f-ef066a64d8d5_4128x3096.jpeg" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0050c5c0-bd55-4b69-bc4f-ef066a64d8d5_4128x3096.jpeg","height":1941,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2443040,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null}" height="640" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0050c5c0-bd55-4b69-bc4f-ef066a64d8d5_4128x3096.jpeg" width="480" /><style>a.image2.image-link.image2-1941-1456 {
padding-bottom: 133.31043956043956%;
padding-bottom: min(133.31043956043956%, 1941px);
width: 100%;
height: 0;
}a.image2.image-link.image2-1941-1456 img {
max-width: 1456px;
max-height: 1941px;
}</style></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></figure><figure><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ARC House interior with Tudor Mitroi and Catherine Colangelo artwork.</span></figure></div><p>Those were the exhibits I visited on Friday, September 10. In Part 2, I look at what was happening on Saturday.</p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-59934774603541056982021-08-27T14:15:00.007-05:002021-08-29T12:33:09.436-05:00Real Estate Art: 713 Booth Street<p><b><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"> Robert Boyd</a></b></p><p>I am working on some new posts, but I hope this real estate art post will satisfy my few remaining readers for a little while. This is <a href="https://www.har.com/homedetail/713-booth-st-houston-tx-77009/3083050">a very interesting house </a>on the near northside, traditionally a very Hispanic neighborhood. I downloaded the map so you can see where it is:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Caj2SVMxRUI/YSkx8iH4tjI/AAAAAAAAe-E/-5TnKVBfotEVCfILbxdko5a5bXRWczfbQCNcBGAsYHQ/map.png"><img alt="" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="1418" height="336" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Caj2SVMxRUI/YSkx8iH4tjI/AAAAAAAAe-E/-5TnKVBfotEVCfILbxdko5a5bXRWczfbQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h336/map.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />As you can see, it is right across Little White Oak Bayou from Hollywood Cemetery and quite close to <a href="https://www.houstontx.gov/parks/parksites/moodypark.html">Moody Park</a>. I don't know what kind of house you would expect in that neighborhood, but I am willing to bet that it would not be this.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--n0_kJDwkFk/YSky06NOFRI/AAAAAAAAe-Q/ooaCG9nSRPwdmS53ziSb3XmUJjInSWXzwCNcBGAsYHQ/img-1.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--n0_kJDwkFk/YSky06NOFRI/AAAAAAAAe-Q/ooaCG9nSRPwdmS53ziSb3XmUJjInSWXzwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/img-1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pymonvjDbvg/YSky_--WIgI/AAAAAAAAe-U/XNoOstZDpdgOwGx8mJCLQslBtZc1yYcVwCNcBGAsYHQ/img-36.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pymonvjDbvg/YSky_--WIgI/AAAAAAAAe-U/XNoOstZDpdgOwGx8mJCLQslBtZc1yYcVwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-36.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />That is one <i>moderne </i>pile of blocks!</p><p>If you are flipping through <a href="http://HAR.com">HAR.com</a>, as I enjoy doing, and you want to guess what kind of house will have interesting art hanging inside, this is the kind of house that you would guess. And in this case, you'd be right! As usual, I didn't recognize most of the art (and mostly it is not photographed to show off the art--these photos serve an entirely different purpose). But I think I know the artist behind one of the pieces.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1hBB9DFFNYw/YSk0AB-dBgI/AAAAAAAAe-k/pIij5A5ElNcCYGHX44Tv2weAXXBm52c_wCNcBGAsYHQ/img-11.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1hBB9DFFNYw/YSk0AB-dBgI/AAAAAAAAe-k/pIij5A5ElNcCYGHX44Tv2weAXXBm52c_wCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-11.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />In this photo, we can see two paintings. On the right, we see a large abstraction that reminds me a little of <a href="http://diebenkorn.org/the-artist/biography/">Richard Diebenkorn</a>, but is obviously not a Diebenkorn. But the painting on the stairs is, I think, by <a href="http://www.moodygallery.com/Artists/Johnson/Lucas.html">Lucas Johnson,</a> the late Houston-based painter. I definitely could be wrong, and would appreciate finding out for sure from any of you eagle-eyed readers if it is or if it's not. Johnson was a beloved member of the local art scene. He <a href="https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Remembering-artist-Lucas-Johnson-1569807.php">died in 2002 from a heart attack that he suffered while on a boat </a>fishing with fellow artist <a href="http://balecreekallengallery.com/jack-massing-bio">Jack Massing</a>. </p><p>I don't recognize any of the other art in the house, but you might! If you do, please identify it in the <br />comments below.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fskA55RHo6o/YSk19e2RmNI/AAAAAAAAe-0/44rsyAVcmgksy0qPDCYME97-DOE0lNFMACNcBGAsYHQ/img-7.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fskA55RHo6o/YSk19e2RmNI/AAAAAAAAe-0/44rsyAVcmgksy0qPDCYME97-DOE0lNFMACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-7.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P2gi7x1ZMFE/YSk2IQYZl3I/AAAAAAAAe-4/QUl4PygXbtobmalDNlCRc3U5Nw8EX6qIgCNcBGAsYHQ/img-9.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P2gi7x1ZMFE/YSk2IQYZl3I/AAAAAAAAe-4/QUl4PygXbtobmalDNlCRc3U5Nw8EX6qIgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-9.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cSGXJYYrzbk/YSk2T3iFnMI/AAAAAAAAe_E/tI7eTqQ1UY0fJJZYaeDOOh1xsUn6vLD8wCNcBGAsYHQ/img-13.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cSGXJYYrzbk/YSk2T3iFnMI/AAAAAAAAe_E/tI7eTqQ1UY0fJJZYaeDOOh1xsUn6vLD8wCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-13.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="color: red;"><b>Update: </b></span>The blue painting here is by <a href="https://stanleyrboxer.com/">Stanley Boxer</a> (according to <a href="https://bronwynlauder.com/">Bronwyn Lauder</a>).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QlOksLQr2Qs/YSk2d6q8niI/AAAAAAAAe_M/EjbiYkwX0i8_nZD5mXFJXF6EnwgQdzhZgCNcBGAsYHQ/img-22.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QlOksLQr2Qs/YSk2d6q8niI/AAAAAAAAe_M/EjbiYkwX0i8_nZD5mXFJXF6EnwgQdzhZgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-22.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br /></div><p>I would kill for a library like that!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KPOPTWx5Fw0/YSk2sgnbvwI/AAAAAAAAe_U/WCHEsJAvRdIaYeSe-WVI-2wVagyqq9_PACNcBGAsYHQ/img-23.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KPOPTWx5Fw0/YSk2sgnbvwI/AAAAAAAAe_U/WCHEsJAvRdIaYeSe-WVI-2wVagyqq9_PACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-23.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br /></div><p>Another view of the library. And the painting, which appears to have paint drips or possibly loose threads hanging down look very familiar--but I can't identify it. <span style="color: red;"><b>Update:</b></span> The orange painting is by <span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" dir="auto" lang="en"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Goodnough">Robert Goodnough</a> (according to Bronwyn Lauder).<br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W3Jr82prsSs/YSk3Heys41I/AAAAAAAAe_g/Tc-Ok0bkKtk_GdLTlx1d7VaQi0ehzKhGgCNcBGAsYHQ/img-24.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W3Jr82prsSs/YSk3Heys41I/AAAAAAAAe_g/Tc-Ok0bkKtk_GdLTlx1d7VaQi0ehzKhGgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-24.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>It has been suggested that this piece is by <a href="http://www.deborahrobertsart.com/">Deborah Roberts</a>.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PWb24tDUxKo/YSk3SB2GKlI/AAAAAAAAe_k/pQFzCCu9mIU97iRe0KBaK9liBSm7jx0wACNcBGAsYHQ/img-25.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PWb24tDUxKo/YSk3SB2GKlI/AAAAAAAAe_k/pQFzCCu9mIU97iRe0KBaK9liBSm7jx0wACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-25.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>It appears that there is an easel in the background on the right of this photo. Perhaps the owner of this house is a Sunday painter?<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pjGJQGI9Xx8/YSk3mOXu78I/AAAAAAAAe_w/njE3uaOa2RkAYHvK5ILWd1TXVq6tU58UgCNcBGAsYHQ/img-30.jpeg"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pjGJQGI9Xx8/YSk3mOXu78I/AAAAAAAAe_w/njE3uaOa2RkAYHvK5ILWd1TXVq6tU58UgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/img-30.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-42417201806736463392021-08-13T08:07:00.002-05:002021-08-13T08:07:57.506-05:00Real Estate Art: 13342 Hopes Creek Road, College Station<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p>I was intrigued flipping through HAR.com by <a href="https://www.har.com/homedetail/13342-hopes-creek-rd-college-station-tx-77845/867745?lid=6276864">this huge, futuristic house out near Texas A&M</a>. I hoped they might have an art collection--a house that big on a lot that big (317 acres) has room to have some <a href="https://stormking.org/">Storm King</a>-sized sculpture. No such luck--the most sculptural thing on the property was the house itself. (At least, in the photos they showed.) </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jMTtMOADjS8/YRZnT8pTSlI/AAAAAAAAe6c/Dynj8HF-0sknTOGnlAhTmX5k1qiy7gJvwCNcBGAsYHQ/4.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jMTtMOADjS8/YRZnT8pTSlI/AAAAAAAAe6c/Dynj8HF-0sknTOGnlAhTmX5k1qiy7gJvwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It looks like a stealth bomber landed on the prairie.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M4AJnhJf4zg/YRZn2fJXlYI/AAAAAAAAe6k/BU8SnST_5BchjAijIxfRKU0OKbszdix3wCNcBGAsYHQ/5.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M4AJnhJf4zg/YRZn2fJXlYI/AAAAAAAAe6k/BU8SnST_5BchjAijIxfRKU0OKbszdix3wCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The art shown on the inside is not immediately familiar to me. If I were the type of person who could afford a seven million dollar house like this, I would invest in some sleek sculpture (maybe a <a href="http://roxypaine.com/dendroids">Roxy Pain</a>e) and an big <a href="https://whitney.org/exhibitions/julie-mehretu">Julie Mehretu</a> inside.<p></p><p>Here's what they have that they showed in the photos on HAR.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zkMoK4XgCCw/YRZqefjAf2I/AAAAAAAAe6s/OU9CmB1qHzMlifdfT1UYjC9f_mvte3NTwCNcBGAsYHQ/15.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zkMoK4XgCCw/YRZqefjAf2I/AAAAAAAAe6s/OU9CmB1qHzMlifdfT1UYjC9f_mvte3NTwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />But I think the current owner would agree that the right kind of art for the inside of this is abstract art.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-crXLsjpcoA4/YRZsFY3My_I/AAAAAAAAe7E/MIKWHaUi1K0UmClBuhcqPGIv9Mu477cDgCNcBGAsYHQ/31.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-crXLsjpcoA4/YRZsFY3My_I/AAAAAAAAe7E/MIKWHaUi1K0UmClBuhcqPGIv9Mu477cDgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> But they also display a little pretty photography.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_7oi4H6KL-Q/YRZsAgLeBII/AAAAAAAAe7A/hdw7AHRH1II2OpMFIoXByrcIRsPgp05VACNcBGAsYHQ/28.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_7oi4H6KL-Q/YRZsAgLeBII/AAAAAAAAe7A/hdw7AHRH1II2OpMFIoXByrcIRsPgp05VACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/28.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>And if the landscape visible right outside the huge windows is inadequate, they hang a couple of landscape painting.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-btAL6pheP9Q/YRZrrTYUb3I/AAAAAAAAe60/oJw3-jNbRWM7MrhMa5rUG3uXZgNw5Pf7gCNcBGAsYHQ/25.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-btAL6pheP9Q/YRZrrTYUb3I/AAAAAAAAe60/oJw3-jNbRWM7MrhMa5rUG3uXZgNw5Pf7gCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/25.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />I do not recognize any of the artists of these works, nor the architect (whose name is apparently not a selling point--it's not mentioned on HAR). Do any readers have any insight they could share?<br /></p><p>If you like these posts, I invite you support <a href="https://www.patreon.com/thegreatgodpanisdead?fan_landing=true">my Patreon</a>. It's cheap and helps me a lot.<br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-50073608973103105362021-08-07T17:49:00.004-05:002021-08-07T18:12:09.736-05:00Robert Boyd's Book Report: Art & Revolution by John Berger<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dTgu2TOCXQA" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p><br />Today I'm discussing <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780679737278"><i>Art & Revolution</i></a> by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/02/john-berger-obituary">John Berger</a>, the late English critic best known for <a href="9780140135152"><i>Ways of Seeing</i></a>. <i>Art & Revolution</i> is a critical biography of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Neizvestny">Ernst Niezvestny</a>, an unofficial artist in the Soviet Union. He was a sculptor who eventually emigrated to the USA in 1976. (<i>Art & Revolution</i> was written in 1969.) I've<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/search/label/Ernst%20Neizvestny"> written about Niezvestny before</a>. I became interested in him when I first heard about him in <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780393324846"><i>Khrushchez: The Man and His Era</i></a> by William Taubman. </p><p>(This was the first book report for which I ever wrote a script in advance, but I have to say it feels a little stiff--a little too much like a lecture I want to improve my delivery, but I'm not sure what the best way is. I'm open to advice!)</p><p>And just a reminder--press the Patreon button to the right. Or just <a href="https://www.patreon.com/thegreatgodpanisdead?fan_landing=true">go to this link</a>. <br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-89210237355604211812021-07-27T20:26:00.002-05:002021-07-27T20:29:58.260-05:00Robert Boyd's Book Report: Frank Herbert, Doris Lessing, Primo Levi and Willie Morris<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p>Today I looked at several books from my library. </p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/htHsJMQk6w8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p>I report on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780441172719"><i>Dune </i></a>by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert">Frank Herbert</a>, <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780061582486">The Golden Notebook</a></i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Lessing">Doris Lessing</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780684826806"><i>If This is a Man</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780684826356"><i>The Truce</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780805210415"><i>The Periodic Table</i></a>, and <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9781501167669"><i>The Monkey's Wrench</i></a> by<a href="https://www.biography.com/scientist/primo-levi"> Primo Levi</a>, and <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1499/9780375724602"><i>North Toward Home</i></a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Morris">Willie Morris</a>. </p><p>These are books from my bookshelves that I've read at different points in my life. They all come from the "literature" shelf. </p><p>By the way, you may notice a new button on this site: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/thegreatgodpanisdead?fan_landing=true">a Patreon button</a>. It's on the right side of the screen (if you are looking at this one a computer) at the top of the right-hand column. I'd like to <a href="https://www.patreon.com/thegreatgodpanisdead">invite you to support this blog</a>. <br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-83124456643689627542021-07-19T19:05:00.002-05:002021-07-20T16:39:53.676-05:00Fifth Ward Salute<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b> Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p>About 10 years ago, I wrote <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2011/10/by-robert-boyd-fifth-wards-giant-hand-i.html">a very brief post about a odd piece of public art</a> in the Fifth Ward. If you read the piece, you will see that I knew nothing about this piece. There was no plaque or sign identifying the sculpture. The only marking on the sculpture was some crudely engraved letters reading "Tanya." </p><p>Today I got an email from an artist named Michael Boot. He told me that when he was an art student at UH, he had assisted in this sculpture's fabrication. The artist is named Tanya Preminger.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cF9hffzD4Dw/YPYOe4GlPHI/AAAAAAAAe4E/id2F4icIAaUbzhLfNgzuPtKjgVluBQuLwCNcBGAsYHQ/Salute.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cF9hffzD4Dw/YPYOe4GlPHI/AAAAAAAAe4E/id2F4icIAaUbzhLfNgzuPtKjgVluBQuLwCNcBGAsYHQ/w525-h640/Salute.jpg" width="525" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tanya Preminger, <i>Salute</i>, bricks, concrete, iron, trees, 400 x 260 x 70 cm., 2002</span><br /></div><p><a href="http://www.tanyapreminger.com/portfolio/salute/">This photo is from Preminger's website.</a> What I notice immediately are the trees growing out of the fingers. They weren't there in 2011. (I'll have to go check it out again sometime this week to see if the trees have been replaced.)</p><p>Preminger is an interesting artist. Born and trained in the Soviet Union, she immigrated to Israel in 1972. Her sculptures have been installed all over the world, with most being in Israel. Some of the work feels kind of jokey (which is how I would characterize <i>Salute</i>.) But she obviously can handle stone sculpture as a plastic medium. Here are a couple of sculptures from <a href="http://www.tanyapreminger.com/">her website</a>, which is well-worth exploring. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5Do8Dk8xvfg/YPYRf9-G5wI/AAAAAAAAe4M/t_gJgrwx6AUBPoMqk2GKI34-_lbR9UAigCNcBGAsYHQ/Stone%2BMother.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="1600" height="362" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5Do8Dk8xvfg/YPYRf9-G5wI/AAAAAAAAe4M/t_gJgrwx6AUBPoMqk2GKI34-_lbR9UAigCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h362/Stone%2BMother.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tanya Preminger, <i>Stone Mother,</i> granite, 90 x 200 x 90 cm., 1999</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B5Atc8GgzwE/YPYR4ucCsBI/AAAAAAAAe4U/9p7kxmt09fQmeN5wrY6AVE4EJXl5nA5OACNcBGAsYHQ/Simple%2BRelations.gif"><img alt="" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="550" height="460" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B5Atc8GgzwE/YPYR4ucCsBI/AAAAAAAAe4U/9p7kxmt09fQmeN5wrY6AVE4EJXl5nA5OACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h460/Simple%2BRelations.gif" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tanya Preminger, <i>Simple Relations</i>, stone, iron 150 x 110 x 70 cm, 1992</span><br /><p></p><p><i>Salute </i>is located at the intersection of Lyons and Sydnor.<br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-11244303789255523882021-07-14T07:59:00.002-05:002021-07-14T08:02:09.956-05:00Homologous Cartoons<p><a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/p/robert-boyd.html"><b>Robert Boyd</b></a></p><p>In the 19th century, mathematicians invented a new branch of mathematics, topology, the mathematics of shapes. They turned ways of thinking about shapes into a kind of algebra. One of the most important concepts in topology is "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homology_(mathematics)">homology</a>". Without getting into the technical aspects (which I can't claim to understand), if a shape has a certain characteristic, as long as it maintains that characteristic, that shape can be extremely deformed but remain homologous. A famous example is that a donut shape (known as a torus) is homologous to a teacup, in that they are both shapes with one hole. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gmpfoi0fLbM/YO2nf0nWGeI/AAAAAAAAe2c/hZYW_naFlKwsD7K3ocvGdUqfCjZ8nkzvgCNcBGAsYHQ/isometric%2Bdonut.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="2964" height="230" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gmpfoi0fLbM/YO2nf0nWGeI/AAAAAAAAe2c/hZYW_naFlKwsD7K3ocvGdUqfCjZ8nkzvgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h230/isometric%2Bdonut.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Another homologous shape to a torus is a drinking straw. </p><p>I thought about homology when I saw <a href="https://www.billarning.com/russell-etchen">Russell Etchen's exhibit, <i><span class="color_15"><span style="font-weight: normal;">About Six Thousand Five Hundred Rocks, About One Thousand Five Hundred People, and Some Clover</span></span></i>,</a> at Bill Arning Exhibition. <a href="https://retchen.com/">Etchen</a>, who lives in Los Angeles, was a well-known figure in the Houston scene for several years, belonging to the drawing club <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sketchklubb">Sketch Klubb</a> (I'm not sure they were ever organized enough to be a "collective"), operating<a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/07/the-lamentable-end-of-domy.html"> the great alternative bookstore Domy</a>, and designing publications for artist <a href="http://www.artnet.com/artists/mark-flood/">Mark Flood</a>. I first met <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/search?q=Russell+Etchen">Etchen </a>when I moved back to Houston and worked for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.D._Vision">ADVision</a>, the long-defunct anime company. He was a designer on their slick magazine, <i>Newtype</i>. In 2016, Etchen <a href="https://glasstire.com/events/2016/02/16/russell-etchen-about-___-rocks/">painted a mural on the north exterior wall of Lawndale Art Center</a> consisting of hundreds of grey, cartoony rocks with white google eyes. His current exhibit seems to be a direct descendant of this earlier project. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I3PxRYA2xRc/YO7RIpA4RFI/AAAAAAAAe2o/bCZvLM820G8pQkZsngPoZrF_ay_KLDgNwCNcBGAsYHQ/Russell%2BEtchen%2Bdrawings.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I3PxRYA2xRc/YO7RIpA4RFI/AAAAAAAAe2o/bCZvLM820G8pQkZsngPoZrF_ay_KLDgNwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/Russell%2BEtchen%2Bdrawings.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Russell Etchen, some faces surrounded by rocks</span></p><p><br />The show consists of drawings of faces and rocks (with eyes). Some are drawn on paper, some are painted in the wall of the gallery, and a bunch are printed in a zine titled <i>About 3400 People</i>. </p><p>So where does homology come in? What Etchen shows is that if you have a certain consistent elements in a face, it can be almost endlessly warped and still be recognizable. This is especially apparent in the the zine. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ca23JgkR9jU/YO7S28v5zbI/AAAAAAAAe24/O1XvCkrosRUFe9x2Ot1niSdOcgrc-JWOQCNcBGAsYHQ/Scan_20210713.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1623" data-original-width="2048" height="507" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ca23JgkR9jU/YO7S28v5zbI/AAAAAAAAe24/O1XvCkrosRUFe9x2Ot1niSdOcgrc-JWOQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h507/Scan_20210713.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>For example, the faces on the right-hand page reproduced above all read as the same face, even though the have drastically different shapes. The Beatles-esque haircut, the little round sunglasses, the triangle nose, the open mouth with top teeth showing, and three red dimples are repeated in every face, and it is the repetitions of these elements that work on us to make all the faces the same. Every page of his zine works the same way. Despite their obvious variety, we recognize all faces on each page as the same.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Pynh4PpXXg/YO7Vb8HrxSI/AAAAAAAAe3A/Bd9v-Y9nlIMPOfvFCeKmokgacOfKQ9B2QCNcBGAsYHQ/Scan_20210713%2B%25283%2529.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="1622" data-original-width="2048" height="507" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Pynh4PpXXg/YO7Vb8HrxSI/AAAAAAAAe3A/Bd9v-Y9nlIMPOfvFCeKmokgacOfKQ9B2QCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h507/Scan_20210713%2B%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />This exercise demonstrates a truth about cartooning--that it is inherently different from naturalistic drawing. A cartoon character, in order to be recognizable, has to maintain certain design elements, but beyond that, the cartoonist can do just about anything. This is easy to see when you look at how popular cartoon characters have changed over time, yet remained instantly recognizable.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fVrKc2eN2lM/YO7W9aapBbI/AAAAAAAAe3I/YdhYAxWsWHs1OUG0khN-RGiCMqLmNdJMgCNcBGAsYHQ/Evolution%2Bof%2BCharlie%2BSchulz.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="1024" height="220" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fVrKc2eN2lM/YO7W9aapBbI/AAAAAAAAe3I/YdhYAxWsWHs1OUG0khN-RGiCMqLmNdJMgCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h220/Evolution%2Bof%2BCharlie%2BSchulz.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Charles Schulz, Charlie Brown though the years</span></p><p>If you are Charles Schulz, as long as you draw a figure with a round head, a tuft of hair, and a zig-zag stripe on his shirt, he is always Charlie Brown. It doesn't matter how shaky Schulz's lines got toward the end of his life. <br /></p><p>Etchen's exercise of drawing faces this way is a perfect example of the power of cartooning. I don't know if he intended this or not, but to me, this is one of the best demonstrations of the difference between cartooning and drawing I've ever seen. I've mentioned in earlier blog posts that a lot of contemporary artists make use of characters that they go back to over and over again. For example, <a href="http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2017/10/characters.html">Trenton Doyle Hancock</a> and <a href="https://www.jooyoungchoi.com/">JooYoung Choi</a>. This requires that they develop homologous characteristics so that we can always recognize the characters. </p><p>Etchen's exhibit is up through the end of August, and you can buy his 'zine there for $6 (cheap!).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sdd9Kd5_gIg/YO7b3NA2A4I/AAAAAAAAe3U/-voH2rcENBYIS4ThoHJ03c5ZtvyO9TOkACNcBGAsYHQ/About%2B3400%2BPeople.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1300" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sdd9Kd5_gIg/YO7b3NA2A4I/AAAAAAAAe3U/-voH2rcENBYIS4ThoHJ03c5ZtvyO9TOkACNcBGAsYHQ/w405-h640/About%2B3400%2BPeople.jpg" width="405" /></a></div><br /></div> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-45208688474693673342021-07-03T05:35:00.004-05:002021-07-03T05:44:30.788-05:00I Have a New Article Up at Glasstire<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bkg-OQxJXOc/YOA-lxO7yyI/AAAAAAAAe0c/tn9slD_yyMcZFQlk2Y0-xGMR11439aUBQCNcBGAsYHQ/Media%2BCenter%2Btheater1%2B6.11.21%2B-%2BCopy.jpg"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bkg-OQxJXOc/YOA-lxO7yyI/AAAAAAAAe0c/tn9slD_yyMcZFQlk2Y0-xGMR11439aUBQCNcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Media%2BCenter%2Btheater1%2B6.11.21%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">graffiti in the Media Center movie theater after the last movie was displayed</span><br /></div><p></p><p> I wrote about the <a href="https://glasstire.com/2021/07/02/the-last-night-at-the-media-center/?fbclid=IwAR0glIbR11D9UGtuWtQQ0YZHLSSy44WSBsms7gfCiVaLEXKj9cDx59TFXwk">last few times I went to the Rice Media Center</a> before it closed. Check it out!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4GMyg9SOEgU/YOA_Fvcg9uI/AAAAAAAAe0o/NU4gmNLfzjwO5OiIlz-zy44PGXtgoycLQCNcBGAsYHQ/Rice%2BMedia%2BCenter%2Bexterior%2B3%2B6.4.21.JPG"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4GMyg9SOEgU/YOA_Fvcg9uI/AAAAAAAAe0o/NU4gmNLfzjwO5OiIlz-zy44PGXtgoycLQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Rice%2BMedia%2BCenter%2Bexterior%2B3%2B6.4.21.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.com0