Recent Acquisitions from Several Artists

This is a "catch-up" post for a bunch of things I have gotten in the past few months (!) that I haven't written about. The big one is a page by Jaime Hernandez.



Jaime Hernandez, Bob Richardson page 2, ink on bristol board, 1995

This is not the most spectacular Jaime Hernandez page (which is probably why I could afford it). But it is an elegant example of his work. This is from a story called "Bob Richardson" which features two full pages of Maggie getting slapped in the face by everybody she has ever known, a dog with a telepathic link to Isabel, and a low-level traitor named Boyd (!).

Back on September 18, The Joanna had their "gala," in which I came dressed as Pan. They had an art raffle, which they set up the same way that Box 13 did theirs earlier in the summer. Because the raffle tickets were really cheap, I ended up winning three pieces of art.



Molly Gochman, Red Truck (from Lullabies), inkjet print mounted on aluminum, 2010



Emily Link, Prime Ordeal Ooze, watercolor, ink, graphite and glitter on paper, 2009



Jessica Ninci, untitled (detail), watercolor and ink on paper, 2010

I didn't know much about Molly Gochman, Emily Link and Jessica Ninci when I won these. Gochman is highly regarded enough to get big public commissions and to be featured in that massive Texas Artists Today book. Jessica Ninci is currently a student getting her BFA at UH, and she was part of a group show ar the Joanna earlier this year. And I've seen Emily Link's plush heads in various venues, including some that are up at Box 13 right now.

PictureBox is a really great small press art comics publisher, and like all small presses, they are chronically having to figure out how to pay for their projects, particularly those that are large and expensive. I can tell you from personal experience that the lag between the expenses on a publishing project and the revenue is a long time, and for a small press, that can spell bankruptcy. That's why so many small presses try to get grants for specific projects because it moves the revenue stream forward in time.

For a pair of books, PictureBox did something innovative to move that revenue stream forward. Two Fort Thunder alumni had books in the works, If 'n' Oof by Brian Chippendale and Powr Mastrs [sic] #3 by C.F. (the pen name of Chris Forgues). If 'n' Oof was an especially ambitious (and expensive) book to print--800 pages long. So they put out word that if you bought these books up front--way in advance of publication--you would get some free artwork by C.F. and Chippendale.



Brian Chippendale, Murderer, Coyote, Trickster, Fool, Hero, ink and marker on paper, 2010



Brian Chippendale, untitled, silkscreen (?) 119/130, 2010



C.F., untitled, silkscreen (?) (unnumbered), 2010

The grey areas in the C.F. silkscreen (if indeed that is what it is) are actually silver ink.

Yesterday I stopped by P.G. Gallery to see the latest exhibit, and I noticed there were still some Gabriela Trzebinski slats available from an earlier show. Since they were only $30, I went ahead and bout two.


Gabriela Trzebinski, American Thunder (from the Matatu Sticks Project), acrylic paint on recycled wood, 2010


Gabriela Trzebinski, Voice of the Ghetto (from the Matatu Sticks Project), acrylic paint on recycled wood, 2010

Now you might ask yourself why I got these. American Thunder I just liked because it made me think of Bob Segar and Dodge Ram Pick-ups. As for Voice of the Ghetto, people have often said to me, "Robert, even though you are whiter than Dick Gephardt and are a known fan of both The Decembrists and Belle and Sebastian, you are truly the voice of the ghetto."

Finally, I went to the opening last night at Box 13 and they had another raffle. This time, you didn't get to choose the art that you won. However, there were no rules against trading. That's how I ended up with this:


Maria Smits, untitled (?), ink and pastel on paper, 2010 (?)

Maria Smits is a Dutch artist who has somehow landed in Houston. She has a show opening November 19 at Lawndale. And I'm afraid my photo utterly failed to capture the extremely delicate pen and ink work in this piece.

Outloud at Philomena Gabriel

This is a little late--forgive me, it's been a busy couple of weeks. But better late than never. A new gallery opened up two weeks ago in Midtown. Philomena Gabriel Contemporary is located in a tiny storefront on Milam. The building is a lovely old brick office/retail building.



The opening show was a group showed called Outloud. It featured work by a lot of very well-known Houston artists (many of whom are shown "courtesy of" some other gallery. Philomena Gabriel's own stable has yet to be revealed, and I will be curious to see who they take.) But for now, this group show is quite good. All the work are word-based objects.

Besides that, a couple of the works are based on taking things on the floor and leaning them against the wall. Whenever I see works like this--if they work--I think of the work of John McCracken. If they don't work, they just look kind of lazy. But in this case, both of the wall-leaners are good, intriguing work.


Kelly Klaasmeyer, Ennui, acrylic on gator board, 2010

Ennui by Kelly Klaasmeyer tries to embody the meaning of the word. Casually stacked against the wall, it communicates boredom and a lack of interest in doing it "right" (for example, carefully hanging the words on the wall in a perfectly straight line and proper kerning). The ironic thing is that it looks just right as it is. It has a little bit of an Ed Ruscha vibe, but that could be said of many of the pieces here. Word-based art is his baby.


Rachel Hecker, I'm Really Tired, Me Too, acrylic on canvas, 2010

Like this piece by Rachel Hecker. It's hard not to think of Ruscha when you see it. The extreme simplicity of it is striking (two colors, reversed on each canvas). The colors are fleshy skin-like colors, like perhaps the painting on the left is the "white" one and the one on the right is the "painting of color." But despite being of different races, these two have something in common! Really, I have no idea what this diptych is all about except that it is funny.


Gabriela Trzebinski, Matatu Sticks Project, recycled wood and acrylic paint, 2002-present

If you search online for Trzebinski images, you'll find a lot of crudely-painted, expressive paintings, and nothing quite like the Matatu Sticks. The effect is like a highly irregular picket fence. The phrases on them are not meaningless, but are devoid of context. And yet, they seem appropriate for naive, hand-lettered signs. They sometimes have religious content and sometimes feel like graffiti.


Gabriela Trzebinski, Matatu Sticks Project detail, recycled wood and acrylic paint, 2002-present

The cumulative effect is strong. It's funny, then, that each separate plank is for sale--a bargain at $30! But one alone feels meaningless--a collector needs a bunch to get the ideal effect.

Philomena Gabriel is a welcome addition to the Houston art community. Galleries and art spaces in Houston come and go, and as galleries close, it's good to see new ones open, especially ones that show art as interesting as the art here.