Pan Recommends for the week of November 7 to November 13

Robert Boyd

Damn, this week's going to be tough! There's the usual round of openings, but layered on top is that Cinema Arts Festival, which officially opened Wednesday. I've highlighted quite a few of their films below, but you can see their entire schedule at their website, as well as trailers for most of the films. It's a pretty unique festival in that it shows a lot of films about art--visual, theatrical, musical, literary, cinematic, whatever. In addition to all these features that you have to buy tickets for, I strongly recommend you stop by their headquarters 1201 Main (at Dallas) because they have a variety of screens set up for showing experimental animated films that are completely free (there are several other programs that are free in the Festival as well). Some of these are classic animation experiments (by Norman McLaren, for example), while some are quite fascinating interactive animations using iPods as the tool for audience participation. The festival headquarters is also where they have "Cinema 16," which is a busy venue for somewhat more experimental films all during the festival.

THURSDAY



Cutie and the Boxer at Sundance Cinemas, 12:45 pm. The story of octogenarian pugilist painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko. Shinohara also has an exhibition of paintings opening on Friday at Zoya Tommy Contemporary.



Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton at Sundance Cinemas, 12:50 pm. Experimental filmmaker and poet James Broughton was a prophet of sexual experimentation in the days before the counter-culture blossomed.



North of South, West of East by Meredith Danluck at  Cinema 16, 1 pm, 7 pm and 9:30 pm. Meredith Danluck's feature film is shown simultaneously on four screen in the round. Audiences sit in chairs that can rotate and must always decide which screen to watch. (This obviously limits the audience size, which may be why it is running so frequently over the course of the festival. I recommend buying tickets in advance.)



Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction by Sophie Huber at Sundance Cinemas, 3:40 pm. The great character actor (Repo Man, Paris, Texas, Alien, and 200+ more) profiled.



Portraits of Women Artists: Lover Other / Maya Deren’s Sink by Barbara Hammer at Cinema 16, 4 pm. Two films that sound fascinating: Portrait of Women Artists is a true story about a pair of lesbian surrealists who became Resistance fighters in World War II, and Maya Deren's Sink is about the great experimental filmmaker and her sink.


Putting the U in Color by Prince V Thomas, CC Stinson Kavi T, and Jyoti Guptaat the Doshi House, 5 to 7 pm. An exhibit dealing with an issue I never heard of--"colorism"--bias against dark skinned women in South Asian communities.

Liliana Porter, The Square II, 1973

Liliana Porter: The Square and other Early Works at Sicardi Gallery, 5–7 pm. The Argentine conceptualist and her early work.



Marco Maggi: Fanfold at Sicardi Gallery, 5–8 pm. Not sure what to expect from this show based on the photos and description, but Maggi has done very interesting work in the past.



Galina Kurlat: Inherent Traits at Peveto, 6–8 pm. Galina Kurlat creates beautiful photos, and I expect to see more beautiful photos in this show of self-portraits.


Tom Marioni's The Act of Drinking Beer With Friends is the Highest Form of Artat the BLAFFER Art Museum, 6 pm to 9 pm. A well-lubricated performance of of Tom Marioni's famous conceptual piece, part of their show Feast.


Elvira Sarmiento, “Tu con El” Homenaje a Posada, 1913–2013. Solar Plate, Size: 19” x 27.5”

Elvira Sarmiento: Alludere Posada at the Museum of Printing History, 6–8 pm. Continuing with their tributes to José Guadalupe Posada is this solo show by Mexican printmaker Elvira Sarmiento.



Shepard and Dark by Treva Wurmfeld at  Sundance 2, 6:30 pm. Documenting the friendship of playwright Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark.



Paris, Texas at Sundance Cinemas, 9:40 pm. My favorite move set in Houston. The best freeway shots ever filmed!

FRIDAY



Jamel Shabazz: Street Photographer by Charlie Ahearn at Project Row Houses Eldorado Ballroom, 10:30 am. , and at Sundance Cinemas, 9:30 pm. The director of Wild Style, Charlie Ahearn, turns his camera on Bronx photographer Jamel Shabazz.



"CUTIE AND THE BOXER" work by USHIO SHINOHARA at Zoya Tommy Contemporary, 4-7 pm. A pop-up show to accompany the documentary about Shinohara.

North of South, West of East at Cinema 16, 1 pm and 6:30 pm.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction at Sundance Cinema, 1 pm.

Geraldo Rosales

Gerardo Rosales at Avis Frank Gallery, 6–8 pm. His statement says that his art is about "about homophobia, sexuality, violence, loneliness and the imagery of the 'bear' subculture within the gay community." And sometimes it's about two headed ducks wearing a giant shoe.


an older painting by Danielle Frankenthal: Camelot,  acrylic paint on three transparent acrylic resin panels, 36 x 48 in

Danielle Frankenthal: Turbulence at Wade Wilson Art, 6 to 8 pm. She has an interesting interactive painting up at CAMH, so what better time for a solo gallery show?


Houston vs Austin featuring James Burns, Chris Cascio, Galina Kurlat, Jonathan Leach, Patrick Turk, Jerry Defrese, Hector Hernandez, Syraya Horton, Koseph Phillips and Lana Waldrep at BLUEorange Contemporary, 6–9 pm. Galina Kurlat appears in her second opening in two nights in this potential bloodbath pitting Houston artists against Austin artists. Maybe they can get John Nova Lomax to officiate.



Art Hard by Meredith Danluck at Cinema 16 at 9:00 pm. Jim Deneven makes the world's largest work of art on Lake Baikal.

SATURDAY


11th Annual Book Fair at the Museum of Printing History, 10 am – 5 pm. Oh so many lovely books, including plenty of art books from Exquisite Corpse.



Charlie Ahearn’s Hip-Hop Videos at Cinema 16 at 1 pm. From the director of Wild Style, nine videos that look totally fun.


Perry House, 3-5-11, Helter Skelter series,2011,  acrylic on canvas, 36x36 inches

PERRY HOUSE "Explosions" at HBU Contemporary Art Gallery, 1 to 4 pm. OK, this is a bit mysterious since it is not listed on HBU's way out of date webpage. It is listed on Glasstire, though. And Perry House is always worth seeing.



Persistence of Vision by Kevin Schreck at Sundance cinemas at 3:30 pm. A documentary about an unfinished animated film by the great Richard Williams.

North of South, West of East at Cinema 16 at 4 pm.


If the van's a-rockin'

The Art Guys: Loop along the 610 Loop from  5 pm Saturday to 5 pm Sunday. The 11th of their 12 events, they will drive around 610 Loop in the van pictured above (currently on view at Memorial City Mall--take that, Galleria!) for 24 hours. They will stay in contact with people via Facebook and Twitter, and you can just call the Guys up during the performance on a temporary phone line, 832-712-6207. Of course, you could just drive along side them--their van will be easy to spot!


Life Goes On… I Keep Singing by Jonas Mekas at Deborah Colton Gallery, 6 pm. Photos and videos by the great Jonas Mekas.



Jeremy Rourke: Live Music and Animation at Cinema 16 at 8:15. Jeremy Rourke is a musician/anumator who will be combining the two.



Wild Style by Charlie Ahearn at Sundance Cinema at 9:45 pm. If you want to be reminded that hip hop is old, watch this classic movie, Wild Style, from 1983. One of several Charlie Ahearn movies being shown at the festival.



Madeleine Dietz: What Remains at Gallery Sonja Roesch, 5–7 pm. These very interesting pieces toy with being architecture or interior decoration. Their liminal ambiguity combined with their beauty appeals to me a lot.

SUNDAY



Time Shift: The Films of Scott Stark at Cinema 16 at 1:00 pm. Austin experimental filmmaker Scott Stark is showcased.



Approved for Adoption at Sundance Cinema  at 1:15 pm. Interesting looking autobiographical film by cartoonist Jung Hemin. Born in South Korea, he was adopted and brought up in Belgium. His comics work looks (to my eyes) like typical Belgian adventure comics (with Asian settings). I can't find any examples of more personal comics work by Jung Hemin--except this movie.

Life Goes On… I Keep Singing at the Deborah Colton Gallery at 2 pm


North of South, West of East at Cinema 16, 6:15 pm and 8:45.


Antonio Berni, Ramona en la calle, de la serie Ramona Montiel y sus amigos (Ramona in the Street, from the series Ramona Montiel and Her Friends), 1966, xylo-collage-relief 

Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona at the Museum of Fine Arts, 10 am – 5 pm. Argentine artist Antonio Berni created his characters Juanito and Ramona in the mid-50s and continued to depict them in various media for the rest of his life. This show brings them together in the U.S. for the first time.

MONDAY

Life Goes On… I Keep Singing at Deborah Colton Gallery at 9:30 am

TUESDAY

Life Goes On… I Keep Singing at Deborah Colton Gallery at 9:30 am.


Houston Short Film Fund: World Premiere Screening featuring Kathryn Kane, Lauren Kelley, Douglas Newman, Jerry Ochoa and more at Sundance Cinema at 6:45. SWAMP (the best acronym ever) helped fund these short films by Houston filmmakers.

Pan Recommends for the week of September 5 to September 11

Robert Boyd

This is the busiest weekend of the year as far  as gallery and museum openings go. Below is a list of most of what's opening this weekend--33 exhibits by my count. Can one possibly see them all? I think so--and to make it a little easier for you, I've grouped them by geographic proximity, which should help the dedicated art trekker minimize her travel time.

THURSDAY

Thursday's relatively easy--three openings within a three-block radius.


photo by Galina Kurlat

A Likeness by Main Street Projects. A group exhibition displaying recent contemporary works by Main Street Projects founders Brandon Dimit, Theresa Escobedo, Galina Kurlat, and Rahul Mitra.
 
Eduardo Portillo: New Work at The Gallery at HCC Central- Houston Community College , 5–7:30 pm. Somehow these HCC exhibits are related to the Texas Biennial, which sprawls over 80 participating institutions and is so diffuse in my mind that it doesn't really have an identity. I would expect some large rag dolls if this is a typical Eduardo Portillo show.
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Melanie Miller, Silk Road 5, 2013, acrylic on paper, 44"x30"

Melanie Millar: New Work  at The Gallery at HCC Central- Houston Community College, 5–7 pm. Decoration informs Melanie Miller's work.
 
FRIDAY

For your Friday perambulations, there are two clusters and three singletons. First is the Isabella Court Galleries on Main (with Diverse Works one block south). 


Barry Stone, Bouquet 3487_1, 2013, archival digital print, 24 x 16 inches

Barry Stone: Look Near Into the Distance at Art Palace, 6 to 8 pm. Check out this beautiful on-line catalog. I like Barry Stone's photos so much that I bought one. I look forward to seeing the digitally distressed flowers like the one above.


Wayne White, DUNNO, 2013, acrylic on offset lithograph, 25 1/2 x 45 1/2 inches

Wayne White: Dunno at David Shelton Gallery, 6–8 pm. From his early comics to his Peewee Herman Show puppetry to his word paintings, I have loved Wayne White's work literally for decades. I think this is his first show in Houston since the amazing Big Lectric Fan installation.


Todd Hebert, Goose With Glacier, 2013

Todd Hebert: Ebb and Flow at Devin Borden Gallery, 6–8 pm.



Somehow, this appropriated press photo is part of Katrina Moorhead's exhibit

Katrina Moorhead: The Bird that Never Lands(cape) at Inman Gallery, 6–8 pm.


Rachel Hecker, Eleventh Hour, 1992 acrylic on wood, 120 x 80 inches, (destroyed)

The Eleventh Hour featuring Elia Arce, Eric Avery, Johannes Birringer, Mel Chin, Ben DeSoto, Karen Finley, Michael Galbreath, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, the Gorilla Girls/Houston, Deborah Hay, Sharon Hayes, Rachel Hecker, Zhang Huan, Infernal Bridegroom Productions, Rhodessa Jones, William Pope.L, Annie Sprinkle, Mary Ellen Strom, and many others at DiverseWorks, 7–9 pm. I'm not sure what to expect, but this exhibit seems to be about the history of Diverse Works itself. Presumably the above painting will not be included, alas.

Then there are the galleries at 4411 Montrose...

Katja Loher: Who Collects Clouds in the Sky? at Anya Tish Gallery, 6 to 8:30 pm. Katja Loher's kaleidoscopic videos are always fun to look at.

Michael Crowder, Mariposa

Retro-spectacle: Michael Crowder at Wade Wilson Art, 6–8 pm. Michael Crowder produces delicate, surprisingly conceptual glass artwork.

Lauren Kelley, Stills from “Brown Objects (Pink Head)” 2013

Lauren Kelley: Puce Parade at Zoya Tommy Contemporary, 6–8 pm.

Gavin Perry, Untitled, 2013, Pigmented resin, vinyl on board, 72 x 96 inches

Gavin Perry: End of the Line at Barbara Davis Gallery, 6:30–8:30 pm.

Finally, you'll have to drive hither and yon to see the three shows below.


Dan Havel, Wall Burster

Dan Havel: Homewrecker – Disrupted Architecture at  Avis Frank Gallery, 6-8 pm. -I'm very interested in seeing what Dan Havel does outside his Havel+Ruck partnership. The pair have forged such a distinct artistic identity that I can't quite imagine what one of them alone will be like!


Tom Marioni: The Act of Drinking Beer from Smart Museum of Art on Vimeo.

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art including art, documentary materials, and new public projects by Marina Abramović and Ulay, Sonja Alhäuser, Miguel Amat, Mary Ellen Carroll, Mary Evans, Fallen Fruit, Theaster Gates, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, InCUBATE, The Italian Futurists, Mella Jaarsma, Alison Knowles, Suzanne Lacy, Gabriel Martinez, Lynne McCabe, Lee Mingwei, Laura Letinsky, Tom Marioni, Gordon Matta-Clark, Mildred’s Lane, Julio César Morales and Max La Rivière-Hedrick, motiroti, National Bitter Melon Council, Ana Prvacki, Sudsiri Pui-Ock, Michael Rakowitz, Ayman Ramadan, Red76, David Robbins, Allen Ruppersberg, Bonnie Sherk, Barbara T. Smith, Daniel Spoerri, and Rirkrit Tiravanija at the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston, 7:00 pm. This is the kind of show where even if the work in it is not so good, at least there will be something to eat, right? The Art Guys will apparently be among the bartenders at The Act of Drinking Beer With Friend is the Highest Form of Art by Tom Marioni.


It's not performance art without naked guys--Josh Urban Davis

Submission featuring performances by Joshua Yates, Unna Bettie, Ryan Hawk, Daniel Bertalot, Patrick Doyle, Karen Mazzu, Renee Cosette Pedersen, Josh Urban Davis, Hilary Scullane, Raindawg, Jana Whatley, Neil Ellis Orts, Y. E. Torres, Koomah, Tina McPherson & Sandy Ewen, Evan McCarley, Julia Wallace, Jonatan Lopez, Chris Meadows and Emmanuel Nuno Arambula at Summer Street Studios, 9 pm – 12 am.If you aren't completely exhausted from looking at art, you can go check out some performance in the vast spaces of Summer Street.

SATURDAY

The big cluster here is Colquitt St., home to many galleries having openings this week.


Anna Ferrer, Rain Flower Trench Coat

Red Hot by Anna Ferrer at Nicole Longnecker Gallery, 5–7 pm.

Michael Bise, Life on the List comics pages

Love in the Kingdom of the Sick: Michael Bise at Moody Gallery, 5–7 pm. Graphite drawings and pages from his comic, Life on the List, will be on display. The comic deals with Bise's heart transplant and has been fitfully serialized on Glasstire.


Rusty Scruby, Crown Point, 2013

If You Cut It, They Will Come featuring Sandi Seltzer Bryant, Jane Eifler, Michael Guidry, Ted Larsen, Lance Letscher and Rusty Scruby at McMurtrey Gallery, 6–8 pm.

Ward Sanders, A Short History of Dust, 2013 , assemblage , 7 x 9 x 2"

Jacqueline Dee Parker: The Gameboard and Ward Sanders: Birds of Time at Hooks-Epstein Galleries, 6–8 pm. I don't know much about Jacqueline Dee Parker, but Ward Sanders is an artist I have followed eagerly for several years (and own a piece by). His work is perfect for bookish lovers of Borges and Calvino.


Randall Reid, Crime Fighters, found printed metal object w/ printed and painted metal parts, on wood and steel box construction, 6.75" x 7"x 2" y. 2013

Randall Reid: A New World at d. m. allison, 6–8 pm.

Rachel Phillips, Blue Smoke Rising, Wet transfer pigment print on vintage envelope

Rachel Phillips: Field Notes at Catherine Couturier Gallery, 6-8 p.m. I'm unfamiliar with Rachel Phillips, but the work looks intriguing--and looks like it will go well with the Ward Sanders art shown next door at Hooks-Epstein.

Then up in the Heights there is the two-gallery cluster on 11th Street...


art by Jon Read

Jon Read: The Shrine to the Myth of Man and Yuliya Lanina: Not a Sad Tale at G Gallery, 6–9 pm.

b. moody, o this crushing burden - these sins of my fathers what fetid weight this melancholy we call the deep south surely the day of reckoning is upon this land of cotton for behold: the conversion of St. Stonewall on the road to Damascus, Georgia

An American Family: b. Moody at Redbud Gallery, 6–9 pm.

But after that, you are going to have to drive all over the inner Loop to see the art opening tonight. 

work by Perla Krauze

Perla Krauze: Suspended Blues at Gallery Sonja Roesch, 5–7 pm.

Stephanie Reid

Stephanie Reid: Hidden Places at the Jung Center, 5–7 pm.


Miguel Angel Ríos, Untitled (from the series The Ghost of Modernity, 2012. Single-channel video, 3:11 min.

Miguel Angel Ríos: Folding Borders at Sicardi Gallery, 6–8 pm.

Collective Identity featuring Robert Barry , Jessica Crute , Jenny Holzer , Christian Tomaszewski , Philippe Tougard-Maucotel and Christian Xatrec at Deborah Colton Gallery, 6–9 pm.

James Ciosek, Unknown Soldier, found corrugated tin patterned by buckshot, found corrugated fiberglass, red plexiglass, fluorescent lights with red lenses, cement, 29 by 54 by 14 inches

in-DEPTH: Texas Sculpture Group Member Exhibition at the Art Car Museum, 7–10 pm.This is another TX Biennial-related show. I'm not sure of the included artists, although apparently James Ciosek is one of them, which is a good sign!

...mistress: Regina Agu at BOX 13 ArtSpace, 7–9:30 pm.



The New Black – Angela Malchionno at Box 13, 7-9:30 pm.

WORDPLAY: curated by Sapphire Williams featuring work by Logan Sebastian Beck, Harry Dearing III, David Feil,Sebastian Forray, Jorge Galvan, Matthew Gorgol, Jordan Johnson, Lillie Monstrum, Darcy Rosenberger, and Sapphire Williams at  BOX 13 ArtSpace, 7–9:30 pm. When a show is described as aiming "to examine a current generations’ interest in text and semiotics," I reach for my revolver. But this has some artists I really like, including the excellent Jorge Galvan, who doesn't show his work very often.

a God's Eye outpost by Kate Kendall, Box 13 Artspace, 7-9:30 pm.


The Brandon: Group Show from Cody Ledvina on Vimeo.

Group Show (50 Humans) featuring Mark Flood, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Robyn O'Neil, Rachel Hecker, Michael Bise, Aaron Parazette, John Sparagana, Tisch Abelow, Otis Ike, Georganne Deen, Lane Hagood, Jeremy Deprez, Seth Alverson, Jim Nolan, Cheyanne Ramos Forray, Gabriel Martinez, Hillerbrand+Magsamen, Tony Day, Shane Tolbert, Keith Varadi, Raymond Uhlir, Kent Dorn, Dylan Roberts, Ana Villagomez, Michelle Rawlings, Brandon Araujo, Jack Erikkson, Sebastian Forray, Ryan Storm, Ludwig Schwarz, Marjorie Schwarz, Brian Moss (B.Moss), Lauren Moya Ford, Miguel Martinez, Wayne Gilbert, Debra Berrera, Anne J. Regan, Patrick Turk, Chris Cascio, Jessica Ninci, Angel Oloshove, Russell Etchen, Geoff Winningham, Mike Osborne, Dennis Harper, Guillaume Gelot, Avril Falgout, Bill Daniel, Donal Mosher, Keith M. Wilson, Bill Willis, Dennis Nance & James Hays and Kayla Escobedo at The Brandon, 7–10 pm. The Brandon (the gallery in the space that used to be Domy) is starting off with a bang. It includes Houston's two hottest artists, Mark Flood and Trenton Doyle Hancock, many interesting "out-of-towners" (Robyn O'Neil, Georganne Deen, Tisch Abelow and maybe more), and many of Houston's best artists, young and old. Two surprises for me were Geoff Winningham, my old photography professor and longtime chronicler of the Gulf Coast) and Avril Falgout, the 15-year-old sculptor who made a huge splash at The Big Show this summer.

Hogan Kimbrell, Athelete

Texas Bi 2013 featuring Vonetta Berry, Linda Cornflake, Ryan Hawk, Hogan Kimbrell, Koomah, Traci Matlock, Madsen Minax, Tish Stringer, Y.E. Torres, Stalina Villarreal and Julia Wallace at Gallery 1724, 8–10 pm. No associated with the Texas Biennial, all the work in this show somehow deals with bisexuality.

More from the Big Show

Betsy Huete, Dean Liscum and Robert Boyd

I couldn't settle on just five pieces to write about from the Big Show, so I arbitrarily decided that I'd create an "honorable mention" post and forced my co-writers to contribute. Betsy, Dean and I chose five, and then chose a bunch more that we liked. And here they are.


Carrie Green Markello, King , 2013, Acrylic on board, 24 x 18 inches

Why does this boy, held captive in "glamour shot" pose, look so mischievous? What is he up to, and why is he enveloped in a black void? No one knows except Markello, but there is something memorably radioactive about the entire painting.--BH


Chadwick + Spector, Judith with the Head of Holofernes (after Lucas Cranach), 2011, cibachrome print, 45 x 29.5 inches

Getting freaky with it. Hieronymus Bosch-inspired but instead of using fruit, these artists use humans. Look closely.--DL


David McClain, Verlaine & Rimbaud, 2013, Acrylic and pencil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

I'm not sure which is Verlaine and which is Rimbaud but their love child lives in Austin. Kidding aside, the comics interfere with the brilliant execution.--DL

All those museumgoers that scoff at a Pollock or a Kline, mumbling, “My three year old could do that,” are completely unaware of just how talented three-year-olds can be. In Verlaine & Rimbaud, David McClain convincingly melds an innocent primitivism and severe aggression in a way that exemplifies the poets’ passionate and tumultuous relationship.--BH



Camille Warmington, Unsee, 2013, pencil and polycolor pencil on board, 12 x 12 inches

Camille Warmington's Unsee seems the more conventional of her two paintings (ironically, since Unsee is abstract and her other painting, Setting Yourself Adrift, is a painting of a house). But I love her acidic colors, her handling of paint, and the modest size. It reminds me a little of Howard Hodgkin, but without the comfy feeling of domesticity one finds in Hodgkin.--RB


Jorge Imperio, Elegant #2, 2013, C-print, 13.5 x 13.5 inches

I’m assuming Imperio’s title was tongue-in-cheek, but there is something elegant about this image after all. Situated under an empty, large gaudy frame, it’s the most lavish sick bed I’ve ever seen. Everything in the shot feels completely out of place yet legitimately believable--BH


Galina Kurlat, Deborah, 2012, archival pigment print, 18 x 24 inches

Galina Kurlat recently had a powerful show at the Emergency Room, so I was pleased to see her work here. Deborah is from her portrait series Safe Distance. These photos involve some manipulation of the negative process and deliberate degradation, which can clearly be see here. Knowing nothing about the actual "Deborah," this image, combining the subject's calm demeanor and the intentionally damaged print, suggest some past trauma. The meaning is not in the image, but in the process.


Galina Kurlat, Sanctuary (untitled) 1, 2011, C-print, 16 x 20 inches

Galina didn't create this surrealistic monument, but she had the good sense to photograph it.--DL

Sanctuary comes from a series of the same name showing isolated trees in seemingly harsh and unforgiving landscapes. It's hard to imaging a more unforgiving environment than a beached barge, and yet this one has a tree growing out of it. The image is a large-scale black and white Polaroid, made with a kind of film that is no longer manufactured. One of the appealing aspects of Kurlat's photography is this sense of antiquity. Her photographs look like they were made long ago and survived many vicissitudes before being discovered by viewers in the present. Of course, this is a carefully wrought illusion, but a beautiful one.--RB

Happy Valentine, Code Blue, 2013, Diagnostic images and original music, 1 minute 9 second video

I have no idea what's actually occurring in this video. It's a brain scan of some sort...an electromagnetic lobotomy? Your brain on drugs? Your brain under the influence of a political ad, a Reality TV show, an orgasm? The ambiguity makes it more haunting, more beautiful, and only a little scary.--DL


Kay Sarver, Pollinate Me, 2013, oil on wood, 48 x 32 x 3 inches

Kay Sarver created a painting that is half Alphonse Mucha and half organic honey product label. The nude woman has a circle of bees flying around her head and is pregnant with a beehive full of honey.  She kneels in a field of sunflowers, surrounded by a turtle, squirrel and rabbit. Green and pink predominate. And the title, Pollinate Me, adds a jocose element of sexuality. The image is so over-the-top that my love for it crosses to the other side of my defensive mountain of cynicism and irony. I don't "love" this crazy painting--I just plain love it.



Luna Bella Gajdos, Carnivore, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

There’s something anxious about this painting, as if the irreverent gestures stand on a precipice of falling into complete chaos, held together by a few contour lines. While I normally think signatures on work should be relegated to Etsy and old women painting kittens and lamps, it really works here; it’s situated like a thought bubble coming out of the dinosaur’s mouth, as if it is speaking directly to the artist. Or maybe it’s a self-portrait and Gajdos is introducing herself.--BH

When I saw Luna Gajdos's Carnivore, I really dug the deliberately crude, childlike drawing. When I read that Gajdos is only seven years old, I dug it even more.--RB


Jennifer Ellison, Antique Figurine & the Machine That Made It, 2013, mixed media assemblage, 115 x 23 x 18 inches

Antique Figurine & the Machine That Made It by Jennifer Ellison has the folklore-science-fiction feel that makes it a little crafty, a little quirky, a little cute. I'm willing to bet she's Joseph Cornell and Dominique De Menil's long lost love child.--DL

Kia Neill, Fossilization, Erosion, and Evolution No. 2, 2013, graphite, acrylic, ink and gouache on Yupo, 29 x 40 inches

The amoeba from which I descended (and pretty much controls my brain) just lights up when it sees Neill's work.--DL


Ellen Phillips, Tidal Ice, 2013, acrylic and graphite on paper, 24 x 18 inches

In a show like the Big Show, it's hard to even notice quiet works like Ellen Phillips' Tidal Ice. Phillips is another artist about whom I know nothing (and Google is not helping me out). Which is to say that I know just as much about her as juror Duncan MacKenzie did. What's left are a few pencil scrawls and white brush strokes on a yellowish piece of paper. So what did I like about it? I guess the cool grey against the warm paper appealed to me and the quality of "not drawing" in the pencil marks. It's a work I can just look at and feel pleasure in looking.--RB


John Slaby, The Commander, 2012, oil on paper, 7 x 14 inches

John Slaby's The Commander is the artistic representation of my management and parenting philosophy. It's also really well-balanced, with a lovely color palette...for a psychopath.--DL


Leo Medrano, Strange Friends (left), 2013, architectural scale model pieces, ballast, acrylic, glass, 5 x 3 x 3 inches, and End of the Road (right), 2013, architectural scale model pieces, ballast, acrylic, glass, 11 x 3 x 3 inches


Leo Medrano, Strange Friends, 2013, architectural scale model pieces, ballast, acrylic, glass, 5 x 3 x 3 inches


Leo Medrano, Strange Friends, 2013, architectural scale model pieces, ballast, acrylic, glass, 5 x 3 x 3 inches

Medrano brings kitsch and fear together in a way that my grandmother would snicker at and then use as an object lesson. "Listen here. If a large hairy beast tries to befriend you in the woods..."--DL


Leo Medrano, End of the Road (detail), 2013, architectural scale model pieces, ballast, acrylic, glass, 11 x 3 x 3 inches


Leo Medrano, End of the Road (detail), 2013, architectural scale model pieces, ballast, acrylic, glass, 11 x 3 x 3 inches

I know Leo Medrano as a magazine publisher (Role A|F|M) first and an artist second. What I had seen of his art was painted under the name "Leosapien" and seemed like a mixture of street art and pop surrealism/low brow art. I can't say it ever made much of an impression on me. End of the Road and Strange Friends, however, really impressed me. They seem utterly different from his earlier artistic output.

End of the Road is a tiny sculptural tableau depicting a Hollywood movie-style standoff. A man standing beside a VW Bug is holding a gun to a woman's head and is being confronted by another man holding a rifle. The sculpture is tiny--the figures are less than an inch high. The whole thing is encased in glass. It reminds me of the ship in a bottle sculptures people make. The description says that it is made of architectural scale model pieces, but Medrano must have altered them. I assume you can't get a 1/32 scale model of a guy with a gun to a woman's head off the shelf.

By placing it under glass, Medrano is suggesting a frozen moment in time to be studied, something to be preserved, something fragile. Obviously the image of a ship in a bottle comes to mind, as does the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor (and Mike Kelley's many Kandor sculptures). There is something mad-scientist-like about examining these scenes in a glass container, a giant test-tube. The dispassionate presentation of the scene, as if they are specimens under glass, is disquieting.--RB


Susannah Mira, Minature Black Cloud, 2012neoprene foam and wire, dimensions variable

Susannah Mira's "cloud" is simple, repetitive, unobtrusive, but lasting. It hung in my mind through out the duration of my visit and long after.--DL


John Adelman, 32,173 Stitch, 2012, gel, ink on paper mounted on panel, 35 x 48 inches

John Adelman's obsessive-compulsive aesthetic style always connects with that OCD portion of my personality. His work will probably never really change and my enjoyment of it also will probably never wane.--DL

John Adelman's work is the result of an obsessive process. 32,173 Stitch looks like a blue and black shape from a distance, forming a ragged angle at the top and dissolving along the bottom. But when you get close, you see a series of irregular black marks of various sizes with the word "stitch" in blue next to each one. Based on what I know of his previous work, I'm going to guess that those black marks represent some actual thing--perhaps little bits of thread?--that he has carefully drawn. Whatever this thing is, he has drawn 32,173 of them and written the word stitch that many times. And I assume that the process was figured out before he put a single mark on the paper. I've written about Adelman in the past, and what I said then applies to this piece as well. His work is fascinating, rigorous and yet strangely beautiful--RB


John Adelman, 32,173 Stitch (detail), 2012, gel, ink on paper mounted on panel, 35 x 48 inches


Felipe Contreras, Nice Cliff, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

Felipe Contreras also goes by the name Furm. You can see some more of his work under the name Furm at Peveto in its Funkmotor exhibit. Nice Cliff and the pieces in Funkmotor all share a common feature--the white and orange diagonal stripes, the type one sees on roadblocks used by police or road construction crews. It's a simple yet powerful symbol, and Contreras' use of it is playful. In Nice Cliff, he has taken an image of a majestic mountain and rendered it in a faded-back duotone, layering the orange and white caution stripes over it. The Ruscha-like type, written as a hole in the image, adds a flippant irony to the proceedings.--RB


 
Terry Crump, Lucky Day, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

In Crump, I think I've found one of Paul Gauguin's direct descendants. I want to vacation in Crump's aesthetic.--DL

Terry Crump's Lucky Day includes images associated with luck (good and bad)--cards and dice--but central to it is a large pacing tiger in profile, turning its head to look at us. It (and the other figures in the painting--a rabbit, a frog, a bird) are drawn with a black outline and appear somewhat tarnsparent against a background of splashy, riotous color. It's the color that attracted me to this curious painting. Intense and painterly, I suspect Matisse is an influence. The way the color is laid down behind a line drawing, for example, reminds me of The Red Studio. The large size of the canvas is an important factor in what makes Lucky Day work--it forces the viewer to step back to take in the totality of the image. Crump is one of those people that I love to find at The Big Show--a very interesting Houston-area artist who I have never heard of before. After four years of writing this blog, you wouldn't think there'd be any left, but I'm constantly surprised.--RB