Lots of interesting shows, including some at highly unusual venues. But why did everybody schedule their openings for Friday? Planning for gallery hopping this Friday will require some serious effort!
FRIDAY
Sojourner at the Menil Collection Bookstore at 5 pm (on view through January 15). I love the notion that the Menil is such a font of art that even the bookstore has art exhibits. This one, on the theme of travel, is curated by Anne Regan and features art by Libby Black, Alika Cooper, Ryan De La Hoz , Rachel Foster , Bryson Gill , HellaCrisis , Isaac T. Lin , Gaelan McKeown-Hickel , Casey Watson and Travis Wyche.
Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art at the CAMH at 6 pm (on view through February 15). Features Derrick Adams, Terry Adkins, Papo Colo, Jamal Cyrus, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Theaster Gates, Zachary Fabri, Sherman Fleming, Coco Fusco, Girl [Chitra Ganesh + Simone Leigh], David Hammons, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Lyle Ashton Harris, Maren Hassinger, Wayne Hodge, Satch Hoyt, Ulysses S. Jenkins, Shaun El C. Leonardo, Kalup Linzy, Dave McKenzie, Jayson Musson aka Hennessy Youngman, Senga Nengudi, Tameka Norris, Lorraine O’Grady, Clifford Owens, Benjamin Patterson, Adam Pendleton, Adrian Piper, Pope.L, Rammellzee, Sur Rodney (Sur), Jacolby Satterwhite, Dread Scott, Xaviera Simmons, Danny Tisdale, and Carrie Mae Weems. And on opening night, there are two performances starting at 7:30: "The Last Trumpet" by Terry Adkins and "Costuming the Body with Nothing" by PopeL, as well as performances Saturday and throughout the period of the show.
Shane Tolbert: Talk of Montauk at Bill's Junk, 6 pm (on view through December 22). Shane Tolbert spent his
Stacks curated by Robert Pruitt at the Art League, 6 pm (on view through January 14). This isn't just a show--it's a series of residencies that will feature performances and installations. The participating artists are Jamal Cyrus, Nathaniel Donnett, Autumn Knight, Phillip Pyle II, and M'kina Tapscott, along with writer Garry Reece and on opening night, poet Douglas Kearney. Opening night will feature the destruction of racist memorabilia donated by the audience, so if any of you have any pickaninny dolls that you are, you know, slightly embarrassed to own, bring it to the Art League Friday.
Franklin Evans: "houstontohouston" at Diverse Works, at 6 pm (on view through January 5). I don't know much about this artist and the show description makes it sound like a hi-brow version of Hoarders, but it's the first official exhibit at the new Diverse Works, and that's pretty exciting!
Wax at Cardoza Fine Art, 7 pm with a performance by V.R.S. and Screwed Anthologies sometime after 9 pm. This show features the work of Bret Shirley, Erin Joyce, and Lauren Moya Ford. Some of Houston's wildest shows are at this funky loft gallery, so you shouldn't miss this one.
SATURDAY
Cronopios by Seth Alverson and Lane Hagood at Kaboom! at 6 pm. Two of Houston's finest painters read Around the Day in Eighty Worlds by Julio Cortázar and decided to make paintings of all the illustrations in the book. Naturally, they chose a bookstore--the always excellent Kaboom!--to display them.
French Neon and Cody Ledvina at galleryHOMELAND at 6 pm (through December 30). Skydive and galleryHOMELAND are teaming up for this duel exhibit. French Neon is a collective consisting of Daniel Bainbridge, Zachary Bruder, Donald Cameron, Leah Dixon, Erin Lee Jones,David Teng Olsen, Kassie Teng, Adrian Tone, Lauren Seidan, and Mark Sengbusch. Cody Ledvina will be presenting a new video called "Dad Town is an HJ Hub." French Neon will also be presenting an artists' talk at 1 pm at Skydive.
