Pan Recommends for the week of April 4 to April 10

Dean Liscum and Robert Boyd

There is a hell of a lot of interesting, diverse art events and exhibits happening in town--way more than what we have listed here.  Check Glasstire for a much more complete listing. It's exciting but also a bit depressing that it is getting hard to actually see everything in Houston. Here are a few things to see this weekend.

THURSDAY


This isn't the sculpture Jonathan Clark is unveiling Thursday night--but it's similar!

Jonathan Clark at Skyline Art Services, 5 pm. Clark's sculpture is just exhilarating like a high school stage band with a groove. Plus, music, food, drinks and art featuring the Kashmere Stage Band!

FRIDAY

8th Annual Frida Festival 2013 at the East End Studio Gallery, 6–10 pm.  With a 

an adult Frida look-alike contest Friday and a kids Frida look-alike contest Saturday afternoon.

We have no idea who these people are!

Liz Magic Laser: Tell Me What You Want To Hear at Diverseworks, 7-9 pm. Art that explores interview techniques? We may try these out on some unsuspecting artists.


Alissa Blumenthal courtesy of Tatiana Istomina

Alissa Blumenthal: A small retrospective at Art Palace, 6–8 p.m. The fictional artist gets a non-fictional gallery exhibit.


Matt Messinger, Dancers, 2013

Matt Messinger: New Paintings at Devin Borden Gallery, 6–8 p.m. The low-key Houston artist gets a well-deserved gallery show.

SATURDAY



"The Challenging Phenomenon of Jermayne MacAgy," lecture by Chelby King at William Reaves Fine Art, 2 pm. The first professional director of the CAA (which later became the CAMH), MacAgy is a key figure in Houston's art history. William Reaves Fine Art is currently showing a group show of Houston Modernist painters from the 50s and 60s (the MacAgy years).


Eric Fischl, Tumbling Woman

Eric Fischl: Cast & Drawn at McClain Gallery, 2-4 p.m. The figure in bronze, glass and watercolor,. Just so you can say, "Yeah, I saw that."



Earl Staley: The Speed of Life at New Gallery/Thom Andriola at 6–8 p.m. Professor Art returns with a show of new work. 

Illustrate the End: The Art of Vincent Fink at El Rincón Social,  8 pm – 12 am. Because the folks at El Rincon always keep it interesting.

Pan Recommends for the week of November 22 to November 28

Robert Boyd

Not much happening this week what with Thanksgiving Holiday--but there are a few things we think you might be interested in.

FRIDAY

Black Friday, Phillip Pyle II at the Art League (as part of The Stacks), 6 pm, November 23. The Stacks isn't a traditional art show that remains more-or-less static throughout its duration. Instead, it's a series of residencies, and that means several opportunities for openings. This Friday, Phillip Pyle II shows us what he did with the shredded remains of stuff left over from the November 16 opening.

SATURDAY

The Drawing Room, Part 2 at the Galveston Arts Center, 6 pm [through January 6]. A group drawing show that features Debra Barrera, Jillian Conrad, Bethany Johnson, Laura Lark, Jayne Lawrence, Leigh Anne Lester, Katie Maratta and Neva Mikulicz. With weather so nice this weekend, a little trip out to Galveston would be ever so pleasant--and a lovely drawing show at GAC would be a nice capper!

{Form follows (Function} follows Form) follows “Function...follows Form." at Kallinen Contemporary, 7 pm. This is the perfect show to see on the way back from Galveston. As usual, Kallinen Fine Art is offering up an overstuffed show in their huge quonset hut, this time displaying art furniture. The artists include John Paul Hartman, Solomon Kane, Amerimou$, Gian Palacios-Świątkowski, Kelley Devine, Dandee Warhol, Chasity Porter and many, many more.

SUNDAY

Y. E. Torres and Erin Joyce: Raised In The Wild: Memories of a Bad Unicorn at the East End Studio Gallery, 6 pm [through November 25]. Don't much about this show, but it sounds in some ways like a sequel to Once there Was, Once There Wasn't, which Torres put on (with Lisa Chow) in August. Fractured fairy tales indeed.

BUT WAIT! The Pilgrims came to this continent and created Thanksgiving for one reason--so we could shop like maniacs on Friday. Now in recent decades this has become something of a bummer because parking lots are full and people brawl in the aisles of stores to get the last marked-down electronic thingumajig, and let's not ignore the folks who get trampled to death.

Sure you can avoid all this by staying home, but where's the respect for tradition in that? So I say, make Black Friday a day to buy art. Or slightly less black Saturday. Art is the perfect gift--it's highly personal and it's not mass-produced by exploited elves and buying art puts money in the pockets of artists. Plus, you are almost guaranteed not to be trampled to death by surging crowds of art consumers. Not all of Houston's galleries are open this weekend, but a lot of them are. I asked a few about their Black Friday (and Saturday) plans. Here's what they told me:

D.M. Allison -- open Friday and Saturday
Peveto -- open Saturday 2 pm to 5 pm
Catherine Couturier -- open Friday and Saturday

Redbud -- open Friday and Saturday
GGallery -- open Saturday

New Gallery -- open Friday and Saturday
P.G. Contemporary -- open Friday and Saturday

Anya Tish -- open Friday and Sturday

Art Palace -- open Saturday
Inman Gallery -- open Saturday
David Shelton Gallery -- open Friday and Saturday

Sicardi Gallery -- open Saturday
Gallery Sonja Roesch -- open Friday and Saturday
Darke Gallery -- open Saturday

(Is your gallery open this weekend? Let us know in the comments.)

Stroll through Skatestock 2012

Dean Liscum

Saturday was Skatestock day at Lee and Joe Jamail skatepark. The one day festival is organized by PUSH (Public Use Skate Parks for Houston) and benefits the Morgan Moss foundation, which supplies photography equipment to Texas high schools in honor of it's namesake, an artist and photographer.




The 9-hour event was chock full of bands, DJs, artists, vendors, and of course all the skating you could stand.



I strolled through the festival on my way to the Pan Art Fair and here's some art and visuals that caught my eye.

Skate boarding and spray painting are complimentary and there was plenty of both on display.






The organizers set up panels for taggers to ply their trade. Some of them came from as far away as California.






Here's a nice bit of functional, geometric abstraction (I know.That's an oxy..., moron.)



Tools of the trade.



I haven't heard either candidate tout the economic benefits of tagging, but they're out there.



A number of local artists showed their support including Sketchy Neighbors



Tara Conley brought some sculptures.



Guerro Studios brought skate signage and Halloween-appropriate posters.




Jonathan Clark displayed his office supply sculptures.



Catfish had lines a-plenty for purchase.




Peace, love, skating, and of course Pan.

Locked in the office supply closet with Jonathan Clark

Dean Liscum

I have a confession to make.

As a corporate cube dweller, I covet office supply. Actually, it's worse than that. I don't just covet the stuff. I fantasize that with the right color combination of post-it notes and pastel highlighters, I could--while on a multi-hour conference call--create a masterpiece.

To be honest, my masterpiece would be a conventional, representational artwork similar to Mark Khaisman's work as in his Irina, which he created using packaging tape on an acrylic panel and backlit with red light.


Or I'd do yet one more pointillist tribute to Seurat and create something like Eric Daigh's portraits made of push pins.


Eric Draigh, Meghan III, pushpins on board, 48" x 36"

But, I'd use those really large push pins because after about 30 minutes I would be bored with my own artistic genius and frustrated with my level of skill. Then, too, glasstire.com would send out Rachel Hooper to help inform me oh-what-a-piece it was and Laura Lark to advise me in...well, everything.

This sort of representational, found (in-the-office-supply-closet) art requires some skill. There's no shortage of artists that possess that skill and create art from office supplies. However, they all seem to do representative art. 

Houston's Jonathan Clark separates himself from the other cubical kleptomaniacs by creating abstract art as demonstrated in his show at Darke Gallery.


Jonathan Clark installation

The pieces are a dazzling discovery. From afar, they are fans or star bursts that capture your attention and draw you in with their detail.


Jonathan Clark installation, detail

Up close, they delight as you discern the post-it notes, paper clips, pencil erasers, matches, and much more that compose the pin wheels. Also, the intricate patterns of the pieces make for some interesting shadow play.


Jonathan Clark installation, detail

Most of my appreciation is simply visual and formal. The work doesn't seem to be particularly political. It is neither portraying corporate America as a pastel colored Deathstar or serving as a performance piece in which the artist as a member of the 99% (I'm using probability, here. He could be loaded) attempts to either cripple or bankrupt the 1%'s economic enterprises by hoarding all the office supply and turning it into abstract art mandalas and merchandise.


Jonathan Clark installation, detail

The star/pinwheel leitmotif does get a little tiresome after a while. But, I'm pretty sure Clark can snoop around after office hours and find some inspirational rectangles in his co-workers' desks.


Jonathan Clark installation

Perhaps among the spare change, clandestine photos, and secreted cigarettes, he'll discover a dusty leather portfolio with a legal pad in it and that will inspire him to get square.

Given the season, I'm surprised that Staples or Office Depot or some other retailer trafficking in office-school supplies hasn't hired him to do an entire series. Maybe then the kids would bring home office supply art projects that you could surreptitiously deconstruct as you needed to record a phone number or jot down a grocery list or remind yourself to send money to your favorite arts organization.

(All photos of Jonathan Clark's work are courtesy of Darke Gallery.)

Mysterious North Houston Art Colony Discovered

by Robert Boyd



Independence Art Studios had an open house last weekend, so I decided to go check them out. They are on Janisch Rd. between Shepherd and Yale north of the Loop. The neighborhood they are in is Independence Heights. Independence Heights was a small town founded by black families in 1916 that got annexed by Houston in 1929. What is considered the neighborhood of Independence Heights is a little bigger than the original municipality. It's a part of town I've never really visited before, and I was well amazed when I did. When I discover art happening in Houston--particularly art that's been completely off my radar--I get excited. I knew Independence Art Studios existed, but I was very impressed to finally see it.



These are the studios. (You can't see it well here, but to the right is a big house. The lots on the streets in this neighborhood are enormous.) The studios are owned and run by the Cullar-Ledfords--Thedra Cullar-Ledford and her husband Stephen Cullar-Ledford. I didn't meet them when I stopped by, but I have a strong feeling for Stephen--he went to the Jones School for an MBA (as did I) and works for a natural gas E&P, as do I, and does an big art thing on the side! (Independence Art Studios for him, Pan for me.)

The studios are made out of old containers, and are quite roomy inside--long and thin, with a tiny loft space for storage. One artist, Jon Clark, lives in his space.



Jon Clark and Chasity Sophus Porter, who also has a studio there, posed for me. Clark had amazing piece of sculpture on the front lawn--another wooden nautilus shape.


Jonathan Clark, untitled, cedar and deckmate screws, 2011

Ok, I was pretty impressed by what the Cullar-Ledfords had done. They have a thriving art colony going! Check out their website. But as I mentioned, it was a neighborhood I had never really seen. So out of curiosity, I thought I'd drive around and see what else was there. So I went one block south to Martin St. and my mind was blown.


414 Martin Rd.

This nondescript house had a brilliant blue sculpture by Lee Littlefield in front of it. (I'm sorry I don't have a photo, but the photos I took were out of focus.) And their front yard was chock full of abstract sculptures.



The yellow sculpture looked like another Lee Littlefield, and it seemed like there was a third in the back yard.









This is an amazing collection of sculpture, and there's even more than what I've photographed! Except for the pieces that are obviously by Lee Littlefield, I have no idea who created these works. Can any Pan readers identify them?

But wait--that's not all. There were just as many sculptures in the yards of three houses across the street. I didn't get as many photos because the sculptures were further back in the property, and I didn't want to skulk around in case they were shoot-first-ask-questions-later types. But here are a couple of photos.





These sculptures appeared to be at the addresses 331, 331 1/2, 405 and 414 Martin St. I was curious as to who owned them, but I didn't think to knock on the doors and ask. So I thought I'd do the next best thing--look them up on HCAD, Harris County's internet accessible property database.

And what do you know--Lee and Eliza Littlefield live at 414 Martin Street. Those sculptures look like Lee Littlefield sculptures for a good reason! Someone named Brian Owens owns the property at 331 Martin, which has two really nice looking houses on it as well as lots of sculpture. His name doesn't mean anything to me, but he may be renting houses to artists there. 405 Martin is owned by Magdalene Boltz-Topp, who is also an artist. But that's not all--according to HCAD, sculptors Paul Kittleson and Carter Ernst co-own the property right next door to the Littlefields.

So with Independence Art Studios on Janisch Rd., and a whole bunch of sculptors on Martin St., I think we can say that this is a little hidden art neighborhood. And if it follows the pattern of other art neighborhoods like Montrose and Rice Military, in 25 years or so, it will be full of expensive townhomes. So my advice is to buy now--or at least take a drive over past the Littlefield's home--it's worth checking out.