Pan Recommends for the week of February 28 to March 6

Robert Boyd

Here are a few things in the coming week to check out, if you have the time.

THURSDAY

Here's an old one by Jonathan Leach

Jonathan Leach, Time Does Not Exist Here, at Sonja Roesch Gallery at 6m (up through April 17). The maestro of candy-colored hard-edge painting is back with a new show, which is sure to be excellent.


Bert Long piece from his exhibit opening Thursday

Bert L. Long, Jr--An Odyssey at Houston Baptist University Contemporary Art Gallery, 6 pm (runs through April 18). It's tragic that Bert Long didn't get to see this show, which has inadvertently become a memorial exhibit. It's hard to imagine a better way to honor the memory of a Houston art great.

FRIDAY


Julon Pinkston, Baby Honey-Bee, 2012, acrylic and plastic BBs on wood panel, 10 x 6 x 3 ½”

Art+New: 4 New Gallery Artists at Zoya Tommy Contemporary, 6 pm (up through March 16). First she moved her gallery to a new space, and now she's given it her own name. The first show under the name Zoya Tommy Contemporary features work by Scott Everingham, Louis Vega Trevino, John Stuart Berger, Julon Pinkston and the late Laurent Boccara.


Jang Soon, Dong-tak burns Nakyang transferring capital to ZangAn, Digital print, 40" x 28", 2011

Jang Soon: Gone Not Around Any Longer at the The Joanna, 7–10 pm. The Joanna is back with a new show by CORE fellow Jang Soon, known for his intensely colored historical battle scenes.


SATURDAY


Toby Kamps, New York, 2010, Gelatin Silver Print, 8x10" 

Toby Kamps: 99 Cent Dreams at Front Gallery ,4 to 6 pm (up through April 16). Here's my theory of critics versus curators. When a critic shows his artwork, artists are likely to shrug and say, "Don't give up your day job, asshole." But when a curator shows his artwork, artists will say something like, "Great show, sir! Your work is exquisite! I weep with joy in its sublime presence!" We'll see it this theory holds water when we see former CAMH curator/present Menil curator Toby Kamps' new photo exhibit at Front Gallery.

Kamps to Menil... What Now for CAMH?

In what passes for big news in the Houston art community, the Menil Museum, after an exhaustive international search, hired Toby Kamps to be its Modern and Contemporary Art Curator. Toby Kamps is currently the Senior Curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum here. Depending on where Kamps lives, he may find his commute either lengthened or shortened by a mile or so. You can read all about this move here, here and here. Here's a picture of Kamps by Bill Olive that I stole from the Chron:



So this is very exciting and all, but I have one question? What happens at CAMH? They are one curator short now. I suppose they will begin an exhaustive international search, working through whatever professional organization(s) curators have, as well as their own networks. I reckon they'll be looking for someone with an advanced degree (preferably a doctorate) and lots of practical curatorial experience.

I'm going to suggest to CAMH that they think outside the box. Sure, experience and education are good, but maybe what CAMH needs is someone with something else. Someone plugged into the now. An art expert who brings an expertise in modern electronic communication--a blogger, for example. But a blogger who knows a lot about art (yet has weirdly inexplicable and somewhat charming gaps in his art knowledge). Someone with whom, by hiring, they could save on relocation costs--important in these tight financial times! Someone unafraid to write about himself (or herself) in the third person. I think someone like that would be a brave, visionary choice for a new curator for CAMH.

Just my two cents.