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.

Conversations During the Opening Reception: Guus Kemp and b. moody

Virginia Billeaud Anderson

It was important to him I view the canvas from many angles. “You’ll observe variations in texture by changing viewpoints,” Guus Kemp said at the opening reception of PG Contemporary’s three person exhibition. Wanting me to appreciate his paintings’ sculptural qualities, the artist positioned me near the side of the canvas, and at various frontal angles. Admittedly by trotting around the painting, I saw unexpected patterns emerge from the clusters of meringues-shaped globs that seemed to defy gravity.

It requires more than revved-up impasto though for a painting to be interesting. Kemp established energy and motion with sweeping brushstrokes. He told me he aims for dynamism.

If exuberant swirls call to mind de Kooning, this is not unexpected for a Dutch artist. Kemp was trained in the Netherlands where it would be impossible not to be impacted by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and de Kooning’s mastery of color and light.


Guus Kemp, Wild Dance, 2012, Oil on canvas, 24 x 48

“Do you use a brush,” I asked wanting to know his process. Kemp replied he only uses a palette knife. I asked if he mixes the paint with painting medium. He does not. His oil paint is unmodified, “straight from the tube,” he said.

Kemp’s colors are jewel like and glittery and are chosen for their up-lifting quality. He wants his art to sooth viewers’ emotions. Psychically comfortable art it turns out can be commercially viable. The artist was rightly puffed up as he described abundant gallery representation, with affiliations in New Orleans, San Antonio, and a solo exhibition at PG Contemporary scheduled for March 2013. “I sold 52 paintings last year,” he volunteered. One thing became certain during our chat - this guy is enamored with paint.


Guus Kemp, Moonlight Dance, 2012, Oil on canvas, 24 x 48

A big hug from b. moody (artist Bradford Moody) and I’m into my second conversation during PG Contemporary’s opening reception. Moody’s hair is still damp from his bath and he “dressed up” for the opening but there’s paint on his clothes and paint stains covered his hands. It took him about two seconds to remind me that his solo exhibition will be in December.

VBA - I’m thrilled to see Cotton Fairy here, he’s perfectly aberrant with that muscular physique and African mask-shaped head, panties and high heels, sashaying through a cotton field.

BM - Dang woman, you saw it too!

By this Moody means that I too witnessed south Loos-iana agricultural laborers, called field hands, perform back-bending work. He is also referencing youthful excursions into the New Orleans French Quarter, where along with hookers, strippers, druggies and other sorted types, we frequently encountered transvestites.


b. moody, Cotton Fairy, 2009, Acrylic on panel, approx. 70 x 20

Moody’s parody is scorching. Dark skin figures with African mask facial features and stylized braids allude to bigotry, a dominant theme. Just as black figures alliterate prejudice, hermaphrodites and cross-dressed or ambiguously gendered nudes allegorize homosexuality, another important underlying theme. Cotton Fairy cites both.

I got pulled by the elbow to the large diptych I Still Love You and asked, “Does the tape work?” Indeed it did. Bits of tape disarranged across agitated lines and shrill colors added disorder. He pointed out areas in which he left the cardboard ground exposed, extra messiness that offset arts’ grandeur. As is often the case when discussing his art, the topic turned to Basquiat whose graffiti aesthetic Moody absorbed when he lived in New York. Along with Basquiat, his work is directly influenced by Egon Schiele’s death-haunted figures. “I want my art to be raw and naked,” Moody told me.

VBA – Brad, she’s decidedly perverse. That harpy shows you at your most twisted.

BM – I know. I love her.

We’re talking about the diptych’s maternal figure, a frequently encountered motif, emblematic of fecundity, death and overbearing strength. Moody conceives the figure naked and in high heels with a ghoul face, corpse color skin, pregnant belly, and a stitched up vagina. Unlike previous versions, this one has no bloody crotch.

 
b. moody, I Still Love You (Diptich), 2012, House paint, cardboard, tape, 5 ft. x 10 ft.

The third artist in the group show, Ushio Shinohara, was unable to come from New York or somewhere for the opening reception, which was unfortunate because having seen his wicked little sculptures, which by the way were selling and which MOMA will soon be exhibiting, it is certain we would have had a charming conversation. Works by these three artists will be in PG Contemporary’s booth at the Houston Fine Art Fair.



Ushio Shinohara, Motorcycle Self Portrait, 2012, mixed media, about 1 ft.