Reasons Not to Go to the Houston Fine Arts Fair

Robert Boyd

You have a free pass, so you might as well go. On the other hand, why not spare your eyes? This is art that punches you in the face repeatedly.

SHINY ART!


Andrea Stanislav, The Vanishing Points, Cynthia Corbett Gallery


Andrea Stanislav, The Vanishing Points, Cynthia Corbett Gallery

CELEBRITIES!

I have infinitely more respect for 11-year-old girls who put One Dimension posters on their walls than for anyone who buys and displays these horribles.


Alexi Torres, Andy Warhol, oil on canvas, 64 x 80 inches at Evan Lurie Gallery

Yours for $35,000!


Carlos Tirado, John Lennon, mixed media at Rimonim Art Gallery


Alexi Torres at Unix Fine Art


Kwak Seong Yong at Galerie Gaia



Alex Guofeng Cao, Elvis vs. Warhol (left) and a Marylin Monroe abomination (right), chromatogenic print with dibond plexiglass at Laura Rathe

MARILYN!
Jesus Christ, was Marilyn Monroe the unofficial theme this year?! There was so much Marilyn on the floor. Have you ever seen a Marilyn Monroe movie? They aren't very good!


Rodolfo Zagert at Rozanes Aguero Towers Foundation



Goh Geun-Ho, Marylin Monroe, steel at Galerie Gaia


Andy Warhol at Art Link International

Interestingly, they had some examples of the original popster. So if I hate all these other celebrity worshipping bullshit pieces of art, what about Andy? Well, let's give him credit--when he was doing this in the early 60s, it was genuinely a shock. This work now looks pretty bad when it shares an environment with Warhol's many imitators. It reminds me of when Moby put out a cover of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver." A friend of mine told me that Moby's version was so terrible, it made him question why he liked the Mission of Burma original in the first place. All these shitty imitation pop paintings make me wonder the same thing.

SUPERHEROES!

Readers of this blog know I like comics, so it may surprise them how much I hate the art below. But superhero comics are the most soul-dead comics there are, existing merely to perpetuate trademarks until they can be exploited in more remunerative media, churned out by replaceable cogs in assembly lines, regurgitating the simplistic moralism of "good vs evil". And this art is even lamer because it doesn't even attempt a modicum of originality, criticism, or reflection. It doesn't comment on its source. It "flatters" (while secretly laughing at) idiotic collectors for their familiarity with the lame original material. It is utterly crass.


Carlos Tirado, Superman, mixed media at Rimonim Gallery



Michael Suchta, Comic Cover Series, acrylic on reverse glass at Bruce Lurie Galleries


Michael Suchta, Comic Cover Series, acrylic on reverse glass at Bruce Lurie Galleries


Goh Geun-Ho, Bathman (sic), steel at Galerie Gaia

Now "Bathman" is a superhero I can really get behind!


Nelson de La Nuez, It's Superman, mixed media on canvas at Bruce Lurie Gallery

This one is a masterpiece of unoriginality and mental laziness. Not only is it a swiped image of Superman, but the ghostly double image is a swipe of a series of Supermans that Andy Warhol did!


Andy Warhol, Superman, from: Myths, screenprint with dust, 1981

(I saw one of these in the offices of DC Comics when my old friend Chris Oarr worked there.)

COMICS AND CARTOONS!

A related act of artistic pandering is to use comics and animated cartoons as a source for your "fine art."


Ray Phillips, Funny Papers, mixed media, 45 x 62 inches at Laura Rathe


Mr. Brainwash, Love, 2011, mixed media on canvas,  48 x 48 inches at Art Link International

What the fuck?! Theirry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash) is best known for being the butt of a feature length exercise in character assassination, Exit Through the Gift Shop by Banksy. I didn't know anyone actually liked his work. You can have this moving monument to the human spirit for just $67,500.


Lee Young-Il at Nine Gallery


Lee Young-Il, Power up, mixed media at Nine Gallery


Lee Young-Il, Power up, mixed media at Nine Gallery

OK, I have to admit I kind of liked this tumescent Popeye by Lee Young-Il. Here is an artist taking a popular culture icon and playing with it. This kind of play is what I want in Pop Art, I guess.

What You May See at the Houston Fine Art Fair

Robert Boyd

I haven't been to HFAF yet. But I suspect you will see some artworks like these:


Williams Powhida, A Subjective Classification of Things, 2013 

William Powhida, courtesy of Hyperallergic. 

Hey All You Uninsured Artists!

Robert Boyd

Open enrollment for health insurance begins October 1. Fractured Atlas produced this simplified guide.

Pan Recommends for the week of September 19 to September 25

Robert Boyd

An art fair is in town this weekend. I know this because I've gotten something like 20 free tickets to attend. But there is also a multi-day graffiti event in town, too. I suspect both will draw big crowds--but how much will they overlap? That's the interesting question to me.

In any case, below are some but not all of the art events happening this weekend.

THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY


Robert Pruitt is HFAF's artist of the year: Stunning Like My Daddy, 2011, Conte and charcoal on hand-dyed paper 50" x 38"

Houston Fine Art Fair at George R. Brown Convention Center, 7:30–9 pm Thursday, 11 am to 7 pm Friday and Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm Sunday. It's back for its third iteration. Again HFAF distinguishes itself by having quite a few Latin American exhibitors (15 by my count) as well as a lot of Miami-area galleries that specialize in Latin American work. But a new addition this year is a focus on Korean galleries--a separate pavilion features 14 of them.

THURSDAY



"DON'T TALK About It, GRAFF About it" Art Show Opening Reception &"Meeting of Styles Houston" Kick-off Party at UP Art Studio, featuring guest artists from Chicago, the RK Crew, 6 pm to 9 pm. Includes a screening of Bomb It 2 sometime after sundown.

FRIDAY through SUNDAY



Meeting of Styles at Kingspoint Graffiti (aka "the Mullet"), featuring graffiti artists from around the globe, starting at 10 am Friday and going until 8 pm Sunday (I'm assuming there is some endpoint each night, but I'm not sure when). This seems to be a roving graffiti convention/party, stopping here in Houston for the weekend. Lots of music is promised, as well as graffiti.

FRIDAY


Hector Hernandez, Hyperbeast: Yellow, 2012 at Moving/Still

Moving/Still: Recent Photographs by Texas Artists at FotoFest featuring Armando Alvarez, Miguel Amat, Keliy Anderson-Staley, Megan Badger, Jesse Morgan Barnett, Susi Brister, Elizabeth Chiles, Hector Hernandez, Paho Mann, Linarejos Moreno, Barry Stone and Jeremy Underwood, 6–8 p.m. Co-produced with the Houston Center for Photography, this show features some Texas favorites.



Intersection by the Art Guys, at the intersection of Westheimer and Hillcroft, 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. "The Art Guys will repetitively traverse the busiest street intersection in Houston, first in one direction for four hours (clockwise), then in the other direction for four hours (counter clockwise)."  Alas, I will be at work during this performance. But I live near there and am well acquainted with that intersection. If their shoes wear out, there is a big Skechers store on the northeast corner, and if they get bored, they can pop into Bedrock City Comics for some quick visual stimuli.

SATURDAY

 
Armando Alvarez, untitled, 20 x 30

Moving/Still: Recent Photographs by Texas Artists at the Houston Center for Photography featuring Armando Alvarez, Miguel Amat, Keliy Anderson-Staley, Megan Badger, Jesse Morgan Barnett, Susi Brister, Elizabeth Chiles, Hector Hernandez, Paho Mann, Linarejos Moreno, Barry Stone and Jeremy Underwood, 6 to 8 pm. Hmmm--these photographers seem familiar. That's because they also have work up at FotoFest for this two-location show. Between FotoFest and HCP, this show should have a lot of depth.



Sarah Whatley: Recent Works at Bombshell Hair Shop, 6 to 10 pm. Bombshell Hair Shop gets my vote for oddest location (narrowly beating out Hillcroft at Westheimer). Sarah Whatley works with, among other things, x-ray photos as her chosen medium.

How Many Artists in Houston Teach Art at Community College?

Robert Boyd

Yes, it's another poll! I know several Houston area artists who teach art in our local community college systems, and I'd like to know more. I'm curious to get an idea how many of you teach in community college and some details about your teaching. Here's what I want to know:

1) Your name
2) Where you teach
3) Are you an adjunct instructor? Are you a full time staffer? Are you tenured? (Do community colleges even have tenure?)
4) How long have you been teaching?
5) What course(s) do you teach?

Feel free to answer in the comments, or if you'd like your response to be private, you can email it to me at robertwboyd2020@yahoo.com.

My gut feeling is that the various local community colleges (HCC, Lonestar, San Jacinto, etc.) provide jobs for a lot of local artists. Also, it strikes me that this is one area where Houston artists have contact with working class people. This has been on my mind a bit because I'm in the middle of reading 9.5 Theses on Art and Class by Ben Davis. I suspect that this intersection of middle class artists and working class students is an interesting one, and I'd like to know more.

So if you teach art in a local community college, please fill out my poll.

(And if you want to get real depressed about adjunct instructors, read this.)


San Jacinto College art student Oscar Perez. Photo credit: Andrea Vasquez, San Jacinto College marketing department.

Real Estate Art #5: 201 Shasta Dr.

Robert Boyd

Do you have $2.7 million dollars burning a hole in your pocket? If so, this beautiful house on Shasta Dr. in Hunter's Creek can be yours.



According to HCAD, it currently belongs to Dr. Alan Stanton, who is a dentist. I have no idea where he's moving or why--none of my business--but I was impressed with his art collection.



This large abstract painting is a bold splash of color in an otherwise pale, colorless room. I can't identify it. I get a mild Dorothy Hood vibe, but the shapes don't seem quite right. Any of you eagle-eyed art mavens know?



The two black-and-white paintings in this room seem more in keeping with the house's generally chilly interior. (Notice the awesome geode on the bottom left.)

 

That color-constrained elegance was carried over here. You almost expect Bryan Ferry to walk through the room--or at least for his music to be on the stereo.



This room has several smaller pieces, including the sculpture on the right resting on a mirrored pedestal.



Finally, here is one more shot of the exterior, featuring two mammoth geodes. I doubt they come with the house.

OK readers, I leave it to you--can you identify any of the art in this house? I can't, although three paintings here remind me of Dorothy Hood, in terms of her handling of paint.

Sittin Round Drunk in Houston

Robert Boyd

When a band comes to your town, they always do a little shout out--"Hello Cleveland!"--even though from their point of view, this is just another bus-hotel-limo-arena-etc., just like the last one and all the ones before. But it means something to us. I still remember the little thrill I got when the Talking Heads replaced "El Paso" with "Houston" in the lyrics when they played "Cities" at the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1983.

So bands, sure. But painters? Take a look at what Wayne White did.


Wayne White, Sittin Round Drunk In Houston, 2013, acrylic on found offset lithograph, 28 x 52 inches

It makes you wonder if he paints a new "Sittin Round Drunk In ___________" for every city he has a new exhibit in. That said, White does have a history with Houston. We hosted his amazing installation Big Lectric Fan to Keep Me Cool While I Sleep at the Rice Gallery in 2009. I don't know if he spent any of the time he was here building it sittin round drunk, but who knows? Or maybe it's a tribute to the hundreds (thousands?) of people in Houston who, on any given night, are sittin round drunk. (I imagine tonight, when the Texans meet the Titans for the season opener, that number may be in the tens of thousands--especially if we lose.)

In any case, White's show Dunno at the David Shelton Gallery was pretty much what one expects from a Wayne White exhibit--words and phrases painted more-or-less seamlessly as three-dimensional objects into old mass-produced landscapes.


Wayne White, Dorkus, 2009, acrylic on found offset lithograph, 29 1/2 x 41 1/2 inches

These paintings have something to please everyone. White displays exceptional painting and skill and craft, for those who value it. But he also engages in appropriation and the use of found objects, for viewers who prefer a little pomo in their art. The enormous floating words have a surreal presence, being bizarrely juztaposed with the banal landscapes. But the landscapes, cheap lithograph reproductions that some of us might recall seeing at our grandparents' houses, are pieces of cozy working class nostalgia. But wait, such mass produced pieces of "art" are perfect examples of the "culture industry," the way that capitalism co-opted art to psyche out the working class according to Theodor Adorno and Clement Greenberg. So White heightens the contradictions a bit with a little détournment. Oh, and don't forget that they're funny.


Wayne White, Took the Bad Acid by the River and Watched the Meaningless Water, 2013, acrylic on found offset lithograph, 30 x 66 inches

It's the last part that's important. If these paintings had a different vibe--for example, if they chided you instead of making you laugh--no one would like them. On the other hand, they might be taken more seriously. Which would be tragic.


Wayne White, UH HUH, 2013, acrylic on found offset lithograph, 25 x 31 1/2 inches

The problem with jokes is that they are only funny the first hundred times or so. That's why it's hard to imagine owning a Wayne White painting. (It's also hard to imagine because they range from fourteen to twenty-two thousand dollars.) You hang it on the wall of your home and it's funny for a while but after awhile the joke might start to wear on you. Maybe you take it down and put it in a closet. Then you forget about it. But maybe five, 10 years later you find it again. It makes you laugh anew. That's my advice to collectors for the display of Wayne White paintings.