Art 🌏
I apologize to you people out there who actually read my blog. I have been unable to write because all my writing time has been eaten up by writing emails. Work and life has been a bit hectic. Starting from Chicago EXPO at the end of Sept to Houston, TX to Shanghai to Xiamen, China to Taipei, Taiwan. I’m now back stateside and looking forward to sharing my adventures with you in the weeks to come.
Let’s first start with #Houston!! and TX Contemporary.
This was my second trip to the great big state of Texas in my entire life and both times this year. Rodrigo is from Texas and always ranting and raving about it so I guess it’s starting to rub off. So far, the lone star state is got a big gold start from me. Houston, though a bit swampy is surprisingly diverse, cultured and all the people I encountered were extremely polite. Chivalry is not dead in TX.
On this trip, we met with Jimena who flew in from Mexico City and Victor Celaya from of the Celaya Brother’s Gallery in Mexico City to exhibit and pretty cool roster of young international artists: Agostino Iacurci, MathewZefeldt, Camila Rodrigo Graña, Josh Reames, and Juan Carlos Coppel. With special sculptural installations by local artist Rene Garza.
We were a pretty well oiled team for meeting together in person for the first time, most of our production work was done over email and google hangout on the intraweb. :)
I had one afternoon to goof off in Houston. So what did I do? I went to hit as many art institutions as possible. #nerd
First, it was the Houston Museum of Fine Art. The museum housed a pretty great selection of Renaissance and Impressionist art, but what really made me go all gooey in the legs was James Turrell’s, “The Light Inside”, a light sculpture installed within the tunnel that connect the two buildings of the museum.
Then I was off the the Houston Center for Photography and saw an exhibition by Morgan Ashcom, “What the Living Carry” where she took a collection of photos and found objects from rural areas of the North East and pieced together an strangely awkward narrative for an imaginary town. Those interested in photography should definitely check out HCP’s great collection of phtography books.
The off to the Menil Campus. This is MUST SEE for any art nerd. They have a Main Building by Renzo Piano that houses an art collection that spans prehistoric to present day. It has one of the most amazing collection of Surrealist art I’ve ever seen. They don’t allow photography on the inside of any of their buildings, but it’s all free and open to the public so you must see in person.
Also part of the campus, Cy Twombly Gallery is “collaboration between the Menil, the Dia Foundation, and the artist himself, the Cy Twombly Gallery that opened in 1995 reflects this institution’s commitment to individual artists and to a standard of presentation that honors the creator’s intent as it immerses visitors in a carefully created environment.” The blurry photo above is when I broke the law an tried to sneak a picture... again, go see it in person.
Also on the campus is Dan Flavin Installation in Richmond Hall, originally built as a grocery store. They were nice enough to have this photo on their website for me to reappropriate. It was a permanent, site specific installation where Dan Flavin was given total artistic reign. He plays with the artificial light contrasted with natural light from the existing skylight creating an ever changing visual experience.
I had a few more minutes before I had to run back to preview for the art fair and I visited the Rothko Chapel. The place is not just a meaningful place spiritually, it’s also the coming together of amazing minds (artists, architects, patrons) of the 20th century working together to make an universal statement of peace and social justice. The space contains 14 murals created by American artist Mark Rothko. The architects on the project are Philip Johnson, Howard Barnstone, and Eugene Aubry. Outside, Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk rises above the reflecting pool on the Plaza. The sculpture is dedicated to The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Houston, we have a problem. I miss you. I didn’t even get to visit NASA!! 🚀
