Austin
Featured show: America Martin: Solo Show, Nov. 2–Dec. 1
For their eleventh solo show with America Martin, Austin’s Wally Workman Gallery showcases the artist’s ability to turn linear elements and flats of color into lively, dimensional subjects. Inspired by mid-century artists’ penchant for the deconstructed figure, Martin presents “a new modernity” that combines her own style and interests with lessons from Indigenous cultures, including those of her own Colombian heritage. America’s titles add linguistic, even poetic, elements to the impact of her visual work, hinting at themes of hope and humanity.
Dallas
Featured show: Johnny DeFeo: Wild America, Oct. 19–Nov. 30
Johnny DeFeo is infatuated with the outdoors, specifically the remaining unspoiled landscapes throughout the United States—if such a thing exists. Fittingly, Wild America, the artist’s current exhibition at Cris Worley Fine Arts, asks viewers to confront our relationships with these spaces, which often means feeling caught between our love of nature and the desire to control it. Central to DeFeo’s practice is plein air painting; once back in the studio, his memories of the landscape “inform compositions that combine luxury interiors with unbelievable views.” Wild America features DeFeo’s recent paintings of taxidermy, which he creates by setting up his easel in unexpected places.
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AUSTIN: America Martin, Gather Apricots, oil and acrylic on canvas, 59 x 59 inches, image courtesy of the artist and Wally Workman Gallery
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DALLAS: Johnny DeFeo, Albuquerque Cabela’s, 2024, acrylic on linen, 20 x 16 inches, image courtesy of the gallery and Cris Worley Fine Arts
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HOUSTON: Dorothy Hood, Spiritual Arrow Combats Eclipse of Light, c. 1960s, oil on canvas, 60 1/4 x 60 1/4 inches, courtesy of the Dorothy Hood Estate Holdings, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi and McClain Gallery
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HOUSTON: Kristin Marie Bachmann, installation view of KRISTIN MARIE BACHMANN | At the Still Point at The Techne Gallery, 2024, Photo: Paul Hester, image courtesy of the artist and Techne Gallery
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SAN ANTONIO: Linda Monsivais Hernandez, Commute, 2024, aluminum cans on wood panel, 30 x 40 inches, image courtesy of the artist and Culture Commons
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SAN ANTONIO: Rolando Briseño, Mesa Cotidiana, 1992, acrylic on tablecloth, 53 x 53 in. Image courtesy of the artist and Centro de Artes Gallery
Houston
Featured show: Dorothy Hood: Celestial Voids, Sept. 28–Dec. 28
Celestial Voids is an exhibition of paintings by the late artist Dorothy Hood, best known for her groundbreaking methods of abstraction and monumental fractured color fields. The show, which spans from the late 1960s through the early 1990s, focuses on a spare and minimal series of paintings created through her now signature washes and staining. Weightlessness and expansiveness take center stage, imparting her canvases with cosmic grandiosity. “While her talent as a colorist is hailed widely, her contributions to a minimalist methodology and quietly surreal abstraction remain under-observed,” the gallery explains. “Celestial Voids aims to fill this quiet chamber.”
The Techne Gallery at TXRX Labs
Featured show: KRISTIN MARIE BACHMANN | At the Still Point, Nov. 1–Dec. 13 (Part 2)
There’s still time to catch Kristin Marie Bachmann’s two-part solo exhibition of woven sculptural works—the second segment is on view through the end of the year at Techne Gallery (located inside the lobby of TXRX Labs). Bachmann spent more than four years developing the works in the show, exploring the canvas itself as a woven textile that is often overlooked, as is its significant art historical role. In her practice, Bachmann uses a variety of weaving structures to explore the boundaries between drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation, and for At the Still Point, these boundaries work well together, arguing for the elegance of form and color.
San Antonio
Culture Commons (City of San Antonio Dept of Arts & Culture)
Featured show: Featured show: Resilient and Responsive: Artists and the Environment, April 11, 2024–Jan. 17, 2025
The City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture joins forces with the Office of Sustainability to present an exhibition dedicated to climate and the environment, inviting community response to the topic. Resilient and Responsive: Artists and the Environment includes 28 artworks by 14 San Antonio artists: Margaret Craig, Manuel Davila, Celeste De Luna, Aminah Decé, Kwanzaa Edwards, Jose Esquivel, Audrya Flores, Jacob Garza, Lindsey Hurd, Marcos Medellin, Ashley Mireles, Linda Monsivais Hernandez, Doerte Weber, and Andrea Willems. The intention of the show is to prompt visitors’ response, inspiring them to be active participants in the City’s efforts of sustainability and resilience.
Centro de Artes Gallery (City of San Antonio Dept of Arts & Culture)
Featured show: Dining with Rolando Briseño: A 50-Year Retrospective, Sept. 5, 2024–Feb. 9, 2025
Mexican-American artist Rolando Briseño grew up in San Antonio during the 1950s and ʼ60s in a family of successful business professionals with roots in Mexico. Amidst the era’s conflict, racism, and social injustices, Briseño was connected to a rich culture imbued with love, art, and traditions. Highlights of his life include joining local Chicano arts movements, studying around the world; establishing a niche for himself by focusing his art on Mexican cuisine; and achieving success as a public artist. His retrospective at Centro de Artes Gallery tells how his story as an artist reflects “the story of Mexican-American arts and a culture that has been captured, fought for, and celebrated.”
—NANCY ZASTUDIL
