Sonic Expansions: Austin’s Experimental Music Scene

Robin K. Williams·
This year I unintentionally celebrated National Bird Day (Jan. 5) at an avant-garde jazz show. The newly-established Austin Cultural Exchange, together with local record label Astral Spirits and Brooklyn-based journal Sound American, presented Nate Wooley (Brooklyn) on trumpet and Ken Vandermark (Chicago) on clarinet and saxophone—in solo and duo sets that destroy common notions of what these instruments can do or the fullness of sound one or two horns can create.
AustinEditor's PicksMusic

Called to Archive: Studio One in Houston

Nancy Zastudil·
Share an article, pin an image, save a post, link a story. The immediacy of social media and digital visual culture is astonishing. And yet, with all of its accessibility, its staying power is questionable. With so many artists relying on social media to maintain a significant, up-to-date digital presence, is it possible to preserve the knowledge and contributions of living artists?
CultureEditor's PicksHoustonVisual Art

Redefining Modern: McNay Director Rich Aste on Breaking Down Walls——Literally and Figuratively

Devon Britt-Darby·
Before joining San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum as its third director in September, Rich Aste was finishing work on the exhibition French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950, which turned out to be his swansong as the Brooklyn Museum's managing curator, arts of the Americas and Europe, and curator of European art. French Moderns travels to the McNay from March 1 to June 7. Devon Britt-Darby sat down with Aste to discuss his plans for Texas's oldest modern art museum.
Editor's PicksSan AntonioVisual Art

Music and Printmaking Merge in Son Jarocho Style: Alec Dempster at MECA

casey gregory·
In the front hallway of the 6th Ward’s MECA building, you can scan a QR code and hear the creaky strains of an old violin from the Veracruz region of Mexico. Another digital scan of a jumbled-looking square produces a complex tapestry of rapidly overlapping strings known as El Siquisiri. The style of music is known as Son Jarocho, and it is a blend of “musical and dance tradition from the Sotavento, the southern regions of Mexico’s Veracruz state.”
Editor's PicksHoustonVisual Art

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time electrifies on stage

SCOT C. HART·
A large dead dog lies motionless on stage, a garden fork skewered into it’s side. That’s the sight theatergoers see immediately upon taking their seats to witness the first national tour of the wonderfully strange and heartfelt The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, now playing at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas—through Jan 22—before moving south to Houston's Hobby Center Jan. 24-29.
Theater

Full Surround Cinema: Adventures at the 2016 HCAF

Nancy Wozny·
Houston Cinema Arts Festival artistic director Richard Herskowitz mentioned early on in the festival that immersive cinema may be the one of the few ways to get away from our habit of constant distraction. Two days after the election, I needed all the distraction that I could get, which is perhaps why the VR Gallery became my go to refuge during the 2016 HCAF, which ran Nov. 10-17, 2016.
FilmHouston

Leaving a Mark: PrintAustin Deconstructs Diverse Art Form in 4th Citywide Festival

Jeremy Hallock·
Austin is a capital of printmaking with many different components. Using several venues to host a deluge of events, PrintAustin ties all the components together. The month-long festival from Jan. 13-Feb. 18 at venues including Gallery Shoal Creek, FlatBed Press, and La Pena Gallery, draws a diverse crowd of art snobs, artists, hipsters, and novices. It’s printmaking on a huge scale.
AustinVisual Art