The Statement: Islamic Art Gets Prime Real Estate at the DMA
In most respects, the recent unveiling of a dedicated Islamic art gallery at the Dallas Museum of Art was a straightforward, self-evidently happy occasion.
Visual Art
Old and Improved: Art as Wish Fulfillment in CAMH’s A Better Yesterday
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s latest exhibition A Better Yesterday, on view May 20-Sept. 3, brings together work by Jack Early, JooYoung Choi, and Lily van der Stokker. Devon Britt-Darby caught up with director Bill Arning, who organized the show.
Between Heaven and Hell: The Drawings of Jusepe de Ribera at The Meadows
Jusepe de Ribera, a Spanish Neapolitan artist who spent his early career in Rome and went on to become one of the most important Caravaggesque painters, influencing Salvator Rosa and others, drew a lot, according to contemporary accounts, one of which held that “the tablecloth on Sunday was the drawings he had made during the week.”
Anything’s Possible: PrintHouston 2017 Reflects a Medium’s Multiplicity
As printmaking shows fan out across Houston over the next few months, visitors to PrintHouston 2017—a multivenue array of exhibitions and events highlighting a range of traditional and experimental techniques—it’s worth remembering that fewer than eight years ago, the Bayou City’s printmaking scene left a lot to be desired.
A First Look: The Museum of Street Culture’s Permanent Collection
Museums are ultimately defined by the distinctiveness of their collections. With a constantly growing diverse selection of art, Dallas’ new Museum of Street Culture challenges the idea of what a museum can be, positioning itself at the crossroads of social purpose and culture.
Dean’s Show: Is Paul Ramírez Jonas’s CAMH Survey Really His?
Mid-career retrospectives have a way of messing with their subjects’ heads. When you’re used to always thinking about the next project, looking back on decades’ worth of work can produce as much anxiety as nostalgia.
Funny (But Not Too Funny): Katherine Bernhardt at The Modern
Contemporary art lovers have until July 9 to see more than two dozen of Katherine Bernhardt’s colorful, large, curious paintings on canvas and paper at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Double Consciousness: Ann Johnson at Hooks-Epstein Gallery
You can’t see, shortened from the phrase “You can’t see how you see me,” is an exhibition and body of work by Ann Johnson that addresses a plethora of issues facing people and communities of color today.
Beauty in Slaughtered Bodies: Lionel Maunz at Austin Contemporary
Exploring the aesthetics of self-destruction, Lionel Maunz uses cast iron, concrete, and steel to create dystopian figurative sculptures—surprisingly organic forms that appear distorted by dismemberment and decay.
Show Up: HJ Bott
“Math originates all,” HJ Bott says, while sporting a T-Shirt with the Pi symbol.
Political and Promising: The 39th MFA Exhibition at Blaffer Museum
There are 15 artists in this year’s 39th MFA Exhibition at Blaffer Museum, which runs through April 22.
Empathy as an Ultimatum at Project Row Houses
My recent visit to Project Row Houses’s 46th round of exhibitions, Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter at Project Row Houses, on view March 25 through June 4, introduced me to a new way to consider empathy: As an ultimatum.