PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN.
There’s something about Sean Shim-Boyle’s Project Row House installation, Salt House, that speaks to the moment. A second fabricated chimney bisects the room, altering the interior just enough to wake us up to its reconfigured space.
We’ve all had our share of “keep calm and carry on” in recent weeks, all of which winds us back to what sustains us. Art, like salt, plays a part. And if you don’t believe me, head on over TEDxHouston and listen to Jane Weiner’s fierce dance/rant Salt. I hope you will find something in this issue to interest, or perchance, to sustain you.
Nancy Zastudil lends her insight to Marcelyn McNeil’s spacious canvases now on view at Anya Tish Gallery. We welcome Marene Gustin back to A + C’s pages in her preview of the Houston Palestine Film Festival.
In his Loose Ends column, Devon Britt-Darby sheds a tear for the Pollock that got away, channels the late Robert Hughes on Jeff Koons and ponders the relationship between Forrest Bess’s life and his art.
From Jerome Robbins’ mirror-holding humor in The Concert at Houston Ballet to Catastrophic Theatre’s reprise of Mickle Maher’s word fest, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, to Shen Wei’s minimalist The Rite of Spring, you can see that the arts soldier on in this city.
As always, A + C writers are a busy bunch. Our own Britt-Darby kicks off part one of his Art League Houston exhibition, appropriately titled Art Criticism and Reporting, with an artist talk at 7 p.m. May 17. Zastudil has organized The Fourth Dimension was Ha-Ha, in Other Words, That it is Laughter at the Blaffer Museum. The show opens May 31 at 6:30 p.m. and runs June 1 – July 20. Abby Koenig’s work, Back At Day One, Again, is included in Vox Feminina IV at Pandora Theater, May 3-11.
May’s Art/Ad Bomb comes courtesy of Houston artist Alexandre Rosa. Check out more of his work at www.alexandrerosa.net.
Here’s to carrying on, artfully and otherwise.
