Christina Rees and guest host Christopher Blay on road signs as art, some rock-and-roll portraiture, and a show that reintroduces us to one of the greats.
“It has those qualities that make painters want to paint, and make artists want to look at good painting.”
1. Monet: The Late Years
Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth)
June 16 – September 15
“Through 52 paintings, the exhibition will trace the evolution of Monet’s practice from 1913, when he embarked on a reinvention of his painting style that led to increasingly bold and abstract works, up to his death in 1926. Assembled from major public and private collections in Europe, the United States, and Asia, including holdings from the Kimbell Art Museum and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Monet: The Late Years will include more than twenty examples of Monet’s beloved water-lily paintings.”
2. Between Play and Grief
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
March 16 – September 8
“An exhibition featuring a survey of works from the MFAH collection of Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Latinx art. The work of the following artists is represented in Between Play and Grief: Antonio Berni, Juan Carlos Distéfano, Alberto Heredia, Luis Jiménez, Rómulo Macció, César Augusto Martínez, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Grupo Mondongo, Celia Alvárez Muñoz, Luis Felipe Noé, Marcos Raya, Vincent Valdez, and Jorge de la Vega.”
3. Isaac Julien: Looking For Langston
Linda Pace Foundation/Ruby City (San Antonio)
March 1 – August 11
A show of films and photographs by Isaac Julien. “Central to the exhibition is Julien’s seminal 1989 documentary-drama Looking for Langston, a film which expanded his international acclaim. Looking for Langston, one of Julien’s most recognized early works, is a meditation on the life of poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes alongside several of his contemporaries who were also integral members of the Harlem Renaissance. When it debuted, it was lauded for its exploration of desire and the reciprocity of the gaze, and marked a founding film of what critic B.Ruby Rich named The New Queer Cinema.”
4. Matthew Williams & Invisible Genie: My Art With the Dynamite Museum
Contemporary Art Museum Plainview
June 22 – July 13
An exhibition featuring sign art by Matthew Williams and Invisible Genie. From the artist: “This show highlights the signs I designed along with art by the Invisible Genie Construction Club made at Mariposa in 2018.”
5. Kate Simon: Chaos and Cosmos
Fort Works Art (Fort Worth)
May 11 – August 31
A solo exhibition featuring photography by Kate Simon.