Christina Rees and Christopher Blay on a Dallas veteran’s retrospective in Houston, the intersection of art and design, and a show by someone who runs one of the best art spaces in the state.
“Running an art space and making art at the same time is pretty tough.”
1. Carolyn Sortor: Common Ground
Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas
November 7 – December 15
Visitors are invited to try to describe points of concern on which they think they probably agree with people with whom they think they otherwise mostly disagree. Their descriptions will then be compiled and used to create something else.
This experiment may evolve during the course of the exhibition.
“If you visit when the artist is not there, you will still be able to view the exhibition and share your input. Appointments at other times are also available; please email with ‘common ground’ in the Subject.”
2. Vicki Meek: 3 Decades of Social Commentary
Houston Museum of African American Culture
November 16 – February 16
A solo exhibition featuring work by Vicki Meek.
“The Philadelphia native who currently resides in Dallas and Costa Rica, has left an indelible mark on our cultural environment. In 1992, she stunned Houstonians with her profound The Crying Room: A Memorial to the Ancestors installation at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The Crying Room remains timeless for African American lives lost to police and societal violence. Timeless art that has moved us over the last 30 years.”
3. Patrick Kelly: The Divided Self
Galveston Artist Residency
November 30 – February 8
“The Divided Self presents a small selection of works from 25 years of art production. More group show than survey, the exhibit provides an insight into the evolution of an artist as seen through the works of art. The artist of 1994 is not the same artist of 2019 or for that fact 1995. Evolving interests, intent, skills, subjects of curiosity, technology and any number of other factors have continuously changed and influenced the artist — naturally reflected in individual and bodies of work.”
4. Amber Eagle: Nap Dreams
Galveston Arts Center
November 23 – February 23
“Eagle’s exhibition features multi-media works inspired by devotional, celebratory, and folk-art practices found throughout Mexico and the Southern United States. Eagle employs the ephemera of pageantry, ritual celebrations, and adornments often used to celebrate personal and historical events in her work. Influenced by her extensive experience spent between Mexico and Texas, Eagle creates narratives that are inspired by the role of the feminine in Mexican myths and folklore. Cake decorations, party favors, fireworks, prize ribbons, and trophies are represented in an evolving narrative translated through the artist’s personal experience living between two cultures.”
5. WORK PLAY MONEY LOVE WHAT IT IS WHAT COULD BE BOTH NEITHER ART DESIGN
Northern-Southern, Austin
November 4 – December 12
“WORK PLAY MONEY LOVE WHAT IT IS WHAT COULD BE BOTH NEITHER ART DESIGN surveys creative practices that overlap cultures, primarily professional design and fine art, but also politics, business, spirituality, and social change. Never outliers, just rarely discussed—hybrid art-design practices have blossomed in the twenty-first century. The show is a conversation about art-design as a profession shaped by contradictory pressures and motives. We attempt to find—and share—ways to talk about the ways we work now.”
1 comment
Lovely, nuanced, right-on tribute to Vicki Meek — thanks, Christopher!