Mequitta Ahuja, Boogie Woogie (detail), 2005

Houston: Art on the Bayou

Home to more than just Mission Control, the Astrodome, and Destiny's Child, the fourth largest city in the US has a healthy cultural community. In this issue, contributing writer Lisa L. Powell explores Houston's museums, residencies, galleries, alternative spaces, and noteworthy art events. We also interview Menil Collection curator of modern and contemporary art Franklin Sirmans, to get his impression on what separates Houston from other art capitals — and which Bayou City artists we should be watching.

- Paul Laster, Managing Editor

FEATURE

Although many perceive Houston in terms of its oil industry or NASA — or even its urban cowboys — the city has a long-established, internationally recognized art scene. With its museums and galleries, alternative spaces, and community of practicing artists, Houston's scene is as vibrant as it is diverse. One of the city's mainstay institutions, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is a large art complex with an encyclopedic collection and a strong track record of organizing groundbreaking exhibitions, such as 2007's Helio Oiticica: The Body of Color. Tucked away on a quiet neighborhood campus, the Menil Collection, along with its distinctive Cy Twombly Gallery and enigmatic Rothko Chapel, is known for its depth and diversity of holdings. And the Contemporary Arts Museum is the leading non-collecting institution for contemporary art in Houston. The recent appointment of Bill Arning as CAM director promises to add a dynamic new voice to the art community.

The Core Artist Residency Program has long attracted emerging talent to the city. The 27-year-old program offers one-to-two-year residencies to postgraduate artists and critical-studies students. The artists refine and exhibit their work, while students work on independent projects, curate exhibitions, and write essays. Visiting artists and scholars interact with the Core Fellows and with the public through a lecture series. The Core program provides the space, and most importantly, time, for the artists' professional development. Alumni include Leandro Erlich, Julie Mehretu, Aaron Parazette, Shahzia Sikander, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Mequitta Ahuja, and Francesca Fuchs.

The Aurora Picture Show, founded by Core alumnus Andrea Grover, is one of the nation's premier microcinemas, showcasing non-commercial film, video, and new media in a renovated Houston church. Other alternative art spaces include DiverseWorks, a multi-disciplinary arena where artists are encouraged to test new ideas, and Lawndale Arts Center, with an emphasis on contemporary local artists. A multi-faceted gallery scene, which includes the Barbara Davis, Inman, and Texas galleries, sports a strong roster of local, national, and international artists. The Blaffer Gallery, an exhibition space at the University of Houston, provides a venue for both students and established artists, while the Rice Art Gallery on the Rice University campus has the singular mission of commissioning and presenting installation art.

Community involvement exemplifies the energetic spirit of Houston's art scene. Glasstire is an online resource for news, reviews, and blogs covering visual art in the city and throughout the state. Each fall, the Houston Art Crawl invites the public to visit over 150 artist studio spaces in the downtown warehouse district. FotoFest is a biennial festival of photography and photo-related art held at over 100 venues across the city, and is considered one of the most important photography festivals in the world. Perhaps the most irreverent and wildly popular event, the Art Car Parade features more than 200 extravagantly decorated automobiles rolling through the streets of the city. Indeed, an enthusiastic public, amid dynamic organizations cultivating and presenting a wealth of talent, make Houston's art scene soar.

- Lisa L. Powell

INTERVIEW

Franklin Sirmans is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Menil Collection in Houston. The 2007 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize, awarded to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African American art and art history, Sirmans was also named "Best Curator" by the Houston Press in its "Best of 2008" issue. Artkrush editor Paul Laster recently caught up with Sirmans to get his views on the Houston art scene after nearly three years of living and working in the city.

Artkrush: After being in or around New York all of your life, what was the most daunting thing about moving to Houston?

Franklin Sirmans: The lack of everyday public spaces. That's why it's great to work in a museum that provides that as its mission on its campus — especially one inclined toward a dialogue on public space — but there is very little public interaction that is not stratified by class here.

AK: What was it about the Houston art scene that you found most welcoming after you had settled there?

FS: Everybody is friendly and all that good stuff, as I'm sure you have heard.

AK: Do you travel to art events in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Marfa, or is Texas so big that they're just too far away?

FS: Texas is way too big. I go to these places as much as I would go to places of an equivalent distance from New York, about once a year.

AK: Who are some of the artists in Texas that you think deserve better national and international attention?

FS: In my humble opinion — and realizing that I work with a lot of artists, so this may be slanted away from there — David McGee, Joe Havel, Katrina Moorhead, Robyn O'Neil, Seth Alverson, Darryl Lauster, Floyd Newsum, and Carl Suddath come to mind.

AK: Are there any artists from the region's past that you think are underrated?

FS: There are some interesting artists like Jesse Lott, Bert Long, and Delilah Montoya that could be better known here and elsewhere.

AK: What do you think Houston has to offer artists that other places don't?

FS: I'm not going to say it's cheap and thus fertile territory for artists to afford to have a good studio, etc. Who cares at a certain point? Are you stimulated to make good work? Houston has amazing museums, residencies, and alternative art spaces, and amazing curators and directors, and gallerists.

AK: What do you think the city needs to do to establish itself as a destination for contemporary art in the way that other American cities, such as New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami, have?

FS: Houston has better institutions than Miami already. They have more visible collectors in Miami and Houston doesn't have a fair — but it doesn't need one. We have similar weather, which is nice. That's what makes it cool here; you can do things as if you aren't live on stage, yet the stage is still big enough to shine a spotlight on the many good things that are happening.

Watch a video tour of the Menil Collection with Franklin Sirmans.

NEWSWIRE

Is Shepard Fairey's Obama really the best design of the year? (The Times)
Architecture and design critic Tom Dyckhoff questions the innovative nature of the Brit Insurance Design of the Year winner.

The inner beauty of a McNugget: a cultural scan (New York Times)
An artist-turned-medical student uses a CT scanner to create surprising images of cultural icons, such as the Big Mac, Barbie, and the iPhone.

Architects reveal plans to redesign Paris (Guardian)
Ten international architects make proposals for Nicolas Sarkozy's vision of a new "Grand Paris."

Till death do us sculpt: Russian to render human bodies into art materials (Independent)
Andrei Molodkin, who will rep Russia at this year's Venice Biennale, wants to turn corpses into crude oil for sculptures and lamps.

Rose family denounces plan to close Brandeis museum (Boston Globe)
Members of the family that donated the money to build the museum oppose plans to sell the art and re-purpose the institution.

Boom turns to bust for adventurous architecture in Spain (Guardian)
Across the country, projects by international starchitects grind to a halt, due to the recession.

From undiscovered to rediscovered, an artist battles on (New York Times)
Self-taught artist Morgan Monceaux overcomes illness and hardship to find a certain level of success.

New Banksy painting vandalised by graffiti artists (Daily Mail)
Financial success may be the notorious artist's downfall as he loses street cred.

Expecting the unexpected (Obit)
Photographer Martin Munkacsi's archive of glass negatives found on eBay and printed anew for exhibition.