Artstorm

by Bill Davenport October 22, 2007

I just came back from Artstorm, a new artist-run space in a garage apartment in Brookesmith. I arrived a couple hours before the big opening, naturally everything was chaos. The inaugural show includes 8+ artists, many of who were there applying those little rub-on numbers to the walls, or still hanging.

Amid the hubbub, I grabbed a two-minute interview with Melissa Juvan, the impresario. Although there are no definite plans, the space is artist-run, modeled on Austin's Okay Mountain, which was brought to Juvan's attention by Rachel Cook, editor right here at Glasstire, with whom she attended HSPVA. We have to make out own fun here in Texas, and I wish them the best — their energy and their show, even if only half-installed, was the perfect antidote to the after the chilly crypt of Alejandro Garmendia's show at McClain gallery, and the disappointingly dry Jamal Cyrus Show at CTRL, and the production-line slickness of Ken Little's show at Finesilver.

It's a gallery, not an apartment! Really!!!

0 comment

0 comment

b.s. June 13, 2007 - 12:09

why does the MFAH label their art under collector’s names, and why does this latin american show not garner the same rightous indignation the african art survey did last year?

kinetic and op seem to be superficial stereotypes of latin american work, do you think they fit in well with the rest of the show?

great article evan, kudos!

Reply
Untitled June 21, 2007 - 08:31

The MFAH has been lucky enough to receive donations of entire collections of work, from modern and contemporary art to silver and jewelry collections, from internationally renowned collectors. It’s not that they necessarily label their art under collector’s names perse, but that these collections reflect the collectors themselves, the Halle Collection is a perfect example. As opposed to seperating the works into several shows (which I imagine they may do later), the collections are presented in their original form to display the quality of their curation.

I think the kinetic and op art featured in the show worked very well with the more contemporary work. It was interesting to see the influences of those movements on the new work, and to see where the contemporary artists decided to either stray or allow themselves to be informed by it.

Reply

Leave a Comment

Funding generously provided by: