Bert L. Long Jr., Riding the Tiger, 2000
February 1st will mark the first anniversary of the death of Houston artist Bert L. Long, Jr. and a bunch of artists and Long fans will be celebrating his life at the opening of Bert: Back & Beyond at Deborah Colton Gallery. The opening will also serve as a fundraiser for the upcoming book Riding the Tiger: The Art and Life of Bert L. Long Jr. The book itself is near completion and includes a lengthy essay by art historian Thomas McEvilley, who passed away one month after Long.
A $25 donation will help to publish the book, being organized through the Houston Artists Fund (HAF), which has coordinated similar projects for artist’s books including The Art and Life of Lucas Johnson, published by HAF and UT Press, and an upcoming biography of Dominique and John de Menil to be published for Alfred A. Knopf.
It should be quite a celebration—the host committee is a very long and serious list of the Houston arts community; the Art Guys will MC; and there will be live music from Texas Johnny Boy and Milton Hopkins. And it all helps to publish a book on a legendary Houston artist.
