To Paint and Sculpt in L.A. (or, Boosting Houston’s Art Ego)

by Paula Newton September 11, 2015
Sharon Engelstein, Diilidiiae

Sharon Engelstein‘s Dillidiidae in Houston’s Hermann Park

Houston-based artist Christian Eckart has put together an exhibition at Los Angeles’ Wilding Cran Gallery called “…a pointy toe boot up the backside” POST-ABSTRACTION FROM HOUSTON, which will open tomorrow. Eckart explains the title as “just another way of saying ‘howdy y’all.’ I like the idea of art being challenging and a bit of a kick in the butt, so to speak.” (Note on the somewhat clichéd Texan title: Eckart was born in Canada, lived in New York for twenty years, before settling in Houston in 2003.)

But it sounds like L.A. will get to experience some great Houston art. The show features new paintings and sculptures by David Aylsworth, Sharon Engelstein, Tad Griffin, Geoff Hippenstiel, Paul Kramer, Joe Mancuso, Marcelyn McNeil, Aaron Parazette, Susie Rosmarin, and Brooke Stroud.

Although Eckart sees Houston as a world-class cultural center, he finds that the city’s major art institutions have long focused “on cultural import rather than home-grown output.” He hopes that this exhibition will help boost the city’s art scene’s self-confidence with “the external support drawn from increased viability in more established art centers like L.A.” and draws parallels between L.A.’s recent evolution as a major contemporary art center and Houston’s potential.

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