Top Five: September 10, 2020

Christopher Blay and Christina Rees on the best solo, two-person, and group shows opening this week in Texas, as well as one city’s gallery night that’s stretching out for safety reasons.

“Because we are living in the Upside-Down, it’s been changed to Gallery Week.”

To watch our Top Five Fall Preview episode from last week, in which Christopher Blay, Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about exhibitions for the new season, please go here.

 

1. CHAMPION 20th anniversary show + Dennis Gonzalez solo
September 12 – November 28
Plush Gallery (Dallas)

From Plush Gallery:

“Plush Gallery opened twenty years ago in a raw warehouse on South Akard Street, just south of downtown, in the area now known as The Cedars. It seems like a dream now, of a world that no longer exists. Our first show was called ‘New Pollution’. Plush quickly established a reputation for showcasing edgy art and performance from its Dallas headquarters, and from there moved into the art fair scene, presenting art shows and curatorial projects in Chicago, New York, Miami, Houston, and Santa Fe.

“For the twentieth anniversary of the opening of Plush Gallery, we will present a group show of eight artists, featuring up and coming talents who have shown at the gallery in the last year, interspersed with work from veterans on the Texas scene, like C.J. Davis, Randall Garrett, and Brad Tucker. The show will feature contemporary work in a variety of media, including collage, painting, photography, and sculpture.”

 

2. taylor barnes: Pressure
September 12 – October 10
Big Medium (Austin)

From Big Medium:

“Pressure seeks validation of the black female form by allowing it to exist as a mindset that rejects mind-less strength and claims self-preservation. The black female is no longer an object that will continue sustaining trauma. These nuanced gestures are a glimpse into the awakened future. Utilizing visual language as action, barnes allows her figures to challenge patterns of complacency and grab hold of power. These work’s collective mantra silence no longer protects us; we will not exist here removes the strain placed on black women to teach and exist in spaces where we are unwanted and places agency on how we position ourselves in this revolution.”

3. Sacred Americanx
September 11 – October 17
Opening Reception: September 12, 4 – 6 PM
Rockport Center for the Arts

Rockport Center for the Arts (RCA) will celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Sacred Americanx, a special two-artist exhibition featuring works by Alejandro Macias and Amorette V. Garza.

“Both Garza and Macias recontextualize religious, political, and pop culture icons as a means of exploring Hispanic culture unique to South Texas,” says Elena Rodriguez, Curator of Exhibitions for RCA. “‘These motifs define what it means to identify with more than one culture and how that affects the artists’ views of the current socio-political climate.'”

 

4. Violette Bule: Echo Chamber
August 1 – October 7
Transart Foundation (Houston)

“Violette Bule’s Echo Chamber is an installation of sculptures, photographs, and snippets of video on a handheld video screen that is activated around one of the works in the show. Bule also incorporates a downloadable app (REQUIEM200) that allows for scanning QR-coded squares on the sculpture of the same title, which reveals photographs and information about deaths during protests against the regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela between February 2014 and February 2017.

“The Venezuelan-born Bule (b.1980) writes in her statement, ‘Drawing on my experiences as a Venezuelan immigrant to the United States, I examine the structural violence that shapes the everyday life of vulnerable and precarious communities. Often employing documentary forms, I hope to renew and radicalize the modern ideal of blurring the boundaries between art and life as I seek to explore vulnerability and amplify it as a potential form of counterinsurgency, or perhaps, of political power.'”

 

 

5. Fort Worth Art Dealers Association Fall 2020 Gallery Night
September 12 – 19
Various locations (Fort Worth)

From FWADA:

“Twice a year, the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association (FWADA) invites you to take in the visual arts and our community’s unique cultural richness during Gallery Night in Fort Worth. Most participants are open from noon to nine. Come take a stroll through participating galleries, museums, retail businesses, and area restaurants, and enjoy the many artists featured during this community event. Check our Member page to view each venue’s website, and view the Gallery Guide below to see other spots to visit including Friends, Eats&Drinks, and Sponsors.

“Gallery Night is FREE and open to the public.

“For the first time, Fort Worth’s Fall Gallery Night on Sept. 12 kicks off Fall Gallery Week! To encourage smaller crowds and visitor safety, we invite you to explore participating venues from Saturday Sept. 12 – Saturday Sept. 19, 2020.”