Top Five: July 28, 2022

Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.

For last week’s picks, please go here.

1. William Wegman: Painting by Artist
Texas Gallery (Houston)
July 12 – August 27, 2022

From Texas Gallery:

“This solo show will be Wegman’s 12th at Texas Gallery since his first in 1973. It coincides with two other exhibitions of the artist’s works. One, in New York at Sperone Westwater Gallery, Writing by Artist, focuses on the use of writing and language in Wegman’s work. The other at Marc Selwyn Fine Art in Los Angeles, Art by Artist, includes work in a variety of mediums from drawings to photographs to paintings.

The ten new paintings in the exhibition at Texas Gallery consist of works from two series. One group continues Wegman’s use of found images, specifically postcards, which he has employed throughout his career, particularly since his return to painting in 1985. In previous ‘Postcard’ paintings Wegman placed seemingly disparate images on the canvas and then linked them with painted passages, often humorous and playful. These new paintings present more uniform themes of postcards – motels, well-known tourism sites, grand buildings – which, while still extended by the artists painted additions, are now contained within colorful geometric forms. The other group of paintings in this show were inspired by images of architectural disasters, some naturally caused, as in Tree Fell On House, to the more specifically man-made Construction Problem.”

2. FriendsWithYou: The Dance
Amarillo Museum of Art
May 28 – September 4, 2022

From the Amarillo Museum of Art:

“FriendsWithYou is the art collaboration of Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, created with the intention to bring more joy, kindness, and love to the world. The collaboration is a vehicle for the exploration of emotional healing through culture creation and art-making. Each work is created with the intention of transcendence, and nurturing care for the viewer or participant. FriendsWithYou’s meaning is in its name, in that everything in the universe can and wants to be friends with you, an aide in the promotion of love, harmony & peace in our lives. Their goal is to connect and heal as much as possible through their work, to grow the love and joy in each person, creating an exponential aggregate of sharing, healing, and compassion for each other and our living planet.

As a celebration of AMoA’s 50th anniversary, this film project is a unique and exciting way to showcase the topography, industry, and culture of Amarillo, Texas. Cattle ranching has been a significant part of the region’s history and there is also increasing interest and support for public art installations. As seen in the film, the vast landscape of the Texas Panhandle provides a unique canvas on which to display monumental works of art. This film merges the art practices of installation, performance, music, videography, and documentation. The production of the film involved local talent including filmmakers, artists, and musicians who showcase Amarillo’s growing creative talents and capabilities.”

3. Austin Uzor: Windows for Forgotten Landscapes
Rockport Center for the Arts
August 5 – September 18, 2022

From Rockport Center for the Arts:

“’Uzor titled this show Windows for Forgotten Landscapes, and the size of the work really makes these paintings into portals peeking into otherworldly spaces of memory and moment,’ said Elena Rodriguez, curator of exhibitions for Rockport Center for the Arts. ‘Memory comes not only from the film-faded figures but also the gesture of the artist’s hand.’

Featured in the RCA Main Gallery, Windows for Forgotten Landscapes showcases themes of religion, migration and being displaced, as Uzor navigates the complex reality of regularly being in a state of flux, inspired by his move to the United States in 2016.”

4. Dennis González: Talismans
Plush Gallery (Dallas)
June 18 – September 10, 2022

From Plush Gallery:

“Before he passed away earlier this year at age 67, Dennis Gonzalez was a musician, artist, and cultural influencer of great magnitude. Living in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas since 1976, he toured Europe and the world extensively as an avante garde jazz musician, showed his mail art and talismans at galleries and art centers, was a DJ on KERA-FM with his program “Miles Out,” for over twenty years, and founded La Rondalla, a free after school music program for children in Oak Cliff. Most recently he showed collaborative artworks with his granddaughter Issy, and in the fall of 2020 had a solo show (Faded Jewels: Future Memories) at Plush Gallery of mail art works produced during his world tours over the years.

This posthumous exhibition will feature his talismans, ritual objects which he created and kept around the family home, believing them to be imbued with protective energy. As he said in a recording shortly before his death, ‘I have been making talismans for thirty years or more, ranging from tall tree limbs wrapped in yarn and wire, to dried gourds decorated with bells and feathers. All the way to small, personal, protective and practical amulets for wearing or for hanging in the house. They are living entities, filled with energy and guidance, and they help to conserve the magic in your dreams and in your fleeting thoughts.’”

5. 2022 ICOSA Collective Member Exhibition
ICOSA Collective (Austin)
July 8 – August 6, 2022

From ICOSA Collective:

“Spatial Harmony explores the commonalities and differences found within the ICOSA Collective. The selection of works represents a range of media and execution with leitmotifs of patterning, reiteration, and assemblage, exemplifying the unique approaches of each featured artist. Individual perspectives are brought into focus by the conversation between works.

Featured Artists: Leon Alesi, Darcie Book, Shawn Camp, Veronica Ceci, B. Shawn Cox, Jonas Criscoe, Erin Cunningham, Mai Gutierrez, Sarah Hirneisen, Madeline Irvine, Amanda Linn McInerney, John Mulvany, Vy Ngo, Matt Rebholz, Michael Villarreal, Lana Waldrep-Appl, Jenn Wilson.”