Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.
For last week’s picks, please go here.
M.C. Escher, “Bond of Union,” April 1956, lithograph, collection of Michael S. Sachs. © The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands. All rights reserved.
1. Virtual Realities: The Art of M.C. Escher from the Michael S. Sachs Collection
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
March 13 – September 5, 2022
From the MFAH:
“Virtual Realities: The Art of M.C. Escher from the Michael S. Sachs Collection is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of works by M.C. Escher ever held, from the collection of Michael S. Sachs, who gathered works over 50 years and acquired ninety percent of the Escher estate in 1980. The exhibition will include more than 400 prints, drawings, watercolors, printed fabrics, constructed objects (such as the Angels and Devils sphere), wood and linoleum blocks, lithographic stones, sketchbooks, and the artist’s working tools.
Maurits Cornelis Escher (Dutch, 1898-1972), popularly referred to as M.C. Escher, is known internationally for his self-described “mental images,” which connect to mathematics and various branches of science. Considered a “one-man art movement,” he remained outside of the art establishment. Escher was heralded in the psychedelic era of the 1960s and 1970s and is treasured today for his mind- bending works.”
2. Chaos 8!
Ro2 Art (Dallas)
August 6 – September 17, 2022
From Ro2 Art:
“Ro2 art is thrilled to announce CHAOS 8!, the return of the gallery’s signature invitational summer small works show. The eighth edition marks the return after a two year hiatus. Presenting works by over 150 artists, the show includes those from the gallery roster and invited guest artists from North Texas and beyond. Hung in true salon-style, entering the main space will feel like an embrace from the art community.”
Cristina Velásquez, “As If It Were the Sun” on view at Assembly in Houston.
3. Cristina Velásquez: As If It Were the Sun
Assembly (Houston)
July 16 – August 27, 2022
From Assembly:
“Assembly is pleased to present As If It Were the Sun, new work by Colombian artist, Cristina Velásquez. This is Assembly’s debut exhibition at our brick-and-mortar gallery in Houston, Texas. As If It Were the Sun extends the artist’s inquiry into the photographic gaze against issues of identity, history, and colonialism through photographs and photographic weavings made with cardboard. The straight, color photographs are purposeful fragments of larger narratives. Drawing the viewer’s attention to the reductive nature of the medium, this work opposes the photograph’s tendency to distill its subject’s intersectional relationship to the world into a single quality—often viewed from a Western perspective—’the sun.’ For Velásquez, similar to identity, the function of the photograph is to explore rather than to define. It presents an opportunity for vulnerability, dialogue, and even collaboration. As If It Were the Sun reorients viewers away from a hegemonic view to a more nuanced position. Velásquez’s gestural crops imply that there is always more than what is presented.”
Kalee Appleton, Digital rendering for vinyl wrapped buildings, on view at Ivester Contemporary.
4. Dream Job: A Collection of Proposals for Grand Ideas
Ivester Contemporary (Austin)
July 16 – August 27, 2022
From Ivester Contemporary:
“Ivester Contemporary is excited to announce our Main Exhibition Space summer group show titled Dream Job. Ivester Contemporary has invited each artist to dream up and present their biggest ideas. The gallery will be displaying highly presentable and collectable sketches, maquettes, and digital renderings of the projects and ideas that they would pursue if money, time, knowledge, and space were not obstacles. Examples of the eleven ambitious ideas that will be on view include drawings of twelve-foot-tall bronze and stained-glass outdoor sculpture, a maquette of a playground in the shape of giant animal bust, and a digital rendering of skyscrapers wrapped in custom vinyl designs. The goal of the exhibition is not only to display beautifully presentable descriptions of the group of artist’s ideas, but to look for individuals, corporations, and public entities willing to invest in producing these grand projects. An opening reception will be held from 7-9pm on July 16th and many of the artists participating will be in attendance.”
Voelcker & Dixon Inc. Hardin with wings and tower, 1935; From the MSU Archive Collection, Moffett Library Special Collections
5. Belong, Connect, Discover: 100 Years of MSU Treasures
Wichita Falls Museum of Art
July 19 – October 1, 2022
From Wichita Falls Museum of Art:
“Universities offer a wealth of resources in support of learning and enrichment, including collections of all kinds. Donations of collections often commemorate a person or milestone in the university’s history and, as such, tell a story that can inspire one’s own belonging. Learn about the treasures at MSU, when and how they came to be and what is special about them. From geological specimens to early radiology equipment and documentary photographs to illuminated manuscripts, with visual art and letter jackets too, the collections at MSU Texas invite broad interest, study, and enrichment.”
