Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.
For last week’s picks, please go here.
Sam Lao, “In the Margins,” 24 x 30 inches.
1. Sam Lao: 33 Lines in Liminal Margins
Pencil on Paper Gallery (Dallas)
September 3 – October 15, 2022
From Pencil on Paper Gallery:
“Lao’s practice explores the interaction between color, texture and pattern as they relate to the constant flow of creating and the actions required to bring thought to fruition. This process considers the ever shifting nature of an idea from its inception to its ultimate consumption. Through her craft she examines the abstract nature of what it means to be creative. Having been reprimanded many times in her youth for getting too close to the artwork during museum visits the tactile qualities of Lao’s current work subverts the old adage of ‘do not touch the artwork’ by inviting the viewer to do just that and in turn making a visual experience a physical one as well.”
Jenn Hassin, “Rainbow Bird,” 2022, pulped Vietnam veterans medical uniform, collected pulp remnants, dove carved out of bone on panel, 36 x 24 x 3 inches.
2. Jenn Hassin: Pulp Alchemy
Ivester Contemporary (Austin)
September 3 – October 15, 2022
From Ivester Contemporary:
“Ivester Contemporary is proud to present, Pulp Alchemy, a solo exhibition of new work by Jenn Hassin. This exhibition is the artist’s first exhibition of new work since completing her MFA at Columbia University.
Hassin has spent her career collecting clothing and personal artifacts that have embedded histories of trauma. The work in Pulp Alchemy features military uniforms from all six branches of service, medical uniforms, children’s clothing, blue jeans, carved bone, and porcelain. As a United States Air Force veteran and rape survivor, Hassin’s main intention is to transform the materials she uses from her own past and the materials donated to her by fellow vets and survivors of trauma into beautiful, raw memorials of these stories. Her work invites the viewer to visually sift through the pulped materials and contemplate the history of the people who wore each item.”
Karin Broker, “Girl Juggling Balls,” 2020.
3. Karin Broker: my circus
McClain Gallery (Houston)
September 16 – October 29, 2022
From McClain Gallery:
“McClain Gallery presents Karin Broker’s seventh solo exhibition with the gallery: my circus. Broker’s sculptures range from wired figures repurposed from ceramic body parts or cast metal figures to delicate nests wired with the detritus of well used and forgotten lives. Alongside the exhibition are a selection of Broker’s collections and oddities gathered and created over her long art career.
Since 2014, Karin Broker has been responding with ire to Western Society’s expectations levied against the female gender through her work. For my circus, she has created an army of performers whose bodies have morphed to turn their baggage into weapons or shields, so they might be ready to resist a system built to control them. Broker’s aim is to make powerful, beautiful objects that champion optimism and strength.”
Jill Ewing, “Grackle,” 2022.
4. The Art of Allowing
Bihl Haus Arts (San Antonio)
September 17 – October 14, 2022
From Bihl Haus Arts:
“Nature is the central theme in The Art of Allowing, and reflects the artist’s love of the outdoors and all that Mother Nature has to offer. ‘It’s been proven that nature heals,’ said Jill Ewing, a master naturalist. ‘You can spend as little as two hours each week outside and it helps heal the mind, body and soul.’
The exhibition’s theme is illustrated in the drawings and paintings of birds of all kinds that Ewing and the 18 veterans she teaches in the Forward Arts! program will have on display. Forward Arts! is offered free to veterans to support their mental wellness.”
Lori Solley, “not to be a burden.”
5. Lori Solley: Not. One. More. Word.
UT Tyler Fine Arts Complex Gallery
August 29 – October 14, 2022
From the artist:
“Choices are inherent to daily life as are compromises. I make decisions and compromises daily as a mother, a wife, an educator, and as a person in order to maintain some semblance of an identity while trying to successfully nurture others. However, I believe that what is perceived as truth can often be an illusion of some ideal that is forced upon us. There are parts of myself that are stifled and controlled purely based on which identity I inhabit. The demands of maternal perfection in the context of both past and contemporary society are grueling and exhausting and for me personally disguised by a well- engineered façade. (Which I often fail to maintain.) My drawings are an examination of the many roles that are often inhabited and how they influence my identity.”
