Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.
For last week’s picks, please go here.
A work by Joe Harjo
1. Joe Harjo: Indian Removal Act I: American Progress
Galveston Arts Center
October 7 – January 7, 2024
From the Galveston Arts Center:
“Indian Removal Act I: American Progress is the first part of a three-part exhibition series by San Antonio-based artist Joe Harjo that he describes as ‘delving into the historical and contemporary issues that have profoundly affected Native American communities, our land, our narratives, and our pursuit of prosperous futures.’ The title of this body of work derives from the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forcibly displaced Native nations – including Harjo’s own, the Muscogee Nation – to ‘unsettled’ lands west of the Mississippi River. Through addressing the current misrepresentations, homogenization, and undervaluation of Native culture, the work brings visibility to and emphasizes Native growth, contributions, resourcefulness, adaptability, and existence of Native people within contemporary spaces.”
Kehinde Wiley, “The Death of Hyacinth (Ndey Buri Mboup),” 2022, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Templon. © 2022 Kehinde Wiley
2. Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
November 19, 2023 – May 27, 2024
From the museum:
“The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence, the artist’s new, monumental body of work created against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the murder of George Floyd and the global rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. The exhibition had its U.S. premiere earlier this year at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Expanding upon American artist Kehinde Wiley’s Down series from 2008, An Archaeology of Silence meditates on the deaths of young Black people slain all over the world. These 26 works stand as elegies and monuments, underscoring the fraught terms in which Black people are rendered visible, especially when at the hands of systemic violence. Wiley has said, ‘That is the archaeology I am unearthing: The specter of police violence and state control over the bodies of young Black and Brown people all over the world.'”
Installation view of “Grace Weaver: Indoor Paintings” at Hetzler Marfa
3. Grace Weaver: Indoor Paintings
Hetzler Marfa
May 4 – December 10, 2023
From the gallery:
“Hetzler Marfa is pleased to announce Indoor Paintings, a solo exhibition of works by Grace Weaver (b. 1989, Vermont) made during a residency in Marfa, Texas. The exhibition includes a presentation of oil on canvas works in the main gallery and Weaver’s largest works on paper to date in the artist studio.”
Works by artist Montrel Beverly
4. Montrel Beverly: Go To Your Room
SAGE Studio (Austin)
November 4 – December 9, 2023
From the gallery:
“Go To Your Room invites guests into a pipe cleaner wonderland; Montrel Beverly has created an immersive teenage bedroom straight out of the early nineties, chock-full of everything from Lunchables to Nintendos to Reebok Pumps, all out of pipe cleaners. Though pipe cleaners are often dismissed as a craft material, Beverly elevates them to fine art, building elaborate creations that include automobiles, food, Ferris wheels, and buildings. His work has been featured in Hyperallergic magazine and represented at New York City’s Outsider Art Fair. Visitors are invited to bask in nostalgia and marvel at Beverly’s incredibly unique craft.”
Installation view of “Spanish Light: Sorolla in American Collections” at the Meadows Museum
5. Spanish Light: Sorolla in American Collections
Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University (Dallas)
September 17, 2023 – January 7, 2024
From the museum:
“The Meadows Museum presents Spanish Light: Sorolla in American Collections, featuring 27 paintings by Joaìquin Sorolla y Bastida’s from American private collections, some of which will be displayed publicly for the first time in decades. The curator of the exhibition is Blanca Pons-Sorolla, renowned Sorolla scholar and the artist’s great-granddaughter. It joins a worldwide celebration of the artist – dubbed the ‘Year of Sorolla/Año Sorolla’ by Spain’s Ministry of Culture – during the centennial anniversary of his death. Of the approximately 30 exhibitions taking place, the Meadows’s is one of only two in the U.S.”
