Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.
For last week’s picks, please go here.
1. Nathaniel Donnett: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Dark Imaginarence
Texas Southern University Museum (Houston)
December 9, 2023 – April 7, 2024
From Texas Southern University Museum:
“The University Museum is pleased to present Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Dark Imaginarence, Nathaniel Donnett’s first solo exhibition at Texas Southern University. The artist’s multimedia works consider how people navigate space and time through nonlinear trajectories as they explore material and immaterial worlds — and ask how abstraction reflects our realities while offering multiple ways to perceive them. Donnett examines the role imagination plays in contending with obstacles in our lives that manifest as systemic limitations, but also constitute nuanced moments of discovery.
The exhibition takes inspiration from the life of Ed Dwight, a former Air Force pilot who almost became the first Black astronaut to enter outer space but was denied because of sociopolitical interference and racial hostility. He later reimagined himself and became a sculptor. Following that path, Donnett’s works — textiles, sculpture, installation, sound, video, and, importantly, community engagement in the form of a backpack exchange with students from historic Black neighborhoods in Houston (Third Ward, Sunnyside, Acres Homes, Fifth Ward)—combine the unknown and the embodied to search out Black cosmologies and material constellations that act as poetics, prompts, processes, and presentations for lived transformation.”
2. 2024 Border Biennial
El Paso Museum of Art
December 15, 2023 – April 14, 2024
From the El Paso Museum of Art:
“The 2024 Border Biennial / Bienal Fronteriza 2024 will focus on the unique identity of the borderland, which includes a diversity of experiences. The exhibition will explore how the definition of “the border” has helped shape artists’ artistic practice and make up who they are, including their history, gender, culture, race, sexuality, etc. Engaging programming and a publication capturing the show will accompany the exhibition. While the artworks in the Border Biennial focus on the United States / Mexico border, the exhibition provides an opportunity to reflect on borders and their conditions worldwide.”
Lowell Daunt Collins, “Portrait of Ruth Uhler,” 1947, oil on canvas on board, 20 x 16 inches.
3. Legacy: The Art of Lowell Daunt Collins and Michael Roqué Collins
Dishman Art Museum (Beaumont)
January 20 – March 2, 2024
From the Dishman Art Museum:
“This exhibition explores and contrasts the work of renowned Texas based artists, father and son, Lowell Daunt Collins (1924-2003) and Michael Roqué Collins (b. 1955) and their legacy in the art of the southwest.
Legacy will examine these two artists and capture how they were connected and influenced not only as family but through their individual artistic pursuits and how they both shared their passions as educators. Both have creative ties to Beaumont and the Gulf Coast through connections with Beaumont natives Richard Stout and John Alexander.”
A work by Beth Schindler
4. Beth Schindler: Like Oil and Water, We Look Good Together in a Parking Lot
Prizer Arts & Letters (Austin)
February 3 – 25, 2024
From Prizer Arts & Letters:
“Beth Schindler, founding member of Homo Photo Club, is returning to Prizer for her first solo photography exhibit. About the exhibit, Schindler writes, ‘This is us simply living our lives and trying to get away with it. I am driven to create moments where sexy gay dirtbags can feel free. Even if it only lasts as long as the flash.’”
Tiara Unique Francois, “aint tuf enuff”
5. Tiara Unique Francois: learning to be T.U.F.
Oak Cliff Cultural Center (Dallas)
February 24 – March 29, 2024
Opening February 24, 6-8 p.m.; gallery talk at 7 p.m.
From the Oak Cliff Cultural Center:
“The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is pleased to present learning to be T.U.F., a solo exhibition by Tiara Unique Francois curated by Ciara Elle Bryant, opening on February 24 with a reception from 6-8 p.m. The artist and curator will give a gallery talk at 7 p.m. on the day of the reception.
Utilizing painting and assemblage, Francois’ work explores narratives focused on her identity, family, and personal experiences through reimagined memories. Rooted in self-reflection, her self-portraits recall her collection of experiences as a young black woman, navigating personal growth through competing thoughts of hope and self-doubt.”
