The Tins
Are In!!
08/21/06 - pick up your metal sheet to participate in the annual Retablo Silent Auction/Galaclick here
Dia de los Muertos Teacher Resouce Page
Click here
Building Renovation 2005
September 1 - October 14, 2006
Opening Reception Sept 1, 2006
from 6:30pm-8:00pm
Artist Talk begins at 6pm
John M. O’Quinn Gallery
Troy Stanley
Zephyr
Stanley's ambitious project will require the installation of a series of outdoor sculptures to interact with objects inside the O'Quinn Gallery. The outdoor components consist of wind collecting sails set on steel structures. These nine sails measure in upwards of 9 feet tall and function as levers when the wind blows (whether a gentle breeze or a large gust). Connected to each sail are strands of monofilament. These strands connect to wood and steel structures on the front sidewalk and direct the strings through the Main St. door of the Lawndale building. From here the strings attach to the wall and then again to a floor structure where they attach to a series of platforms in the center of the gallery containing pieces of particle board (MDF) cut into 3/8th inch strips at 48 inches high. The systematic placement and density of these pieces resembles an area of sparse grass/vegetation yet references urban design geometry.
As the wind blows outside, the sails catch the wind causing them to move. This movement in turn causes the blades of grass/MDF to move and mimic a field of grass blowing in the wind. The overall scale of the piece and the distance between each component requires the viewer to experience the whole as a discontinuous/continuous system. Over the course of the show material tolerance and mechanics from the wind movement will deteriorate causing the piece to, in a sense, die.
Troy Stanley received his BFA in Sculpture- Magna Cum Laude - from the University of Houston, Houston, TX in 2005. Stanley was awarded the Faculty Scholarship in 2005 and 2004. His work has been seen in group exhibitions, "The Big Show", Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX (2005); "HUNG - The Association of Student Sculptors Annual Fundraiser Show", Commerce Street Artist Warehouse, Houston, TX (2005); and his installation, "Flood" was on view at the Buffalo Bayou Art Park, Sabine Street, Houston TX (2005).
Grace R. Cavnar Gallery
Betsy Huete
Palimpsest
Betsy will copy the most personal letter she has ever written, verbatim, onto the walls of the Grace R. Cavnar Gallery in black, washable marker. Once the wall is covered, she will wipe down the wall with soap and water. She will repeat this action continuously through the working hours of the gallery. She will do this every day for the month and a half duration of the show.
Born in New Orleans, LA, Betsy Huete received a BA from Rice University (Houston, TX) in 2005, and a BFA from the same institution in 2006. Solo exhibitions include "Letter", "Sewell Hall, Rice University, Houston, TX; "Scab", Sewell Hall, Rice University (2005); and "The Mavis C. Pitman Award Exhibtion", organized by Rachel Boyle, Rice University Media Center, Houston, TX (2005 and 2006). Selected group exhibitions from 2005 include "Output", organized by Brendan Mulcahy, Rice Gallery, Houston, TX. Betsy was awarded the Mavis C Pitman Award in 2004 and 2005; and the Frank Freed Traveling Fellowship in 2005.
Mezzanine Gallery
Lauren Kelley
Collect Them All! Soft Brown Narratives
The interdisciplinary work of Lauren Kelley explores ideas about race and sexuality. She makes objects and images that range from drawings on panty shields (exhibited as photographs) to sculptural wigs created from non-traditional materials and found objects (fried chicken, fingernails, candy, gum, rubber, rice, and polyurethane resin). She exhibits much of the work as video and photographs, allowing some of the less perishable objects to be displayed alongside.
This Fall in the Mezzanine Gallery Kelley will screen her new video entitled "Big Gurl". This playful 12 min video animates various brands of African-American Barbie-like dolls. All of the doll characters in this video are navigating real life situations like body image, women's health, consumerism, and relationships. This video is about the scale of "small things"; occupying a larger- than-life space in daily life. Conceived to reconstruct cliché notions of the darker woman as tough, callused, or bitter, "Big Gurl" is a collection of four narratives that make swarthy ladies the archetype of femininity.
Lauren Kelley has received numerous awards for her work, including the Outstanding Art Faculty Member award from PrarieView A and M University, Prarie View, TX (2004); the Interdisciplinary Fellowship from the Illinois Art Council, Chicago, IL (2002); and the MFA Fellowship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (1999). Her work has been seen in exhibitions including "Project Row Houses Round 21 ½" , Project Row Houses, Houston, TX (2004); "Telling our Story: The Art of YBW", Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL (2003); "Burnt, Fried, Pulled, and Curled", curated by Dawoud Bey, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (2002); and "Wig Works", DiversWorks, Houston, TX (2001). She has lectured at the Glassell School, Museum of Fine Arts Houston (2005) and Southwest Texas State University, History Department (2000). Kelley received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art,Baltimore, MD (1997); and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (1999). She is currently an instructor at Prairie View A&M University.http://www.laurenkelleyworld.com