William Cannings is the master of optical illusion. The English-born sculptor got to Texas as fast as he could – living and working in Lubbock with a steady gig as professor of sculpture at Texas Tech's School of Art. The illusionist produces pieces that look like balloons, inner tubes, beach...
Turning ordinary objects into art was pioneered by Marcel Duchamp, who in 1917 entered a wall urinal in a Manhattan art competition, signed it “R. Mutt” and titled it “Fountain.” As expected, scandal ensued. Almost a century later, this approach is encouraged by the Anya Tish Gallery with a group...
The scribbles over the acrylic on canvas paintings that make up "HJ BOTT: Scribble Morphings" document that HJ Bott has a sense of humor, and refuses to take himself too solemnly, though this in no way questions his seriousness as an artist. The press release undermines the light-hearted tone, going...
Two very different painters are having their work shown at the sleek Anya Tish Gallery in an exhibition entitled Altered Angles: George Grochocki & Shayne Murphy. Both artists take chances, and both are courageous. George Grochocki seems minimalist, but gives a lot, relying on three-dimensional shaping, and the wit of...
In Charlotte Smith: Paint Rhetoric the artist's paintings to a large extent use the same materials for each, but the color variations are vast, with each painting singing a different siren sing. They seem to have in common that they are invitations, formal ones, telling the viewer what kind of...
There is an inspired pairing up at Anya Tish Gallery right now with Orna Feinstein and Carlos Zerpabzueta. Both multimedia artists traffic in works that are optically playful and vibrantly colorful, making for a show that is dizzyingly fun to experience. Feinstein, a Houston artist from Israel, has shown at...
Not unlike Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist, Swiss-born Katja Loher creates brightly surreal video worlds. The artist crafts kaleidoscopic visuals, setting unitard-clad female dancers against strange flora. The videos are hypnotic and riveting; the only problems are in the presentation. In an extremely successful installation in the back of the Anya...
Print Houston 2011 continues at Anya Tish Gallery. Tish has pulled together some pretty innovative artists for her show, but the standout is Turkish artist Ardan Özmenoglu. Özmenoglu has created a marvelous installation in the gallery using multicolored Post-It Notes. Densely clustered on one 12-foot wall, the Post-Its are overlaid...
"Evergreen: Original Contemporary Prints" Print Houston 2011, a celebration of artist prints, is finding its way into multiple venues around town. Philomena Gabriel Contemporary has an interesting selection of prints for sale from the collection of Sharon and Gus Kopriva. The Koprivas have amazing stuff, and it's a great opportunity...
This Thursday, the much-anticipated "Bayou City Noir" opens at the Museum of Printing History, and we've got a pair of recommendations each for Friday and Saturday. Bayou City Noir: The Photographs of Marvin Zindler In the early '50s, when Houston was the nation's murder capital, famous Houstonian Marvin Zindler was...
