DEBRIS: My Lovely Whore

Oh, July can just go fuck itself, with all the mosquitoes and humidity, thunderstorms and puddles. At least you can cool off at the Menil for free, or hop movies all day down at Edwards Grand Palace Theatre. Best A/C around. Third place goes to the Museum of Fine Arts- free on Thursdays till 9 pm and throwing out some good films for the summer. The weekend of July 14th brings a festival of new Spanish short films to the Dirty South and on the 20th Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus will be here to bring you down. Especially since it's free, art rats need to make sure they make it out on Thursday, July 26th at 7 pm for a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee; a full length feature on the performance and conceptual artist who has ingratiated herself into a myriad of American subcultures with a bit of makeup, a little coercion and a lot of chutzpah. She has posed as a member of various ethnic and social groups including drag queens, punks, swing dancers, senior citizens, Latinos, hip-hop fans, skateboarders, lesbians, yuppies, and Korean schoolgirls. In her new film this social chameleon flips her analysis back on herself, and the artist will be in town to introduce her film.

The Joanna, Houston's newest art gallery, is nestled in the neighborhood behind St. Thomas University, housed in an innocuous garage and home. Their newest show, No Skeleton Armies, Please is a real treat if you can find them over at 4014 Graustark at the corner of Branard. Stop by for new work from young artists Michael Bise, Francis Giampietro, Nick Meriwether, Eric Pearce, Treon Rick and Brian Rod. Most of them are known for their imaginative drawings and organizer Cody Ledvina's biting sense of humor is sure to be on display. Opens Friday June 6th (6-9pm) and continues through the month. Check out thejoannawebsite.com for more information.

Houston’s president and prime minister of street art square off July 13th at Domy Books in Give Up vs YAR. It’s good to see posters for the show pasted up, just daring the cops. Toeing the line between hoodlum and artist, the two have made a career in the street and in the gallery. When their pieces started being stolen from their spots by intrepid art collectors, you couldn’t blame them anymore for going a bit legit. Stop by the show for great new work, and please don’t ask anyone if they’re the artist. For one thing, artists never stand next to their shit in the first place, but these ones will be sure to be out of sight.


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