I Hear Voices

Bill says:

VBB (Voices Breaking Boundaries) continues its Living Room Art series this evening at the home of John Pluecker, 5036 Jefferson St, Houston. New site-specific installations by Jorge Galvan and Donna Huanca. 7 pm. FREE.



Britt says:

Dancers from Nayikas, a New York-based classical Indian Odissi dance theater company, will interact with [Houston artist Molly] Gochman's steel sculptures as part of a performance during the [EnGendered] festival.

Q: How did you come to be in this festival? I understand that you're the only non-Asian participating.

A: They wanted an outside perspective. It's in New York, so having an American perspective was a desire. The visual-arts component of the festival is called Pardah, which means unveiling.

My work usually deals with fabric and, conceptually, my work challenges boundaries. Gender issues are brought up in my work. The theme of the show addresses the complex realities of gender and sexuality in contemporary South Asia.

Frank told me Smitty says:

Find more videos like this on ArtsHouston

Ride for Obama 08 says:

Also I just ate an entire sleeve of Hostess Chocolate Donuts...excuse me, "donettes" according to the discarded packaging. I don't feel so good.


I know the starting plans:

We're meeting at the Pearl Bar on Washington Ave at 4.


Bring your bike, skate, wahatever you need to roll with us and 10 bucks for the donation! I can't wait to see everyone! I'm very excited and hope this goes smoothly, but how can it not with plenty of beer and our amazing group of friends?

Somebody Hook This Guy Up With Sirmans

NeoHooDoo link

its also the name of a blog

and a book from 1974

and a dance performance from 2006

Hoodoo Performance Artist Seeks Generous Prosperous Financer (Houston Texas)

---

Reply to: comm-646850470@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-04-18, 8:50AM CDT


What Is Hoodoo? Its the speak it up dream time roots and herbs to heal folk magick
What is Hoodoo Art? Its the rememory of the ancient ways givin'um -dem spirits- a place to shine be contained through art instead of roaring their giant walkin' selves hurricane tornados earthquake style through the lands

Who Am I? Servant of the Giant Fire Walkers, The Hoodoo Daughta, The Dark Goddess Ringbearer, Zora Neal Hurston Madame Marie Laveau and Isis Herself Big Footed Heavy Handed Stir It Up Good 'n Thick Sauce Maker, Double Headed Wild Child, Writer of the Speak It Up, Congo Mystery Keeper, Drawer Interpreter Mythologist and Conjurer of Scenicville Texas Hoodoologist Landscape of the Forgotten Ones, Filmmaker, Art Art Art Art Art Art Art Art Art Art Art...

Who Are U? The One Who Cares Got Loot and Knows

Together we will bring them through in a creative way- let actors who know how to channel spirits tell their stories- cause all they wanna really do is that instead of body jumpin folks who can't handle'um and makin fires and storms and such like they do on their planet

Please hear well
LETS GO GREEN HOODOO!
blessings

Speeding Motorcycle for 420

Hi, How Are You?




While Daniel Johnston tours the rainy Northwest his cohorts from the cast of Speeding Motorcycle have taken their show on the road.

This Sunday at Rudyard's Pub come listen to the guys and girls from Austin wreck their way through songs from the 2006 Infernal Bridegroom production and covers of Daniel Johnston to get you singin' like tomorrow ain't Monday.

Houston Loves Pornography

Nova Arts Project

the Chron breaks down their reasons for loving Love Loves a Pornographer HERE.

"You might say that while Love Loves a Pornographer is not quite Wilde, it's certainly very Goode."

the Houston Press has glowing words for them as well!

"Amazingly smart and very funny, Love Loves a Pornographer has class, style and wit. The comedy, whose world premiere was only five months ago, proves that new, fresh theater doesn't have to be dumbed down to work like gangbusters."

Artadia Finalists Announced

Ovulation Chart, 2007

Mequitta Ahuja

Frederick Douglas Self-Defense Manual Series, Infinite Step Escape Technique #1: Hand Seeks Cotton, 2005

Jabari Dawolu Anderson

Black Water Then and Now, 2006

Sasha Dela

installation shot at CTRL Gallery

Katherine Heinlein

Big Gurl

Lauren Kelley

Little Flip Vs. T.I., 2006

El Franco Lee II

Glow Stick, 3:30, 2008

Mary Magsamen & Stephan Hillerbrand

pot.luck, 2007

Lynne McCabe

Untitled

Delilah Montoya

Katrina Moorhead

Journey Never Ends, 2005

Floyd Newsum, Jr.

Run By Monkeys, 2004

Phillip Perez

Stephanie Toppin

Collage Self-Portrait, 2007

Yvonne Torres

Big Mother

and Gabriela Trzebinski

Artadia 2008 site

what do you think of the 2008 finalists?!?!?

Rrrrrrrrr

Operators Are Standing By

Heroes Come and Heroes Go, 2008

SOLD


Fish Dancing

SOLD


Even before tomorrow's opening for John Alexander at McClain Gallery they have already sold ten of his works, with a few on hold for the lily-livered blue dots.
Want one? Make an offer, quick!

I've Been Drafted

I've been drafted into this argument.
Derek Shumate did it.

PART II


I think THIS post is worthy of a Part II.
Ok.

I think it's more complicated than this dude.
Yes, yes it is.

For example, Art Crawl. [b.s. has been the Artcrawl director for 2 years] Sure, I could run my own show at the same time and not pay an entry fee to help with the organization/printing/etc...
Is it morally sound? Would you be considered a hack?
I would talk shit to other people if you shirked your measly payment to the Artcrawl. Three artists upstairs at Gribble Stamp and Michael Kahlil Taylor across the street undercut us last year. Supposedly altruistic MOCAH not only skipped out on paying, they threw their own "festival" after telling us they would not be participating. I do believe that 35 bucks is too high for an entry fee, but we bus people around. Outside of the marketing and interviews and hustling that we do for y'all at least we have a bus.

Best sales pitch I have for Artcrawl is that is it the best $35 of marketing you can buy.

Answers are probably no but some might consider you a cheat instead. I don't mind paying such an entry fee because I know it's an independently run event and that it does take time/money/effort to pull off. I'm totally down for supporting my local 'scene.' Regardless of my ability to raise the money back off of sales.
Yes. Many times it is about exposure, not sales.

But while we're on the subject, why don't we talk about other related issues such as entry fees to get published in a directory and/or gallery compensation on sales?
Well, both cases come down to: is it worth the money in exposure.
No curator uses an artist directory.
Galleries are paid well to advertise for you, sell your work, and sell your work into the right hands- where it will appreciate.

In specific, everyone's new favorite bookstore, Domy. Aside from many other shady occurrences (such as not letting the Free Press be distributed there) These people have hired artists at little more than min. wage and still jack (from what I hear) 30-40% of their sales. Maybe I'm wrong with the number but WTF?
Domy can do whatever they want. They have clout now, and they can kick the Free Press out the door (they all still read it, you know)
That same clout is what any gallery banks on. Very few galleries make any money, but the ones who do have a stable of collectors who can be counted on to enjoy a gallerist's company and work with them. Just like the artists.

On the high end a collector can donate your work to a museum and increase the value of all of your work. On the low end Domy can be charitable and not take 50% because they sell to kids and gangsters and nerds and artists. They are still putting up with your work and throwing a party for you, but they don't have the connections to work the artworld machine. Hopefully they sell something (which Domy usually does) and that's how you tell a gallery is right for you :)
As far as paying employees vs. representing artists, I have nothing to say.

That's just as bad as Elder St. Art Gallery asking me to be a part of a group show (one-night-only) for $35 even though I fucking live in the complex. Domy (Dan) obviously has money. So why not support the local arts (which in turn brings cafe/book business) instead of exploit it? (Maybe this is why Mixture was a failure?)
Elder Street wants 35 for a show? Just think about if the marketing is worth that much, because you will not sell a piece except to a friend (and you could do that at home).
Dan is supporting the arts, he's being generous even.
Mixture wasn't a failure- the curator went on to NYC and is big business now.

If your RED HOT artist brings in 2k+ people then why the hell would you be worried about taking a cut from the artist? You're obviously making money off of other product. Not to mention the priceless amount of exposure.
The MFAH Red Hot show worked in a very different way. The collector donated half of his collection to the museum, which raised the value of his remaining holdings. Selling the Red Hot books probably lost money, since the museum will print enough books to last them a very long time and get the publication into as many hands (hands that matter) as possible.

I could go on about this space but I'll leave it alone with this last comment. Real Galleries take money from artists as a way to keep the Gallery afloat. Where else would they get funding outside of donors?
Most galleries in Houston are run as navel-gazing enterprises, they do not make money. Rather, they are kept alive as grand hobbies which eat massive amounts of cash. "Real" galleries make money by grooming artists to be collectors' favorites, wheeling and dealing to increase the value of work they have already sold, selling artwork based on market appreciation and partnering with other galleries to piggyback on success.

However, Domy is a Book Store, NOT a Gallery. THey have many products and avenues to make money and stay alive. There is no reasoning behind their choice to operate like a Gallery would. Which is why they receive no business from me.
If you act like a gallery, you are a gallery.

Anyway, The reason I'm writing examples with no ending point to sell you on is because it really is a fine line and comes down to an individuals intellect and morales. Maybe even their pocket book. They should decide for themselves what works for them and work with opportunities like this if it makes sense for their style and audience. Sure, what's posted HERE looks like a horrible idea and reminds me of galleries involved with Yale St. Arts Market. BUT I also think that what's going on with other businesses isn't much better. Just think about what you're doing, people. Don't be used. Make sure both you and the organization are benefiting from an event. Otherwise it's probably not worth pursuing.
OK.

One more thing, the reasoning in this article is VERY confusing considering your public stance on the Hunting Prize & Red Bull Art of Can competition. These don't cost money to play and the rewards are huge. So that's wrong and now stuff like this as well? Please explain what's morally sound from your perspective so we know where you're really coming from.
There is nothing moral about the situation. I do not claim any morality.

I believe that the Hunting Prize is an organization that is insulting to artists, but one's name on the long 'short list' is definitely worth it's weight in marketing. The Red Bull Can of Art is bad because it is branded marketing, reducing artists to corporate shills.

Warhol did Absolut ads as a celebrity, but that is different than when Rothko drew greeting cards under a pseudonym. The Red Bull competition is an invitation to craft an object, not create art.

I have applied for three free things in the past few months, a Houston Arts Alliance grant, the Artadia Award and Diverseworks' The Real(Art) World. They were all free and they all seem to be interested in promoting an artist on artistic grounds- not for their own clout to oil executives (Hunting) or for their own brand recognition (Red Bull). Both clout and branding come into play with every decision an artist makes- but don't be blinded by either.

Thanks
Thank you!

Click For Link

Houston Police Zero In On Donuts; Flirt With History

Houston Chronicle, 5 am today

Arresting twenty workers in a Shipley's Donuts processing plant this morning, HPD officers are reaching for the same panic button that Texas used twice in the 20th century. Fear.

Immigration raids are rare in Houston, the recent crackdown in Arizona has even prompted illegal immigrants to move to Texas to find work. When Texas does crackdown, it is never the swift hand of justice that does the talking, it is the fear of destabilization of communities that leads to a slow bleed back south of the border.

U.S. soldiers on U.S. soil rounding up workers for U.S. companies

In 1951 Border Patrol and Federal agents raided Mexican immigrant communities and arrested 80,000 people to be rounded up for mass deportations. In typical fashion, Operation Wetback followed the Bracero Program, which brought between 4 and 5 million Mexicans to America during World War II to bolster the economy. Families were separated and legals left the state in fear of racially motivated discrimination. In all they managed to intimidate 1 million people to leave the country.

Labor was also drafted from Caribbean nations for the Bracero Program, with the federal government setting up labor camps in the South for temporary workers from Jamaica, Barbados and the Virgin Islands. Many workers agitated for better conditions or fled the subsistence conditions of the camps. These shanty towns were still in use by private companies thirty years later, having been bought from the government for $1 each during the 1950s.

Repatriation Train leaving Chihuahua, 1932

In the years leading up to 1935, American xenophobia in the face of the Great Depression prompted immigration officials to deport about 500,000 Mexican-Americans, leading to an exodus of 2 million people- 60% of which were American-born children.

128,000 Old World immigrants were deported as well- as part of the Immigration Act of 1917 the country reacted against Eastern Europeans, Middle Easterners and Jewish immigrants.

The state of California passed the Apology Act for the 1930s Mexican Repatriation Program in 2005, officially recognizing the "unconstitutional removal and coerced emigration of United States citizens and legal residents of Mexican descent" and apologizing to residents of California "for the fundamental violations of their basic civil liberties and constitutional rights committed during the period of illegal deportation and coerced emigration".

You'll never get the same statement out of Texas, but hopefully with more developed Spanish-language media and social support perhaps we can avoid the "voluntary repatriation" that did more damage to Texan culture than any action taken by the government.

Take it from three white guys who like to play black music and dress like hispanic pimps

Put the J back in Texas

Don't Pay To Play

Don't fall for bullshit ploys

ARTISTS: Do you want to have your own show? (Houston/Montrose) Reply to: hanspayanartgallery@hotmail.com
Date: 2008-04-15, 11:18PM CDT


The 'Hans Payan Art Gallery' in Houston is offering it's space for private shows and art parties/performances to artists from all Texas for almost any media, our space is a 700sq.ft. white canvas with great lighting system (dimer), a small kitchen and a bathroom. It is on a great location on 2016 Dunlavy Street in the heart of Montrose. Available are leases for one weekend, one week and up. With the space we include an e-vite of your show to our own mailing list and some online advertisement.

Terms: You organize and advertise your show in your own way, you layout and hang your art your own way and you entertain and serve your own whine-food or any other of your choice, we have a microwave and refrigerator. Shows can be open until 10:00PM.
You can have the gallery for a weekend (3days) for $350.00, a week for $500.00, two weeks for $700.00, three weeks is $1000.00 and a Month is $1,150.00. Electricity is included. A refundable deposit is required (amount depends on duration of the lease).
Attached are some pictures of the gallery or you can schedule a visit to see it in person. Please reply to this email for any inquire or question

Artists do not pay to show their work. If you do you're a hack.
(Sometimes we're all hacks, rules are meant to be broken)

"Renting" space in a gallery is NEVER worth it unless you have a lot of rich friends who will go anywhere to buy your work. If that is the case cut the gallery out of it and sell out of your studio.

Anyone looking to gather a large show and charge entry fees is fucking you over.

The only time galleries are worth dealing with as an artist, they will not ask for payment in order to exhibit.

Think About It!

Panel discussion with two collaborative teams
MANUAL: Suzanne Bloom and Ed Hill
Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand

Moderator
Wendy Watriss
Artistic Director and Co-Founder, FotoFest

Thursday, April 24, 2008, 5:30 pm
DiverseWorks
1117 East Freeway, Houston, 77002 [map]
Free and open to the public

Age is an important marker of identity.
Why has it been a neglected area of inquiry in the arts?
How does age matter in the production of new media?
This panel will utilize age as a lens for discussing
cutting-edge artistic engagements with new media.

Mary Magsamen & Stephan Hillerbrand
Cheese Puff, still from video


MANUAL (Ed Hill/Suzanne Bloom)


Co-sponsored by DiverseWorks and the Program in Art History, School of Art, University of Houston

Lots of Question Marks

The Art Guys Car Horn Concerto at Discovery Green

via Artshouston blog

Can Weez Do It Too?!?!?

Sweetness. Cross-bred culture.

There is a blog out there dedicated solely to bringing the LOLCat sensibility to contemporary art.
Send Chaz from Chicago your funny shit.
chaz.parker@gmail.com



Gordon Matta-Clark


Vito Acconci


Matthew Barney


Jeff Wall


Damien Hirst

Face of an Apparition

Houston Masters '08

No it's not golf, it's art.

University of Houston's Blaffer Gallery pulled out the stops to present an overwhelming show for the graduating Masters seniors. Woody Golden's potentially catastrophic installation went off without a hitch, filling the 2-story gallery floor-to-ceiling with a twisting abode based on a sci-fi spaced-out text that seems to channel Dio lyrics. Iskra Ivanova hauled her ceramic mountain peaks up to the back gallery and filled out the night with ruckus Slavic dances and songs by children and troupes of young couples. The gallery was transformed from spare and open space to labyrinthine rooms. Despite the MFAH's John Alexander opening (promising lions and tigers and bears and celebrities from New York) gallerists and curators were still a presence among the families and students that attempted (unsuccessfully) to drain the keg before the lights went out at the world-weary hour of nine.

Sketch Klubb members check out Woody Golden's installation





Kelli Vance with... Kelli Vance


Ann Marie and Peter


Elia Arce video still


Measa sez; buy the book, yo.

photos by Karen Lopez via Artshouston

Westheimer Block Party

Lots of people came, lots of pictures were taken.



Check out the Chronicle's pics HERE.







Death Hell Battle Tank
hellokitty2399




Omar Afra is now not to be trusted. He turned thirty.

Omar and his mom