Dirty-somethings

Lawndale Openings!
Friday, August 21, 2009
6:30-8:30 PM
Artist Talks at 6 PM

Lawndale Art Center 30th Anniversary Exhibition
Curated by Clint Willour

John M. O’Quinn Gallery

Clint Willour takes a look at the last five years, since Lawndale’s 25th Anniversary Show and gathers new work from artists who have shown in each of Lawndale’s four galleries, as well as from The Big Show and the Artist Studio Program.

Me, Mine, and not Yours | Joe Ives and Jahjehan Bath Ives

Mezzanine Gallery

“I’ve grown tired of your company, I wish you would go away, I need a moment to myself, could you please be quiet.”

After years of living with someone these are things that we often think when our “other” walks into the room. What if we were no longer polite, what if domestic politics took over our house, what if we could simply employ the tactics of our childhood to gain that needed isolation? For their exhibition at Lawndale Joe & Jahjehan Bath Ives present an installation of sculptures and videos for the Mezzanine Gallery created by their antiheros who playfully make suggestions and recommendations of isolationist tactics that anyone can employ to gain some alone time.

Paper or Plastic? | Nathaniel Donnett

Grace R. Cavnar Gallery

Nathaniel Donnett addresses social issues and the human condition through narratives, codes, and symbols. He reconstructs materials while shifting through references and fluctuations in communication. Donnett’s series refers to the "brown paper bag test" used to separate darker and lighter skinned African Americans- creating division, ostracism and envy in the community. Paper or Plastic? explores the history and effects of the test, social residue and impact in contemporary society. The hierarchy created within the African-American community with issues of hair texture, skin tone, and the acceptance or rejection of African features as they relates to beauty. This work is a metaphor; a healing agent to analyze and confront personal baggage.

The Green™ cyber web | Adela Andea

Project Space

The Green™ cyber web is a kinetic installation incorporating the latest gadgets in a spatial web design using the geographic models of internet maps. Electronic components connected to power sources suggest a confrontation of virtual reality within the realm of environmental sustainability. Andea uses green cathode lights, skewing the question of what constitutes "green". Chosen for their symbolic meaning, these materials become wry subject matter, mitigating extremes between the resources of information and responsibilities for recycling, giving a different meaning to the phrase “residual value.”

the 'ol gang

Lawndale from 1979 | James Surls
August 27, 2009
6 PM

In conjunction with Lawndale Art Center's 30th Anniversary, Lawndale Art Center founder James Surls, presents a talk on the origins of Lawndale, its unique place in Houston's art community, and its relevance today.

Followed by a reception at Barbara Davis Gallery where James Surls's From 2009 is on view through August 29, 2009.