Wild Strawberries in August

Wild Strawberries, 1957

This Friday at the corner of Montrose and Bissonett in the basement of the MFAH, a screening of Ingmar Bergman's greatest film, Wild Strawberries, at 7 pm. If you have ever seen a Bergman (1918-2007) film make sure not to miss this one.

The Seventh Seal, 1957

On the other hand, if you have never seen a Bergman film, give yourself an introduction to the Swedish maven of the silver screen with The Seventh Seal on Saturday.

My Condolences

There is quite a debate raging on the comments from the original article here, but it seems like the 16-year old Houston graffiti writer MUNIK from the "TV crew" was run over by a NOPD SUV at 4 in the afternoon as he ran between the leevee wall and an exit to the leevee system.

From the Times-Picayune today:

Relatives of a 16-year-old graffiti painter who was hit and killed by an East Jefferson Levee District police vehicle said Friday that they were struggling to grapple with the sudden loss of a teenager they described as warm and creative.

Police identified the teenager as Victor Montano, a Houston resident who in recent weeks was visiting family members in the New Orleans area. Kenner police are investigating the death as an accident, and they declined to identify the Levee District police officer who was driving the vehicle that hit Montano.

"He was a really good kid, just like any typical teenager," said Sandra Montano of Marrero, the teenager's aunt. "He loved to paint. He'd been doing that since he was the age of 8. He was very, very good. He's talented."

Montano said she couldn't condone his spray-painting on the Parish Line Canal wall in Kenner, which is what police said he was doing Thursday when he caught the attention of the officer and a chase ensued, but she said he did not deserve a tragic death.

Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway said Thursday that Montano ran when the Levee District officer spotted him. And as he tried to climb a fence, Caraway said, Montano appeared to trip and fall into the path of the officer's sport utility vehicle.

Along the cement levee wall were yellow letters outlined with red paint that appeared to say "MURK" or "MUNIK." Caraway said Friday that he didn't know what the letters mean.

Fran Campbell, executive director of the East Jefferson Levee District, also declined to identify the Levee District police officer on Friday. "We'll make a statement when we get the police report" from Kenner Police, Campbell said.

Family members said Montano lived with his mother in Houston but was visiting his father in Harvey, his grandparents in Marrero, his sister in Kenner and other relatives in the past few weeks.

His grandmother, Mary Henry Montano of Marrero, said Friday she remembered him saying, "Grandma, I love you," the last time she saw him several days ago.

"That child was so sweet," she said. On Thursday night, she said: "I cried all night. It hurts. It really hurts."

In addition to painting, Sandra Montano said her nephew loved skateboarding and break-dancing.

"He was a good little boy," said his stepmother, Joanne Montano of Harvey. "He wasn't harming anyone."

Apparently...

Apparently Houston tagger Munik was killed yesterday by NOPD... developing...

Up in Brooklyn

Texas Expats!!!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11th
8:00pm
FEATURING THE ARTWORK OF

Betsy Odom
David Choi
Seth Mittag
Peter Beste
Alison Ward
Faryal Maroof
Elaine Bradford
Nathan Skiles
Jon Elliott

and MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY
Unipigeon

DJing by a Selection of Texans

www.texasfirehouse.org

I'll kill an artforum editor, if I have to

Last year I signed up for the Andy Warhol Arts Writer Grant Program with the firm conviction that you only get anywhere in this game if you personally know someone on the board (or committee or whatever) and now that is being confirmed by blogger The Expanded Field, and seconded by Modern Art Notes. Oh, the nepotism and self-serving short-sightedness of the good 'ol boys system! Good thing I'll never have to worry about burning through all that money!

Here's Andrew's take on it: Though nearly every project given in the last round of this grant project is legitimate and deserving, the grantees are hardly an undistinguished bunch. Every single one has a university affiliation (except for the director of the Drawing Center), a quarter of them are editors at Artforum, and though I can't be positive, I don't think a single one is under 30, most over 40. One might conjecture that the under 30 crowd is hardly doing a lick of legitimate writing about art, but that's of course nonsense. Somehow I remember the original press material for the grants giving lipservice about helping young arts writers who hadn't become famous, but of course I may be mistaken. One of the grantees leaked to me that it was an inside job, they were good friends with one of the jurors. But I'm sure that the jurors are blind and judge purely on the merit of the project rather than on fame or friendship, except of course when they're not.

doubling up on the ridiculous

Terracotta or concrete? From the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi comes the real thing- set to be at the Science Museum in 2009. From the imagination of Ira P. H. Poon, AKA "Mr. Poon," (a Hong Kong real estate mogul) comes the 1/3 replica of the tomb out I-10 in Katy along with versions of the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, The Calming of the Heart Lodge, and the canal city of Suzhou. Can you tell the difference? What would be better, seeing the real thing detached from its' environment and surrounded by advertisements for Starbucks and McDonalds or a faker tourist trap that does weddings?

Did they have a hot tub?

Tomorrow is the last day for the faux reality show that takes over Diverseworks in the summer, they're getting press on spacetaker and artshound, but no glasstire? You guys dissapprove or sumthin'? 6-9pm

Come for the art, stay for the free polyester blazers...

Bomit sez:

"A.K.A." - A Bandana Art Show - Houston, Texas 2007:


Featuring the work of Shepard Fairey, Logan Hicks, Daryll Peirce, Evil Design, DAVe, Uneek, Sleep ZZZ, Hazchem, 20 mg/Visual Narcotics, Lindsey Kuhn, Matt Siren, Toy Eater, REMED, Fefe, Zach McDonald, Billi Kid, Failure, NO/FI, Discoshit, FARO, Peat Wollaeger, Billy Bishop, Arrrgh!, Ethos, Cieto ATV, Nomad, Eyeskull, The Killer Gerbil, LukeDaDuke, Fear The Ripper, Robots Will Kill, FERG

Local Artists Abel, ack!, Christian Azul, CUTTHROAT, Death Head, Dual, Sara Eudy, Give Up, Lisa Marie Godfrey, GONZO247, Meat, Derek Shumate, Verb, YAR!


"Bandana" defined: A kerchief (from the French couvre-chef, "cover the head") is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head or around the neck for protective or decorative purposes. The bandana has been used by artists worldwide to conceal their identities. When worn over the mouth and nose, bandannas are also used to lessen inhalation of fumes so we thought it would be a good idea for a show.

Not to mention the fact that a bandana makes a perfect small canvas that can be folded up and mailed easily. With all of the cameras spying on our daily lives these days the show seems like a small way to make a statement to the man as well.

Images from the punk era come to mind like The Clash rockin' bandanas in the Rock the Casbah video. The bandana was originally used by banditos and bank robbers in the Old West. Bandanas are also worn around the neck by cowboys, farmers, bakers, and railroad engineers to wipe the sweat off their faces, and keep dust out of their collars.

Anarchists and political activists have been known to wear black bandanas and hoodies to keep their faces from being photographed. Of course we all know about the whole Bloods vs. Crips thing which this show is to have nothing do with. In certain cities non-violent bicycle clubs may wear black and white bandanas to show their association.

We are calling the show "A.K.A" (Also Known As) since many artists go under aliases.

Now, medium-based exhibit do tend to suck, but the simplicity of a small square rag makes this idea for a show a little better than most.

Art Car War Revue

OPEN CALL @ THE ART CAR MUSEUM, ACCEPTING THE FIRST 200 PIECES RECEIVED.

• "WAR"
• ONE PIECE PER ARTIST
  
• 3' x 3' OR SMALLER

• SCULPTURES, VIDEOS, MOBILES, PERFORMANCE OR ANY OTHER WORK THAT REQUIRES SPECIAL ATTENTION PLEASE CALL THE MUSEUM & INFORM US SO WE CAN MAKE THE NECESSARY ACCOMODATIONS.

• DROP OFF WORK ON SEPTEMBER 1 & 2 BETWEEN 11 am & 6 pm, AT THE MUSEUM. OUT OF TOWN ENTRIES, MAIL TO THE ART CAR MUSEUM 140 HEIGHTS BLVD. HOUSTON, TX 77007, QUESTIONS CALL 713.861.5526 INFO@ARTCARMUSEUM.COM

OPENING: SEPTEMBER 8, 2007, 7 - 10pm

Trashed

I'm having a reaction to something, and I'm trashed on allergy meds. I'll be back after a Benadryl nap with two calls for artwork due September 1st!!!

silly shit

Tonight at 10:30 pm on HGTV check out the retarded host of "What's with that House?" ridicule and wonder at Houston gallerist Wayne Gilbert's "Hansel and Gretel Cottage" up in the Heights.

Texas on an even Keel

Texas Gallery's opening last night was alright- a solid show of drawings with a couple of weak link paintings... The small Julie Mehretu piece was not really worth it, Sharon Engelstein's computer aided drawings were a bit stiff compared to her sculptural work, Jeff Elrod's die cut CAD drawing on color field canvas were interestingly manufactured but visually flat. Kristen Calabrese painted a picture of hanging paper link decorations- the only representational painting in the show- that had WAY too prominent placement and interrupted the flow of the show.

Curator Susie Rosemarin (can you be a curator and an exhibiting artist?) put together a good sampling of Houston and Houston-related artists for this summer show but dealing with the oddly gargantuan main gallery of the gallery by hanging at 60" leaves so much to be desired (and so much white space)... It was nice to see artist Jeff Yerger come out to check on one of his favorite subjects, "Lines"... CAMH Interim Director Linda Shearer was an early bird at the show chatting up the town...