DEBRIS: Kiss My Ass

Yue Minjun, Postmodern Garden, 2006

August is a dead spot in the calendar year of art in Houston, but there are a few good things that slip through the cracks and try to make it work, cussin’ the sweat and the Texas heat and mosquiters- David Allen Coe anyone? Don’t forget that the Museum of Fine Arts is free on Thursdays and open until 9 pm; their Red Hot: Asian Art Today exhibit comes with blasting AC and a fine collection of twisted pop icons not recommended for viewing on acid, for fear of a bad trip. Between the candy red portraits by Feng Zhengjie, the wide-eyed paranoia-inducing paintings of Yue Minjun and a giant Tyrannosaurus by Sui Jianguois; I wouldn’t want to chance it. The whole explosion of Asian exhibits in Houston galleries is stunning, with no less than 8 openings in July for group shows from across the Pacific Rim. Rumor is that the MFAH pursued galleries to interest them in showing the work, a bit fishy but not as bad as the Fine Art Museum of San Francisco who released joint press releases with a gallery selling the same artist’s work they had on exhibit at the time.

Saturday August 4^th The Mexican Arsenal presents Chiahui Ome at Commerce Street Artists’ Warehouse, a multimedia monstrosity touted “for the whole family”. With Cuallitepetl indigenous music, poetry from around the world, traditional Aztec dancing by Danza Azteca Tlaloc and two other dance companies, all three galleries and possibly elsewhere will be swarming with performers. Representing the worldwide influences of sub-USA culture, Polynesian, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, African and Mexican food will be on hand for grubbing in the sun. Look for artwork by Tina Hernandez, Skeez 181 and Lizbeth Ortiz among others.

Patrick Phipps, Sketch

Diverseworks’ The Real (art) World is off and running (not that I can find the live web feed on their website) and this August 11^th Mindy Kober, Keijiro Suzuki, Patrick Phipps and Rachelle Vasquez will open their doors to show what they have spent the last month making in their residency studio space.

Amy Blakemore, JK

The new curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Toby Kamps, joins the crew with his first stab at Texas art in Nexus Texas this fall. Working with Valerie Cassel Oliver and Paola Morsiani, the three have been scouring the state for “maverick pride, go-go entrepreneurship, and cultural blending.” Unfortunately the choices seem to be a bit conservative to me; don’t expect this show to travel. Here’s the list: Sterling Allen, Cauleen Smith and Michael Smith from Austin, Roberto Bellini, Justin Boyd, Augusto di Stefano and Gary Sweeney from San Antonio, Amy Blakemore, Leslie Hewitt, Lauren Kelley, El Franco Lee II and George Smith from Houston, Margarita Cabrera from El Paso and some bitches from Dallas too.