Author: Becky

The second new-to-me museum I visited on Museum Day was the Lawndale Art Center. It’s a good thing I took that opportunity, because the gallery is currently closed until October 18 so they can set up a new installation. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the art I saw there.

First up was Math of the Afterwrath by Boozefox. Boozefox is “an Austin based collective collection consortium” and the program states that this is their most cherished artifact. The legend is that it is a giant head collected from inside a crater in the Gulf of Mexico and is being consumed from the inside out by a virus. Actually, it’s a huge work of art composed of repurposed materials including wood, cardboard, packing tape, televisions, slinkys, a fog machine, a garage door opener, and allegedly, Smirnoff Ice. It filled the entire room, so I didn’t shoot it, but if you visit KUHF you can see a little photo and hear an interview with the artists that explains it all.

Next up was Potential Modulations by artist Robert Jackson Harrington. These seven mixed media pieces are meant to convey the concept of potential: what the artist describes as “false narratives…that do nothing, they merely act as a stimulus or catalyst.” I was able to shoot a couple of low-quality photos; Harrington’s web site has much better shots.

I somehow missed Logan Beck’s installation Following Huck Finn. However, I direct you to a web site, where you can see the fascinating blog of two Houston artists (one a photographer, one a musician) as they document a bicycle/road trip from New Orleans to Mark Twain’s hometown, Hannibal, Missouri. The trip culminated with the eighteen diptychs Beck showed at Lawndale.

I finished off my visit on a high note: the mixed media needle felt sculptures of Tobiah Mundt. The series is called Being, and as the artist describes it, the objects “mimic human or animal forms…to communicate ‘story,’ but to limit the amount of information conveyed such that each viewer must ‘fill in the blanks.’ No two viewers will see the same thing or take away the same meaning.” I couldn’t have said it better myself about the best fiction, and I had so much fun looking at these sculptures.

I think this one was my absolute favorite.

After visiting both Lawndale and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, I’ve promised myself regular museum and gallery dates so I can explore more of Houston’s art. And of course, there’s always art sneaking its way onto our everyday surfaces.

Sidewalk chalk drawing that connects the era of Moby Dick to the Twitter age.

More than 1300 museums participated nationally last Saturday in the sixth annual Museum Day, offering free admission to the public. It’s reported that over 500,000 people took advantage of the chance to visit museums as part of this program.

I’ll be posting images and links to two new-to-me museums I visited. First up is Houston Center for Contemporary Craft on West Main. This place was wonderful, and I can’t wait to go back. The galleries were filled with wood, metal, glass, jewelry, and fiber art. In addition, tables and studios were filled with craftspeople and artisans interacting with the public to show weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing, beading, and jewelry-making among other crafts.

I couldn’t take photos of the exhibits, but some of my favorites were Edward Lane McCartney’s “Wrecking Ball,” made of hundreds of tiny plastic soldiers and their vehicles tied together (this was very popular with kids); “Matchbook Collection” created by Gale Gibbs from found objects; Emily Black’s “A Woman’s Place Is In The Home”–a deer head she wove from and embellished with several materials; and “The Nuances of Daily Wash” by Marilyn Faulk Lanser, using dryer lint, paper, cullulose, and wax resin. So much of the art was whimsical, and it was obvious from their reactions that people really responded to it.

And the jewelry! It was breathtaking.

I did get some shots of the table exhibits with permission.

Just some of the beautiful pieces shown by the Woodworkers Club of Houston.

Fiber art from Houston Area Fiber Artists.

I fell hard for this art doll and her owl, both created by Pepper Hume.

In the small world department, I had no idea that Kerry, who I met years ago through our mutual friend Robin, is a dollmaker. Here, she’s holding up her magical Blue Mermaid:

Behind the museum was an outside garden with sculptures and many of the plants that are used in weaving, dyeing, papermaking, basketry, and more.

And my last stop was to see a working blacksmith, whose audience included a spellbound little girl who seemed glad that unlike horses, her shoes don’t have to be hammered on with the crafted nails that her adult companion showed her. The Houston Metal Arts Guild will have a member show at Hanson Galleries in Uptown Park beginning October 8.

Thanks to support from members, foundations, corporations, and friends, admission to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is always free. The hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Although I was delighted to see so many people, especially parents getting their children excited about art, I’m looking forward to exploring the museum again at a more leisurely pace. Who’s going with me?