Hooks-Epstein Galleries is thrilled to celebrate its 55th Anniversary and commence the 2024-2025 season with the opening of Deasa Turner’s “Whimsy and Chaos!”, an exhibition of mixed media work. The exhibition will open on Saturday, September 7, 2024, with an Artist’s Reception taking place from 5:00-7:00PM. Deasa Turner’s “Whimsy and Chaos!” will continue through Friday, October 11, 2024.
As exemplified in “Whimsy and Chaos!”, the artwork of Deasa Turner is shaped by two guiding principles. The first is transmogrification, in which Turner changes or alters an object, often producing a grotesque or humorous effect. The second is her use of theatre to create the characters, scene, stories, and theme of each piece. All is manifested from Turner’s gut response to humanity and the issues that impact her and the world, inspiring a body of work that is bold, layered, intuitive, and provocative. To Turner, everything is about the human spirit and the true, lived human experience.
Deasa Turner was born and raised in Houston, where she grew up acting and dancing. The theatre has been pivotal throughout Turner’s life, laying the foundation of her relationship with the world and allowing Turner to express herself, namely through her artwork. In 2022, Turner’s work was featured in a vignette exhibition, “Urban Jumble”, at Hooks-Epstein Galleries. Her work has been featured in several group exhibitions in Houston, including “Politics of SEX” at G Contemporary in 2023, “Urban Images” at the Kinder Morgan Building in 2022, “The Big Show” at Lawndale Art Center in 2021, and “The Trouble with Toys” at Bill’s Junk in 2019. Since moving back to Houston in 2004, Turner has studied at the Glassell School of Art.
Artwork credit: Deasa Turner, “Tower of Babble-On!”, 2024, mixed media sculpture, 8’1″ x 21″
Photo credit: MontaQue