Theaster Gates: The Gift and The Renege
2024-08-25 11:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-28 11:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-29 11:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), 5216 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX, United States
Theaster Gates: The Gift and The Renege presents work by the acclaimed Chicago-based artist, featuring large-scale paintings, sculptures, and installations that highlight the seen and unseen dynamics of Freedmen’s Town in Houston’s Fourth Ward. Throughout his career, Theaster Gates has soulfully elevated our understanding of Black labor, materials, place, and community to revitalize underrecognized neighborhoods by combining urban planning and a multifaceted art practice. His work powerfully highlights the true value Black spaces hold—although often devalued—as sites of American resilience, liberation, and redemption. Gates is a shape-shifter, a world-builder, and an artist who singularly connects the dots in both poetic and pragmatic ways. For over 20 years he has worked to transform the Southside of Chicago through various initiatives aimed at preserving and continuing the neighborhood’s vital role as a site for Black creativity. His multifaceted practice, which demonstrates the dual importance of building community and exposing power structures, has made him one of the most significant artists working in our time.

Abstraction after Modernism: Recent Acquisitions
2024-08-25 11:00 - 19:00 | The Menil Collection, 1533 Sul Ross St, Houston, TX, United States
“Abstraction after Modernism: Recent Acquisitions” highlights work made by succeeding generations of artists who forged new paths in their approaches to non-representational art. The exhibition brings together acquisitions made by the Menil over the past fifteen years, including work by Agnes Denes, Suzan Frecon, Sam Gilliam, Ellsworth Kelly, Rick Lowe, and Richard Serra.

Earl Staley: The Machine
2024-08-26 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-27 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-28 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-29 09:00 - 17:00 | Sabine Street Studios, 1907 Sabine St, Houston, TX, United States
Sawyer Yards presents Earl Staley: The Machine, a diverse showcase of the longtime Houston artist’s works on canvas at Sabine Street Studios’ North Gallery.
The artworks chosen for this exhibition are large, densely colorful paintings on canvas that highlight Staley’s variety of approaches to image-making, mark-making, and his range of techniques. Even at this stage in his long career, Staley continues to experiment, attempting new and different ways of building and finishing a work. The paintings all exist somewhere on a wide spectrum of abstraction and pictorial quality, as well as physicality. Though landscapes are evident in his work, no subject is off the table for the artist. For Staley, the most important considerations are that his pictures be “visually delightful, intellectually stimulating, and tell an interesting story.” He further writes:
“I found my voice when I stopped thinking about making art and stared telling my life story.
and “All art must contain love of life and an awareness of death.”
The exhibition is on view through August 31, and is free and open to the public. Join the artist for a reception on Thursday, July 18, from 6-8pm.
Artist Biography:
Earl Staley grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and resides in Houston, Texas. He is an artist and teacher with more than 60 years of experience. Mr. Staley holds Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. He taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Rice University in Houston, and the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where he was chairperson of the Art Department. Today he teaches in the Fine Art program at Lonestar College in Tomball, TX. Mr. Staley is the recipient of three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1981 he received the Rome Prize in Painting from the American Academy in Rome, Italy and he resided in Rome for 4 years. Mr. Staley’s paintings look back to his artistic roots and forward to new interpretations of the myths and symbols embedded in his life.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
2024-08-26 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-27 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-28 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-29 09:00 - 17:00 | Sabine Street Studios, 1907 Sabine St, Houston, TX, United States
Everyday life, forks in the road, and dead ends forcing us to alter course as time moves on are all natural parts of the human experience. Sometimes we aren’t even aware of certain changes until we reflect on our present and the events of the past. We are changed in the process and often wonder how we got to certain places in our lives. In this exhibition titled Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes inspired by the David Bowie song, artists of Sabine Street Studios present works incorporating the ideas of time, change, and reflection, connecting the past and the present, all steering us towards an unknown future.
The exhibition is on view in the South Gallery and corridor of Sabine Street Studios. Join the artists for a reception September 14, as part of Sawyer Yards Art Ramble.

Dance of Gestures
2024-08-26 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-27 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-28 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-29 09:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-30 09:00 - 17:00 | Sabine Street Studios, 1907 Sabine St, Houston, TX, United States
For her latest solo exhibition, Dance of Gestures, Houston-based Colombian artist Loriana Espinel, takes inspiration from the pre-Columbian pictographs of the Chiribiquete National Park in Colombia to develop a visual system based on the intersection of two different styles of calligraphy: the fluid lines of Japanese ink painting and angular gothic calligraphy.
Dance of Gestures combines both abstract and representational approaches and goals. Espinel writes of her work: “I aim to create a mural that is both abstract and representational. The lines will suggest natural forms while being expressive and dynamic on their own. I want viewers to appreciate both the shapes and lines and their interplay”.
The exhibition is part of the annual Sawyer Yards program at Sabine Street Studios’ East Corridor Gallery, a space dedicated to hosting exhibitions dedicated to the line as an essential, conceptual element in visual art.
The opening reception will be held on Thursday, July 18 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and the exhibitions is on view from July 18 to August 31. All exhibitions and activities are free and open to the public.

“The Toy Canvas”: Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts
2024-08-27 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-28 10:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-29 10:00 - 17:00 | Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, 6815 Cypresswood Dr, Spring, TX, United States
It’s going to be another fantastic summer at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts!
This summer, the Pearl has curated a one-of-a-kind exhibition that features toys as contemporary art. “The Toy Canvas: Artists at Play” features toys in photography, sculpture, mixed media and more.
This engaging exhibition explores the theme of play, with art by FriendsWithYou, Mitchel Wu, Herb Williams, Michelle Brooks and Tim Howell from FOX’s LEGO® Masters, Madame Alexander dolls, and many more!
Included in the exhibition is an interactive play zone where visitors can discover their own creativity. The makerspace will have a variety of STEAM activities such as building challenges with LEGO® bricks and MAGNA-TILES®, art activities inspired by the exhibition, digital drawing tools, and a literacy zone.
“The Toy Canvas: Artists at Play” opens Saturday, June 1 and continues through August 31, 2024. For special Opening Day festivities, Wild Art Wednesdays, and more, visit pearlmfa.org.
Admission is free, but donations are appreciated to help support the work of the museum.
Located at 6815 Cypresswood Drive in Spring, TX, the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit pearlmfa.org.

Brenda Biondo: Sun to Earth
2024-08-27 11:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-28 11:00 - 17:00, 2024-08-29 11:00 - 17:00 | Koslov Larsen, 4411 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX, United States
Koslov Larsen is pleased to present Sun to Earth, the gallery’s third solo presentation by artist Brenda Biondo. Combining several series of Biondo’s works, Sun to Earth introduces new ways of looking at common subjects while challenging viewers’ perception of color and three-dimensional space. The works explored throughout the show focus on atmospheric phenomena and other ephemeral components of the natural world. Unnatural (Texas Tumbleweeds) and Prairie Wheels study the interconnectedness of humans and flora, inspired by the iconic tumbleweed, an invasive species brought inadvertently to the United States in the 1870s by Eastern European settlers. Influenced heavily by James Turrell’s Skyspaces, Perceptual Skies emphasizes the limitless potential of light as a subject and the subjectivity of perception. Biondo states, “Using a visual language that deconstructs the sky portion of the landscape helps articulate questions about how we engage with our environment and the emotional and psychological effects natural light has on humans.” The images in the series follow the formal aesthetics of modern painting, particularly minimalism, while emphasizing the ambiguity between the real and the reproduced.
Sun to Earth will be on view at Koslov Larsen from May 3 – June 21, 2024.

reVision Tuesday Night Sessions
2024-08-27 18:00 - 21:00 | Houston reVision Community Center, 6856 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX, United States
Tuesday Night reVision Sessions is a community-focused event that aims to promote exercise, dance, and unity while shaping young minds. The night includes various activities such as educational workshops, mentorship, and interactive sessions in breakdancing, basketball, and DJing. By fostering creativity, critical thinking, and personal development among the youth and young adults, the event serves as a platform for the community to come together and support each other.

Olivia Erlanger: If Today Were Tomorrow
2024-08-28 11:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-29 11:00 - 18:00 | Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), 5216 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX, United States
Olivia Erlanger: If Today Were Tomorrow is the artist’s first solo museum presentation in the United States. Across an installation, a video, and a series of commissioned sculptures, Erlanger continues her decade-long disruption of the “semiotics of suburbia.” In her practice, Erlanger thinks of the home as a greater ecosystem containing not only houses but also their surrounding infrastructures and interior architectures.
At Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), massive illuminated planet sculptures map the suburban landscape, positioning the development of home as an environmental force in itself. These new works explore “speculative memory”—how progress can only be understood through hindsight—and what this psychic limitation implies for the artist. Viewers will then move to new diorama sculptures that play on an institutional language of presentation, positioning the enclosed scenes as already-past. Here, Erlanger proposes both impossible architectures and terrestrial forms created using strategies of model-making. These works are each marked by changes in season, emphasizing receding memories of a once-diverse climate.
The exhibition culminates in a sitcom set, riffing on the psychology of interiors as well as acting as a platform to watch Erlanger’s new short film Appliance. The film dovetails recent research into the history and cultural significance of domestic technologies, such as the shower or washing machine, with a specific focus on how their operations have been considered interchangeably with human bodily functions. In our age of “polycrisis,” wherein multiple seismic events occur simultaneously, If Today Were Tomorrow provides a framework for thinking about the porousness of interior and exterior, self and non-self, body and home.
Olivia Erlanger: If Today Were Tomorrow will be accompanied by a catalogue published by Hatje Cantz containing newly commissioned texts about the artist’s practice, as well as contributions focusing on the interplay between architecture, psychology, and science fiction.
Support
Major support for Olivia Erlanger: If Today Were Tomorrow is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston is funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

HAA Summer Open House
2024-08-28 16:00 - 18:00 | Houston Arts Alliance, 5280 Caroline St, Houston, TX, United States
There is nothing better than spending time with friends and community! Please join us at Houston Arts Alliance for the 2nd and LAST Open House of 2024. This is a great opportunity to see where we are located, meet our staff and board members, interface with elected officials and to build community with artists and arts organizations. Artists, arts administrators, arts lovers and supporters, are all welcome. Please RSVP with the link below. We will honor one entry per e-mail address. See you soon!
Location: 5280 Caroline St Ste 100, Houston, TX 77004.
Date and Time: Wednesday, August 28th. 4pm to 6 pm CT.
Parking: Street parking is available in the surrounding areas.
Questions or comments? E-mail karen@haatx.com.

Dance of Gesture: Artist Talk + Live Painting Performance
2024-08-29 18:30 - 20:30 | Sabine Street Studios, 1907 Sabine St, Houston, TX, United States
As part of the Dance of Gesture exhibition, Houston-based Colombian artist Loriana Espinel will host a conversation and live demonstration of her production Caligrafitis.
In her exhibition, Loriana Espinel draws inspiration from pre-Columbian pictographs from Chiribiquete National Park in Colombia, as well as Japanese and European calligraphic styles to develop a new visual system. Dance of Gesture Exhibition runs through Saturday, August 31 at Sabine Street Studios’ East Corridor Gallery.
The Conversation and Demonstration event is free and open to the public and will take place on Thursday, August 29th at 6:30 pm at Sabine Street Studios, located at 1907 Sabine Street, Houston, TX 77007.
August 29th from 6:30 pm:
Artist Talk
Live Painting Performance
Raffle for the live painting
Multimedia performance

Houston reVision CommUnity Night
2024-08-29 18:30 - 21:00 | Houston reVision Community Center, 6856 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX, United States
reVision’s CommUnity Night is a weekly get together for a hot meal, music, dancing, and celebration. While primarily focused on school-aged children and youth, and young adults, reVision’s CommUnity Night is open to the public. The musical focus is on hiphop, a live DJ plays music, and children and youth can learn the fundamentals of breakdancing and other dance styles.
