This week presents a number of exciting creative events, from a screening of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s avant-garde film El Topo to a new exhibition of works by Iranian-born artists at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Tuesday, June 27

Summer Preview at JWB Studios

From 6 to 9 pm, JWB Studios (551 N. Shepherd, Suite 272) is hosting their Summer Preview, which features three collaborative collections. JWB Studios presents four benches created along with local shop Sultana’s Daughter, Hiyme Brummett presents six custom-made bags in collaboration with Mariya, and Positive Healing Vibes presents ten hand-crafted caftans created by Hiyme and Alexandra Brummett. The event will also feature a DJ set by Houston’s Fat Tony.

Thursday, June 29

Tai Chi by the Reflecting Pool at the Rothko Chapel

At 5 pm, head to the Rothko Chapel (3900 Yupon) for a Tai Chi class held on the Chapel grounds near the reflecting pool and Barnett Newman’s sculpture “Broken Obelisk.” The class is suitable for beginners as well as those experienced in Tai Chi. There is a suggested donation of $10 for those who attend.

Saturday, July 1

Shirin Allabadi, “Miss Hybrid 3,” 2024

Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Through works of art by Iranian-born artists spanning three generations, Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians presents the multifaceted histories and identities of Iranians today. Opening at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet), the exhibition sheds light on the rich heritage of the Iranian people during a period of social and political unrest. The exhibition will be on view through September 24.

Closing Reception — Anthony Suber: Ritual Redux at Cindy Lisica Gallery

From 2 to 4 pm, Cindy Lisica Gallery (4411 Montrose) will host the closing reception for Ritual Redux, a solo exhibition from Houston-based artist Anthony Suber. The exhibition presents a series of new paintings that draw from the visual vocabulary of African diaspora and contemporary American experience. The event will feature an artist talk as well as “Griot Gospel,” a performance in collaboration with Suber and dancer/choreographer Walter Hull.

Opening Reception — Grayson Chandler: Tautologies & Memoirs at Deborah Colton Gallery

From 6 to 8 pm, Deborah Colton Gallery (2445 North Blvd.) will host the opening reception for a solo exhibition by local artist Grayson Chandler, Tautologies & Memoirs. Born in Houston in 1994, Chandler presents the perspectives of a young artist who is fascinated by the intrinsic order and beauty of nature. The artist illuminates the border between real and imaginary, forcing viewers to explore the boundaries and dichotomies presented therein. The exhibition will be on view through August 19.

Screening — El Topo at Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park

At 10 pm, join Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park (531 South Mason) for the screening of El Topo, an exploration of ’60s avant-garde cinema from acclaimed director Alejandro Jodorowsky. The film, full of Latin American symbolism, chronicles the exploits of a master gunfighter and cosmic mystic as he sets out to do battle with four sinister rivals. Tickets are $10.

Sunday, July 2

Paper sculptures from Jesse Lott

Paper Workshop with Jesse Lott at 14 Pews

From 2 to 5:30 pm, join renowned local artist Jesse Lott at 14 Pews (800 Aurora) for a workshop that demonstrates a number of techniques he utilizes in the construction of his sculptural paper works. Lott is known for his visionary sculpture, paper figures, and works on paper made from found materials. The class requires participants to bring a range of heavy-weight recycled papers, and additional materials will be provided at the workshop. The class is limited to 15 participants and tickets are $50, with all proceeds going directly to the artist.

A lyrical collision of pigments, form, and poetry come together in the latest exhibition at Cindy Lisica Gallery. Masterful manipulator of wood, concrete, and metal, artist Anthony Suber weaves together definitions of contemporary America and African diaspora through a presentation that is both raw and pristine. Association of both the spiritual and the social nature come together throughout the gallery, displaying a reverence for material and concept, strong in visual display and internal meaning. Friday, June 2, the opening night of his exhibition Ritual Redux, features a special performance at 7 pm in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Harrison Guy.

What promises to be an encompassing experience for an audience includes wearable artwork, video, and sound coming together for a piece entitled “Griot Gospel.” As gallerist and curator, Cindy Lisica offers yet again an exhibition that goes beyond the work to include the entire thoughtfulness and concept of an artist. Suber’s work has been featured in a multitude of exhibitions including Project Row Houses, Sculpture Month Houston, and the Houston Museum of African American Culture. He holds a BFA from the University of Houston and teaches Studio Art and Art History at The Kinkaid School. While installing his exhibition at Cindy Lisica Gallery, Suber spoke with Free Press Houston about his background, creative process and the cultural influences in his work.

Free Press Houston: Which people in your life introduced you to art? Is there a particular experience in the arts that made you want to choose that as a profession?

Anthony Suber: I was raised in a home where the arts were definitely appreciated. My grandfather was a woodworker and my father was a painter and a bit of a sculptor. My mother was one of my main cheerleaders and tried to make sure that I had every opportunity to develop my talents and interests in the arts possible. My main experience that solidified my passion for the arts was the time that I spent at HSPVA here in Houston. I’m not sure if, without having that experience, I would have progressed as far as I had by the time I was ready for college, which allowed me to have a more mature perspective of what it meant to be an artist.

Anthony Suber, “Griot Gospel #3,” 2024

FPH: Tell me about your experience as a student in arts education and how it developed you as an artist.

Suber: So again, my more my formal foundation began at an earlier age, attending the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Though I loved making art — mainly drawing and painting at the time — and tinkering, I did not initially know if I’d be a good fit for the school. I wanted to study art but I was also really into science and architecture which back then, I did not see a clear connection. Over the years that I spent in those halls, I met and was mentored by some really insightful and encouraging teachers and working artists. I have often looked back on that time as not only the foundation that set me on a course to be a maker of art but also one who helps young artists realize their potential in the arts, either as patrons or artists themselves.

FPH: What are some mediums that interest you the most and what are some topics that are at the core of your artistic concept?

Suber: I consider myself to be multidisciplinary and a multimedia artist, mainly because I am drawn to various types of mediums and methods dealing with the creative process. Connected to the formal aspect of making, I am attracted to materials that either have a latent history to them, or materials that I can give a history to through processing them. I also have a deep affinity for reclaimed materials and the symbolic significance behind giving something new life. In the same breath, I find connection to topics that have a balance of history, and weight of cultural significance.

Anthony Suber, “Medium (Shaman),” 2024

FPH: Your upcoming show at Cindy Lisica Gallery offers visual commentary on time, culture, and experience. What is the premise of the show and some of the work that will be featured?

Suber: So the premise of this show is connected to an ongoing conversation that I’m attempting to have with the audience dealing with the different aspects of social interaction but from a cultural viewpoint. Specifically I have been dealing with microaggressions and their deeper impact on how we view race and deal with established cultural norms. When I began my research for this current series, I was drawn to the implicit cultural stereotypes that people of color have to process in order to navigate life. I was also, at the same time, drawn to the connections and parallels with choreographed dance movement and daily routine. Since my work already has an anthropological slant, it was a natural choice for me to work with the idea of masks and vestments as a vehicle for these conversations. There is one piece in particular that drives the show, a wearable sculpture that utilizes arduino technology and sensors to create another layer of experience via sound and light.

FPH: I greatly appreciate the fact that you are incorporating a performance aspect to the work on opening night. How do you hope this performance will resonate with the work present, along with bouncing back from a live audience in attendance?

Suber: Since this has been a part of the concept of this particular series from inception, I sincerely hope that the audience experiences a deep connection with the “activation” of the work through the choreographed movement and the wearable sculpture. Harrison Guy is an amazing choreographer and dancer, and I hope the audience is able to get the full magnitude of the collaboration between him and myself. There will also be a film installation that aides the anthropological aspect of the work, a piece that I have been working on in collaboration to a filmmaker here in Houston named Marlon Hall.

Anthony Suber,”No. 29,” 2024

FPH: How has having children affected your work and outlook on the arts, especially in interesting cultural/political times like these?

Suber: Having children presents its own interesting set of challenges and gives you a different perspective on things. It does not matter who you are. As an artist, it has increased my appreciation of the role that the arts play in the shaping of our culture and in the way that our minds think. I think that my daughters are inheriting a world that in many ways is evolving faster artistically than the world that I inherited from my parents. I think that this is largely due to the role of politics in culture, but also to the way that technology bridges so many expanses and makes instant access, which translates to exposure, such a basic thing.

FPH: What is coming up for you in the near future?

Suber: I’m always cooking up various projects that I’d like to work on but currently I’ve been focusing time on a project entitled FREE. It is an outdoor, community based installation that focuses on the characteristics of stress and how individuals from different economic strata and diverse backgrounds handle — or not handle — it. The project is a scaled up version of my wearables and includes a lot of the same technology that I’m using in Ritual Redux via light, sound, and sensors to cultivate a particular experience for the viewer.

Anthony Suber’s exhibition “Ritual Redux” is on view at Cindy Lisica Gallery (4411 Montrose) from June 2, 2024 through July 1, 2024.

In addition to the second annual HUE Mural Festival, which will transform walls across the city, this week brings in opening receptions at Cindy Lisica Gallery, Jonathan Hopson and Anya Tish Gallery, as well as the first of three site-specific projection-based events by Pablo Gimenez-Zapiola.

Ongoing

HUE Mural Festival 

Taking place at locations across the East End, East Downtown and the Northside, the second annual HUE Mural Festival celebrates the city’s diverse arts community by transforming Houston’s cityscape with murals created by more than 100 artists from across the globe. Artists have roughly 190 hours to create their designs using various techniques, ranging from graffiti, muralism and paint brush work to airbrush, wheat paste and stencil. The new creations will add to the existing murals created by last year’s event, adding more than 20,000 square feet of colorful wall space within the same area. With artist vendors, live painting, guided tours and more, the festival runs from 11 am to 7 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Thursday, October 13

Opening Reception — Erick Calderon: Block Party at m Architects

From 5 to 8 pm, m Architects (1206 Nance) is hosting the opening reception for Erick Calderon’s first solo exhibition Block Party. The exhibition will feature pieces representative of the various media he’s worked with over the past five years, including a projection mapped installation, LED light art, cut vinyl and 3-D blocks. The exhibition will be on view through December 31.

Opening Reception — Terry Boyd: I Can’t Say That I Don’t Know That I’m Alive at Cindy Lisica Gallery

From 6 to 8:30 pm, Cindy Lisica Gallery (4411 Montrose) is hosting the opening reception for Terry Boyd’s solo exhibition I Can’t Say That I Don’t Know That I’m Alive. As a multi-platform artist who uses performance and fiber art to explore the mind and human experience within his practice, Boyd’s most recent body of work utilizes unconventional drawing, painting and embroidery techniques to connect viewers to lost memories and personal histories. His solo exhibition features a range of works on linen, canvas and paper, as well as installations for Sculpture Month Houston. The exhibition will be on view through November 12.

Pablo Gimenez-Zapiola: Eastext at El Rincón Social

As the first of three live projection performances, multimedia artist Pablo Gimenez-Zapiola presents Eastext at El Rincón Social (3210 Preston) from 6:40 to 8:40 pm.  The event takes place outside with text projections on the building’s façade from a moving vehicle, followed by an artist talk, recitations by local poets, and additional projections inside El Rincón Social’s gallery space. By literally using the East End as a canvas for his poetry, Gimenez-Zapiola seeks to promote the integration, engagement and enrichment of the community with its various cultural identities.

Friday, October 14

Opening Reception — Shayne Murphy: Fluorescent Gray at Anya Tish Gallery

From 6 to 8:30 pm, Anya Tish Gallery (4411 Montrose) is hosting the opening reception for Shayne Murphy’s solo exhibition Fluorescent Gray. The exhibition, which features new and recent paintings and works on paper, showcases Murphy’s ability to visualize the boundaries between reality and imagination. Utilizing vibrant candy colors, blurry scribbles and clouds of dusty gray, her painstaking gradations of pigment could easily be mistaken for digitally rendered prints. Murphy’s exhibition will be on view through November 12.

Saturday, October 15

Discussion — Conversation with Trey Duvall and Joe Wooten at Lawndale Art Center

From 2 to 4 pm, join Lawndale Art Center (4912 Main) for a discussion with artists Trey Duvall and Joe Wooten about their respective exhibitions and the unusual ways their practices intersect, led by Executive Director Stephanie Mitchell. Wooten’s exhibition, Mystic Dumb-Dumb, presents a series of collages, mixing the whimsical and bizarre, while Duvall’s exhibition, Idiot Machines/Infinity Loops, is a series of work that emphasizes humor, futility and failure.

Sunday, October 16

Opening Reception — Emily Peacock: The Likelihood of Future Improvement at Jonathan Hopson

From 1 to 5 pm, Jonathan Hopson (904 Marshall) is hosting the opening reception for Emily Peacock’s solo exhibition The Likelihood of Future Improvement. The exhibition showcases her new photographic works, which “embody the moment we start to question the likelihood of improving; when the familiar image of skull and lit candle creep into our daily life pushing us to be better.” The exhibition will be on view through November 20.

Continuing our look at the local layers added into the Texas Contemporary Art Fair kicking off this Thursday, we tie in another gallery from the concrete art fortress known as 4411 Montrose: Cindy Lisica Gallery. Nearly 50 galleries from across the globe including an extensive list of cultural partners will be present for the four-day fair. A plethora of extracurricular activities during the fair include our city’s leading journal of literature, art, and critical art writing, Gulf Coast, presenting their scholastic program of artist talks, critical writing discussions, and panel on the fair’s focus section The Other Mexico, featuring Rebecca Tejada, Rachel Cooke, and curator Leslie Moody Castro.

Another highlight of interest includes a special talk by renowned restaurateur and lifelong artist Mr. Chow in conversation with Eric Shiner, former director of the Andy Warhol Museum. The legendary Mr. Chow has hosted and served the revered artist population such as Keith Haring, Mick Jagger, Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Madonna, David Bowie, Bruno Bischofberger, and more.

Prior to Thursday’s opening night preview, Cindy Lisica talks with Free Press Houston about her gallery’s plans for the art fair along with her ties to this special talk.

Terry Boyd, “Trying to Feel Human Again,” 2024

Free Press Houston: What work will you be presenting at the fair? How will this particular work represent your gallery?

Cindy Lisica: I’ll be presenting the work of a fair favorite from last year, Terry Boyd, and his captivating embroidered paintings on linen. His upcoming solo is up next at the gallery, opening on October 14. I’m also incredibly pleased to be featuring a remarkable large-scale painting by Michael Chow [Mr. Chow] aka Zhou Yinghua. He is an invited speaker along with my former boss and colleague Eric Shiner [the former Director of The Andy Warhol Museum and current Senior Vice President of the Fine Art Division at Sotheby’s in New York].

Ron Ulicny is making the trip to Houston from Los Angeles to install large sculptural works from his “Xylotheque” series, which were selected as special installations at the fair. I’ll also bring the work of artists that have previously shown with me or are about to bring solo exhibitions in coming months, including Deborah Nehmad, whose exhibition earlier this year at the Honolulu Museum of Art further solidified her established presence as an important figure working in printmaking. Houston-based Catherine Colangelo, who has an exhibition opening January 6, 2024, is a Parsons and Cooper Union graduate who’s been featured in Art in America, New American Painting, and several other national art magazines and local publications.

She is a two-time Hunting Prize finalist and will give us a taste of her sophisticated studio work primarily using gouache on muslin. Paintings reflecting exciting textures, architecture, and pop sensibilities by Jamie Earnest, the young art star from Carnegie Mellon and Yale, will also make an appearance in the booth. We’ll also bring some teasers for the current show by Jennifer McClish and her playful and colorful — but labor-intensive — mixed media sculptures and paintings. My focus on artists has a tendency toward hybrid material practices rather than the formal or traditional.

FPH: What type of dialogue do you hope your gallery and the work will add to the conversation of the fair?

Lisica: I’m really excited to participate in all aspects of the fair, not only with my booth, but also the media, events, talks, and tours, with special appearances and specifically-featured artwork, as well as the collaborative elements with the other partners who have reached out to respond to the artwork and artists that my gallery is bringing. It’s all rewarding emotionally and intellectually to be constantly engulfed in my passion and sharing it with others.

Jamie Earnest, “Home Like a Film,” 2024

FPH: How does your participation in this art fair help to grow your gallery?

Lisica: As last year was my first foray into the Texas Contemporary — participating as my former gallery, Revision Space, which was in Pittsburgh — it served as an introduction for me to the art scene here, and vice versa. Since then, Cindy Lisica Gallery opened at the start of 2024 and has proved popular in Houston. We have a larger and more familiar presence now and have been working hard to bring top-notch curatorial presentations of artists that are promising and interesting to both local and wider audiences. Everything has been building and gaining momentum.

FPH: How has your time been in Houston in comparison to having a gallery in Pittsburgh so far?

Lisica: It’s sort of a strange comparison because it’s a different region and population entirely, but the time I spent there was important. I had just returned to the US after I finished my PhD and left my job at the Tate in London. I had been out of the country for over 6 years, so it was a new start. I had been working in galleries, museums, and as an independent curator for a decade prior to moving back, and Pittsburgh totally pulled me in and struck me with opportunities. I made links with other cities through curatorial collaborations and art fairs, and also served the local art community, artists, and collectors by providing quality exhibitions and functioning as a commercial gallery.

We quickly became known and were even awarded in the Best Art Gallery category by the Pittsburgh City Paper in our second year of existence. The city has a rich history and cultural fabric, including major universities and the Carnegie Museums, where I worked and traveled with the collections of The Andy Warhol Museum for nearly five years. I’ve previously lived in Los Angeles, Paris, and London, and spent a fair amount of time in China, Japan, and Taiwan throughout my professional career in the arts. I think the curatorial and research experiences in those places have a notable impact on my current gallery practices. The world of contemporary art is vast and varied!

The Texas Contemporary Art Fair opens at the George R. Brown Convention Center (1001 Avenida De Las Americas) this Thursday, September 29, 2024 with an Opening Night Preview from 6 to 10 pm. Public fair hours are Friday, September 30 from 11 am to 7 pm, Saturday, October 1 from 11 am to 7 pm and Sunday, October 2 from 12 to 6 pm. You can purchase tickets here.

Receive a complementary VIP Pass that will get you in opening night 8 to 10 pm, as well as all other fair times.

A combination of careful craftsmanship along with woodworking techniques and fabrication, Ron Ulicny has installed a show that is quite monumental while bringing an imaginative take as a surrealist sculptor. All materials in this exhibition have been carefully selected, skillfully crafted, masterfully altered, and presented with passion. Ulicny’s imaginative hand shines through the pieces and shows 20-plus years of skill through a gorgeous spectrum of materials. Knowing all the processes and what he has accomplished, his pieces in some regards may look simple, but to achieve what he has in visual art is amazing in its own right. The cuts and combinations of the materials are so carefully planned out and assembled to make a beautiful and broad visual statement, one that is at the caliber of the heavy hitters in contemporary sculpture.

“I found his work in 2024 while researching artists for a thematic group exhibition I curated called The Enduring Skull, and included his sculpture, ‘Skull of Sarah Winchester’,” states Cindy Lisica of Cindy Lisica Gallery, which is hosting Ulicny’s upcoming exhibition, Xylotheque. “Ron also made a new limited edition piece, ‘Paint Can,’ specifically for the show. I wrote and produced an exhibition catalog, which featured the five selected contemporary artists, intermixed with George Grosz, Andy Warhol, and Damien Hirst. I was drawn to Ron’s artwork from the start, so we have continued the conversation. Not long after the initial connection, we both were in transition, as I was moving to Houston from Pittsburgh and opening another gallery, and he was moving to LA from Portland and setting up a new studio. So, essentially we have been planning this solo exhibition for nearly three years. He’s an incredibly talented artist and hard worker, and full of surprises, so it’s exciting to see this all-new body of work transform the gallery space.”

While installing these titan treasures, including one piece that is a massive slab of a tree, Ron Ulicny took the time to answer some questions about his background and what the show title reveals about the exhibition as a whole.

Free Press Houston: What was your experience with art like growing up? Your collegiate studies?

Ron Ulicny: Art is the one thing I have done consistently my whole life since I was a very young kid. I don’t really remember a time I wasn’t creating something. When I was little, I use to play with Legos constantly, I built model planes and cars. I was forever alone in my bedroom, sitting at my desk drawing or painting. My parents noticed my penchant for art at a young age and enrolled me in art lessons and then later classes. We were also lucky enough to have a photography program and darkroom at my high school. It opened a whole new world to me beyond paper and canvas. My junior year of high school, I got accepted and attended the Pennsylvania Governors School For The Arts, which was a unique program for high school students in Pennsylvania.

It was put on and paid for by the state to live at a college for the summer and study art from working and practicing real world “artists.” So this was the first time where I was surrounded completely by artists of all mediums, from all walks of life. It played a major role in me becoming an artist today. I later went to Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia where I actually majored in graphic design and photography. Tyler was a really great school, I learned a lot as far as different kinds of art, techniques and skills, but I feel I grew more as a person there than I did as an artist. Oh, I was also slightly distracted by writing graffiti and tattooing during this youthful period of growth.

Ron Ulicny, “Sleepers”

FPH: In visual art, there is a plethora of materials to use to convey your concept. What type of materials have you worked with over the years and what made you choose those particular ones?

Ulicny: Well, I will use almost anything — and have — if it is appropriate and fits within the the work. I try not to set any limits for myself or my work. My worst nightmare is being forced to use the same “thing” over and over again. Monotony is not your friend.

FPH: The exhibition title is one of great interest to me. Please tell me about how you selected it and what it means to the pieces in this show:

Ulicny: A “Xylotheque” is a collection of wood it comes from the Greek word xylon which means “wood” and “Theque,” which means “repository.” It is more or less like a library of wood samples, all unique and individual. I actually just happened to have stumbled upon the word one day reading an article about the Samuel James Record Collection, the largest “Xylotheque” in the world with over 60,000 plus samples of wood. I felt it fit the scope of my new work perfectly and like it was somehow meant to be the title all along. For this particular exhibition, I wanted to use a wide variety of wood, as well as utilize said wood in a wide variety of ways. It’s like each piece is it’s own little sample.

FPH: You have spent a significant amount of time in both LA and Portland. Seeing that the artistic topography and people in the city are quite different, what are some of the experiences that you absorbed as an artist and perhaps then transferred to your work?

Ulicny: Yeah, I would have to say my time in Portland influenced and shaped my work way more than any of the years I spent in LA. To be quite frank, Los Angeles is a terrible place filled with soulless self-absorbed twits in my humble opinion. I spent 13-plus years there the first time and have been back for the last year and a half. I have always had a love/hate relationship with that town. When I was in Portland though, just that change of environment was like a whole new beginning. I grew more as an artist and as a man in PDX than anywhere. People say “hello” there and are generally very pleasant. It’s laid back and no one really has any significant amount of money so the stench of wealth doesn’t permeate the air like it does in LA. PDX helped me to shed the “jaded” skin I had developed from all those years in LA and just really motivated and focused me. Environment alone will have a dramatic effect and affect on one’s creativity.

“Xylotheque” opens Friday, June 15 from 6 to 8:30 pm at Cindy Lisica Gallery(4411 Montrose). The show runs through September 2.