This week presents a number of experimental sound performances, opening receptions at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Jonathan Hopson Gallery, and a screening of international short films at the Aurora Picture Show.

Wednesday, June 14

Screening — Architecture of Family at Aurora Picture Show

At 8 pm, the Aurora Picture Show (2442 Bartlett) presents Architecture of Family, a selection of contemporary international short films that explore the connections and constructs of family and community through memories, spaces and places. Curated by Mary Magasmen, the program includes work by Amy Jenkins, Sasha Waters-Freyer, Lenka Clayton, Thomas Gleeson, Lisset Mendoza, Allison Hunter and more. At 6:30 pm, Urban Harvest will host a potluck dinner in the garden and guests are invited to bring their own meat or veggies for grilling. Admission is $10.

Thursday, June 15

Screening — An Evening of New Films from Israel at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From 6:30 to 8 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216 Montrose) presents an evening of films by Tel Aviv-based artists, both well known and up-and-coming, curated by CAMH director Bill Arning. Arning will provide introductions to each of the films with stories about meeting each of the chosen filmmakers.

Friday, June 16

Edward Eberle, “Cylinder”

Opening Reception — Edward Eberle Retrospective at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

From 5:30 to 8 pm, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848 Main) will host the opening reception for the first career retrospective of work by Pittsburgh-based ceramic artist Edward Eberle. For three decades, Eberle has pushed the limits of porcelain with a prolific body of work, ranging from classically inspired vessels to deconstructed sculptures. Comprised of over 40 works, the show highlights the evolution of Eberle’s forms, from the mid-1980s to present. The exhibition will be on view in the main gallery through September 2.

Opening Reception — Annie Evelyn: Multiple Impressions at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

From 5:30 to 8 pm, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft will host the opening reception for Multiple Impressions, a solo exhibition of recent work by Annie Evelyn, the furniture maker at HCCC. The installation invites visitors to experience her craftsmanship first hand by taking a seat on her pieces, crafted from alternative materials like aluminum and cement. The exhibition will be on view in the front gallery through September 2.

Performance — gig, draft: A Music Performance by Anisa Boukhlif, David Dove and Gabriel Martinez at the Houston Center for Photography

From 6 to 7:30 pm, the Houston Center for Photography (1441 West Alabama) presents an improvisational music performance in conjunction with the institution’s current exhibition Louviere + Vanessa: Resonantia. Anisa Boukhlif will present field recordings, David Dove will perform on trombone and electronics, and Gabriel Martinez will play on prepared electric bass, objects and electronics, all working together to create a unique, improvised composition.

Performance — Lean, Bleak at Alabama Song

From 8 to 11 pm, Alabama Song (2521 Oakdale) will host another installment of Lean, Bleak, an ongoing experimental music concert series that allows artists to present their work across various practices, including improvisation, noise, poetry, dance and composed song. Performances will include works by Justin Jones/Gabriel Martinez/Ronnie Yates, Parham Daghighi/Joe Wozny, Andrew Durham/Megan Easley, and Ryan Edwards/Ruth Langston/Rebecca Novak. Admission is $5.

Saturday, June 17

Public Trust at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

From 1 to 5 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present Public Trust, an interactive artwork by Paul Ramírez Jonas. The piece asks museum visitors to examine the value of a word by declaring a promise, the words of which are recorded in a drawing that is shared with them and posted on a marquee board alongside similar pronouncements made by notable figures from the week’s headline news.

Sunday, June 18

Bradley Kerl, “English Garden,” 2024

Opening Reception — Coyote at Jonathan Hopson Gallery

From 1 to 5 pm, Jonathan Hopson Gallery (904 Marshall) will host the opening reception for the group exhibition Coyote. The exhibition, which features artists who were all either born or living in Texas, presents works that are imbued by the spirit of the state. Artists include Bradley Kerl, Debra Barrera, Julie DeVries, Lauren Moya-Ford, Erin Joyce, and Jessica Ninci. The exhibition will be on view through July 30.

This week brings in more than half a dozen opening receptions, including exhibitions at Blaffer Art Museum and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, as well as the all-day Summer Jam at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University.

Thursday, June 1

Nicole Bunting at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

Opening Reception — Small Expressions at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

From 5 to 7 pm, join the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848 Main) for the opening reception for Small Expressions, the annual juried exhibition of small-scale fiber works from the Handweavers Guild of America. The reception will also feature a talk by juror Mary Ruth Smith, open studios by HCCC’s resident artists, and drinks from Buffalo Bayou Brewing. The exhibition will be on view through July 29.

Opening Reception — Chris Bexar: Compulsive Web Time Compression at Wedge Space

From 6 to 8 pm, Wedge Space (6815 Rustic) will host the opening reception for Compulsive Web Time Compression, a solo exhibition by Houston artist Chris Bexar, composed of manipulated photographs of imaginary urban skylines. The invented skylines so closely mimic the real thing that viewers often believe them to be veracious. The exhibition will be on view through June 30.

Friday, June 2

Opening Reception — Unspeakably human or unimaginably bestial? at Anya Tish Gallery

From 6 to 8:30 pm, Anya Tish Gallery (4411 Montrose) will host the opening reception for the three-person exhibition Unspeakably human or unimaginably bestial?, presenting sculpture by JooYoung Choi, paintings by Gao Hang and monoprints by Karen Lederer, each depicting creatures that come alive within the context of pop culture and the aesthetics of our digital world. The exhibition will be on view through July 15.

Anthony Suber at Cindy Lisica Gallery

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

From 6 to 8:30 pm, Cindy Lisica Gallery (4411 Montrose) will host the opening 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. At 7 pm, the event will feature a performance in collaboration with Suber and dancer/choreographer Harrison Guy, incorporating wearable artwork, sound and video. The exhibition will be on view through July 1.

Opening Reception — The Propeller Group at Blaffer Art Museum

From 7 to 9 pm, Blaffer Art Museum (4173 Elgin) presents the first museum exhibition by Ho Chi Minh City collective The Propeller Group. Known for blurring the boundaries between an art collective and an advertising agency, The Propeller Group was established in 2024 as a multimedia platform for creating large-scale art projects. The exhibition brings together seven projects, comprised of videos and an assortment of related objects, that are deeply rooted in Vietnam’s history, politics and everyday life, yet also address international commerce, globalized street culture and the tools of war. The exhibition will be on view through September 30.

Screening — Agnes Martin: With My Back to the World at The Menil Collection

From 8 to 9 pm, The Menil Collection (1533 Sul Ross) will host a screening of Mary Lance’s documentary Agnes Martin: With My Back to the World. The film documents the life of the internationally renowned painter between 1998 and 2024, when Martin was in her 90s, as she worked in her studio in Taos, New Mexico, as well as archival footage and images of five decades of her work.

“Stop Making Sense” at River Oaks Theatre

Screening — Midnight Madness: Stop Making Sense at River Oaks Theatre

River Oaks Theatre (2009 West Gray) is hosting another of their popular “Midnight Madness” screenings, this time of Stop Making Sense. The film revolutionized the art of shooting rock concerts with this highly entertaining film of several nights of performances by the Talking Heads. Tickets are $10 and the screening starts at midnight. An additional screening will be held on Saturday at midnight.

Saturday, June 3

Summer Jam at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University

Join the Moody Center for the Arts (6100 Main) for their Summer Jam, a day filled with free programming to inaugurate the new site-specific sculpture “Repeater” by Brooklyn-based artist David Scanavino. The event, which starts at noon, will feature a performance by DJ Flash Gordon Parks, food trucks, a spoken word performance, as well as a presentation by the artist at 2:30 pm and the Abstract Animation Film Festival, presented by the Aurora Picture Show, from 4:30 to 6:30. Scanavino’s work installation be on view through August 26.

Discussion — Tuan Andrew Nguyen from The Propeller Group at Blaffer Art Museum

From 1:30 to 3 pm, Blaffer Art Museum will present a discussion with Tuan Andrew Nguyen of The Propeller Group as part of the programming for their exhibition. Nguyen will be in conversation with Duy Lap Nguyen, Assistant Professor of World Cultures and Literatures at the University of Houston, and Javier Sánchez Martínez, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Curatorial Fellow at Blaffer Art Museum.

Robert Hodge, “Poundcake,” 2024 at Galveston Arts Center

Opening Reception — Robert Hodge & Tierney Malone: Two & 1/2 Years: A Visual Celebration to the Spirit of Juneteenth and ROUX SALT at Galveston Arts Center

From 6 to 9 pm, join the Galveston Arts Center (2127 Strand) for the opening reception for two exhibitions, including a collaborative show between multidisciplinary artists Robert Hodge and Tierney Malone, Two & 1/2 Years: A Visual Celebration to the Spirit of Juneteenth. The exhibition reexamines the story of the institution of slavery in Texas and the origins of the Juneteenth celebration and retells the story musically and visually. ROUX SALT, a group exhibition with work by Rabéa Ballin, Ann Johnson, Delita Martin, and Lovie Olivia, navigates between styles of the past and the proposed future and addresses experiences unique to women of color living in the South. Both exhibitions will be on view through July 9.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, adopted Houstonian Rebecca Braziel stands out in the artistic community here due to her graceful use and sublime concepts of fibers. Her focus on delicate textures, thoughtful process, natural materials, rich repetition and acute attention to detail all collide to reveal work of great intrigue. Through her unique way of sourcing material from nature and man made items, Braziel allows for the objects to bring their own narratives to the table. The starting point of inspiration from these items richly revives them where their previous state was seen as something to discard.

With her move to Houston in 2024, Braziel has since shown work at the Galveston Art Center, Mountain View College, Hunger Gather Project, and recently won the Texas Biggest 10 award from the Katy Contemporary Art Museum Fort Bend. Currently she is weaving new stories in her studio as an artist in resident at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Graciously she took the time to answer some questions about the various chapters of her career.

Free Press Houston: Your absorption of art in your childhood was different than most. How did you begin to understand creativity?

Rebecca Braziel: My childhood lacked contact with fine art but instead was characterized by a sense of complete creative freedom and an abundance of rich visual stimulation. I built twig houses in the woods with my brothers and played dress up alongside my sisters using vintage clothing with lace, intricate beading, feathers, and velvet. My mother blurred the lines between outdoors and in by filling the house with plants, flowers, and my favorite, a massive collection of dried vines that she gracefully wrapped in lights and installed along the ceiling in her favorite room. This type of artistic experience developed my practice because instead of being shown a painting or sculpture and being told, “This is art and these are the materials used to make it,” I followed my own path of making art out of whatever material I responded to, approaching each piece with a playfulness which produced flexibility and innovation.

FPH: What was your experience in higher education like?

Braziel: Studying at Savannah College of Art and Design with a focus in Fibers was such an influential time in my life. I was a late bloomer taking my first official art class my sophomore year of high school so to fully immerse myself in art was an intoxicating experience. I was always good at drawing and photography but SCAD is where I was introduced to fibers. My fibers professors had such high standards for our work conceptually and technically and it was only with their guidance that I realized what I was capable of. Even now with every new piece I continue ask myself the simple questions they used to pose such as, “How do I want the viewer to feel when they are interacting with my art?”

FPH: What lead you to the use of materials in fabric and nature?

Braziel: It is a priority of mine to spend time in nature because I enjoy it so much. It found a way into my work in 2024 when I witnessed a large wildfire in Georgia frighteningly close to my grandmother’s house, causing the land all around her to be shockingly black and flat. I collected the tree bark out of a desperate attempt to save a piece of the land that felt like home. After storing it for two years, tiny eggs started to grow along the surface. I tend to see the world through a fibers lens, so to me, these eggs looked exactly like seed beads that are used for beaded embroideries. I began using beads to imitate and celebrate the next life cycle for this tree bark. Ever since creating this work, I continuously strive to capture the essence of nature using mixed media with an emphasis on fibers.

FPH: What would be some of the experiences that have helped shape your style and concept?

Braziel: No. 1: The birth of my first daughter at 19 taught me to cherish and protect everything that is precious and fragile. Being in the vast remains of Bastrop, Texas’s forest ravaged by wildfires introduced me to hope for regeneration. Volunteering with Joseph Heidecker at Design Miami where long lines of people waited to participate in his interactive piece taught me that people want to actively engage with art while working as an assistant to Mary Elizabeth Sargent for entire summer to create a one-time fibers installation that could not be moved or sold taught me that sometimes art can transcend the art market and exist for a purer reason.

No. 2: Being in a landscape that has been devastated by wildfires is one. Being in the vast remains of Bastrop, Texas’s forest was a bizarre mixture of sadness and calm. Sad because of the wasted life, calm because you are still in nature. Experiencing that and trying to express it within the restrictions of a 22 x 30 inch piece of paper has shaped my style. Also, the millions of instances where you don’t have control resulting in the practice of patience and acceptance. All of my materials have their natural qualities that I am working with or around. So I approach them like a dance where I make a move and then they respond. That technique takes patience and acceptance.

FPH: How has your residency at HCCC gone so far? Have any new concepts came forth from your time there so far?

Braziel: I am halfway through my residency and having this time and space to create has helped me bring ideas that I have had for years to fruition. For example, in the past, I have been very focused on creating work revolving around wildfires, nature, and regeneration. While I continue to work with that subject, I have started a separate series of work using vintage clothing and accessories, which conjure vivid past experiences heavily weighted in childhood nostalgia. I then permanently attach or separate these objects in ways that reflect family ties using embroidery, stapling, as well as other processes.

FPH: How are you approaching your projects in the coming year?

Braziel: My focus for the next year is to be more community driven with both the local art community and general public. Right now I am working on a proposal for a two-person show with another Houston-based artist. At the same time I am also talking to the HCCC Education team about how to share my collaborative pieces with the greater Houston community by visiting schools and community centers. My hope is that these projects will result in one huge installation piece that they could come together around and celebrate. In January, I am leading Hands on Houston at the Craft Center. The activity that I have planned is called, “Crowns from the Garden.” We will be sourcing materials from the garden and appreciating Houston for being lovely and green in a month that can often seem stark.

FPH: Now seeing that there is such a culture shift in our nation, how do you feel your work can possibly help a viewer connect or reconnect to some of the concepts and material you work with?

Braziel: In September I presented an interactive installation titled “Creeping Vine” which was based on the green leafy vines that grow wildly on Houston’s fences and walls blurring the lines in our landscape, unifying the city. A wire backing was installed in the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s AIRSPACE and every visitor to the center had an equal opportunity to contribute by adding a fabric strip or “leaf”. I view this as a democratic way of creating art that encourages people to work side by side on the creation of a project, stimulating conversation about community life as well as bringing focus to causes such as the importance of nature.

FPH: How has being a mother influenced or changed your work over the years?

Braziel: The good news is that in a lot of ways, it hasn’t. I stay inspired by working and getting out to see shows because whether you don’t have children or if you have three kids, the most important thing is to maintain what feeds you as a person. On a deeper level, I believe that I move further and further away from a self-centered state of mind with every child I have. As that happens, I am more sensitive to the things around me such as color, texture, movement, shape, and balance because I am not caught up thinking about myself. I have also become more empathetic and caring for others. This observation of details and experiences is reflected in all that I create in my studio.

This week in Houston brings in a lecture about thoughtfully utilizing “white box” galleries at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, sound and performance event at the Center for Contemporary Craft, and the final installment of the LEAN, BLEAK concert series at HOMEcore.

Ongoing

Performance — Wake Up, Mama – A Pregnant Pause at MATCH

MATCH (3400 Main) presents Wake Up, Mama – A Pregnant Pause, a theatrical production detailing the continuing journey of Maggie Sabey, mother of two with one on the way. The multi-layered, comedic, and truthful piece follows Maggie and her newfound ‘mindfulness’ in motherhood. “Whether it’s her volunteer commitments at school, her sisters wedding, her husband and his Fantasy Home Brew Beer League, or her ever increasing maternal discomfort, it all comes to a head despite her best efforts to ‘keep calm’.” Held in MATCHBOX 1, tickets are $27 and performances are held daily from Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm with a matinee performance at 2 pm on Saturday.

Thursday, August 11

Performance — fading…: A Sound & Dance Collaboration by Lynn Lane & Jennifer Mabus at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

As part of the programming in conjunction with A View Within: Works by Paula Chung and Karen Rips, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848 Montrose) presents “The Power of Healing through Art,” an evening of performance, presentation and discussion about art therapy and its effects on both body and mind. Starting at 6 pm, dance artist Jennifer Mabus and sound artist and collaborator Lynn Lane will present fading…, a multimedia sound and dance performance about Alzheimer’s disease. “By abstracting the idea of memory and identity through sound and dance performance, Mabus and Lane create a physical experience of loss to understand the challenges that one encounters with this disease.”

Lecture — Thinking Inside the Box with Curator Josh Fischer at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

At 6 pm, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216 Montrose) presents a lecture by Josh Fischer, curator of the Rice University Art Gallery, who will discuss methods for installation artists to approach “white cube gallery” spaces, with his practice often involving the use of inexpensive, discarded materials. Drawing from his work at Rice Gallery and CAMH’s exhibition flow 流 by Jae Ko, Fischer will discuss the creative ingenuity behind spatial transformations and the uniqueness of such artist-created settings.

Friday, August 12

Stargazing with the Houston Astrological Society at Raven Tower

From 9 to 11 pm, the Houston Astrological Society is carting three professional telescopes to the top of the five-story Raven Tower (310 North) to give patrons a chance to see the stars. According to HAS, “Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and the moon should be the great targets that night.”

Saturday, August 13

Performance — LEAN, BLEAK: III at HOMEcore

As the finale of the three-event series, LEAN, BLEAK is a summer concert series featuring Texas songwriters, experimental improvisers and poets. This installment takes place at HOMEcore (2010 Commerce, Unit B) and includes performances by Garden Medium; Parham Daghighi, Ryan Edwards and Rose Lange; Christina Carter; and Spencer Dobbs and Joe Wozny. The show starts at 8 pm and there is a suggested donation of $5 to $10.

Screening — The Rocky Horror Picture Show at River Oaks Theatre

At midnight, join the Royal Mystic Order of Chaos at River Oaks Theatre (2009 West Gray) for one of their raucous performances alongside the screening of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Come in costume and make sure to pick up one of their “Rocky bags,” complete with everything from rubber gloves and toilet paper to party hats and noisemakers. Tickets for the event are $11 and you should probably arrive early to grab a good seat.

One Month Par-tay at El Bambi

Vintage clothing and accessories shop El Bambi (4721 N. Main) is celebrating their one month anniversary with a party from 2 to 5 pm. Started by Lindsay Beale and Emily Hynds, the shop features curated vintage goods for men, women and children, and the party will include sno-cones and drinks (and maybe even pizza), as well as music from Zack on Washington, who will be playing an all-cassette tape set.

By Michael Pennywark

So you survived the apocalypse, the holidays, and even New Year’s. What now? Civilization as we know it is still here, which means you can still enjoy the time-honored tradition of enjoying a few drinks while staring at some nice art and then trying to sound intelligent while you try to explain that you like it because it’s blue. And what better way to ring in the new Mayan calendar than an exhibition of ceramics and bonnets at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft? Okay there’s not really much of a connection there, but I hear the beer will be sponsored by local brewery, Karbach. So if you enjoy finely crafted beer as much as, well, fine crafts then you won’t want to miss this.

On January 25th, HCCC will host a reception for three opening exhibitions. In the large gallery will be the 2013 NCECA Biennial. According to HCCC Curator Anna Walker, the “biennial exhibition will feature a wide range of works from figurative sculptures to functional place settings to performance works. It is an exhibit that happens every two years with the NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) conference and is meant to showcase the best in contemporary ceramic expression.” The annual conference will be held in March and draws about 4,000-6,000 ceramic artists, educators, collectors, and enthusiasts.

One of the most interesting works promises to be Michael Strand’s restaging of his “Misfit Cup Liberation Project.” Walker explained to FPH that, “Strand asks visitors to bring in a cup from their home and in return for sharing the cup and its story he gives them one of his 100 handmade cups. At the end of the exchange, these ‘misfit’ cups are left in the place of where the handmade cups once rested; it becomes a large wall in tribute to the creative exchange. It’s an important work for promoting the reconsideration of an object we use in our daily lives and providing a platform for us to articulate our relationship to a cup in such a public forum.”

In the Artist Hall will be Roughneck: A Juried ClayHouston Exhibition. One show will be the gritty talents of local artists in what curator Susie Silbert described to FPH as: “An incomplete, but hopefully well-cropped, snapshot of ceramic production in Houston right now, at the end of 2024.” With over 107 works submitted, the field was whittled down and it was up to Silbert to present a unified vision. Silbert “noticed a certain tendency toward roughness—a certain parched-earth quality, perhaps inspired by last year’s terrible drought, that in any case seems to encapsulate the impulse of a large number of the artists working in clay in Houston at this moment.”

While discussing the potential of the medium, Silbert explained to FPH the breadth of attention to surface on display in Roughneck, “whether it’s the rain-soaked smoothness of the screen printed ikat patterns [in] Sarah German’s ‘Blue Ewer Set,’ the optic precision of Terry Hagiwara’s vase ‘Meeting of the Water II,’ or the narrative carving on Marcia Erickson’s ‘Fish and Radiation’ mug—these artists are using the surface of their material to communicate. And this embrace of the emotive possibilities of the material is equally at play in the sculptural contributions to this exhibition.”

If you get there early enough, you will also catch Janice Jakielski talking about her solo exhibition Constructing Solitude. The exhibition abounds with brightly colored bonnets and nostalgic floral images. Jakielski explained that the inspiration for these designs come from many sources, “from the bonnets worn by the Amish and Mennonite communities who sold us produce at the farmers market during my childhood in Pennsylvania to the 1930s hat collection inherited from my eccentric grandmother. I have a bit of an obsession with escapist, depression-era musicals, especially the amazing stage sets of Busby Berkeley and the wardrobe of Ginger Rogers.”

Constructing Solitude explores ways of seeing, hearing, and communicating with the world. There are bonnets that, if worn, would obscure one’s sight and hearing, an interactive site-specific installation involving handmade cylindrical goggles, and perhaps most interestingly, the careful choice of floral imagery can be interpreted by using floriography. “Floriography is the Victorian language of flowers,” Jakielski explained adding, “The giving of flowers and floral arrangements was a means of communication- much like the red rose of today’s Valentine’s Day. I find the range of sentiments in floriography dictionaries fascinating. For example, the begonia carries the meaning of ‘Beware, I am Fanciful!’ and the deep red carnation ‘Alas! For My Poor Heart.’ I enjoy integrating these coded meanings into my designs.”

And of course, now I’ll never be able to buy flowers without thinking about what I’m really saying. So much for liking them because they’re blue.

 2013 NCECA Biennial

Roughneck: A Juried ClayHouston Exhibition

Constructing Solitude

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

Friday, January 25, 5:30 – 8:00 PM