Going Wild: The Hidden Agenda

Celan Bouillet, “Texas Tapestry,” 2024 (detail)

This week in Houston brings in discussions and opening receptions at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Art Car Museum and the Silos on Sawyer, as well as a series of rarely-seen short films at Aurora Picture Show.

Wednesday, September 7

Screening — Shedding Light at Aurora Picture Show

Inspired by the Menil Collectoin’s screenings of Andy Warhol’s unfinished film Sunset, Aurora Picture Show (2442 Bartlett) presents a selection of rarely seen short films that focus on the sun, light, color, reflection, refraction, and horizons. Included in the screening are Francois de Menil’s Evening of Light (1969), which features Nico and Iggy Pop, John Cage and Richard Lippold’s The Sun Film (1956) and Kayla Parker’s Sunset Strip (1996). The screenings run from 7:30 to 9 pm.

Friday, September 9

Discussion — The Primary Activity: A Conversation with Roni Horn at The Menil Collection

While anticipation builds for the Menil Drawing Institute’s 2024 opening, John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Chief Curator David Breslin is hosting a series of conversations and lectures on drawing, starting with a discussion with New York- and Reykjavik-based artist Roni Horn. While she works in a variety of mediums, including photography and sculpture, Horn wrote: “If you were to ask me what I do, I would say draw — this is the primary activity and that all my work has this in common regardless of idiom or material.” The discussion runs from 7 to 8 pm in the museum’s main building (1533 Sul Ross).

Saturday, September 10

Performance + Discussion — Models for Movement with Chapman Dance and Lecture by Glaciologist Kurt Cuffey at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Models for Movement is a multi-generational, reflective dance project developed in collaboration with Fonteno Senior Education Center, the University of Houston Dance Ensemble, and Chapman Dance, hosted at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216 Montrose). Movement themes for this preview performance are inspired by the work of artist Jae Ko and her current site-specific installation flow 流 in CAMH’s Zilkha Gallery. This pop-up presentation will be presented in the form of a 15-minute dance performance at 1:30 prior to a lecture presented by Glaciologist Kurt Cuffey at 2 pm, who will give a personal account of how themes of movement, beauty and change recur in his studies of glaciers.

Opening Reception — The Bayou Botanist: An Exhibition of Paintings by Celan Bouillet at the Silos on Sawyer

From 5 to 8:30 pm, join the Silos on Sawyer (1502 Sawyer) for the opening reception for Celan Bouillet’s exhibition, The Bayou Botanist: 365 Days in Houston’s Gardens. The exhibition explores our relationship with Houston’s green spaces through a series of large-scale paintings and mixed media works on paper, resembling contemporary tapestries that blend animals, plants, and people into complex patterns. Other pieces in the show include large cut canvases casting shadows of blooms and leaves to create another dimension to the work.

Opening Reception — The Rørpost Collaboration Project at the Art Car Museum

From 7 to 10 pm, join the Art Car Museum (140 Heights Blvd.) for the opening reception for The Rørpost Collaboration Project. With the purpose of bringing international artists together using collaborative projects as a pipeline for the flow of creative energy, the development of friendships, and the celebration of freedom of expression, 21 artists from Esbjerg, Denmark were partnered with 21 Houston artists. Each artist started a work on paper which was then sent across the Atlantic to be finished by their artistic partner. Each artist subsequently created a new work in response to the experience of the collaboration in a medium of their choice.

by Elizabeth Rhodes