Into the Midst of Things: The Hidden Agenda
Wura-Natasha Ogunji, “Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?,” 2024 (detail). Courtesy of DiverseWorks
This week offers up many unique creative events, including the first installment of The Big Slide Show at Lawndale Art Center and an immersive multimedia performance at DiverseWorks for the closing of their current group exhibition, into the midst of things.
Thursday, July 20
The Big Show at Lawndale Art Center
The Big Slide Show at Lawndale Art Center
At 6 pm, join Lawndale Art Center (4912 Main) for a series of presentations by more than a dozen artists who are featured in the institution’s annual juried exhibition, The Big Show. Each artist will give a brief, informal presentation about their work, providing additional insight into their creative practices. This will be the first evening of three featuring artist talks, with additional artists presenting on July 27 and August 3.
Friday, July 21
Fazal Sheikh, “Pramila Satar (“Lover”), Vrindavan, India,” 2024
Gallery Tour — Homelands and Histories: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
At 2 pm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1001 Bissonnet) presents a gallery tour of Homelands and Histories: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, which celebrates the museum’s major acquisition of 75 photographs spanning the artist’s career. Sheikh has traveled the globe, capturing images of the displaced and marginalized in countries such as Afghanistan, Africa, Brazil, Cuba, India, Israel, Pakistan, and Palestine. The 45-minute tour, which is free with museum admission, explores the exhibition and encourages visitors to experience the artwork together. An additional tour will take place on Saturday at 3 pm.
Saturday, July 22
Words and Art: Writing Workshop at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
From 1 to 2 pm, join the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216 Montrose) for a writing workshop. Using prompts, group discussion, and creativity, patrons can use stories and poems to delve deeply into JooYoung Choi’s works featured in the exhibition A Better Yesterday. The workshop is free and open to all writing levels.
“Public Trust” by Paul Ramírez Jonas at the 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.
Ai Weiwei, “Colored Vases (detail),” 2024–10
Lecture — WITNESS: Garth Clark’s Journey through the Ceramic Art Revolution at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
From 4 to 5 pm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will host a special lecture from Gary Clark, co-presented with the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Clark, an influential voice in the field of international ceramics, will offer up a unique multimedia presentation encompassing the seminal revolutionary moments for ceramics since 1970. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Performance — Situation Mixtape at DiverseWorks
At 6 pm, DiverseWorks (3400 Main) will present Situation Mixtape on the final evening of their current group exhibition into the midst of things. Artists Regina Agu, Peter Lucas and Adrienne Perry will present a live collage of words, images, films, sounds and music from a wide variety of sources, shifting the gallery’s atmosphere and interacting with the exhibition’s themes of place, origin and limbo. The performance is free and open to the public.
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.
