Small Expressions: The Hidden Agenda
Still from The Propeller Group’s “The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music,” 2024. Courtesy of The Propeller Group and James Cohan, New York
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.
