NEWS BITS

ENCHANTED: VISUAL HISTORIES OF THE CENTRAL ANDES

The Menil Collection

A survey of continuity and change in Andean visual cultures—from ancient civilizations through the 21st century—with the museum’s first display of ceramics, textiles, photographs, and festival dress from the region

Running along the western side of South America, the Andean Mountains have supported a rich, interconnected series of civilizations and empires for more than 3,000 years. Surveying this captivating, multifaceted world, the Menil Collection Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes exhibition showcases works from the museum’s collection and loans from the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM. More than forty objects from different historical moments of Andean history are on view—including polychrome ceramic vessels of the Nazca culture (ca. 100 BCE–800 CE), important textiles from the Wari (ca. 600–1000 CE) and Chimú (ca. 1150–1450) civilizations, and 20th–21st century examples of elaborately embroidered esclavinas (short capes) and monteras (hats) worn during religious festivals in Peru. Complementing these objects is a selection of gelatin silver photographic prints by Pierre Verger, also known as Fátúmbí (1902–1996). Verger’s images of religious festivals in the Andes, taken between 1939 and 1945, highlight the costumes, dances, and dramatic moments of these annual events. Rebecca Rabinow, Director of the Menil Collection, said, “Photographer Pierre Verger’s travels through the Andes in the 1940s were made possible, in part, thanks to the financial support of John and Dominique de Menil. The two portfolios of gelatin silver prints that he gave the couple at the time have never before been exhibited, which prompted Menil Curator of Collections Paul R. Davis to study the photographs along with related material in the collection. The resulting exhibition and online publication celebrating Andean visual cultures coincides with the 200th anniversary of Peru’s independence.” Paul R. Davis, Curator of Collections, said, “This project led me to explore the museum’s permanent collection of Andean art more deeply and how it connects to the Menil’s rich institutional history. After meeting Verger by chance in 1941 while visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina, John and Dominique de Menil formed relationships with some of the leading scholars on the Andes and assembled a unique collection of objects from that area. The Menil is pleased to share these artworks in Enchanted, accompanied by a robust online publication.” The exhibition is on view until November 14, 2021.

Left: Textile Fragment Depicting Male Figure, Plants, and Monkeys, ca. 1400. Chimú, Peru. Photo by James Craven. Right: Pierre Verger, Untitled, Fiesta de la Virgen, Copacabana, Bolivia), 1939-45. © Fundação Pierre Verger Sawyer Yards

The Fall Biannual is the ultimate event of the year, enthusiasts and even those looking to purchase their first piece of art shouldn’t miss the chance to view and shop thousands of original works by the artists at Sawyer Yards, Houston’s largest creative campus. They will once again open their doors for a vibrant evening filled with art during the Sawyer Yards Fall Biannual Art Show & Sale. More than 350 artists from six buildings including The Silos, Winter Street Studios, Spring Street Studios, Silver Street Studios, Summer Street Studios and Sabine Street Studios invite the public to view and shop thousands of original works while meeting the artists and enjoying a fantastic array of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, glass, photography, mosaic, mixed media and jewelry. Discover new artists and add a piece to your collection. The event is FREE! Saturday October 2, 2021 from 5–9 pm.

AFRO-ATLANTIC HISTORIES

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

In October, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will debut the U.S. tour of Afro-Atlantic Histories, an unprecedented exhibition that visually explores the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. The exhibition re-examines narratives of westward diaspora through works spanning five centuries from Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. On view from Sunday, October 24, 2021 through Sunday, January 23, 2022

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE, PHOTOGRAPHER

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

A trove of Georgia O’Keeffe’s photographs on view for the first time in Houston

Georgia O’Keeffe is a groundbreaking figure of American modernism, widely recognized for her paintings of New York skyscrapers, radical depictions of flowers, and stark landscapes of the American southwest. Less known is that she quietly honed a photography practice just as distinct as, yet complementary to, her paintings and drawings. This October, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents the first exhibition devoted to O’Keeffe’s photographic practice with the debut of Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer. Organized in partnership with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, the exhibition reveals the wider scope of the artist’s career through some 90 photographs from a previously unstudied archive—a discovery led by MFAH associate curator of photography Lisa Volpe. Photographs in the exhibition will be complemented by 17 paintings and drawings of landscapes, flowers, and still lifes from public and private collections across the country. “Georgia O’Keeffe has long been the subject of exhibitions, portraiture, and volumes of scholarship. She captivated the art world with her works on paper and canvas, yet her photography has never been studied or known despite being essential to her practice,” said Gary Tinterow, Director, the Margaret Alek Williams Chair, MFAH. “We are pleased to present this revelatory exhibition and expand appreciation of one of the most innovative and expressive artists our culture has produced.” While Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) forged a career as one of the most significant painters of the 20th-century, she also had a lifelong connection to photography. Captured on film throughout her life –in early family photos, travel snapshots, and portraits by acavalcade of photographic artists including her husband, Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) --O’Keeffe was no stranger to the medium. She expressed her unique perspective through all aspects of her life, and bythe time she began her photographic practice in the mid-1950s, her singular identity and artistry were well developed. Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer is the culmination of three years of research led by Volpe, who analyzed hundreds of works in different collections and identified more than 400 photographic images by O’Keeffe. Volpe attributed, dated, and catalogued the photographs by examining small details in the images and analyzing the artist’s distinct style.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer will be on view in theUpper Brown Pavilion of theMFAH Caroline Wiess Law Building from Sunday, October 17, 2021 through Sunday, January 23, 2022 before travelling to the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; the Denver Art Museum; and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Todd Webb, Georgia O’Keeffe with Camera, 1959, inkjet print, © Todd Webb Archive

Georgia O’Keeffe, In the Patio VIII, 1950, oil on canvas, © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Art League Houston (ALH) is honored to celebrate Dallasbased Artist Vicki Meek as the 2021 Texas Artist of the Year. Recognized as an artist, curator, writer, organizer and arts advocate, Meek’s career embodies the ethos of the Texas Artist of the Year award in her steadfast devotion to both the creation and support of the arts over the years. Meek’s multimedia, interdisciplinary practice focuses on cultural memory, identity, and social issues in relation to the African diaspora, underscored by an underlying hope and emphasis on collective healing. Meek’s exhibition at Art League Houston, The Journey to Me, thematically visualizes her development as an artist through a curated series of three site-specific installations extending throughout the ALH galleries. Exhibition on view until February 5, 2022.

Vicki Meek. Photo by Nan Coulter

“As an artist obtaining a Master of Fine Arts at the height of the Black Power Movement, it is not surprising that my work embraces a political outlook...”

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) awards $5.6 Million in Grants to 132 arts and culture nonprofit organizations. The grants will fund sponsored projects across the City that will offer public exhibitions, presentations, and performances in 2021. “City funding offers critical support to arts and cultural institutions as well as individual artists,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Although the arts sector and artists sustained significant losses due to the global pandemic, they were still able to innovate, entertain, and bring joy and light into our lives. While economic recovery continues as vaccination levels rise, Houston recognizes art is integral to a vibrant city, and a necessary driver of our local economy.” The funds were awarded via the Support for Organizations grant program, which supports nonprofit organizations and fiscally sponsored projects with annual arts and cultural programming that is available to Houston residents and visitors. This competitive grant program is managed and administered annually by the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) and is funded by a portion of the City’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT). Houston Arts Alliance is a local arts and culture organization whose principal work is to implement the City of Houston’s vision, values, and goals for its arts grantmaking and civic art investments. HAA’s work is conducted through contracts with the City of Houston, overseen by MOCA. HAA also executes privately funded special projects to meet the needs of the arts community. In short, HAA helps artists and nonprofits be bold, productive, and strong. To learn more visit: www.houstonartsalliance.com. In Place of an Index is a group exhibition featuring 12 artists native to or currently living and working in Texas. The exhibition is produced and presented in conjunction with the 2021 Texas Biennial exhibition, A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon. The exhibition is a curatorial collaboration between Max Fields and Texas Biennial curators Ryan N. Dennis and Evan Garza. In Place of an Index addresses historical narratives from a position of potentiality, rather than construct or add to a timeline, archive, or index of history and experience. Featured artists situate personal and political narratives outside of fixed contexts, and their work suggests that historical narratives are fluid, and can be revisited, rewritten, and reimagined. Featured artists’ respective practices address historical documentation and narrativization from the perspective of what Ariella Azoulay calls potential history, “[the] effort to make history impossible and to engage with the world from a non-progressive approach, to engage with the outcome of imperial violence as if it is taking place here and now.” The exhibition title, In Place of an Index, refers to Azoulay’s notion of potentiality, suggesting an alternative to an index of time, space, and experience that exists in opposition to a dominant ideology and forms of hegemonic narrativization. Through various photographic means, each of the featured artists use or make references to archives or archival images and histories, and in doing so invite or create new meaning, potentiality, and relations to contemporary media and culture. Featured artists: Regina Agu, Travis Boyer, Tay Butler, Ja’Tovia Gary, Ryan Hawk, Baseera Khan, Autumn Knight, Annette Lawrence, Adam Marnie and Aura Rosenberg, Stephanie Concepcion Ramirez, Kara Springer. On view: September 2–November 13, 2021 at Silver Street Studios 2000 Edwards Street, Wednesday–Saturday from 11am–5pm.

Internationally acclaimed conductor Juraj Valčuha is the Houston Symphony’s new Music Director. Photography by Luciano Romano.

On July 14, Houston Symphony Board of Trustees President John Rydman and Executive Director and CEO John Mangum announced Juraj Valčuha as the Houston Symphony’s new Music Director. Valčuha will succeed Andrés Orozco-Estrada, whose tenure concludes at the end of the 2021-22 Season. An internationally acclaimed conductor, Valčuha previously served as the Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai from 2009 to 2016. He also serves as Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, and First Guest Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

Valčuha made his debut with the Houston Symphony as a guest conductor in 2011. He returned to lead the orchestra during both the 2017–18 and 2020–21 Seasons, with programs that included Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, and Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. Musicians, trustees, and staff alike were drawn to Valčuha for his authenticity and passion, his artistic excellence, and his ability to wordlessly communicate through his deeply expressive gestures. “We are thrilled to announce Juraj Valčuha as our next artistic leader,” said John Mangum, Houston Symphony Executive Director and CEO. “During our search for a new Music Director, we were fortunate to narrow our selection to a superb group of individuals. An incredibly accomplished conductor with precise attention to detail, Juraj stood out for his evident chemistry with Symphony musicians and his commitment to musical excellence. We know that he will build upon the work of the Music Directors before him to support the highest level of performance imaginable for our musicians. I look forward to welcoming him back to the Jones Hall stage.” “Our goal is to make the Houston Symphony accessible to the greatest number of individuals possible,” said John Rydman, President of the Houston Symphony Board of Trustees. “We were drawn to Juraj’s history of community engagement and his desire to foster the connection between our musicians and the surrounding communities. He is an extraordinary individual both on and off of the podium.” “I’m honored to have been chosen as the new Music Director of the Houston Symphony,” said Juraj Valčuha. “It was very rewarding to conduct the Symphony last March and bring joy and hope to a live audience during a difficult time. These musicians are open-minded and versatile, and I feel that we are in perfect harmony. We share a dedication to high artistic qualities and music making and I know we will create a unique and powerful musical experience for Symphony patrons.” The selection is a result of a ten-member search committee led by Miles O. Smith, Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs of the Houston Symphony Board of Trustees, and made up of Houston Symphony musicians, board members, and staff. Valčuha will return to Houston on May 27–29, 2022, to lead the orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Choral for the 2021–22 Season finale. He will make his first official appearance as Music Director of the Houston Symphony on September 17, 2022 and will return for nine weeks of the 2022–23 Season. More details will be announced in Spring 2022.