Some 60 key works by American sculptor Tony Feher are seen in his first comprehensive retrospective at ''Tony Feher,'' which opens Friday. The 20-year survey is presented by Blaffer Art Museum. The exhibit includes. His art, marked by a playful, even cheerful attitude, is made up of objects and materials that are ordinary and often disposable, such as with Enjoy, a box-like structure created from 350 red -plastic soda cases. There's also Untitled (Ruby Begonia) -- pennies, nickels, dimes, and iridescent ruby-red marbles, also laid in a circle on the floor. Feher seemingly celebrates the materials in their natural state, rather than trying to transform them. ''Tony Feher's work stands out as an oddly optimistic ode to hope,'' says Claudia Schmuckli, director and chief curator of Blaffer Art Museum via press materials. ''Its power to move us lies in the artist's [ability] to restore order and beauty where there is chaos and ugliness, and to celebrate the power of creativity as humanity's most powerful weapon and achievement.''
There's an opening reception for "Tony Feher" on Friday, 6 to 9 p.m. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at Blaffer Art Museum, 1300 Holman. Through March 17. For information, visit the museum's website or call 713-743-9521.
Houston's Historic District is the place to be on Saturday; that's where the annual A Night at Market Square is set to be. Besides lots to eat and drink, (Niko Niko's, Warren's, La Carafe and lots of others will be open through the event), A Night offers lots to do as well. At 6 p.m. there's Barnaby's Paw Parade & Costume Contest (dress up your pooch, but be sure to have him on a leash); at 7:30 p.m., Henry + The Invisibles take the stage, followed at 8:30 p.m. by the Glo N Go Art Car Procession and a performance by the Royal Teeth at 9 p.m. You can enjoy "MUM" by Nancy Newberry and "Technicolor Life" by Bill McCullough, both exhibits presented by FotoFest.
Enjoy A Night at Market Square 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday. Market Square Park Houston, 300 Travis. For information, visit the Downtown District's website or call 713-650-3022.
On Sunday, the recently banned author Lois Lowry comes to town to present her latest young adult novel. (Okay, she wasn't exactly banned. Her Newbery Medal award-winning novel Number the Stars is not available in all Texas public schools; in at least one district, student access has been inexplicably restricted. Number the Stars is the story of a ten-year-old Danish girl who shelters her Jewish friend from the Nazis in 1943. Oooh, way subversive!) )
A successful young-adult writer long before the literary term YA was even coined, Lois Lowry has penned more than 30 books for preteen and teen readers. As part of the "Cool Brains!" series from Inprint Houston, the Hawaiian-born 75-year-old Lowry will read from and discuss her latest novel, Son, the fourth and final installment in the hugely successful The Giver series. The book - certainly in vogue among the current influx of future-society dystopian tales on the shelves - is set in a society where each year of childhood has certain privileges and responsibilities, and family members are chosen by compatibility rather than biology.
Lois Lowry reads from Son and signs her books at 3 p.m. Johnston Middle School, 10410 Manhattan Drive. For information, visit Inprint's website.
Bob Ruggiero contributed to this post.
