“Jorge Marin: Wings of the City” This installation at Discovery Green has nine wonderful sculptures by an acclaimed Mexican sculptor; some are powerful, some playful, some enigmatic, but all are filled with a love for and an appreciation of humanity that is breathtaking and admirable. Though they represent a higher order of being — most are winged — they have retained their humanity. Abrazo Monumental (abrazo is Spanish for “embrace”) is a pietà-like sculpture of a winged angel holding a dying woman. El Tiempo shows a wounded soldier, his face intact but his head shattered and missing, and his arms severed as well, yet he remains watchful and alert, resolute, courageous, kept alive by his dedication and his need to protect the city. One sculpture is interactive: It’s a pair of giant bronze wings with an opening for the visitor to stand in and be photographed wearing the wings. Titled Alas de Mexico, it is playful indeed, and early on a Saturday evening it was very active, with visitors waiting their turn. There are six winged sculptures, and three that are not winged. Split Monumental has a gymnast with a hawk mask, short hair, balancing on his hands on a globe. Equilibrista 90 Monumental shows a masked gymnast supporting himself with his hands on a globe, his legs stretched straight out, in an elegant line. Hombre Universal Monumental shows a man standing on a large open ring of metal, holding onto it at its top, with outstretched arms, an homage to and an echo of Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch of the Vitruvian Man, probably the best-known drawing in the history of art. Through February 8. 1500 McKinney, La Branch at Lamar, 713-400-7336, discovery green.com. — JJT
“Mokha Laget: Chromatic Constructs” Mokha Laget has broken free of “the tyranny of the rectangle,” a straitjacket that many artists seem condemned to wear. Her shapes are her own, and they are refreshingly different. Laget’s work has elements of architecture; while the paintings are two-dimensional, the images portray boxes, pathways, edifices that entice one to enter to explore their interiors — would that you could — and combinations that suggest mazes. Laget’s work has vivid, striking colors, including an effective use of black, that seem to jostle each other — perhaps fighting for territory? The contrasts delight and the combinations entertain. She uses clay-based pigments on canvas, with the central theme of her work that each color field is an entity to itself — there is no blending, no softening, no blurring, just a color demanding its place in the sun. Ponte Vecchio, my favorite, has two strong vertical elements, the right one more multicolored than the left, joined at the middle by two irregular constructs. The title suggests a bridge, but it might just as easily be an abstract winged angel. Sahel is simpler, an elongated strip folded at the top and bottom, orange, yellow and purple; it has energy, style and even wit. The shapes in Butte do suggest a mountain rise, but the sharp edges suggest even more a protective castle wall for the habitat of a superior alien species, or perhaps a monolith left behind when they departed. Because of their striking, accentuated and framed colors and their wit, these pieces seem to be aperitifs rather than dinner. They whet the appetite, supply a delightful moment and merit careful scrutiny, and would serve admirably to brighten a room, or even a life. Through November 1. Sonja Roesch Gallery, 2309 Caroline, 713-659-5424, gallerysonjaroesch. — JJT
“One of a Kind: Artwork from the Collection of Stephanie Smither” Stephanie Smither is an avid and perspicacious collector of folk art, which is made crystal clear in an engrossing exhibition of works from her collection. There are pieces from more than 30 artists, many of them self-taught, some internationally recognized and some emerging, and some of the work is by unidentified artists. One sculpture (the artist isn’t identified) is made entirely from wire, a tribute to a wedding bower. The central focus is on a driver controlling two donkeys pulling a carriage. On either side are two large heart-shaped holders of photographs, one of a man and one of a woman, presumably the betrothed couple. It sings of love and devotion, and its intricate design and detail testify to the artistry of the unknown sculptor. Clarence and Grace Woolsey were an American couple in Iowa whose medium was bottle caps. They passed away in 1987 and 1992, respectively, but left behind more than 200 sculptures created or covered completely in bottle caps. Surprisingly, the effect is not metallic but provides rather the look of fabric — the caps nestle one into another, with the edges exposed. An untitled bottle-cap work is on display, a cross between a scarecrow and a gingerbread man — droll, indeed. Another anonymous sculpture is made entirely of toilet paper, a finely detailed creation of a two-master, elegant, under full sail and almost all-white. The cabin is below deck, open to view, and it is finely done, including a table and chairs. Art League Houston has named Smither the 2014 Texas Patron of the Year, with the award presented at the annual gala, on Friday, October 17 at Hotel ZaZa. Ticket and table purchase information are available by contacting Jill Nepomnick at 713-523-9530. Through November 1. 1953 Montrose, 713-523-9530, artleaguehouston.org. — JJT
“Paradiso” Danny Rolph offers us a hint of the future to come, in nine major paintings, acrylic on canvas, completed this year or last. It is a utopian future, airy, bright, with open spaces, colorful, filled with vibrant energy. The exhibition might have been called “Dragster,” as there are three paintings that reveal Rolph’s fondness for high velocity. Dragster 5 may be the most powerful in the exhibition, dazzling with vivid colors. Luscious red lips reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s entice at bottom left, suggesting sensuality or perhaps the reward for a victory; it is a delicious ferment. Dragster 2 is complex (they all are), and most directly suggestive of roads, leading to a vortex. In Dragster 4, two teal-colored flat planes are centrally located and dominate, giving the impression of floating in space. Paradiso 3 has a festival feeling, a holiday party with decorations strung on a line, lighthearted and gay. Paradiso 7 consists of two panels providing one image, an accelerating arrow leading left. We sense that something important lies ahead, but know not what it is; it’s an enigma. Enterprise 18 has the most formed of Rolph’s utopian visions, as though the whirligig had slowed and jelled into a civilization. Central here is a distinct image of a multicolored pyramid, and there are clear blue skies. The painting is cheerful and inviting, but is the pyramid a reminder that even Utopia will have its day and then be gone? Version consists of multiple panels, horizontal but for one image, the future to come, as yet unformed, challenging. Enterprise 15 is from a formed world, with an overhead fan, perhaps an office chair, and a large blue image, perhaps a ship carrying cargo and, yes, an American flag. Through November 15. Barbara Davis Gallery, 4411 Montrose, 713-520-9200, barbaradavisgallery.com. — JJT
“Scribble Morphings” The scribbles over these acrylic-on-canvas paintings document that H.J. Bott has a sense of humor and refuses to take himself too solemnly, though this in no way undermines his seriousness as an artist. There were several paintings that I thought stood alone as completed works and the scribbles detracted, and at least one where the scribble seemed necessary for completeness. Matching Your Drapes employs blue and brown colors in a directly cubistic design, and the scribble seemed to me to interrupt a most successful arrangement. Mobius Quatro, on the other hand, would look unfinished without the scribble. In Free Zones, the scribble is essential to create the impression of a stained-glass window. And in NARRATIVE: Generals, Decorated, the scribble serves a wonderful though deliberately ambiguous purpose — it may be either an endorsement of the military battle ribbons or a cancellation of them, all against a background showing the earth as viewed from space. The largest and most complex painting is a double panel, tilted at an angle, with checkerboards and yin and yang images. There is a sense of planning and of architecture, and the scribble here is probably essential to getting us past the large center of subdued colors. In OH-GEE, the scribble is dominated by an in-your-face black background and large greenish shapes, each resembling a comma. These paintings are all recent, but the gallery has included one large one, 66″ by 50″, done in 2000, Landscape Rhetoric, which is stunning in its warmth, grace and subtlety. There appears to be a transparent fabric curtain, shielding but not impeding the view of what lies within, unknown but holy. Through November 15. Anya Tish Gallery, 4411 Montrose, 713-524-2299, anyatishgallery.com. — JJT
“Texas Before the Boom, 1850-1900: Selections from the Bobbie and John L. Nau Collection,” on view at the Pearl Fincher Art Museum in Spring, consists of 40 or so paintings and drawings made in Texas or by Texans, mostly before 1900. Since most people, when they think of Texas art — especially the old stuff — probably think first of bluebonnets, cowboys and longhorn cattle, this show might just as aptly be titled Texas Art Before the Clichés. There’s not a single bluebonnet or cowboy, and only one longhorn, in the show. The Nau Collection, encompassing all phases of earlier Texas art, is one of the largest and most comprehensive there is. Though only a fraction of the whole, the works included here are some of the earliest and rarest of their kind anywhere. Many of the works in this show speak to the vastness of Texas and to our Mexican heritage, and they’re so early (for Texas) and so rare that there will be revelations for even the most seasoned viewer. Thomas Allen’s Galveston Beach of 1877 is gorgeous — wedges of sand and water converging in the distance below a rectangle of sky, clouds echoing waves, no people, no buildings, reduced almost to a modernist study of geometry and subtle color. The most intriguing work is The Burning of the Heroes of the Alamo from 1903 by José Arpa y Perea. It’s richly painted and complex, befitting Arpa’s Spanish training: A painting of the burning Alamo surrounded by greenery sits before a female figure (is she a nun, an allegorical reference or something else?) holding an hourglass, or maybe an urn containing the ashes of the heroes. You’ll leave it wanting to know more. Through December 13. 6815 Cypresswood Drive, Spring, 281-376-6322, pearlmfa.org. — RT
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2014.
