Technically not new; we've already seen more than a few H-Town selfies taken with these whimsical Lego® people. But Nathan Sawaya's sextet of monochromatic "Park People" moves to Houston Center for another week or so, giving us one last chance to boost our social media feeds. Don't miss this Insta-worthy art before it disappears, brick by brick.

August 13-24, Nathan Sawaya, "Park People," Arts Brookfield, 2 Houston Center

We've all been shaped by television, but artist Mark Bennett has taken it a step further by creating house plans based on the '60s sitcom My Three Sons. His architectural tribute covers the later CBS years, after Robbie and Katie get married and have triplets, thereby introducing their own three sons into the mix. The "Always Greener: Seeing and Seeking Suburbia — Selections from the Museum's Collection" exhibit includes iconic photography, film stills, collages and more that demonstrate how the American Dream can also lead to isolation, frustration and compromise.

August 21, "Always Greener: Seeing and Seeking Suburbia—Selections from the Museum’s Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Caroline Wiess Law Building, 1001 Bissonnet

Venezuelan artist Rafael Barrios places his gravity-defying sculptures into a genre that he describes as Virtualism. These hand-lacquered steel structures seem to change as the viewer rotates around them, giving the impression that the sculptures will soon float away. While Barrios is known for his monumental constructions — and the "Mind's Eye" exhibit does have a pair of those — most of the sculptures we'll see at Art of the World Gallery will fit nicely into home or office.

August 10, Rafael Barrios, "Mind's Eye," Art of the World Gallery, 2201 Westheimer

The town of Hoy's Fork doesn't really exist, except in the imagination of Virginia-based artist Morgan Ashcom, who has photographed people and settings along the eastern United States. Ashcom grew up in a rural area and draws inspiration from that time in his stories, myths and histories, blended together with a grave marker, video, digital sculptures and a map to create a new narrative that walks the line between the imagined and real.

September 7, "What the Living Carry: Morgan Ashcom," Houston Center for Photography, 1441 West Alabama (reception and artist talk September 7)

John Clement's curvilinear forms have a high-gloss, colorful finish. He's a master at bending steel pipes to his will; cutting, bending, joining and welding them until they are born again as graceful arcs and curves. His is a candy-coated world of primary colors and Clement won't declare these sculptures finished until they sparkle like a brand new car and have been given a whimsical title. We'll see his latest work when he returns to Gallery Sonja Roesch in "TUSK."

September 7, John Clement, "TUSK," Gallery Sonja Roesch, 2309 Caroline (reception September 7, artist talk September 8)

Ever since that wolf pack invaded the historic Heights Theater, we've been huge fans of Rachel Gardner and her feral sculptures and mixed media paintings. Both haunting and whimsical, she's got a new menagerie coming to Redbud Gallery. "Awakening" will focus on the wild, overgrown and enchanted natural world.

September 8, Rachel Gardner, "Awakening," Redbud Gallery, 303 East 11th (reception September 8)


Keep reading because we've got a chance to step into somebody else's body at The Health Museum, hear testimony from Texans who liberated concentration camps at the end of WWII though they were forever changed by what they witnessed, and view work at Galveston Arts Center inspired by a man willing to become the first head transplant patient.

More Upcoming Visual Arts:

August 11, Joseph Echevarria, "Archinaut," The Guard Tower at Sawyer Yards

August 16, Carly Allen Martin and Audra Weaser, "Soul of the Summer," Laura Rathe Fine Art, 1700 Post Oak Boulevard (reception August 16)

August 16, Raheleh Filsoofi, "On Transcending the Inhibited Space," University of Houston Downtown, O'Kane Gallery, One Main Street (reception September 6)

August 16, "South and North of the Border: Houston Paints Houston," The Heritage Society Museum, 1100 Bagby (reception August 16)

August 18, "Body As a Work of Art," The Health Museum, 1515 Hermann

August 18, Amy C. Evans, "My Houston II," and J. Marie Valdez, "Sacred Spaces," Koelsch Gallery, 801 Richmond (reception August 18)

August 20, Artists at Sawyer Yards, "In the Spotlight," The Silos at Sawyer Yards

August 25, "South and North of the Border: Houston Paints Mexico," Houston Public Library, Julia Ideson Building, 550 McKinney (reception August 30)

August 25, "Walls Turned Sideways: Artists Confront the Justice System," Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 5216 Montrose (reception August 24)

August 25, Jesse Morgan Barnett, "Low Magic;" and Steve Fisher, Mark Greenwalt, Colleen Maynard, Sarah Sudhoff and Kamilla Szczesna, "Visual Pathology;" Galveston Arts Center, 2127 Strand, Galveston (reception August 25)

September 1, Barbara Able, "Transparent," Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy (reception September 8)

September 1, Jim Brown, Gspot Contemporary Art Gallery, 310 East 9th

September 1, Kristen Cliburn, The Jung Center, 5200 Montrose (reception September 8)

September 1, Cary Reeder, "I'm a Stranger Here," Mystic Lyon, 5017 Lyons (reception September 1, artist talk and workshop October 21)

September 1, "The TréFonos," Project Row Houses, three locations in the Third Ward

September 5, "Seeing Harvey," and Gideon Mendel, "Deluge," FotoFest, Inc., 2000 Edwards

September 7, Maxim Wakultschik, "One Thousand and One," Anya Tish Gallery, 4411 Montrose (reception September 7)

September 7, Andrea Bianconi, "Breakthrough," Barbara Davis Gallery, 4411 Montrose (reception and performance September 7)

September 7, Petra Novakova Ondreickova, "Biotope," Cindy Lisica Gallery, 4411 Montrose

September 7, Alfred Leslie, "One Hundred Characters in Search of a Reader;" and Richard Rezac, "Address;" Blaffer Art Museum, 4173 Elgin (artist talk September 6, reception September 7)

September 7, Mike Kaplan, "Gotta Dance Too: The Art of the Dance Movie Poster," Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston, 5601 South Braeswood (reception September 23)

September 7, "The Texas Liberator: Witness to the Holocaust," Holocaust Museum Houston, 9220 Kirby

September 7, Jonathan McFadden, "Let Me Be Part of Your Search History," University of Clear Lake Art Gallery, 2700 Bay Area Boulevard (reception September 6)

September 8, Clarke & Associates, Mark Chatterley, "Perception," 301 East 11th (reception September 8)

September 8, "Nuestra Cultura Art & Culture" Exhibit, Casa Ramirez FOLKART Gallery, 241 West 19th

September 8, "Stage Environment: Activating Performance Histories from CAMH’s Archives, 1948-2018" Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 5216 Montrose (reception September 7, performance September 8)

September 8, James Drake, "Tongue-Cut Sparrows (Desire is not Enough)," Moody Gallery, 2815 Colquitt (reception September 8)

September 8, Betsy Evans, Cary Reeder and Alexandra Sivov, "Three Journeys," The Silos at Sawyer Yards, 1502 Sawyer (reception September 8)

September 8, Works by Jeff Forster, Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring

September 8, Artists at Sawyer Yards, "Inspiratus," Winter Street Studios, 2101 Winter (reception September 15)

September 9, Emilie Halpern, Jonathan Hopson Gallery, 904 Marshall

September 9, Collective Works by Silo Artists, Three Dimensional Visions, 1502 Sawyer