Franklin Sirmans, curator of contemporary art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and contributing author to the exhibition catalogue Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool (available in the Museum Shop) discusses the exhibition.

Join us for the opening reception of PAINT, an exhibition of paintings by Houston-area teens presented by CAMH’s Teen Council in conjunction with Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool. Held in the Cullen Education Resource Room, lower level of the Museum.

These three Austin-based photographers use large-format box cameras and a wide range of architectural, technological, and household subjects to create images that acknowledge the mysterious slippages, distortions, and blendings of real and unreal inherent in photography. This is the last day to see these artists first museum exhibition.

Art+Essay=Fun! Join this week’s discussion on “On Painting,” by Art & Language, from Beauty: Documents of Contemporary Art edited by Dave Beech. All opinions welcome. Coffee and wine served. Copies of the essay are available at the front desk of the museum.

Celebrate the opening reception of work by this Nigerian-born, Philadelphia-based artist. Odili Donald Odita will lead a gallery walk-through of his work at 6:30 p.m. with the reception immediately following. Cash bar.

Presented by CAMH’s Teen Council, the Pomegranate Film Festival showcases original, 15-minutes or less films produced by Houston-area teen filmmakers and videographers. From animation to music video and documentary, these young, innovative filmmakers are sure to entertain. Popcorn and drinks provided.

Musiqa, a contemporary music group that takes a fresh look at the concert experience, presents a selection of compositions inspired by Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool.

Slide Jam! introduces artists from Houston’s exciting and diverse community to those who like to follow new developments in contemporary art. Artists will talk and show slides of their latest work, followed by Q&A with the audience. Held in the Cullen Foundation Education Center, lower level at the CAMH.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Jillian Conrad, a second-year resident at the Core Program, Glassell School of Art, received her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence and her BA from St. John´s College, Santa Fe, NM. Her work has been shown in exhibitions at Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY; Cast Gallery, Hobart, Australia; Clough Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN; Bronx Museum, NY; Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT; Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT; and Bronx River Art Center, NY. She is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in support of her residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute.

Julie Ann Nagle is a first-year resident at the Core Program, Glassell School of Art. She received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and her BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, NY. Her work has been in solo and group exhibitions at Bev Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA; Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY; Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA; Middendorf Gallery, Baltimore, MD: Central National Bank Building, Richmond, VA; Crane Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; Pratt University, Brooklyn, NY; Mott Haven Public Library, Bronx, NY; Guild and Greyskull Gallery, New York, NY; and The Cooper Union, New York, NY.

*Special location: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet at Main. Tickets can be purchased in person or at www.mfah.org.

CAMH’s Teen Council will introduce filmmaker John Sayles’s 1984 indie classic The Brother From Another Planet (108 min.), starring Joe Morton, and will lead audience discussions afterwards.
Teen Council member Abigail Shargey writes:

Hoping to make a lasting mark in the history of cinema, John Sayles wrote and directed the science fiction film The Brother From Another Planet. The whole alien-traveling-to-earth scenario had already been played out, so Sayles decided to try something a little different. Not only are most of the main characters in this film African-American, but the main character, “The Brother,” doesn’t say a single word throughout the entire movie. There are also social, racial, and class commentaries embedded within the foundation of the film, making it one of the great American independent motion pictures.

Slide Jam! introduces artists from Houston’s exciting and diverse community to those who like to follow new developments in contemporary art. Artists will talk and show slides of their latest work, followed by Q&A with the audience. Held in the Cullen Foundation Education Center, lower level at the CAMH.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Joseph Cohen received his BFA in painting from Texas State University, San Marcos and his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He’s had solo exhibitions at Flight Gallery, San Antonio, Root Cellar, San Marcos, Zanzibar, Memphis, and most recently Wade Wilson Gallery, Houston. Group exhibitions include such venues as Blue Star Contemporary Arts Center, San Antonio, OMMA Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, and Velvet Spade, Austin.

Maria Guzman graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in fine arts. Guzman’s work combines formal painting with sculpture and found cultural artifacts to form site-specific installations. She has had shows at Lawndale Art Center, DiverseWorks, Houston, among others.

*Special location: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet at Main. Tickets can be purchased in person or online at www.mfah.org.

CAMH’s Teen Council introduces filmmaker John Boorman's futuristic cult film Zardoz (1974, 105 min.), starring Sean Connery, and will lead audience discussions afterwards. Teen Council member Abbey Campbell writes:

The 1974 science-fiction epic Zardoz is all at once experimental, technologically advanced (for the mid-seventies, anyway) and unabashedly bizarre. The film's absurd post-apocalyptic premise coupled with its complete lack of self-consciousness makes for a hysterical show. Do not expect a clear plot or an unambiguous message, but prepare to be entertained.

The whole family can enjoy hands-on art activities and family tours of Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool. All activities are free and art supplies are provided.

Art discussions can be educational—and fun! Don’t believe us? We’ll prove it to you at the Art Essay Reading Group. This month the group will discuss “Quotation of Beauty” from Venus in Exile: The Rejection of Beauty in Twentieth-Century Art by Wendy Steiner. All opinions welcome! For more information or to get a copy of the article, please call (713) 284-8257. Coffee and wine served.

The Teen Council curates an exhibition of teen-produced photography in conjunction with the FotoFest 2010 Biennial. Exhibition and reception to be held in the Cullen Education Resource Center, lower level of CAMH.

In conjunction with FotoFest 2010 Biennial, CAMH Curator Valerie Cassel Oliver will discuss Walkin’ with Walker: Narrative Photography of Barkley L. Hendricks. Best known for his iconic painted portraits of ordinary people, Barkley L. Hendricks proves himself to be an equally masterful photographer. Heavily influenced by the work of legendary American photographer Walker Evans, Hendricks has used his 4x5 format camera as a “mechanical sketchbook” to skillfully record the landscapes and people he has encountered in daily life, weaving a narrative reflective of life’s fleeting moments, frozen in time.

Slide Jam! introduces artists from Houston’s exciting and diverse community to those who like to follow new developments in contemporary art. Artists will talk and show slides of their latest work, followed by Q&A with the audience. Held in the Cullen Foundation Education Center, lower level at the CAMH.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
DumpTruck is a Houston based open artists collaborative formed in 2008 by Noelle Mason, Cory Wagner, and Mat Wolff. “We use performance, video, interviews and whatever means necessary or at hand to investigate the process of making art, the endeavor of maintaining a creative practice, and the absurdity of the artist’s life. We actively engage members of the art community in an open dialogue and collaborative effort to further explore and research that which is the idiom of art making in Texas.” DumpTruck members Wagner and Wolff will present a slideshow, artists’ talk, and general discussion of popular contemporary topics. They warn, “This presentation will be a fully interactive extension of the ongoing discourse that is our practice for the delight and participation of the audience. We recommend you bring your toothbrush as this will be your best first date ever.”