The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s Teen Council is pleased to present Perspectives 189: From the Margins, a group exhibition featuring work by Houston-area teen artists. The exhibition focuses on marginalization and its personal, political, and social manifestations. On view are works by 48 teens in a variety of media ranging from photography and video to sculpture and installation.
From the Margins is the 9th biennial youth art exhibition organized by CAMH’s Teen Council. Drawing from an open call, the Teen Council received over 400 submissions responding to the questions: What does marginalization look like and feel like? Does it have a sound? What does it produce? Can we prevent marginalization? Are its outcomes always negative?
Says Kizer Shelton, Teen Council member: “After much discussion, the Teen Council settled on a theme that we felt would best serve the community, one that would generate conversations about the often trivialized experiences of teenagers. The direct goal of this exhibition is to produce—from an environment of authority—a space which gives full attention to marginalized teenage voices.”
Photography and drawing figure prominently in this year’s exhibition. Several works speak to body image. Jasmine Duarte’s photograph Are You Thin Enough (2015) captures four jean-clad young girls standing alongside a white brick wall. Other artists tackle the influence of technology on their generation, such as Victor Sarabia’s photographRaised by Robots (2015), which depicts two girls sitting outside on the grass ignoring each other in favor of their smart phones. The drawing American Dream Sin Fronteras (2015) by Sunnie Liu addresses immigration and border issues very directly, showing an elderly woman on one side of a high fence holding fresh food, her back turned to shadows on the opposite side. Matthew Watowich’s installation The 8% (2015) uses 300 roses, 8% of which are real, to highlight the percentage of teens who attempt suicide. Throughout the run of the exhibition, the installation will change as the real flowers wilt and die over time.
Every other year, CAMH’s Teen Council organizes a Perspectives exhibition in the Zilkha Gallery featuring new work by young, Houston-area artists. The Teen Council selects the theme and title of the exhibition while partnering withCAMH staff to develop exhibition design, a printed catalogue, and public programming. This year, the Teen Council reached out to potential funders through a crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo. To help support the exhibition, go to https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/camh-teen-council-needs-you.
From the Margins features work by: Katherine Anderson, Elijah Bondoc, Oceanne D’Amato, Brianna Diaz, AndreaDolz-Alcala, Jasmin Duarte, Mauricio Exiga, Sarah Fairweather, Cierra Farias, Saxton Fisher, Regina Gomez, Natalie Hernandez, Lynn Huynh, Jihyeon Joung, Emma Kerr, Ashley Lawhorn, Louis Lee, Amy Liu, Andy Liu, Sunnie Liu, Charlie Magun, Sophie Margolin, Connor Mizell, Marcus Nanez, Luz Nava, Kennedy McCray, Lauren Putnam, Brianna Ramos, Abby Relf, Raquel Roberts, Rebecca Roff, Mindy Rose, Victor Sarabia, Mikhaela Sarmiento, Alyssa Smith, Kyle Smith, Amir Taghi, Mariam Tajuddin, Gabby Tallin, Hannah Taurins, Bella Tincher, Joshua Tran, Jacqueline Villarreal, Jaelynn Walls, Makena Washington, Matthew Watowich, Allison White, and Kassandra Zuniga.
About CAMH’s Teen Council
CAMH’s Teen Council is a group of motivated young people (ages 15-19) employed by the Museum who are committed to bringing the art of their time to their peers. They meet weekly to explore the museum field, the local arts community, and to create youth-oriented programming and events.
Sponsors
Perspectives 189: From the Margins is supported in part by Bridget and Patrick Wade and generous supporters through an online crowd funding campaign.
This exhibition has been made possible by the patrons, benefactors and donors to the Museum’s Friends of Steel Exhibitions: Director’s Circle – Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, Fayez Sarofim and Michael Zilkha; Curator’s Circle – Dillon Kyle Architecture, Inc., Marita and J.B. Fairbanks, Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner III and Ms. Louisa StudeSarofim; Major Exhibition Circle – A Fare Extraordinaire, Bank of Texas, Bergner and Johnson Design, JereannChaney, Elizabeth Howard Crowell, Sara Paschall Dodd, Jo and Jim Furr, Barbara and Michael Gamson, Brenda and William Goldberg, Blakely and Trey Griggs, George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, Jackson and Company, Louise D. Jamail, Anne and David Kirkland, KPMG, LLP, Beverly and Howard Robinson, Lauren Rottet, Robin and Andrew Schirrmeister, Leigh and Reggie Smith and Yellow Cab Houston; Perspectives Exhibition Circle – Bright Star Productions Inc., Dillon Kyle Architecture, Inc., Ruth Dreessen and Thomas Van Laan, Greg Fourticq, Heidi and David Gerger, Melissa and Albert J. Grobmyer IV, Kerry Inman and Denby Auble, King & Spalding L.L.P., Marley Lott, Susan Vaughan Foundation, Inc. and Mr. Wallace Wilson.
The catalogue accompanying the exhibition is made possible by a grant from The Brown Foundation, Inc.