The work of New York-based conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll (MEC, studios) engages the disciplines of architecture, public policy, film/media, and technology. Carroll’s body of work spans over four decades in a range of media that transcend genres. Fundamentally, the work investigates a single, fundamental question: What do we consider a work of art? It is dedicated to a social and political critique that explores the interactions of subjectivity, language, power, and knowledge. 

Carroll is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including from the Guggenheim Foundation, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, American Academy in Berlin, Rockefeller Foundation, Rauschenberg Foundation, Graham Foundation, and most recently the American Academy in Rome. Carroll received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute Chicago (1989) where they studied time-based arts, filmmaking, and architectural history, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Colorado Boulder. Teaching, lecturing and public presentations on architecture, art, and public policy are an important part of Carroll’s work and have occurred at the DIA Art Foundation, Columbia University, American Academy in Berlin, Rice University, Yale University, among others.

Carroll’s work is in numerous public and private collections in the US and abroad and has been exhibited at institutions including: the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; the Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Museum für Völkerkunde, Munich; the Renaissance Society, Chicago; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich; Prospect.3, New Orleans; Busan Biennial, South Korea; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; MoMA-PS1; MUMOK, Vienna; Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery at Columbia University; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai; among other venues. This is the first major solo museum exhibition of the artist’s work.

The Houston Jazz Collective is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and advancing Houston’s rich jazz legacy through the production and curation of exceptional live performances, tributes, educational initiatives, and cross-disciplinary collaborations. Guided by a board that includes acclaimed musicians Andre Hayward and Tim Ruiz, the Collective has presented dynamic programming at venues and cultural institutions across the city, most notably its flagship event, the Houston Jazz Festival at Miller Outdoor Theatre, which showcases internationally respected artists alongside Houston’s finest talent. The organization has also maintained a meaningful presence within the museum community, including ongoing collaborations with the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). Continuing this tradition of innovative, culturally resonant programming, Andre Hayward and Tim Ruiz return to curate a vibrant musical set for Mary Ellen Carroll: How To Talk Dirty and Influence People, the first major survey exhibition of the acclaimed multidisciplinary artist’s four-decade career. The exhibition highlights Carroll’s sustained engagement with questions of agency and identity while addressing urgent issues such as environmental sustainability, social justice, immigration, and urban legislation — themes that resonate powerfully with the Collective’s commitment to art as a catalyst for dialogue and community connection.

Sean David Bradley, aka DJ Cold One, is a photographer, filmmaker and co-founder of Ice House Radio, a community radio station broadcasting and archiving southern music culture. He also runs Cold Storage Studio, a small creative production house working in print, film and apparel. His work has been featured in It's Nice That, Vice, Copy Mag, and Printed Matter, among others. Born and raised in Houston.