Most Popular

Most Viewed
Most Commented
Entertainment
"Most Popular" tools sponsored by:

National Features

  • The Pitch
    We (Heart) Matt

    The Shawnee Mission East class of '08 loves its gay homecoming king.

    By Jen Chen
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times
    Things That Go Bump on the Flight

    Something went horribly wrong on American Airlines Flight 48--and we've got the pictures to prove it.

    By Ed Newton
  • Seattle Weekly
    Being Gary Busey

    Everybody thinks Jeff Swanson is somebody famous. And he does nothing to dissuade them of the notion.

    By Aimee Curl
  • Cleveland Scene
    The Artful Dodger

    Women loved Zachary Coleman. And he loved their money.

    By Lisa Rab

Some years, Lawndale Art Center's annual "Big Show" has made me feel like the end is nigh for Houston's art scene. Lawndale always selects smart, accomplished arts professionals as jurors, but sometimes, inexplicably, a juror manages to assemble a veritable cavalcade of crap. Not so this year. Juror Rita Gonzalez, assistant curator of special exhibitions for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has managed to keep the crap quotient pretty low for "The Big Show 2007." Most of the unsuccessful work is only bad in an innocuous way, and she has managed to pull out some fairly interesting work from Houston's diverse art scene.

"The Big Show" is a rare thing, an exhibition juried from actual work rather than slides or digital images. For most juried exhibitions, artists send slides or digital images to the sponsoring organization, which then ships everything to a juror. Just like people, art can look better or worse in a photograph than it does in person. (I see you Internet daters nodding vigorously in agreement.) Because "The Big Show" is restricted to artists within a hundred miles of Houston, jurying from actual works is feasible.

Artists chuck their art in the back of minivans, rope it to the roofs of sedans and tie it down (or not) in the beds of trucks and head to Lawndale. Up until 2003, "The Big Show" was free to enter; now the entry fee is up to $30, but that's not slowing the artist stampede. This year, 458 of them showed up with 1,145 works of art — it's got to be the biggest turnout ever. I'm surprised Gonzalez didn't turn tail and run. Instead, she dug in and picked 115 works from 86 artists.

Normally, I wouldn't have high hopes for a painting whose elements include candy-colored paint, glitter and floral fabric — i.e., materials that seem destined for a preteen craft project. But Jeanne Cassanova's Somehow Inside Opalescent (2007) somehow makes them all work together in a really gorgeous way. Cassanova layers multiple line drawings — among them purplish images of elderly women with bikes and head scarves, a giant turquoise-colored koi and a forest-green pagoda — with pools of pink and clear resin. Any artist who has ever tried this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to making a painting knows how hard it is to pull off. The more elements you have in a work, the greater the likelihood the whole thing will spiral out of control or become a muddy mess. Cassanova has made a work with a mass of images, a hodgepodge of materials and no real focal point — and it's really freakin' great.

Operating at the other end of the spectrum, Ebony Porter makes drawings with a minimalist bent. She uses tiny little dots of black acrylic paint to create geometric shapes on pristine white squares of paper. It's an approach that sidesteps the spectacular disasters that plague the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink artists; a really boring image is the worst thing that can happen, but it can happen easily.

Porter's drawings are quite successful. The Quiet Mind (2006) is a solid circle filled with dots, while The Empty Mind (2007) is a pointed oval. The repetition of the tiny dots gives the works a meditative quality. Porter attempts to paint the dots in neat, curving rows, but the whole thing is a little off, which is exactly what makes the drawings appealing. We see Porter's freehand struggle for precision, and the slight wonkiness of pattern that results from it creates a hint of optical vibration. It's work that is simple and subtle but engaging.

Moving from the subtle to the crackpot, Emily Umnus-Patrick has created a self-portrait bust, Me Me Emily (2007). Artfully sewn from felt and stuffed, the sculpture kind of looks like a giant Muppet, but it's way cooler and quirkier. The felt Emily has wonky eyes with markered pupils and eyelashes, a mouth open as if she's about to speak. She even has tiny little white knitted and crocheted teeth and red horn-rimmed glasses. Her head grows out of the neck of a loud acrylic argyle sweater. The sculpture is silly and endearing.

Bexar's No Thanks? (2007) is pretty funny too — I'm assuming it's a self-portrait of the artist. A slide of a man's face is projected large-scale on the wall, over giant nails sticking out from it. The nails seemingly tack up a raised eyebrow, yank down a lower eyelid and curl an upper lip more than Elvis ever could.

There is a goodly amount of lame figurative work in the show, but one of the notable exceptions is L A Holloman's Incentive (2007), exquisitely rendered in oil on paper. Holloman skillfully combines two disparate images to wonderfully absurd effect. Across the bottom of the painting, a ragtag band of guerrillas gleefully hold automatic weapons aloft, while above them, giant, stylish, brightly colored espadrilles — seemingly straight out of a spring shoe ad — rain down from the sky. ¡Viva las Espadrilles!

Part of the popularity of "The Big Show" is due to the fact that it gives out cash prizes. Along with the entry fee, prize amounts were raised this year, up $250 each. Gonzalez awarded first place and $1,250 to April Hernandez, whose Oriental Rug (2007) is a floor work made from a big sheet of handmade Philippine gampi paper collaged with patterns of repeating images — woodcut prints of bunches of bananas and other fruit, along with tiny etchings of hundreds of little faces of Asian girls that look like they were drawn from a high school annual. The whole piece just doesn't gel visually, and conceptually it's a one-liner.

The second-place prize of $1,000 went to Aesha Lee for her vertical triptych I Am (parts 1-3) (2007). The three black-and-white paintings each show a different expression on the lower half of a woman's face. There's nothing wrong with how they're executed, but the whole thing just looks like an ambitious freshman painting project. Meanwhile, the third-place prize of $750 went to Matthew Sullivan. His Rug (2007) is a small gouache-and-pencil drawing of patterns of multicolored triangles surrounded by an elaborate homemade wood frame. He also has an ink drawing of a barn. Together, they have this kind of faux-folksy feeling. I don't know how old the prizewinners are, but the work all seems pretty young, like Gonzalez was trying to be encouraging to a bunch of students.

But whatever you think of her choices, good or ill, Gonzalez definitely gets Houston and gets Lawndale. In her letter for the exhibition brochure, she wrote that Lawndale Art Center and "The Big Show" allow for "a real life admixture of the polished, the amateur, the academicized, the autodidact, the ‘internationally exhibited' and the recluse." I'd say that about sums it up.

Write Your Comment show comments (31)

  1. You praise the show but dis the three winners? You make about as much sense as the show itself, which is bland at best.

    Comment by Scott — July 28, 2007 @ 09:14PM

  2. I will be writing my response to this article and you will be seeing it printed in next week's Houston Press. Being the 1st place winner of The Big Show, I've got a few things to say...!

    Comment by April Hernandez — July 29, 2007 @ 06:53PM

  3. I think this was a weird review of this show. I do not understand what made this particular Big Show stand out from the rest. How is this one of the best, when in it was so heavy on poor figurative work? The show lacked three dimensional work. I would also think the appeal, or lack of appeal for the winners would be indicative of the show's success. If K.K. does not like Hernandez's work, what sticks out?

    I could argue that Hernandez's work is less of a one liner than Bexar's work and more intense than the work with holes on paper. In fact, I do not even understand how Hernandez's rug is a one-liner.

    The first floor was overfilled to the brim with poor work. The few decent pieces downstairs could not stand out of the crowd. It seems as though the curator put more thought into the second floor. I would have been happier to see less work and let the work with dignity, remain with dignity.

    Comment by David Waddell — August 12, 2007 @ 05:17PM

  4. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From http://www.deccansojourn.com

    Comment by Nona Garg — September 26, 2007 @ 08:14AM

  5. http://www.sendvalentineflowers.com
    http://www.punegiftsflowers.com
    http://www.puneflowerdelivery.com
    http://www.hyderabadgiftsflowers.com
    http://www.goaflorist.com
    http://www.floristbangalore.com
    http://www.delhigiftsflowers.com
    http://www.delhiflorists.com
    http://www.mumbaiflorist.com
    http://www.mumbaigiftsflowers.com
    http://www.chennaigiftsflowers.com
    http://www.globalflowerdelivery.com
    http://www.indiafloristonline.com
    http://www.indianonlineflorist.com
    http://www.giftsvalentine.com
    http://www.sendvalentinegifts.com
    http://www.indiacakedelivery.com
    http://www.aindiaflorist.com

    Comment by abha — September 28, 2007 @ 01:25AM

  6. Online florist for delivery of fresh flowers all over the world.
    http://www.flowersfloristsgifts.com
    http://www.flowersnfloristsindia.com/
    http://www.flowersnflorists.com/
    http://www.floristonlineindia..com/
    http://www.onlinefloristindia.com
    http://www.cakesflowerschocolates.com
    http://www.colourfulflowersindia.com
    http://www.indiafloristshop.com/
    http://www.giftgiftstoindia.com
    http://www.floristindianetwork.com/
    http://www.bloomonlineindia.com/
    http://www.indiacakesonline.com
    http://www.giftflowersindia.com
    http://www.flowerstochennai.com
    http://www.indiaflowerwala.com
    http://www.bangaloregiftsflower.com/
    http://www.sendflowerspunjab.com
    http://www.sendfreshflowersindia.com/
    http://www.allindiagift.com/
    http://www.indiachocolatedelivery.com/
    http://www.keralaflorist.com/

    Comment by abha — October 2, 2007 @ 12:42AM

  7. The visit was useful. Content was really very informative. From http://www.giftwithlove.com

    Comment by Shallu Garg — October 18, 2007 @ 10:23PM

  8. I really enjoyed my visit to this website. Comments from http://www.bangalorewithlove.com

    Comment by Nona Garg — October 26, 2007 @ 04:08AM

  9. Very good website. I liked it very much. Comments from http://www.delhiblossoms.com, http://www.mumbaiflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Varun Jain — November 6, 2007 @ 05:57AM

  10. I really enjoyed my visit to this website. Comments from http://www.aamarbangla.com , http://www.goindiamedicaltourism.com

    Comment by Shallu — November 20, 2007 @ 03:55AM

  11. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From http://www.endekeralam.com, http://www.chennaiflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Vishal Jain — November 22, 2007 @ 08:03PM

  12. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From http://www.endekeralam.com, http://www.chennaiflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Vishal Jain — November 22, 2007 @ 08:03PM

  13. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From www.endekeralam.com,www.chennaiflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Vishal Jain — November 22, 2007 @ 08:04PM

  14. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From endekeralam

    Comment by Vishal Jain — November 22, 2007 @ 08:06PM

  15. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From http://www.puneonnet.com

    Comment by Arun Bansal — November 30, 2007 @ 09:26AM

  16. Contents of this website are good and appreciative. Recommended to all. http://www.uponnet.com, http://www.goagifts.com

    Comment by Deepu Singla — December 10, 2007 @ 08:16PM

  17. It was a good experience to read the articles and contents on this site. http://www.hyderabadonnet.com, http://www.gujaratonnet.com

    Comment by Shanky Jindal — December 20, 2007 @ 09:42AM

  18. It was a amazing experience to visit this website and read the articles and contents. http://www.saadepunjab.com

    Comment by shiana — January 4, 2008 @ 09:42AM

  19. Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From http://www.goindiamedicaltourism.com

    Comment by Vishal Bansal — January 10, 2008 @ 01:52AM

  20. I liked the content on this site. Would like to visit again. http://www.mumbaiflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Shirin Goel — January 18, 2008 @ 08:20AM

  21. I liked the content on this site. Would like to visit again. http://www.mumbaiflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Shirin Goel — January 18, 2008 @ 08:24AM

  22. Site has very useful content and articles. Will recommend this to others. http://www.hyderabadonnet.com

    Comment by Anju Jindal — February 1, 2008 @ 11:01PM

  23. good site....
    http://www.bangaloreonlinemall.com

    Comment by madhu — February 9, 2008 @ 01:32AM

  24. Content and website are good http://www.uponnet.com

    Comment by gaurav singal — February 11, 2008 @ 09:48PM

  25. I liked the content on this site. Would like to visit again. http://www.deccansojourn.com

    Comment by nona shivangi — February 22, 2008 @ 09:21PM

  26. The visit was useful. Content was really very informative. From http://www.indiagiftservices.com

    Comment by Shivangi — March 3, 2008 @ 07:58AM

  27. I liked the content on this site. Would like to visit again. http://www.aamarbangla.com

    Comment by shirin jindal — March 19, 2008 @ 04:48AM

  28. We liked the information available here. http://www.bangaloreflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Anju Mittal — March 20, 2008 @ 02:02AM

  29. We liked the information available here. http://www.bangaloreflowerplaza.com

    Comment by anju mittal — March 27, 2008 @ 12:26AM

  30. The visit was useful. Content was really very informative. From http://www.ahmedabadonnet.com

    Comment by Gori Garg — May 8, 2008 @ 07:50PM

  31. We liked the information available here. http://www.bangaloreflowerplaza.com

    Comment by Anju Mittal — May 10, 2008 @ 04:21AM

About Us | Work for Houston Press | Esubscribe | Free Houston Classifieds | National Advertising | Privacy Policy
Problem With the Site? | RSS | Site Map
©2008 Village Voice Media All rights reserved.

Houston Press Insiders

  • Local food, music and news blasts
  • Free Stuff

buy, sell, trade (4,927)
musician (717)
rentals (6,235)
jobs (8,355)
adult entertainment (4,886)
Free Classifieds Houston, TX