As we celebrate our 30th anniversary (1979-2009), we thought we’d take a look back through Share your stories about the people and the location by leaving a comment or post your own photos from back in the day to our Flickr Group.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
From the Archives
As we celebrate our 30th anniversary (1979-2009), we thought we’d take a look back through Share your stories about the people and the location by leaving a comment or post your own photos from back in the day to our Flickr Group.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Big Show Jurying 2009!
It is Saturday evening, the end of the first half of jurying for the Big Show! All through the process of intake on Wednesday and Thursday, we've been tweeting some of the work artists have dropped off. This year is on par with last year, with over 400 artists participating and almost a thousand works to go through, we've been really busy!
This is my second year helping out with the Big Show, and it is always so interesting to see how the juror goes through the works. Last year Aram Moyashedi was the guest juror, and after two days of jury we started to see patterns. When it was over, I got to ask him about his choices, and there were two particular trends he was interested in presenting for the show. He was interested in text-based work, and geometric abstraction over organic abstraction. Not every work followed these themes, but they were prevalent.
So far, I haven't quite been able to decern Laura Fried's motivations. So far we have over 90 works on the shortlist, so there is still a lot to sort through before she narrows down the show selections. I'm curious about how she is making her decisions - the way she asks questions and considers each piece, she has ideas that link her choices in ways I don't understand yet. What interests me most, though, is how every so often, she will come across a work and say "I like this one, but no", or "This is really impressive, but no". It just shows how you never know what the guest juror is going to pick; Laura is not simply picking work that she likes or is impressed by, but she has an idea that she is working towards and may eliminate work that shows talent but doesn't fit her plan for the overall exhibition.
I've been taking pictures over the past week, to show the sheer volume of the responses we've had for the Big Show, but I forgot my camera at the gallery today. Instead, here is a link to the Chronicle's behind-the-scenes tour of the Big Show intake.
By the time I show up at the gallery tomorrow, I imagine most of the jurying will be complete. Hopefully I will get to call some of the lucky artists whose work will be part of this year's show! An enormous thanks to all of the artists who participated, it has been so much fun to see so many works of art from our area, and to be able to support the community, just like the community supports us.
posted by: Virginia, gallery attendant
This is my second year helping out with the Big Show, and it is always so interesting to see how the juror goes through the works. Last year Aram Moyashedi was the guest juror, and after two days of jury we started to see patterns. When it was over, I got to ask him about his choices, and there were two particular trends he was interested in presenting for the show. He was interested in text-based work, and geometric abstraction over organic abstraction. Not every work followed these themes, but they were prevalent.
So far, I haven't quite been able to decern Laura Fried's motivations. So far we have over 90 works on the shortlist, so there is still a lot to sort through before she narrows down the show selections. I'm curious about how she is making her decisions - the way she asks questions and considers each piece, she has ideas that link her choices in ways I don't understand yet. What interests me most, though, is how every so often, she will come across a work and say "I like this one, but no", or "This is really impressive, but no". It just shows how you never know what the guest juror is going to pick; Laura is not simply picking work that she likes or is impressed by, but she has an idea that she is working towards and may eliminate work that shows talent but doesn't fit her plan for the overall exhibition.
I've been taking pictures over the past week, to show the sheer volume of the responses we've had for the Big Show, but I forgot my camera at the gallery today. Instead, here is a link to the Chronicle's behind-the-scenes tour of the Big Show intake.
By the time I show up at the gallery tomorrow, I imagine most of the jurying will be complete. Hopefully I will get to call some of the lucky artists whose work will be part of this year's show! An enormous thanks to all of the artists who participated, it has been so much fun to see so many works of art from our area, and to be able to support the community, just like the community supports us.
posted by: Virginia, gallery attendant
Saturday, May 30, 2009
summertime
It is very nearly June, and that means it is almost time for the Big Show! Every year, Lawndale holds an open-call for works from local and regional artists, and from that work, an exhibit is put together by a guest curator from out of state. I was lucky enough to work on last year's Big Show, and it is my favorite event. I really enjoy being able to see all of the work that gets submitted, and then seeing what the juror-curator cherry picks for their show - it is so interesting to see what a non-local curator puts together from entirely local work.
This year's entry form will be available on our website later this week. Drop off dates are June 24th and 25th from 10am to 5pm.
In the meantime, our current shows are still up through June 13th. Lawndale is also hosting MICROLIVING, created by 5th year architecture students from the University of Houston and William Massie and Santiago Perez, and will be on display on our back lawn through June 27th.
posted by: Virginia, gallery attendant
This year's entry form will be available on our website later this week. Drop off dates are June 24th and 25th from 10am to 5pm.
In the meantime, our current shows are still up through June 13th. Lawndale is also hosting MICROLIVING, created by 5th year architecture students from the University of Houston and William Massie and Santiago Perez, and will be on display on our back lawn through June 27th.
posted by: Virginia, gallery attendant
Friday, May 15, 2009
Lauren's Week at Lawndale
My name is Lauren, and I just spent a week interning at
My experience here at
I personally found this to be a really fun and interesting experience that I would defiantly want to do again!
posted by: Lauren, School of the Woods Intern
Sunday, May 10, 2009
round 3
It has been a while, hasn't it?
I haven't worked since the last show, but that doesn't mean Lawndale has been slacking off. Since last we blogged, the crew at Lawndale has been busy. They hosted the 14th Annual Modern Market, attended by some great Houston area antique dealers.
The next time I entered the building, the Lawndale crew had set up six - count 'em! - new shows. There are shows in every gallery, the project space, and the classroom!
One (or, depending on how you look at it, three) of the shows on view right now is a group show, featuring the past year's Studio Resident Artists of Lawndale. I have been looking forward to this show since I started working at the gallery - every other month I'd ask, "When are the resident artists shows again?" While I was eagerly anticipating this show, I have to admit, it is a little bittersweet. The artists moved into their studios around the same time I started working at Lawndale, so they seem a little like fixtures for me there, not only because I am used to seeing them (well, most of them, but I will get to that), but they are all so friendly and accessible, they help make Lawndale a wonderful place to be. After this show, they will move out of the studio space and move on to other opportunities, and I'm going to miss them all.
This past Friday we had the opening, which was well attended, and each of the six artists gave short talks about their work. I tried to get some pictures of the artists while they were talking, but as I have a moral objection to the use of flash in photography, they may be blurry. Bear with me.
El Franco Lee II, discussing his Mannerist-Pop style paintings and drawings.
The first thing everyone inevitably says first about El Franco Lee II is how nice he is - all of the resident artists are beyond nice, but El Franco is the type of friendly that makes you immediately comfortable as he introduces himself. The second thing people usually comment on is how stunning/shocking/expressive his work is. These are the things I heard about El Franco over the past nine months, but it took me a while to learn these things for myself. Why? Because one other thing about El Franco is that he is elusive. He was the last artist I met, and I think (if I remember correctly), that was only three weeks ago. Whenever he was mentioned amongst the Lawndale staff, it was "I just saw El Franco this morning, he stopped by, he should still be here", but he was never there when I would look for him. He was a little like the Phantom of the Studios, with sitings reported, but not ever actually materializing while I was there. If nothing else, all of the rumors about him were absolutely true - amazingly gracious and so talented.
Kevin Curry, discussing "Gold and Pawn".
If El Franco Lee II seemed like he was never around when I was working, Kevin was very regularly in his studio, but was not any less gracious to visitors. He was never too busy to stop and say hello, and discuss whatever project he was working on at the time. Not only is Kevin always working on something, but it was almost always something completely different each time I looked in on his studio. He manages to work in a wide array of materials, from fabric to plastic to wood to electronics, but his work is not so thematically erratic - each project emphasizes how his hand has manipulated and altered the presence of the object, the meaning and the purpose.
Amber Eagle discussing the imagery in her work.
Tired of me talking about how nice everyone is? Too bad! It would be criminal to talk about Amber and fail to mention how nice she is. Out of all three shows, her work is my favorite to explore, probably because it is the least familiar to me. I hadn't seen much of her work over the course of her residency, so I didn't really know what to expect. There is such a great sense of influences in her work, weaving together not just gender iconography, but different cultural iconography too, not without a certain sense of levity that nicely pokes at feminine archetypes in pictorial art. Instead of attacking those archetypes, however, it seems like Amber is genuinely having fun with them, and her good nature about it is infectious. Amber is also well known for her participation in the Art Car parade, so this opening was particularly well timed for her. She drove her car, "Lady of Transportation", to the opening, and I was lucky enough to catch her in full costume Saturday morning, pulling out of the lot on her way to join the parade:
Fantastic!
After the current residents take their leave, it will be three whole months before I get to meet the new kids. This summer is going to seem a little lonelier around the galleries on Saturdays, that's for certain.
If you are interested in seeing more information, or applying for the next round of Lawndale Studio Residency, everything you need can be found on our website. Applications for the 2009-2010 program are due by May 29th!
posted by: Virginia, gallery attendant
I haven't worked since the last show, but that doesn't mean Lawndale has been slacking off. Since last we blogged, the crew at Lawndale has been busy. They hosted the 14th Annual Modern Market, attended by some great Houston area antique dealers.
The next time I entered the building, the Lawndale crew had set up six - count 'em! - new shows. There are shows in every gallery, the project space, and the classroom!
One (or, depending on how you look at it, three) of the shows on view right now is a group show, featuring the past year's Studio Resident Artists of Lawndale. I have been looking forward to this show since I started working at the gallery - every other month I'd ask, "When are the resident artists shows again?" While I was eagerly anticipating this show, I have to admit, it is a little bittersweet. The artists moved into their studios around the same time I started working at Lawndale, so they seem a little like fixtures for me there, not only because I am used to seeing them (well, most of them, but I will get to that), but they are all so friendly and accessible, they help make Lawndale a wonderful place to be. After this show, they will move out of the studio space and move on to other opportunities, and I'm going to miss them all.
This past Friday we had the opening, which was well attended, and each of the six artists gave short talks about their work. I tried to get some pictures of the artists while they were talking, but as I have a moral objection to the use of flash in photography, they may be blurry. Bear with me.
El Franco Lee II, discussing his Mannerist-Pop style paintings and drawings.
The first thing everyone inevitably says first about El Franco Lee II is how nice he is - all of the resident artists are beyond nice, but El Franco is the type of friendly that makes you immediately comfortable as he introduces himself. The second thing people usually comment on is how stunning/shocking/expressive his work is. These are the things I heard about El Franco over the past nine months, but it took me a while to learn these things for myself. Why? Because one other thing about El Franco is that he is elusive. He was the last artist I met, and I think (if I remember correctly), that was only three weeks ago. Whenever he was mentioned amongst the Lawndale staff, it was "I just saw El Franco this morning, he stopped by, he should still be here", but he was never there when I would look for him. He was a little like the Phantom of the Studios, with sitings reported, but not ever actually materializing while I was there. If nothing else, all of the rumors about him were absolutely true - amazingly gracious and so talented.
Kevin Curry, discussing "Gold and Pawn".
If El Franco Lee II seemed like he was never around when I was working, Kevin was very regularly in his studio, but was not any less gracious to visitors. He was never too busy to stop and say hello, and discuss whatever project he was working on at the time. Not only is Kevin always working on something, but it was almost always something completely different each time I looked in on his studio. He manages to work in a wide array of materials, from fabric to plastic to wood to electronics, but his work is not so thematically erratic - each project emphasizes how his hand has manipulated and altered the presence of the object, the meaning and the purpose.
Amber Eagle discussing the imagery in her work.
Tired of me talking about how nice everyone is? Too bad! It would be criminal to talk about Amber and fail to mention how nice she is. Out of all three shows, her work is my favorite to explore, probably because it is the least familiar to me. I hadn't seen much of her work over the course of her residency, so I didn't really know what to expect. There is such a great sense of influences in her work, weaving together not just gender iconography, but different cultural iconography too, not without a certain sense of levity that nicely pokes at feminine archetypes in pictorial art. Instead of attacking those archetypes, however, it seems like Amber is genuinely having fun with them, and her good nature about it is infectious. Amber is also well known for her participation in the Art Car parade, so this opening was particularly well timed for her. She drove her car, "Lady of Transportation", to the opening, and I was lucky enough to catch her in full costume Saturday morning, pulling out of the lot on her way to join the parade:
Fantastic!
After the current residents take their leave, it will be three whole months before I get to meet the new kids. This summer is going to seem a little lonelier around the galleries on Saturdays, that's for certain.
If you are interested in seeing more information, or applying for the next round of Lawndale Studio Residency, everything you need can be found on our website. Applications for the 2009-2010 program are due by May 29th!
posted by: Virginia, gallery attendant
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