My impressions of Houston have definitely shifted somewhat from when I first viewed the city as an outsider, then as someone who lived nearby and now as someone who lives in Houston itself but honestly I'm not sure how much of my impression of the city is tainted by the impact that Covid has had on the art community here.
When I left Dallas the arts community had been experiencing some sort of small arts renaissance that some writers and friends of mine called a DIY movement of younger artists who were banding together and doing things. They were renting out spaces for cheap and starting galleries to give shows to their friends or being loaned spaces by real estate moguls for a weekend and putting on art shows or just putting on big parties. Musicians were mixing with visual artists and I came to know a lot of people through there and I learned a lot about how things worked and how people got attention.
My impression of Houston was from that vantage point but I definitely saw Houston as a sort of big sister city to Dallas. I participated in the Huntington Art Prize twice. The second time I did I came out onto the floor of the exhibition early and was surprised to see the judges arguing loudly and passionately in front of my work. I thought that I might even win but I wasn't really surprised when they gave the prize to someone who had made a large drawing of a photorealistic saddle. This is Texas after all. As a consolation prize, I did sell the drawing to a wealthy businessman. A hay-seed who had managed to make more money than he knew what to do with. Later that night I went to some art party with other young people where we stayed longer than I wanted to (we still had to drive back to Dallas) because my friend who had traveled down with me ended up getting naked for some girls who wanted to paint him. It was a strange night.
I had a few other experiences with Houston, one of which is a huge adventure and a long story that I won't get into here, but I was generally left with the impression that there was money in Houston and that Houston was more open to various kinds of art than Dallas was. If Dallas were a human I would say that Dallas is a man who feels like he has something to prove. He has an inferiority complex and it shows in how he presents himself. Houston doesn't feel that way and I do like that about it.
For some reason, everything started to crumble in the Dallas art scene all at once. The Fire Marshall started to shut down DIY spaces, parties and events, the former museum curator Rick Brettell who had worked with UTD and a landlord to gentrify a certain part of downtown with an artist residency/exhibition space turned against it and they shut it down. Artists left. I left. I moved to Spain and then to Galveston and now I'm in Houston where the scene now seems... a bit decrepit?
When I first got here I saw some fun things and the scene seemed younger. I remember going to a show where a guy had built a machine to destroy a gas station and we all stood outside and watched as this machine tore apart the gas station little by little. I loved it. Now though it seems like I'm not seeing much more than the same few galleries holding exhibitions and honestly I haven't seen anything impressive to me in a very long time. The art all seems... old. Maybe it's just Covid.
The other day I saw that there was going to be a performance at the Houston Contemporary and we rushed to get there in time only to find that the performance had already occurred. I suppose there must have been some sort of miscommunication with Glasstire... The basement was full of a bunch of people in their early 20's which was so unusual since all of the art events I have been attending for a while seem populated by older people.
So I guess that young people are active in the art scene though I found it odd that it was happening at the Houston Contemporary and I'm not sure how often they exhibit or where outside of that. I really do wish that I could be a part of growing some sort of Renaissance here in Houston but I have little money and I don't know any wealthy people who are interested in loaning out space for young people to have art parties in. Oh well. I wonder if I'm going to regret never having lived in New York City which I imagine is a dream for most artists but Houston is affordable compared to New York and I don't need any kind of city to make art at all.
I wrote this post in a sour mood. Let me just say that Houston has more stuff going on than I am aware of (and I bet the same is true in Dallas/Fort Worth). I literally today became aware of an interesting two-person art collective called Project B which has been doing interesting projects for years without me knowing about it. Just stay involved and you'll find stuff of interest. I realize I am contradicting my own post, but I've had a few people say to me that I was being too rough on the old gal. Houston's still hot as fuck and is in a state run by Nazis, but I like a lot of the art produced here.
Umm, yeah. Leaving was the best decision of my life, tied with my marriage. If I had to move back for my marriage, it would be a VERY difficult decision. I hate it that much.
My impressions of Houston have definitely shifted somewhat from when I first viewed the city as an outsider, then as someone who lived nearby and now as someone who lives in Houston itself but honestly I'm not sure how much of my impression of the city is tainted by the impact that Covid has had on the art community here.
When I left Dallas the arts community had been experiencing some sort of small arts renaissance that some writers and friends of mine called a DIY movement of younger artists who were banding together and doing things. They were renting out spaces for cheap and starting galleries to give shows to their friends or being loaned spaces by real estate moguls for a weekend and putting on art shows or just putting on big parties. Musicians were mixing with visual artists and I came to know a lot of people through there and I learned a lot about how things worked and how people got attention.
My impression of Houston was from that vantage point but I definitely saw Houston as a sort of big sister city to Dallas. I participated in the Huntington Art Prize twice. The second time I did I came out onto the floor of the exhibition early and was surprised to see the judges arguing loudly and passionately in front of my work. I thought that I might even win but I wasn't really surprised when they gave the prize to someone who had made a large drawing of a photorealistic saddle. This is Texas after all. As a consolation prize, I did sell the drawing to a wealthy businessman. A hay-seed who had managed to make more money than he knew what to do with. Later that night I went to some art party with other young people where we stayed longer than I wanted to (we still had to drive back to Dallas) because my friend who had traveled down with me ended up getting naked for some girls who wanted to paint him. It was a strange night.
I had a few other experiences with Houston, one of which is a huge adventure and a long story that I won't get into here, but I was generally left with the impression that there was money in Houston and that Houston was more open to various kinds of art than Dallas was. If Dallas were a human I would say that Dallas is a man who feels like he has something to prove. He has an inferiority complex and it shows in how he presents himself. Houston doesn't feel that way and I do like that about it.
For some reason, everything started to crumble in the Dallas art scene all at once. The Fire Marshall started to shut down DIY spaces, parties and events, the former museum curator Rick Brettell who had worked with UTD and a landlord to gentrify a certain part of downtown with an artist residency/exhibition space turned against it and they shut it down. Artists left. I left. I moved to Spain and then to Galveston and now I'm in Houston where the scene now seems... a bit decrepit?
When I first got here I saw some fun things and the scene seemed younger. I remember going to a show where a guy had built a machine to destroy a gas station and we all stood outside and watched as this machine tore apart the gas station little by little. I loved it. Now though it seems like I'm not seeing much more than the same few galleries holding exhibitions and honestly I haven't seen anything impressive to me in a very long time. The art all seems... old. Maybe it's just Covid.
The other day I saw that there was going to be a performance at the Houston Contemporary and we rushed to get there in time only to find that the performance had already occurred. I suppose there must have been some sort of miscommunication with Glasstire... The basement was full of a bunch of people in their early 20's which was so unusual since all of the art events I have been attending for a while seem populated by older people.
So I guess that young people are active in the art scene though I found it odd that it was happening at the Houston Contemporary and I'm not sure how often they exhibit or where outside of that. I really do wish that I could be a part of growing some sort of Renaissance here in Houston but I have little money and I don't know any wealthy people who are interested in loaning out space for young people to have art parties in. Oh well. I wonder if I'm going to regret never having lived in New York City which I imagine is a dream for most artists but Houston is affordable compared to New York and I don't need any kind of city to make art at all.
That was epic!
I wrote this post in a sour mood. Let me just say that Houston has more stuff going on than I am aware of (and I bet the same is true in Dallas/Fort Worth). I literally today became aware of an interesting two-person art collective called Project B which has been doing interesting projects for years without me knowing about it. Just stay involved and you'll find stuff of interest. I realize I am contradicting my own post, but I've had a few people say to me that I was being too rough on the old gal. Houston's still hot as fuck and is in a state run by Nazis, but I like a lot of the art produced here.
One more reason to be critical...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWLn6uwPETY
Umm, yeah. Leaving was the best decision of my life, tied with my marriage. If I had to move back for my marriage, it would be a VERY difficult decision. I hate it that much.
You are not wrong. Not even a little bit.