California artist Nathan Mabry has created a modernistic owl-themed sculpture as the latest public art installation in Rice Village with the help of MKG Art.
Houston Chronicle – Owl-themed modern sculpture lands in Rice VillageRead More
With the help of MKG, interior designer Elisabeth McCabe cultivated a wildly diverse art collection as part of her home redesign featured recently in Luxe Magazine.
Based in Houston and invested in energy resources throughout the world, Denham Capital’s headquarters reflect the natural world in the interior design scheme. The interior design team at Gensler composed a tonal color palette of rich brown wood, caramel leather and stone, combined with transitional furniture that has a mid-century ethos. The mesquite flooring adds a rustic edge to the composition.
The art selected by committee at Denham reflects and punctuates the warmth of the space. For example, Andy Moses is inspired by rock formations whose history is embedded in their forms. From this inspiration, Moses creates dynamic, wavelike compositions in saturated color. His sculptural paintings on wood begin with geomorphology, which is the study of the evolution of the earth’s topographic features and their relationship to geologic structures. Like other art in Denham’s collection, Andy Moses’ work plays along the edge of representation and abstraction.
At MKG, we believe that art should punctuate a space while working within an overall scheme. Yet the art we advise our clients to acquire is never decorative. It’s authenticity lends a timelessness to interiors while providing another layer of visual interest. Marc Handelman (above left) delves into the visual properties of rock formations and geology to inspire his ruminative paintings. Situated at the end of a corridor, the large scale work invites a closer look, referring to stone without mimicry. Jill Greenberg (above right) also focuses on material and the dividing line between abstract painting and photography in her works. She first makes small abstract paintings, later photographing them at high resolution and blowing them up to a large scale. She then destroys the paintings, which have become embedded in her process. The end justifies the means.
Like Jill Greenberg, Ed Burtynsky and David Maisel explore the divisions between realism and abstraction in large scale aerial photographs. Both artists focus on the impact of human endeavor on the planet. The work is not judgmental, however. The perspective is documentary, and combines detail and scale into imagery that is at once highly realistic and seemingly abstract. Both artists thus capture our dependence on the earth’s natural resources for our way of life, but do not shy away from detailing our impact on the environment. The imagery is both dramatic and attractive, while
also unsettling in its illustration of the scale of our intervention.
A large work on paper by Leonardo Drew (below left) adds drama to the lobby seating area at Denham. Silver blue roots float on layers of thick, ink soaked paper, communicating the
earthy focus of Drew’s abstract work, which fits perfectly into Denham’s roots in Texas and its natural resources.
While most of the artists highlighted in Denham’s collection focus on finite material in their work, Joan Winter (below right) focuses on elements which are more conceptual. Inspired by the light and transparency of Japanese architecture, Winter’s works on paper elicit a meditative response. Winter’s investigation of time, memory, and light as a source of form produce multi-layered abstractions like the monotypes below.
Every client of MKG has an important story to tell. Art has unique visual power to illustrate and underline our identity in the world, both to ourselves, and to others. For Denham Capital, a company firmly rooted in the structure and geology of the earth, artists inspired by the earth’s elements become a perfect fit in the formulation of their collection of contemporary art.
Mark Flood has his first survey exhibition, with works dating from the 1980’s to 2015. On exhibit now at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Mark Flood: Gratest Hits shows the deep wisdom and humor of his work. The exhibition presents the broad range of Flood’s oeuvre through site specific installations, which examine mainstream ‘art making’. Also included are examples of his exquisite lace paintings, as well as more recent work referencing the digital age. The exhibition runs through August 7th.
CAMH is open 10 am to 7 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 am to 9 pm Thursday, 10 am to 6 pm Saturday, and 12 pm to 6 pm on Sunday; closed Monday.
This month, San Antonio artist Kelly O’Connor is back for her third solo exhibition at David Shelton Gallery. Known for her candy-colored collages that incorporate fairy-tale characters and pop media icons, much of her work has been inspired by Disneyland and other American theme parks. O’Connor addresses central themes that include gender, feminism and family, as well as our culture’s expanding preoccupation with artificial happiness. On view now through May 28th.
David Shelton Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 6 pm.
Photos above, left: William Cannings, XX, 2016; right: Adela Andea, Fire Coral & Blue Coral, 2016.
Anya Tish is celebrating the gallery’s 20th anniversary with the exhibition XX Part One
This first of two group exhibitions feature work by recent and long standing artists from the gallery stable, with an emphasis on Central/Eastern Europe and Russia as well as local Texas artists. Artwork on view spans the last few decades, and includes a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, video, photography and installation. Among the works is a site-specific light installation by Adela Andea.
Anya Tish Gallery, established in 1996, specializes in art with a focus on the contemporary experience and interactive qualities. MKG salutes Anya for bringing a unique aesthetic and focus on contemporary European art to Houston.
Anya Tish Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 10:30 am to 6 pm and Saturday 10:30 am to 5 pm.
MKG Art Management excels in guiding private collectors in acquiring works that are unique, surprising, and personal. In MKG’s featured collection this month, our client is drawn to unusual media and texture. From the origami-like pixelated and folded photographs of Texas artist Rusty Scruby (above left), to Dirk De Bruycker’s canvas embedded with asphalt, gesso, and oil (above right), these works pack a powerful punch.
Jae Ko’s wall sculpture draws inspiration from unusual and extreme forms found in nature. Ko creates her vertical coiling forms out of tightly wound adding machine tape. After soaking the paper in traditional Korean inks, Ko forms the shape on a pottery wheel. Finally she coats the paper sculpture in glue and graphite. The resulting matte red form has metallic sheen, but the heft of the material looks like rubber.
German born artist Markus Linnenbrink’s viscous rivulets of epoxy resin result in wall pieces that balance sculpture and painting (above left). Similarly, Gavin Perry, inspired by the exuberant car culture of his native Miami, shellacs vinyl tape with thick enamel, creating heavy, shiny works on board with dramatic visual heft (above right).
Leo Villareal (below), on the other hand, brings a studied intellectualism to his work in light and movement, focusing on mathematical coding. Once Villareal sets the mathematical rules for a particular work of art, he allows the resulting light display to repeat and grow organically, incorporating an element of chance in their constant change and repetition.
The common denominators in this collection are rich color and uncommon media. The unique methodology and material of all these works combine with the unique vision of the collector to form a vibrant and warm collaboration.
On October 15th, 2015 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston formally broke ground on the Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, and also announced Deborah Nevins & Associates as the project’s landscape architect. The campus will feature the new Glassell School of Art building and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building which will house Modern and contemporary art. Both are designed by Steven Holl Architects, as well as the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation, which is designed by Lake|Flato Architects. The Sarofim Campus plan will transform the 14 acres of the MFAH property into a pedestrian-friendly cultural zone. Completion is slated for late 2019.
Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha uses light and cast shadow to transform Rice Gallery into a place that refers to Islamic sacred spaces, specifically inspired by the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. From the 11th – 15th centuries, the last Muslim dynasty in Spain ruled from the fortress.
In Intersections, Agha creates a contemplative space using simple means: a single, bright light suspended from the ceiling shines through an intricately cut black wooden box. Within Intersections, no clear boundary or separation exists; the nature of the pattern changes as the viewer walks freely through the space. Rice Gallery is open 11 am to 5 pm Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday; 11 am to 7 pm on Thursday ; Closed Sunday
Of course, creativity is at the heart of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Glassell School of Art and the annual fundraising event held each spring is a colorful mashup of creative talents and zany fun. But never has it been more eclectic and entertaining than Friday night when the party moved to the Texas Medical Center Accelerator TMCx.
The Glassell School is currently surrounded by road construction, so what better place to hold the “Glassell Gone Gonzo!” themed event than a former Nabisco cookie factory that now provides hip industrial space for medical start-ups.
Chairs Melissa and Albert Grobmyer oversaw the partying that found most of the 300-plus guests dressed in their disco best. Psychedelic chic seemed to be the driving fashion force behind the bold colors and giant floral prints. New York’s DJ Kiss provided the spins that had guests dancing amid the disco club setting created by Bergner & Johnson. Think neon light projections, seated lounge areas and vibrant and multicolored floral arrangements.
Focal point of the decor was a 12-foot “disco shark” floating above the DJ, the big fish created for the party by TX/RX Labs.
Adding to the kitty, which by night’s end totaled more than $376,000, was the silent auction of 50 artworks contributed by local and nationwide artists and 36 works by Glassell students.
A Fare Extraordinaire provided the party food with a serious buffet including basil roasted salmon, smoked duck confit cigars, smashed potato bar, tie dye deviled eggs and seaweed salad. For the true hipsters in the mix, the munchies bar offerd chili Frito pies, firecracker-encrusted chicken and seasoned curly fries. Rounding out the party fare were mint herbed brownies, butterscotch haystacks, psychedelic Jello shots, lime basil bars and chocolate pretzel pie wedges.
Disco queens and kings included Alfred Glassell III and Marli Andrade, Leslie and Brad Bucher, Betty and Stephen Newton, Kathy and John Orton, Hiram Butler, Susan Young, Judy and Scott Nyquist, Nancy Powell Moore, Clare andDoug Ankenman, Jereann Chaney and Kathy and Marty Goossen.
