An Installation Story
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.
Houston Happenings
Mark Flood: Gratest Hits
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.
Kelly O’Connor: Hypnotic Void
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.
Congratulations Anya!
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 Watch List
- A Philadelphia-based, mixed media artist whose abstractions intersect art and science, Rebecca Rutstein finds inspiration from geology, maps and the undercurrents that shape our world. She has been an artist at sea, collaborating with scientists mapping out never-before-seen ocean floor topography from the Galapagos Islands to California. This year she will be exploring
uncharted territory in the South Pacific. Rebecca Rutstein is represented by Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia. - Originally from Mexico City, Gabriel Dawe creates site-specific installations that explore the connection between fashion and architecture. Centered in the exploration of thread and textiles, his work aims to examine the complicated construction of gender and identity in his native Mexico and attempting to subvert the notions of masculinity and machismo prevalent in the present day. Dawe is represented by Conduit Gallery in Dallas.
- Primarily working in the medium of drawing, Dennis Koch makes meticulously structured abstract works inspired by the scientific fields of physics, cosmology, dimensional mathematics, and parapsychology. His newest body of work is “Versor Parallels”. Dennis Koch is represented by Luis De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles.
- New York based artist Claire Sherman makes it a priority to visit iconic landscapes, such as the sequoia forest of Sierra Nevada and the California coastal redwoods. After spending time in the wilderness, she returns to her Brooklyn studio to paint large scale works, resulting in a powerful sense of abstraction and immersion in the environs. Claire Sherman is represented by DC Moore Gallery in New York.