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Drawn Superstition by Angel Castelán on view in the Architecture & Art Library

General Announcements, Special Event or Display

The William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design and Art Library presents four untitled paintings by second-year graduate student Angel Castelán.  His exhibit, Drawn Superstition draws upon his Mexican ancestry and its animal mythology.  “Being of Mexican heritage,” he writes,  I grew up listening to all sorts of superstitions, and naturally, the majority of these were about animals. Brujas turn into lechuzas to carry you off at night. Don’t let the cara de niño bite you, or you’ll die. The urutau and black witch moths are harbingers of death; don’t let them get you. Thus, it is no surprise that certain animals are rejected or even feared to the point that they are killed when encountered. However, when these animals, who are either endemic or have ties that date back to the Aztecs, are pushed into being endangered or even extinct in the wild, it becomes a major issue. Through this series of drawings, I aim to capture these animals as they would normally be encountered; without the corruption of superstitious lens.”

On view through December 2017.

Jasper Johns Catalogue Raisonné of Painting and Sculpture recently acquired

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This comprehensive five-volume set from Yale University Press is now part of the Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Collection in the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library.  Patrons may contact cwessinger@uh.edu to schedule a time to view this definitive work.

New Works by Isaac Farley

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On view in the William R. Jenkins Architecture & Art Library until November 2017.  The artist, Isaac Farley, is now in the third year of an MFA program in painting.

My work is a form of storytelling. I want to tell stories of the lives of everyday people, like my family that is made up of people who were and are workers, either on ranches or in factories, and their desires, struggles, their triumphs, and tribulations.  Stories are rooted in oral traditions and cave paintings and are the basis of human history. When I try to tell a story without words, I think in images.  These images are influenced by movies, photography, and other art, and are most readily translated onto a two dimensional surface.

Often the work deals with America.  Not so much what America is or what it was, but the ideal, and myth of America.  America, the land of equal opportunity, where the truth is spoken, justice is fair and even, and where people live as they choose instead of what others impose on them.

Duality appears often in my work as innate and inborn opposing or balancing forces.  People are simultaneously advanced and primitive, capable of great acts of kindness and cruelty, with the ability to create both great art and terrible destruction.

Camp, acrylic on canvas, 63x72in Jimador Linocut 12x12in (2)

On display in the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library

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Vietnam Sinfonie oder Desastres de la Guerra by Wolf Vostell

Materials from the German artist Wolf Vostell’s  Vietnam Sinfonie oder Désastres de la Guerra (Vietnam Symphony or Disasters of the War) are on display in the Architecture and Art Library’s upper mezzanine.  This piece was performed at the Galerie Van de Loo in Munich in 1972. Vostell is known for his role in the Fluxus art movement in the late 1950s in Europe. He was the founder of the European Happening scene and was one of the first video and installation artists.

Art Revolution: Women Artists from Around the World

On display in the south wing are books dedicated to groundbreaking women artists from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.  These women challenge traditional assumptions and engage us in conversations that were previously unthinkable through their creative work in video art, photography, performance art, paintings, textiles, sculptures, room installations, drawings, etchings, collages and beyond. This exhibit highlights many different art movements including Hannah Höch’s work as a Dada artist in the Weimar period, Carolee Schneemann’s Fluxus’ work, Ana Medieta’s involvement in the Body art movement, Helen Marten’s contemporary art earning her the 2016 Turner Prize, Germaine Arnaktauyok’s work stemming from her Inuk childhood, Lorna Simpson’s Conceptual Photography and avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama’s installations.

Solo exhibit by Leah Bydalek in the Architecture and Art Library

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The William R. Jenkins Architecture & Art Library is pleased to present Leah Bydalek’s first solo exhibition.

Fluorescent Lessons is on view from July to August 2017. Bydalek is a senior painting major at the University of Houston. Ms. Bydalek’s color palette was inspired by the pictorial artist Wayne Thiebaud, known for painting cakes. The artist also plays around with her memories and giving them a final twist.

Leah Bydalek's art is on display in the William R. Jenkins Architecture & Art Library through August.

Leah Bydalek’s art is on display in the William R. Jenkins Architecture & Art Library through August.

Artist’s statement:

I love it when the “truth” of a thing can be turned on its head to yield a novel experience.  It shows us that perceptions are malleable and that people have the potential to change.  This is the meeting point of the familiar and the unknown the beautiful and the disgusting the docile and the disobedient.

Art Speaker Day with Curatorial Fellow Javier Sanchez Martinez

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Interested in working for a museum?  Join us for a friendly conversation with museum professional Javier Sanchez Martinez and learn about his career and curatorial research.  Refreshments will be served.

RSVP to library.ambassadorsuh@gmail.com

On display in the Architecture and Art Library…

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geniza with box

A Geniza by Raphael Rubinstein, Professor of Critical Studies at UH’s School of Art, is on display in the upper mezzanine. A Geniza is a limited edition poem in a box inspired by Cairo, Egypt. The poem is fragmented into more than 100 pieces of paper, using various colored paper and different fonts, resulting in an eclectic and visually stimulating display. The poem is meant to be pieced together by each reader to create a distinctive itinerary through Cairo’s history and meaning.

 

On display in the south wing exhibit case: the LEGO Architecture series, curated by Library Specialist Julia Kress (and assembled by her son).  The LEGO structures are based upon great built works, such as the Sydney Opera House and the Villa Savoye, and complimented by books from the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library collection.  sydney opera house