Literally Figurative
Houston Center For Contemporary Craft Through July 3
The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft presents its first curated
invitational exhibition,
Literally Figurative, on view until July 3. Literally Figurative focuses on the many aspects of the human figure—complex, beautiful, humorous and quirky—as depicted by several craft artists through works made from ceramic, fiber,
glass, metal, wood or mixed media. These whimsical and offbeat objects are sure
to delight the viewer, while they demonstrate the conceptual and non-functional
side of contemporary craft.
KPrc Local 2 summer
symphony nights
Miller Outdoor Theatre, July 4
Join the Houston Symphony for KPRC Local 2 Summer Symphony Nights with a free
summer concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park on July 4
.
Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski presents his annual concert of
patriotic favorites, including the ever-popular Tchaikovsky
’s 1812 Overture—complete with booming cannon—and Copland’s Lincoln Portrait. Texas prodigies The Cactus Cuties join the performance to sing A Star-Spangled Banner. This celebration conclude--s with a magnificent display of fireworks provided by the city of Houston
through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board.
Phantom of the opera
Hobby Center, July 8 - Aug. 2
With some of the most lavish sets, costumes and special effects ever created for
the stage, Andrew Lloyd Webber
’s The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Harold Prince, traces the tragic love story of a beautiful opera
singer and a young composer shamed by his physical appearance into a shadowy
existence beneath the majestic Paris Opera House.
Adapted from Gaston Leroux’s classic novel of mystery and suspense, this award-winning musical has woven
its magical spell over standing room audiences in more than 100 cities
worldwide and is now the longest-running show in Broadway history.
For more information, go to
Reckless
Company OnStage, Through July 25
This comedy by Craig Lucas begins on a snowy Christmas Eve as Rachel’s guilt-stricken husband urges her to flee the house before a hitman he hired
arrives. Thus begins a new chapter in her journey, leading Rachel to ponder
whether the modern world might not be a vast conspiracy designed to undermine
her grasp on reality.
Existed:
Leonardo Drew
Blaffer Gallery, Through Aug. 1
Existed presents sculptures and works on paper created over the last 20 years by
Brooklyn and San Antonio-based artist Leonardo Drew.
Throughout his career, Drew has been continuously engaged with the cyclical
nature of existence. Made to resemble the detritus of everyday life, his
formally abstract but emotionally charged compositions have an aesthetic
authority and metaphorical weight that is as unique as it is symbolic,
transcending time and place in favor of a celebration of things eternal.
These works range from the intense drama of his sculptures and installations of
the 1980s, to the epic sweep of his massive wall-bound tableaux in the 1990s,
to the ethereal language of his paper casts of the early 2000s.
Contemporary Conversations:
John Chamberlain, American Tableau
The Menil Collection, Through Aug. 2
John Chamberlain studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1951-52 and Black
Mountain College from 1955-56. The following year, he moved to New York, where
for the first time he created sculpture that included scrap-metal auto parts.
He used these found metal pieces as raw materials, shaping them at will, adding
paint and welding the finished compositions to preserve their stability.
Despite the heavy and rather unyielding character of such material, Chamberlain
’s work often achieves a lyrical quality-colorful, anthropomorphic, somehow
lighter on its feet than one would expect.
The dismantled and reshaped auto body quickly became Chamberlain’s signature sculptural medium. Although he eschewed the material for a period
starting in 1967, he resumed its use in 1974 and continues to work in this
media at present.
tapumes
Rice University Art Gallery, Through Aug. 11
Artist Henrique Oliveira uses tapumes, which in Portuguese can mean fencing,
boarding or enclosure as a title for many of his large-scale installations. The
term refers to the weathered wood Oliveira uses as the primary material in his
installations. Early on, Oliveira experimented with the surfaces of his
paintings by gluing newspaper onto a canvas and scraping it, or mixing sand
with the paint.
Over time, Oliveira began to see the deterioration of the wood and its
separation into multiple layers and colors as similar to the process of
painting. Oliveira
’s installations, which he refers to as “tridimensionals,” have evolved into massive, spatial constructions that combine painting,
architecture and sculpture.
Grease
Hobby Center, Sept. 8 - 20
The one that you want is back! Grease, which was Time magazine’s 2007 pick for No. 1 musical of the year, is rockin’ across the country in this new production direct from Broadway.
Take a trip to a simpler time of poodle skirts, drive-ins and T-birds. Bad boy
Danny and the girl next door, Sandy, fall in love all over again to the tune of
your favorite songs:
Summer Nights, Greased Lightnin’ and We Go Together as well as additional songs from the hit movie. For more information, go to www.tuts.com or call 713-558-8887.
No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Through Oct. 4
No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston is the first museum exhibition to consider the current and past efforts of
regional artists working in the urban environment.
The exhibition features works by approximately 18 individuals and collaborative
teams.
No Zoning includes examples and documentation of important city interventions and
visionary structures from the 1980s to the present, and incorporates a
combination performance, lecture and video screening space that presents
special programs during the museum
’s extended Thursday evening hours. In addition, a series of special artistic
programs and educational tours are located throughout the city. For more
information, go to
www.camh.org.
