| Description |
Second largest in the union, the “nation state” of Texas offers an exciting nexus of maverick pride, go-go entrepreneurship, and cultural blending. These factors, combined with its strong museums, galleries, art schools, and collectors, make Texas fertile territory for distinct and thriving visual art scenes. Organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s three curators—Toby Kamps, Paola Morsiani and Valerie Cassel Oliver—this exhibition in The Brown Foundation Gallery looks at the multiple layers of creativity at work in the state today and the blending of curatorial perspectives helped to set the tone for an exhibition that celebrates variety and innovation. Spanning generations, subjects, and media, Nexus Texas presented new work by a group of artists living and working in the state. The 16 artists featured in Nexus Texas are: Sterling Allen (based in Austin), Roberto Bellini (San Antonio), Amy Blakemore (Houston), Justin Boyd (San Antonio), Margarita Cabrera (El Paso), Augusto Di Stefano (Houston), Leslie Hewitt (Houston), Lauren Kelley (Houston), El Franco Lee II (Houston), Richard Patterson (Dallas), Paul Slocum (Dallas), Cauleen Smith (Austin), George Smith (Houston), Michael Smith (Austin), Gary Sweeney (San Antonio), and Jeff Zilm (Dallas). The exhibition and the catalogue highlight some of the inventive ways artists forge their own visions as they negotiate art and life in Texas and the world. The catalogue includes an essay by Toby Kamps and entries of the featured artists by Toby Kamps, Paola Morsiani, Valerie Cassel Oliver and complete biographical and bibliographical information on the participating artists. |