Any Free Wine?

_{An anonymous account of opening night at random art galleries from across Houston.}

Go Figure! @ M2 Gallery

January 2006

With my first art exhibition review of the New Year, let me start off with a great big greeting to all my loyal readers.

With this new year full of more potential for world peace than humans have EVER known before, (YES, I am being dreadfully sarcastic) I have decided one of my New Year's resolutions will be to let it all hang out. I don't mean my body parts either, I am talking about my opinions, and believe me I have plenty of them.

To make it fair, you will have the opportunity to respond... but rest assured, if I don't like what you say or how you say it I will not post your response in this column for everyone else to see. That is the beauty of being me, "I'm kind of like Oz, this is MY column, and I am all powerful!" Regardless... in the event that I manage to piss you off, you will have the satisfaction of knowing I read your response.

On to the actual review part of this write up, I'll begin the new year with M2 Gallery's First Annual "Go Figure!" Exhibition juried by the prestigious Patrick Palmer of the Glassell School of Fine Art. Frankly, I am surprised at the snide jealousy-laden comments I overheard coming from Houston artists in attendance. I overheard more than one utterence along the lines of "M2 Gallery influenced the judges decision based on personal favorites." In fact, if you are reading this and you are one of the grumbling artists who were at the show, then here are some words for you:

First of all, get OVER yourself! Lastly, I have never talked with Mr. Palmer but even someone as dim-witted as myself knows there is no way Patrick Palmer would allow his name to be attached to a show and be willing to jeopardize his professional career by letting himself be influenced by reasons having nothing to do with the art. In fact, I heard over the grapevine that Mr. Palmer will be having a discussion about the works in the show coming up at 7:00 pm on February 3, right there at M2 Gallery. This discussion is open to the public, so artists (especially those of you who think bias played a part in the jury process) or art-lovers who would like to hear more about the works that were included in "Go Figure!" should definitely be there!

About the work... It was fantastic! It is plain to see that we have a lot of fine talented artists in the Houston area! Art-lovers need to come out and really embrace what is happening in their very own city. How lucky we are to have access to all these great works of art while the works are still affordable to the average collector wanting to decorate a house! The styles, colors, and mediums included in the show are so diverse. It is a pleasure to see this type of diversity coming from a relatively small geographic area. "Go Figure" will remain hanging at M2 Gallery until February 4th, so if you haven't already, then you SHOULD go see it.

Before this is over, I simply HAVE to mention my favorite person in attendance at the show: Ms. Sharon Johnson. With the finesse and grace of Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (the Russian ballerina) Sharon doled out the booze to the throngs of parched artists who couldn't seem to quench their thirst. I suppose the only reason I ever notice how much others are drinking, is because the more others drink, the LESS there is for me. Anyway, I don't think I have ever seen such a pleasant and accommodating bartender as Sharon.

I will definitely be in attendance next year at the 2nd Annual "Go Figure" Exhibition as it is quite refreshing to see figurative art making its way into the spotlight of Houston's art scene, yet another example of the Bayou city finally growing up.

Until next time we meet here in the hallowed pages of Art Valet, may your glass always be full of wine and may you always have clean socks to wear.

Write me at: anyfreewine at gmail.com.

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22th, January 2007, Anonymous says:

I love it when grumblers are put in their place, especially grumbling-visiting-artists versus the chosen-and-showing-artists... I think that the writer is very brave to put this out with such pleasure so that guilty "grumblers" might know how silly they are. Jealousy and making assumptions, especially when it comes to deciding how a juried piece arrives on the walls of a gallery, is such a waste of breathe. The point of participating as a gallery "cruiser" is to not critique how a piece was chosen, but rather how a piece was created- and to ask what it's origin from brain to canvas, or metal, or clay may have been derived from..... "Bravo!" to this Any Free Wine author, ye wagerer of the magical pen.

My response: I'm not going to pretend that my first feedback (your email) was not validating...Thank you! Collectively Houston has some top-notch artistry happening within its boundries and it won't go unnoticed. Thank you for writing, AFW.

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Any Free Wine?

_{An anonymous account of opening night at random art galleries from across Houston.}

Compelled

With the sheer number of "big-name" galleries having openings and receptions on the evening of Saturday, September 9th, I was really quite astounded when I pulled up to the Elder Street Artists Lofts (aka the old Jefferson Davis Hospital) in my rented Jag only to find the equivalent size crowd to a small Rolling Stones concert milling inside and out of the building. In every way this event clearly demonstrated how great a show can be when artists work to collaborate and host their own event.

Just between you and I, when I learned about "Compelled" I couldn't help but crack a devilishly evil smile anticipating the worst of what seemingly happens when artists attempt to organize anything. I decided I wouldn't miss it for the world, as you know how I LOVE to watch people try to overcome abysmal circumstances, but in this case, I was proven very wrong.

Being serenaded the entire time I took in the show by the mesmerizing voice of our local siren and muse, Kim Saltzmann, along with the brilliant musical talents of her troupe, was certainly a delight and added to the whole "art-concert feel" of "Compelled."

As to be expected, the artwork was as diverse as the artists themselves. From the metal sculpting of David Wilhelm to the painted wedding gown by Aime Dunn…no visual aspect of art seemed to be left out. Color ranges and subject matter, styles and medias, every aspect of the show ran the full spectrum of possibility.

I heard many guests commenting “the flow of the show is fantastic!” which at first I thought to be a rather disgusting observation, and only later learned that the guests were referring to the placement of art in such a way that one painting gracefully hands off to the next, never competing with nor overpowering each other.

Getting to the pinnacle of what this column is all about, the wine! Ummm… not much to to be said about the wine with the exception of perhaps that there was both red and white and more than plenty to go around. And around and around it went, especially in my unassuming-and-oh-so-eager-to-be-filled cup.

On that note, I must sadly end this assessment of the evening’s happenings because after a brief excursion to the roof-top and taking in the spectacular Houston night-skyline (and perhaps a wee bit too much vintage grapery) I passed out next to one of the outside AC units on the top of the building, only to wake up with the dewy-splash of dawn, a snail lazily cavorting upon my nose, and gravel bits implanted in the left side of my face.

Until next time, may you have good everything, especially (of course) good grapeage!

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Any Free Wine?

_{An anonymous account of opening night at random art galleries from across Houston.}

Monica Vidal's opening reception at the Ms. Oh-so-perky-and-lovely Marie Weichman's Studio Gallery.

Well as you already know, I am not one to miss an opportunity to indulge in free libations and certainly not when they are being served at the one and only Studio Gallery in the Heights! The inside scoop is that Marie will shortly be closing the doors of the gallery and focusing on her own creative endeavors (a well-deserved change of pace for Marie!) and so with this added bit of information it became equally important to hustle over there and join in on the festivities. Although I must admit, I suspect with Marie's natural tendency to support her fellow artists this evening won't be her last public event, much like the Rolling Stones Final Tours.

In typical fashion, Chloe the Wonder dog chaperoned the wackiness synonymous with shows at Studio Gallery, and most of the night it was a good thing she did because she performed quite well at presenting a diversionary front-line defense, blocking the snack bar from the likes of Martin de Vore so that the rest of us could fill the old feed bags!

What about the WINE you wonder? Well, trying not to exaggerate, the wine was flowing like the Yangtze River back in 1931, only with a much happier outcome. There were great big happy bottles of both red and white for the taking, and gleefully parTAKE I did!

On my 15th return to the wine replenishing station Chloe the wonder dog actually ran interference on me! Who would have known that the bitch was counting and summarily cut me off on a whim! Needless to say, my feathers were quite ruffled until I discovered an ice chest full of beer outside the gallery and my world returned to its usual balanced and blissful state.

As the evening progressed I saw many an influential face pass by the smoking section on their way inside to view Monica's art. Of course I did everything imaginable to try and steal their attention, but alas, even pulling my panties off and swinging them over my head while singing my version of Helen Kane's "I Wanna Be Loved By You" wasn't enough. It was clear MOST of the attendees were present for the art, certainly not to rub shoulders with elite members of society, like myself.

I was told at one point Kinky Friedman joined the crew at the picnic table. Sadly, I missed his surprise visit for as soon as I returned from a trek to Marie's great bathroom with the incredible custom ceramic sink, Kinky had been replaced with none other than Max Harrison, who along with Michael own and operate the fabulous M-Squared Gallery, also in the Heights.

On a subsequent return visit to the head, I encountered a human roadblock as over-zealous, wine-drenched participants one after the other INSISTED on toasting Marie. Marie appeared genuinely touched by their words. I on the other hand, seemed to be the only one in the crowd who recognized their blatant swaggering sycophancy and my bladder was none too impressed with the love-fest either! Ultimately I was forced to run over to the Vietnamese Restaurant next door and use their restroom.

Unfortunately, I had left my purse at the picnic table and just so the staff wouldn't think I was a lowly bathroom crasher, I sat at a table with some nice unsuspecting folks and chatted with them for 10 minutes or so. As it turned out and much to my delight, the darling couple had brought a nice bottle of Three Thieves Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with them and they didn't seem to mind at all when I sampled their selection before returning to Marie's place.

Like all good things, this evening was destined to come to an end. And because I admire Marie so much, I didn't want this to be a typical night on the town for me, that is having to leave abruptly with some big hairy man tossing me into a dumpster for throwing my drink at some thoughtless guest. So I hastily bid farewell to all the wonderful guests and headed over to the nearest ice house for a game of pool.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention how very cool Monica Vidal's artwork is! Intense, detailed, and at times its 3-D quality made it leap right out at you!

Until next time, may you never confuse your turpentine with your wine whilst painting!

Feb 2006 Column Jan 2006 Column Dec 2005 Column Nov 2005 Column May 2006 Column