Good Stuff

 

In addition to having a rotation of different cars coming in and out of the premises, the Art Car Museum (mentioned in a previous post), also has exhibition spaces dedicated to non-automobile related art as well.  The current show, the 7th Annual Open Call Exhibition, is exactly just that:  an open call for art and once the walls were filled they stopped accepting.  Though it was too late to enter this year, I’m pretty sure I have something on my own wall at home that would be PERFECT for next year:

 

KILLED BY J.D. ROBERTS!

 

Up until my most recent move I had yet to find the perfect place for my deer from home.  Luckily, with a bit of help from West Elm and my good friend, Tito, that problem has now been resolved quite to my satisfaction.

Those of you who are more taxidermically minded (or even meme minded) may be wondering to yourselves: Is that a Chuck Testa original?!?!  And for those of you who weren't, you might now find yourselves wondering: Who the hell is Chuck Testa?!?! 

Ask and ye shall receive:

YOU'RE WELCOME!

Artist: The B-52's / Album: Time Capsule

Look Before You Leap

In celebration of Leap Day—the best of all temporally related quadrennial celebrations—I thought it would be fun to take a photographic look at the “art of the leap.” (Don't worry, after the first one it's all primo stuff!)

I say "leap" you say "tumble"… tomato/t'ohmygoshIthinkIjustbrokesomething

But first, let’s take a moment to define what is, and what is, not a leap. For instance….



NOT a leap: George Zimbel – Marilyn Monroe, Looking Left

A sixteenth-hearted effort if I’ve ever seen one.  Let someone else have the spotlight for once, Marilyn!

ALMOST a leap: Henry Horenstein – Miss Saturn, Outside Slipper Room, New York, NY 2008

Nice fake-out, Miss Saturn, but no matter how celestial your pose (and name) may be… your stance remains a tad too Earthbound for my taste!

Leap: Ruth Orkin - Boy Jumping Into Hudson River, 1948

Now THAT’S how it’s done, baybay!

Culturally, the French appear to be quite adept in their leaptitude, which is unmistakable in this duo of jump-themed pieces.

Yves Klein –Le Saut dans le vide, 1960

   

Henri Cartier-Bresson – Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, 1932

Jaques-Henri Latrigue -- Bichonnade Leaping

Fear not, patriots, for while the French Leap does appear prominently in the photographic realm, we all know the Freedom Leap is equally entertaining.

Loomis Dean – Man Flying Off a Trampoline at Santa Monica Beach

Susan Burnstine – Jump

Dance is rife with leap photo-ops, and American modern dance queen, Martha Graham, shows up prominently in photography of the mid-20th century. Let’s combine the two, shall we?

Barbara Morgan – Graham Group, American Document, Sophie Maslow, Frieda Flier, Marjorie Mazia, (Starburst) 1938

Philippe Halsman - Merce Cunningham, leaping and Martha Graham, sitting

Apparently umbrellas play an integral part in the “leap shot,” as is evident in the following rainy day photos.

Richard Avedon – Homage to Munkasci, 1957

Ellitt Erwitt – Paris, 1989 (Tour Eiffel)

Like to see some of these works in person?  Never purchased a work of fine art photography? Take the LEAP (see what I did there?!) and stop on in and visit me at the John Cleary Gallery.  Happy Leap Day everyone… and don’t forget those umbrellas!

Artist: The Dave Clark Five / Album: Hits

She Love’s My Automobile

 

My dear dear friend, Jeremy, visited the great nation of Texas (for the first time!) over the holidays, which I took as an opportunity to try out for the first time the “Joseph Roberts: This Is Houston, This Is My City, and This Is Why It’s Fabulous (And If You Disagree Then Get The Hell Out And Move To Dallas Already) Greater Metropolitan Tour Extravaganza!”*  In other words… experiences quintessentially Houston and Houston alone.

In reality it was merely an excuse to visit a myriad of locales around the city I for which I haven’t made the time, all wrapped up in the guise of “Southern Hospitality.” That’s the secret about us Southerners— we’re just as selfish as everyone else, it’s just harder to detect because of our accents lull you into a false sense of security.  Regardless, the first stop on our “Joseph Roberts: This is Houston, This is […] Tour Extravaganza!” was none other than longtime Houston institution …

The Art Car Museum!

 

The Art Car Museum, or “Garage Mahal” as many know it, opened in February 1998. […] The Museum has its conceptual origins in the 1984 Collision show curated by Ann Harithas at the Lawndale Art Center. Collision unveiled Larry Fuente’s “Mad Cad” art car which has since been featured in museums and cultural institutions across the country. The Collision exhibition provided enthusiastic fuel for the art car movement in Houston and eventually precipitated the Art Car Parade and the international Art Car movement. – Via the museum’s website

 

Due to the sheer number of art cars in the collection, the museum tends to rotate different specimens in and out of the museum gallery. As such, here are some of their most current pieces.

 

 

There’s even a Luke-sized option!!

 

For a real taste of what these things look like on the road, here’s a compilation of one of the more recent events:

 

Artist: Willie Nelson / Album: Live and Kickin’