A New Deal

 

Every two years Houston is home to FotoFest, a several weeks long celebration set up "to promote the exchange of art and ideas through international programs and the presentation of photographic art."  The Bayou City becomes host to fine art photographers from all over the globe, countless exhibitions, portfolio reviews and workshops all centering on photography.  In addition to getting to go to the swanky opening night party with Catherine, it was also an opportunity to get to hang out with the fabulous Susan Burnstine.  I was lucky enough to meet her when she came for her Within Shadows exhibition at the John Cleary Gallery during the Fall of last year and can now happily count her among my dear friends!

During her time here she invited me out to dinner with several of her fancy photographer friends.  At one point Susan realized she didn't have a picture of me on her phone to show up when I called and so she whipped out her iPhone.  All of a sudden I looked up and ALL of them were taking my picture!

L to R: Brad Moore, Rania Matar, Michael Crouser, Susan Burnstine

 

Michael was kind enough to send me two of his pictures… as partially seen through Susan's phone:

 

I LOVE that in the one on the left I'm smiling in Susan's phone but not in Michael's picture

 

Now comes the "audience participation" portion of the blog post!  A couple of days ago I saw the following message on Michael's Facebook page and wanted to share this fabulous opportunity with y'all:

Dear Friends,

This coming August the Festival de la Luz in Buenos Aires, Argentina will be exhibiting my series "Los Toros" at the Fotogaleria de San Martin. This is an important venue in an important festival, and I'm quite excited about the honor and the opportunity. In an effort to attend the opening, I am selling a limited edition of two small prints from the series at a very low price.

The two attached images will be available for a short time as 8x10 toned silver gelatin prints, each in numbered limited editions of 25, for $150. The prints will be signed, numbered and delivered to you prior to the exhibition.
Those interested can contact me directly through Facebook, or by email at mc@michaelcrouser.com.

Thank you for considering these print, and for your help in getting me to Argentina for this great opportunity!

 

 

As of this posting both images are still available.  Opportunities like this rarely come up for such fantastic work… take advantage of this amazing deal today!

 

Artist: Michael Giacchino / Album: Ratatouille

The Booklovers

 

I came up to Michigan with several goals in mind, high amongst them is getting into the practice of doing more reading.  Back in the day I was quite the voracious reader but haven't exactly been flexing that muscle as of late, with the exception of whatever might be the newest David Sedaris book.

That being said, I shipped an ambitious box-full up to camp and hope to knock out quite a few over the course of the summer… that's what days off and beaches are for, right?  Many thanks especially to the two Catherine's (Couturier, my boss / Roberts, my aunt) for suggestions and loaning!

I'll certainly have more to say about some of them later but thought this would be the perfect time to empty out one of my favorites folder dedicated to our lexicological repositories (how's that for a pretentious euphemism for "book"!)

 

Self-described interdisciplinary artist Guy Laramée creates absolutely stunning sculptures out of books, inspired by nature, the death of his mother, history and a myriad of other topics.  Hooks-Epstein, can you PUH-LEASE do a show?!? [found via io9]

Ryoanji

 

Untitled / Stupa (Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary)

 

 

Toronto, Canada's Type Books created this stop-motion short entitled "The Joy of Books" to champion the continued creation and purchasing of physical books (as opposed to the burgeoning eBook business). [found via BoingBoing]

 

 

Spanish artist Alicia Martin has created several site-specific installations in her Biografias series using 5,000+ books cascading from various windows of multistory buildings. Talk about word vomit!! [found via BoingBoing]

 

The artist inside one of her creations

 

 

Last March a staff member of the Scottish Poetry Library came across a beautifully carved art piece and an accompanying note written to the library's Twitter handle (@byleaveswelive):

It started with your name @byleaveswelive and became a tree.… … We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words.… This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas….. a gesture (poetic maybe?)

Many believed this was just a "one-off" creation until another one showed up some time later at the National Library of Scotland, leading to many creations being found for months to come in many of Scotland's great institutions.  There's a really fantastic review of the entire story, including photographs of all the discovered pieces, here.  Was the mystery ever solved?!? [found via io9]

 

National Library of Scotland: from Ian Rankin's Exit Music / National Museum of Scotland: from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World

 

 

To round out our literary themed post let's take a look at the Oscar winning animated short film from this years' 84th Annual Academy Awards. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessermore, by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, is described thusly by the production team: "Inspired in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, 'Morris Lessmore' is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor."

 

First up on my reading list, you ask? Neil deGrasse Tyson's Space Chronicles!

 

Artist: The Divine Comedy / Album: Promenade

Move Closer

 

Spring has already done sprung at the John Cleary Gallery and for our last show Catherine and I decided to put up a "Masters of Photography" wall that is appropriately nature themed.  You've got your Ansel Adams, Robert Mapplethorpe, Henry Gilpin and finally Brett Weston:

For only $130,000 all this can be yours!

 

Now, Catherine (@clearygallery) is really quite Twitter savvy and has been known rub tweets with the best of them, including Emmy© award winning actress, Holland Taylor (@hollandtaylor).  My fellow Texans should note that, in addition to her stint on Two and a Half Men, she has also crossed the country in recent years portraying former Texas governor Ann Richards to fabulous reviews.  Click here to watch a clip and here to read more about the play itself!

Many people may not know it, but the inspiration for one of Brett Weston's most famous works is la diva herself and we got a hold of his first artist proof.  Don't believe me? Let's take a closer look, shall we:

You betta WORK that bridge, Holland!!!

 

Oh and also, as a bit of Twitter self-promotion myself… you may now follow me at @ub_sessed :)

 

Artist: Tom Jones / Album: The Complete Tom Jones

Tutto è Tranquillo e Placido

 

This past weekend at the John Cleary Gallery we had our first exhibition opening of the year, featuring the work of San Diego photographer, David Fokos.  

David Fokos on Plum TV from clifford reese on Vimeo.

 

Though I deal with our photographers through email and over the phone on a daily basis it is often a bit nerve-wracking actually meeting the artists (especially during an opening) for no other reason than I want to make sure that they are pleased with the hanging, lighting, labeling, etc.  -- it is kinda my job after all.

 

Morning Rings, Study #3, Boston, Massachusetts, 1997

 

Catherine had forewarned me that David emerged out of an engineering background, and I would have been a bit more surprised had his first comment, after the requisite introductory small talk mind you, not been something along the lines of:  “Okay, everything looks great and now I’m going to make small tweaks to just about everything.”  But that’s the thing: I welcome the criticism because A.) who better to perfect it than the artist himself and B.) it allows me to do a better job next time. 

 

Foggy Night, Stafford, Texas, 2005   Taken near Catherine’s home when David was visiting for a past exhibition

 

Especially instructive was the lighting process, and if you come to the gallery then you can see how fabulous these pieces look in the right light… for as lovely as they look here on the interwebs, no pixilation can properly compare to the real thing.

 

Fresh Snow, Chilmark, Massachusetts, 2007 – something Houston, TX (currently at 78 degrees) will not be seeing for quite some time

 

Just as we change the front of the gallery for every new exhibition, so do we try to rotate the photographs throughout the rest of the gallery as well.  When Catherine told me the large Renate Aller piece was coming down behind my desk in favor of three of David’s smaller pieces I requested that perhaps I could chose one of them, for selfish reasons only, natch.  Regular blog followers might remember seeing David’s work in a previous post from last year where I talked of first seeing his work, and I now have the opportunity to live with this piece behind me for the next month!  I LOVE THIS JOB!

 

“Nightwatch, Port Townsend, Washington, 2002"”  I miss you, my dear Mason!

 

David was also accompanied by his wife, Barbarella (@divabarbarella), AKA: my newest favorite person ever in the whole world. Typically I have about two “new favorite people ever in the whole world” per year… looks like the rest of y’all are going to have to try an awfully lot harder during 2012. Barbarella, a long time columnist for the San Diego Reader, regular NBC/KNSD “News in the Morning” contributor, socialite and TEDx emcee extraordinaire—among other fabulously not-so-hidden talents—is basically a San Diego (and now Houston) celebrity.  Check out her most recent piece, “The Pointy Ball Game” from The Reader about being in Houston during a Texans game and enjoy this interview with Maestro Jahja Ling of the San Diego Symphony from her “5 Questions With Barbarella” series:

 

Needless to say, David and Barbarella, Catherine and the rest of the after-opening gang were the perfect antidote to a stressful day – oh, by the way I got profanity spewed at me for the first time by a client earlier in the afternoon and spent the entire evening with what I think might have been a migraine– and though the time was brief it was quite the extraordinary evening and one I shant forget for some time. “Shant”’s a word, right?

As you can tell from the lack of personal shots, in all of the tizzy of the evening I forgot to take one single picture with anyone.  Looks like I’ll be heading to San Diego sometime soon!!

 

Artist: W.A. Mozart / Album: Le Nozze di Figaro

Rainy Days and Mondays

 

I was awoken yesterday morning at the crack of dawn (9:00 am—it was my day off) by the perpetual booming of thunder and offhandedly checked the weather report for Houston to discover a GIANT RED DOT headed right for Houston.  Now, mind you, I love nothing more than staying in, wrapped up in a blanket, to watch movies in the rain.  That was… until I got this text message from Catherine:

Catherine: Uh, this is Robert’s Carpet.  If you go out, will you swing by the gallery?  If you don’t, no worries. If it floods, then it does.  Ugh.

No relation, btw

 

For those of you unfamiliar with the vicinity of Robert’s Carpet to the gallery… let’s have Senor GoogleMaps help us out a bit, shall we?

Yup, that would be 358 feet

 

Being five minutes away from the gallery means that it’s easy easy to get there if need be, and when I got to the parking lot I was greeted by what I am affectionately referring to as the “Tiny Charybdis of Richmont Square”:

If you listen you can hear it’s twin on the other side of the lot!

 

 

Luckily everything was dry as a bone in the gallery and no last minute art saving had to be done. I later read in an article on cnn.com that over 7,000 people (that would be the entire population of my hometown, Crockett, mind you) were without power in Fort Bend County alone and that the rain came so quickly that in just ten minutes 1.6 inches of water fell, leading to a total of 6.3 inches in 12 hours.  This picture I saw floating around on facebook just about sums it up.

Artist: The Carpenters / Album: Classics, Volume 1

My Grown Up Christmas List

 

Much in the same vein as my 2012 New Apartment Housewarming Gift Registry Extravaganza, I present to those of you who have not yet crossed my name off your list (I’m talkin’ to you Senor Kringle) my Christmas 2012 White Wonderland of a Wishlist—let everyone cheer!!!!!!!

 

Bespoke British Baggage: As BoingBoing put it, this “gloriously impractical” luggage from Williams British Handmade is sure to draw attention at the baggage claim turnstyle.  (You know… because I’m sure people who can afford to even consider buying this stuff take care of their own bags.)

 

 

Booze Books!!: These sneaky little things from BenderBound are an alcoholic bibliophile’s wet-bar dream come true.  My only complaint—what… no Barenreiter?!?

 

 

Doctor Who goodies from ThinkGeek: I mentioned last year how the nerd inside me looks forward to the annual Doctor Who Christmas special every year.  Why not celebrate with a Tardis mug and Weeping Angels t-shirt!!

  

 

 

Sugru polymer clay and LEGOs: Just so you know, Catherine, this is how I will now be hanging all of the shows in the gallery!

 

 

SodaStream Water Carbonation Machine: Ever since I was quite young I have always loved sparkling water.  One of my favorite things about going to Europe is that, as opposed to in America, it’s quite ubiquitous over there.  My host family in Minden even had one of these machines and I probably went through a whole CO2 cartridge just on myself.

 

 

Look, I Made a Hat: Stephen Sondheim’s follow-up to last year’s Finishing the Hat, the combination of the two offering his entire collection of lyrics as well as anecdotes for his entire body of work.  Somebody puh-LEASE Sondheimize me this year!! (The video below explains it all if you aren’t familiar with Modern Family)

  

 

 

Stealth Toothbrush Sanitizer: Because let’s be honest, it’s the perfect companion to the fancy pantsy toothpaste squeezer I mentioned in the last registry.

 

 

And FINALLY, for a bit of a laugh… if you think this list is a bit hodge-podge then check out the holiday shopping list these guys came up with (as seen on BoingBoing):

I’m pretty sure a gallery just down the street would probably sell an oil painting of circus clowns storming Normandy Beach.

 

Artist: Aretha Franklin / Album: This Christmas

Hello, Goodbye

 

The beginning of June is bringing about lots of changes here at the John Cleary Gallery.  Henry Horenstein’s Show photos have come down to make way for Mitch Dobrowner’s Storm Series.  (Even though the opening has passed you can still catch the exhibit until the end of August!

You don’t have to go but you can’t stay here! (No seriously, we don’t have the storage)

 

At the close of tonight’s opening my tenure as assistant director of the gallery will officially come to a close.  I have enjoyed coming into this building every single day and being surrounded by such a fascinating range of photography for three months has been more than an amazing experience. 

Let’s take a quick look back at the fun times, shall we?

My FIIIIRST gallery opening… look how young we all were back then! Keliy Anderson-Staley, Catherine and I.

 

Picnic day with Betsy from the gallery two doors over!

 

 

With the help of Andre we celebrated both Easter and Mother’s Day

 

   

Getting a little silly with Henry Horenstein’s SHOW pictures

 

Celebrating the anniversary of Catherine owning the gallery (with margaritas OF COURSE!)

 

My last opening :(

 

Most of all, though, I am beyond appreciative to Catherine for the opportunity and the highlight of my experience was making such a fantastic friend in the process.  Now DO IT!!!!!!

 

Artist: The Beatles/ Album: Magical Mystery Tour

Graduation Day

 

In the midst of getting ready (both mentally and musically) for Blue Lake this last weekend I completely forgot to post about my singing at the commencement ceremonies for the Houston campus of Texas Woman’s University last Sunday.  The event was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center and, though I’m sure I must have gone at some point in my childhood, I can’t actually recall doing anything but driving past the behemoth building since moving to Houston.

Get it, George!

 

One of the perks of being part of the podium posse is that you don’t have to gather with all of the riff raff commoners before the procession (aka the graduates).  I didn’t really take many pictures at the event but managed to snap one of the faculty ready room.

 

For those of you interested in the musical selections for the event, I sang the National Anthem (duh), the TWU Alma Mater (set to the tune of the Russian National Anthem), and a little ditty called “To The Texas Woman’s University.”  Whenever I first told Catherine I got the gig she immediately went: PUH-LEEAAAAASE tell me you’re going to be singing “Climb Every Mountain”?!?!?!?!?!?!?  Though the answer was obviously no, amazingly enough as I was driving home from the commencement I turned on the radio and I kid. you. not—it was playing on NPR.  What syzygy! So, because apparently Catherine needs a bit of a Rogers and Hammerstein II fix… I must oblige.

CLIMB IT, SHIRLEY!!!!!

 

I never particularly get over to this area of the city and it was nice to get a different vantage point of the downtown area from the convention center.

I LOVE THIS CITY!!!!

 

It really is hard to believe I’ve been out of school for a year already, and in the spirit of the day (and because I know I haven’t put one of these pictures up on the blog yet) here are some snapshots from my own college graduations!

Baylor University 2006     

 

     

  U of M 2008 (confession: I didn’t go to the ceremony)                                     U of M 2010  

 

Artist: Kanye West/ Album: The College Dropout

Momma, Momma, Momma

 

Occasionally Catherine’s son, Andre, will come up to the gallery after school or whenever they are going to leave on a family trip after work is over.  What I love most is that he just starts grabbing stuff from all over and builds little forts, caves, etc.  This time he was grabbing a bunch of things from the back and setting them up near the photo files.

Catherine: What are you making, honey?

Andre: Water sale mother’s day!

Catherine: Ummm, I don’t really know what that means…

Well—what it meant was that he was setting up a water sale to collect funds for Mother’s day!  He even got his dad to make a sign for the business (can’t see it here because it was in pencil so I did a little photoshopping).  Here I am being the first patron!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY FROM ANDRE AND JOSEPH!

 

Artist: Elliot Gould/ Album: I Can Get It For You Wholesale

Boogie Shoes

 

Today we’re in the final swings of getting up the Henry Horenstein exhibit at the gallery.  For the last show, Keliy (the artist) and her husband Matt hung the pictures up themselves but generally Catherine does her own.  So this time she taught me all about installing… which, unfortunately, involves math and stuffs :(

Look at me being all handy with tools.  There’s even a giiiiiant ladder in the background. 

 

Unfortunately, the illusion is mildly mostly completely shattered when you see the image I was putting up:

BOOYAH!!!!

(Henry Horenstein: Shoes, California Institute of Abnormalarts (CIA), Los Angeles, CA, 2007)

 

And (because I couldn’t resist) a couple of completely mature and respectful shots:

    

I may or may not have caught whopping cough from ol’ George Washington there. 

(Tip in Fishnets, Jacques Cabaret, Boston, MA, 2005 / Swords, Los Angeles, CA, 2005)

 

If you’re around for the opening tomorrow between 6 and 8 p.m. at the John Cleary Gallery you should com.plete.ly stop by.  In addition to a book signing with the artist the Ruby Review Burlesque ensemble from Dallas will be performing live throughout the evening!!

Artist: KC & the Sunshine Band/ Album: Greatest Hits