Future Exhibitions
Sally Chandler: The Lost World – April 20, 2013 through June 30, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, April 19
Organized by AMSET, this exhibition explores a time with 18th – 19th century French sensibilities: horse drawn carriages, decorated walls, and sumptuous colors. Chandler’s work has a gestural quality and playfulness emphasized by her delicate colored palette. The loose application of paint and palette are juxtaposed with the content of Chandler’s work. She illustrates a world that she believes to have been lost; the slower pace of the past, the style and ornaments, as well as the animals that have since disappeared.
David Everett: The Ties That Bind – April 20, 2013 through June 30, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, April 19
This exhibit, organized by AMSET, depicts the familiar creatures that inhabit the Texas landscape in sculpture, drawing, and woodcuts. Everett’s animals have personality. The rich hues used in his drawings and sculpture emphasize a playfulness and quirkiness. Each sculpture begins with a sketch and laminated hardwood as the material. Using a traditional mallet and wood gouges, Everett removes material slowly revealing the rough forms of animals. As the process progresses, he draws directly on the wood to assist in visualizing the form he wants to achieve. Once the carving is complete, he paints the wood forms with oils with his unmistakable palette of vibrant hues.
Continuum: From Beaumont to San Miguel, Robert Brickhouse in Café Arts – April 25 through July 14, 2013
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 28
Award-winning artist Robert Brickhouse began his career at the age of three in his hometown Beaumont, Texas. After graduating from French High School, he began to hone his craft at Lamar University and the Texas Academy of Art, and from there began his career in commercial advertising as a graphic artist for the Houston Post as well as petroleum companies such as Exxon, Dowell Inc., and Brown and Root. As a teacher of art at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, he inspired hundreds of students to develop their skills and follow their dreams of becoming artists.
His work has been recognized with gold and silver medals from the Dallas, Denver and Houston Art Director’s Clubs; top awards from the Art League of Houston; and an Award of Excellence from the New York Society of Illustrators.
After a long career in the commercial advertising industry, he left to concentrate exclusively on fine art. His paintings are included in the private collections of Charlie Thomas, the former owner of the Houston Rockets; actor Clint Eastwood; Brown and Root and Powell Co. a series of paintings for their Paris offices. His work has been exhibited at the Meredith Long Gallery in Houston and Ra Luz and Lungundi galleries in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he has lived for 13 years.
Eyes Spy: Folk Art from the Permanent Collection – July 13, 2013 through September 1, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, July 12
AMSET has refocused its collection plan to ensure a more cohesive body of work that is a reflection of the community and contemporaries. The permanent collection is advancing with a concentration on modern and contemporary American art with an emphasis on the Texas region. This focus includes painting, prints, photography, sculpture and contemporary folk art. In addition, earlier nineteenth and twentieth century works provide context for the later works. Presently, AMSET’s collection includes approximately 1000 pieces.
Earl Staley: Dreamscapes – July 13, 2013 through September 1, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, July 12
This exhibit organized by AMSET, showcases a brilliant palette and playful abstraction. Many of Staley’s works simulate fabric and quilts comprising compositions of irregular rectangles with a blizzard of dots. Others resemble rocky landscapes in saturated hues or altogether new forms undulating with pattern and color. Currently, Staley has been recycling older works using them as under paintings or cutting them into pieces and reassembling the fragments into new collages.
Artwork by Kirby Stone in Café Arts – July 18 through Oct. 6, 2013