“A Step Beyond (Ellis Island)” solo show in Houston
My solo exhibition, "A Step Beyond (Ellis Island)," will open Sunday afternoon, October 12, 2025, at the Transart Foundation for Art & Anthropology, a non-profit foundation in Houston, Texas. The exhibition consists of multilayered rubbings from floors and maps at Ellis Island -- that iconic, historic entry portal for US immigration -- which become ocasiona for ruminating on the diverse mythologies of immigration and arrival that structure the national self-definition.
My solo exhibition, "A Step Beyond (Ellis Island)," will open Sunday afternoon, October 12, 2025, at the Transart Foundation for Art & Anthropology, a non-profit foundation in Houston, Texas. The exhibition consists of multilayered rubbings from floors and maps at Ellis Island -- that iconic, historic entry portal for US immigration -- which become ocasiona for ruminating on the diverse mythologies of immigration and arrival that structure the national self-definition.
One rubbing, of the fractured concrete slabs in the entrance lobby, is transferred onto a fabric (17 sq. feet) on which exhibition visitors can walk, completing the drawing with their footprints. Another large rubbing, a detail of which is above, records the terracotas tiles on which admitted immigrants would walk toward the "Stairs of Separation," after a border agent had decided about their case. Smaller rubbings are taken from 3D visitors' maps designed for blind people.
This exhibition began as a proposal (called “America’s Front Porch”) for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. It will run through mid-December, 2025, and it is ideally the first of a series of studies of architectures at US borders.
Artwork in Annual AIDS Benefit auction, Krakow Witkin Gallery
“Untitled (Embrace),” made by folding and stretching a hospital gown over a canvas, was sold in December 2024 to benefit the Boston Pediatric and Family AIDS Program at the non-profit, minority-owned Dimock Center. Many thanks to the team at Krakow Witkin Gallery for organizing this annual donation project.
“Untitled (Embrace),” made by folding and stretching a hospital gown over a canvas, was sold in December 2024 to benefit the Boston Pediatric and Family AIDS Program at the non-profit, minority-owned Dimock Center. Many thanks to the team at Krakow Witkin Gallery for organizing this annual donation project.
“Human Zoos, Surrealism, and André Breton’s Advocacy for Picasso’s ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’”
I presented a paper during another annual ISSS conference (International Society for the Study of Surrealism, October 28-30, 2024 at the American University of Paris), on why André Breton was eager for his boss, collector and fashion designer Jacques Doucet, to buy Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. (Contrary to current ideas about Picasso, it was about progressive politics.)
I presented a paper during another annual ISSS conference (International Society for the Study of Surrealism, October 28-30, 2024 at the American University of Paris), on why André Breton was eager for his boss, collector and fashion designer Jacques Doucet, to buy Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. (Contrary to current ideas about Picasso, it was about progressive politics.)
Publication (10/4/24) of “Gender Complexity in Picasso’s ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’: The Precedent of the ‘Sleeping Hermaphroditus’ Sculpture’
My first peer-reviewed article (it's in English) in the long-term project of reinterpreting Picasso’s Demoiselles -- “Gender Complexity in Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon: The Precedent of the Sleeping Hermaphroditus Sculpture” -- has been published in a special issue of Boletín de Arte, an art history journal based in Málaga, Spain. The editors created this Picasso-themed issue (in the city of Picasso’s birth!) to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the artist’s death, though it was not possible for the journal to publish this material during the year of anniversary observances in 2023. Many thanks to the Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (and the associated Glassell School of Art) for the fellowship that made this step possible.
My first peer-reviewed article (it's in English) in the long-term project of reinterpreting Picasso’s Demoiselles -- “Gender Complexity in Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon: The Precedent of the Sleeping Hermaphroditus Sculpture” -- has been published in a special issue of Boletín de Arte, an art history journal based in Málaga, Spain. The editors created this Picasso-themed issue (in the city of Picasso’s birth!) to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the artist’s death, though it was not possible for the journal to publish this material during the year of anniversary observances in 2023. Many thanks to the Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (and the associated Glassell School of Art) for the fellowship that made this step possible.
“Picasso’s ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ As a Surrealist Sociopolitical Theater”
I presented a paper during the annual ISSS conference (International Society for the Study of Surrealism, November 9-11, 2023 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) about additional possibilities for interpreting details in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon that are generally tied to Picasso’s appropriation of African masks.
I presented a paper during the annual ISSS conference (International Society for the Study of Surrealism, November 9-11, 2023 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) about additional possibilities for interpreting details in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon that are generally tied to Picasso’s appropriation of African masks.
Watercolors featured on Paul Carey-Kent's IG feed
Once upon a time, I met curator Paul Carey-Kent at a Richard Tuttle opening in London. Years later, when I was in London again, we visited galleries together. And years after that – summer 2023 – he asked to feature my "Pixellages" on his Instagram feed. Grateful for the chance to put these watercolors into words, and for the chance to talk with Paul again (about them and much else) on Zoom.
Once upon a time, I met curator Paul Carey-Kent at a Richard Tuttle opening in London. Years later, when I was in London again, we visited galleries together. And years after that – summer 2023 – he asked to feature my "Pixellages" on his Instagram feed. Grateful for the chance to put these watercolors into words, and for the chance to talk with Paul again (about them and much else) on Zoom.