Glasstire

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the landmark events of 2020, and their takeaways from an unusual year. "2020 is going to stand as this incredibly strange marker in so many people's lives for so many reasons, and visual art is no exception." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about nativity scenes, Christmas art, and the inherent kitschiness of our beloved holiday traditions. "If you leave a few Christmas decorations up year-round you're tacky, but if you leave an entire house full of Christmas decorations up year-round you're eccentric and fun." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week, Christopher Blay speaks with Austin-based artist Betelhem Makonnen, who uses video, photography and installation as she considers perception, presence, and place. This conversation touches on the unreliability of memory, how the artist perceives time, and how her work deals with where we currently find ourselves. “I think that is ultimately what is at the foundation of my practice — it is an insistence on mobility, which is like freedom and liberation. To move.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the recently discovered (and removed) monolith in Utah, and about the wonderful work of a minimalist sculptor.  "I'm not particularly for trampling on a pristine landscape to put a joke out in the middle of the desert, but then again... .." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

For this week's episode, Christopher Blay is joined by Jin-Ya Huang, the interdisciplinary artist and founder of the Dallas-based initiative Break Bread, Break Borders. Huang shares ideas about Social Practice, the immigrant experience, and bridging communities one meal at a time. “It’s always like: In here we’re an artist, in here we’re a social entrepreneur, in here we’re making policy changes. Whatever it is, it's being in a space where we feel like we’re needed the most to make social impact.”

Christopher Blay hosts Dr. Fahamu Pecou, an interdisciplinary artist and scholar. They talk about Trapedemia (including his exhibition at Conduit Gallery in Dallas), African roots, as well as how Pecou's paintings, performances, and academic work reframe the conversation around Black masculinity. "These are mirrors. These are affirmations. I want people, especially Black people, to look at these paintings and see themselves."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the opening of the MFAH's landmark new building for modern and contemporary art. "My overall impression is that this building is good for Houston, good for the art, good for the MFAH of course, and it's great for art lovers. And right now, it's even good for Texas and Houston artists because there is quite a bit of Texas and Houston art inside this building." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay hosts Jonathan Morris, a Fort Worth entrepreneur and community leader. They talk about the marriage of art and commerce, and how Morris' Hotel Dryce You Are Here Art Grant could help build an inclusive community in Fort Worth. “I think it's important that we tell a full, more complete story of who we are as a city, and doing that through art and the lens and perspectives of Black and Brown artists is a really special way to tell people about the city that I love. This art grant is my way of tackling and acknowledging what those opportunities can look like, and I don't want to be the last person to do so.”

Christopher Blay and Riley Holloway talk about painting, family, politics, "Home," and recognizing ourselves in the people and culture that make up the Black experience. “I wanted to highlight those moments that made me, literally — you know, right — like I'm in some of these images.”  If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay, Christina Rees, and Brandon Zech talk about what the recent postponement of a show of works by Philip Guston says about museums and culture today.  "If museums continue their history of being traditionally white spaces, then when you put a painting of the KKK in them, it will be reinforcing that white space. If you have the diversity of a great multitude of art and artists in those spaces, then they become true places for dialogue and learning." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay and Bernardo Vallarino discuss Vallarino's work which addresses the hollow sentiments of "Thoughts and Prayers" in the face of violence in society. Blay's conversation with Vallarino took place at the Nasher Sculpture Center where Vallarino is the inaugural artist for Nasher Public, a new initiative at the Nasher. "The ribbons [central to Vallarino's installation at the Nasher] became a physical manifestation of this very hollow action that, without any real action behind it, has no effect on the violence that exists out there." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the implications of closures of a blue-chip London gallery and a storied NYC nonprofit, and tackle recent vandalism at three German museums.   "I don't think damaging art is performance, but using a clown flower to squirt liquid onto antiquities to deface them is one of the most absurd things I've heard." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay and Christina Rees discuss how a recent national report about culturally vibrant cities, which only counted one Texas region among its top 40 places, impacts our ideas about the state and its artists. “I still don’t know how this report necessarily reflects the real, on-the-ground working lives and experiences of the people who make these places ‘culturally vibrant.'” If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the art world's (still nascent) use of virtual and augmented reality, how VR undercuts traditional art experiences, and its real potential in the hands of artists.  "For somebody who has so many doubts about where the digital revolution is taking us, I'm actually quite excited about virtual reality in art, because I do think that artists will continue to push the boundaries of what it can be ... I do think a lot of artists are capable of doing something that we haven't imagined yet." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the good, the bad, and the future of in-person art fairs. "I’m a person who loves art, and I found Art Basel Miami to be a draining and kind of frightful experience." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss how hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, tornados, and other disasters impact art, artists, and the ethos of cities. "Texas in and of itself is a dramatic and exciting place to live, and it can also be a heartbreaking place to live." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay talks with Janeil Engelstad about the history and current projects of her organization, Make Art with Purpose. "MAP gives local artists a platform and funding and a space to do [work] that addresses something politically or socially."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss a recent shakeup in the New York gallery scene and how the pandemic will affect art galleries in the long term.  "It’s hard not to believe that about 30% or more of galleries will be gone by this time next year." "They’ll either be gone, or they’ll be some sort of shell of their former selves."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss all of the weirdness we love (and hate) about the art world. "When you hear about stolen artwork you may as well grieve the death of that work because you may never see it anywhere again."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss what makes our homes homey, the overwhelming sameness of airbnbs and other urban spaces, and how the pandemic is affecting our view of home life. "I think a lot of these conversations address the question: is there a way to make spaces more flexible, versatile and humane?"