Are you the ultimate John Waters fan?  Have you fantasized about rubbing “shoulders” with The Pope of Trash?  If so, then thank your yucky stars because a very generous DiverseWorks supporter has donated two tickets (a $500 value) to This Filthy World: Filthier and Dirtier and given you a chance to claim them!  Or maybe win a book or DVD. That’s right, your dirty dreams could come true.  Here’s how:

Blurring the distinction between performance, video art and body art, these young artists from the University of Houston’s Photo/Digital Media program’s graduating class work with ideas about media, personal narrative and social commentary.  Using their bodies as tools for expression, short videos include a father’s excessive travel souvenirs that take on a life of their own, a poetic line of sand, illegal immigrant stories, tearful false eyelashes and many others.

A Ritual Cleansing, 3:00, Brittney Connelly
A performance screened as a three ...

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flickerlounge-unBlocked: performance based video
Co-presentation with Aurora Picture Show
January 19–February 25, 2012

Blurring the distinction between performance, video art and body art, these young artists from the University of Houston’s Photo/Digital Media program’s graduating class work with ideas about media, personal narrative and social commentary.  Using their bodies as tools for expression, short videos include a father’s excessive travel souvenirs that take on a life of their own, a poetic line of sand, illegal immigrant stories, tearful false eyelashes and many others.

A Ritual Cleansing, 3:00, Brittney Connelly
A performance screened as a three channel video piece; this sectional documentation represents a simulated birthing of household objects and constructs a ritual used for self-purification.

Oscillate, 4:30, Brittney Imwald-Mahar
A performance based video demonstrating an act of desperation through the use of an ordinary object and common activity. The bizarre devotion to obtain the
balloons without releasing them resembles an act of vulnerability and an overwhelming loss of control.

Artificial Artifact, 4:50, Melissa Tran
Artificial means are used to aid in a cleansing procedure.

Traveling Fatherhood, 2:00, Vanessa Godden
Traveling Fatherhood parodies the resurrection of international souvenirs given to the artist by her estranged father. Through the use of stop motion animation and photographic pastiche, she has salvaged documentation of the father-daughter relationship coveted for her lifetime.

Keep It Together, 5:15, Thais Verissimo
A line of red slowly diminishes while a hand futilely attempts to keep it whole.

To Dream, 6:00, Claudia Melgar
Along with millions of high school and college students, the struggle of being undocumented and unable to pursue a career grows for these three students. Karla, Sofia, and Luis tell about how they were brought into the U.S. at a young age and desire to live freely in the only country they know.

Fear, 1:40, Danielle Fessler
This piece explores the transition into fear, specifically fear of the unknown.

Desacralization, 3:00, Osman Galindo
The modern television set is the American shrine; Desacralization is the rejection and desecration of that shrine.

Maude, 2:20, Gisela Parker
“Maude decided it was time to stop hanging out with me, all because I’ve been ignoring her lately. Jerk.”

Mr. Sprinkles, 4:45, Mike Burgos
The artist does not like cats and made this video to make fun of cat lovers. He portrays Mr. Sprinkles, a cat who does not care about its owner.

flickerlounge is a season-long cinematic experience featuring an eclectic lineup of rotating full-length films, shorts and video presentations to accompany visual arts exhibitions in the Main Gallery. Lounge. Watch. Learn.

DiverseWorks is a non-profit art center dedicated to presenting new visual, performing, and literary art. DiverseWorks is a place where the process of creating art is valued and where artists can test new ideas in the public arena. By encouraging the investigation of current artistic, cultural and social issues, DiverseWorks builds, educates, and sustains audiences for contemporary art. For more information, go to diverseworks.org

Aurora Picture Show is a non-profit micro-cinema that presents artist-made, non-commercial film and video.  We are dedicated to expanding the cinematic experience and promoting the understanding and appreciation of moving image art.  For more info, go to aurorapictureshow.org.

Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 12-6pm
Admission is free and open to all

(Above Image: Artificial Artifact by Melissa Tran)

DiverseWorks is generously supported by:

Underwriters
Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.; Anonymous; Brown Foundation, Inc.; Brad & Leslie Bucher; The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts; Doris Duke Charitable Fund; Houston Endowment; Joan Mitchell Foundation; KUHF (88.7FM) / KUHA (91.7FM)*; LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity); Louisa Stude Sarofim Foundation; MAP Fund/Creative Capital; National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); National Performance Network; New England Foundation for the Arts; Texas Commission on the Arts; University of Houston; Birgitt Van Wijk; The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

Patrons
Foundation for Contemporary Art; Fritz Lanham & Kellye Sanford; Nightingale Code Foundation; Regulatory Economics Group, LLC; Visual Artists Network;
Fabéne Welch

Major Donors
Bernie & Mary Arocha; Rosalie Buggs; Felix Sanchez Photography*; Patrick & Tracey Keegan; Que Imaging*; Shannon & Leslie Sasser; Saint Arnold Brewing Company*; Bob & Lillian H. Warren

DiverseDonors
A Fare Extraordinaire*; American Express Charitable Fund; Diane Barber & Karen Niemeier; Adam Brackman; David Brown*; Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar;  Shannon Buggs; CenterPoint/June Deadrick; Jereann Chaney; Cozen O’Connor; Jason Fuller; Greentree Foundation; Guitar Center*; Houston Chronicle*; Houston Independent School District;  Allison Hunter*; Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas – Houston*; JBD Foundation; Mark Johnson; J.B. Kobayashi*; Marshal & Victoria Lightman; Lester Marks & Penelope Gonzalez; Tierney Malone*; Paul Mandell; Sari Miettinen; Lan Norwood & Bryan Vezey; Judy & Scott Nyquist; Poison Girl; Pura Vida Tequila*; Real Ale Brewing Co.*; Howard Sherman*; Kaneem Smith*;  Christina Solís; Target Corporation; Chuy Terrazas; Emily Todd; Mark Dean Veca*; Wade Wilson Art*; Sixto Wagan & Matthew Dirst; Sarah Walters; Frank White*; Whole Foods*; Josh & Tina Zulu*

*in-kind donation

Board of Directors
William Betts, Adam Brackman, Loli Fernández-A Kolber, Jason Fuller, Rob Greenstein, Stephen Hill, Patrick Keegan, Marshal Lightman, Kellye Sanford, Christina Solís, Sarah Walters

Artist Board
Soodabeh Babcock, Elizabeth Barrera, Elaine Bradford, Lucinda Cobley, Sasha Dela, Casey Fleming, Mark Francis, Ryan Geiger, Hank Hancock, Laura Harrison, Thomas Helton, J Hill, Maria Cristina Jadick, Mick Johnson, Laura Lark, Libbie Masterson, Greg Oaks, Louie Saletan, Soody Sharifi, Katherine Veneman

zoe | juniper
A Crack in Everything: Installed (2012)
a DiverseWorks Commissioned project

January 19–February 25, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 19, 6–9pm

zoe | juniper performances:  
Thursday–Saturday, January 19–21, 7:30pm

Additional performances:
Saturday, January 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25 at 1pm Featuring: Kristen Frankiewicz, Catalina Molnari,  Kara Newton, Tina Shariffskul, Kelly Todd

Artistic Directors:
Zoe Scofield & Juniper Shuey

Choreography:
Zoe Scofield

Production Design:
Juniper Shuey

Lighting:
Robert Aguilar

Costumes:
Erik Andor

Sound:
...

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Image: Courtesy of zoe | juniper

zoe | juniper
A Crack in Everything: Installed (2012)
a DiverseWorks Commissioned project

January 19–February 25, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 19, 6–9pm

zoe | juniper performances:  
Thursday–Saturday, January 19–21, 7:30pm

Additional performances:
Saturday, January 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25 at 1pm Featuring: Kristen Frankiewicz, Catalina Molnari,  Kara Newton, Tina Shariffskul, Kelly Todd

Artistic Directors:
Zoe Scofield & Juniper Shuey

Choreography:
Zoe Scofield

Production Design:
Juniper Shuey

Lighting:
Robert Aguilar

Costumes:
Erik Andor

Sound:
Matt Starritt

Composer:
Greg Haines

Additional Music:
Johann Johannson, Franz Schubert
and Morgan Henderson

zoe | juniper Dancers:
Christiana Axelsen, Raja Kelly

Houston Dancers:
Kristen Frankiewicz*, Catalina Molnari, Kara Newton*, Tina Shariffskul, and Kelly Todd
(*also performing weekend of January 19-21)

Rehearsal Director:
Raja Kelly

Production Team:
Jon Read, Ryan Perry, Blake Smith and Rowdy Tidwell

Flash photography prohibited.  Any commerical or artistic use of images must receive consent from the artists.

Recreational photographs posted to facebook, flickr, or any form of social media should be tagged #diverseworks #zoe|juniper.

About A Crack in Everything: Installed (2012)
An experiment in permeability and containment, aggression and catharsis, A Crack in Everything seeks to expand and examine the liminal space between action-reaction, cause-effect, and before-after. The installation and performance are meditations on moments that divide people’s lives into linear experiences of time and how memory creates its own separate physical life, space and time. A Crack in Everything premiered in July 2011 at Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, and will be on tour through 2013. DiverseWorks commissioned zoe | juniper to expand upon their original performance and create a site-specific installation.

From the Artists:
Our company is driven by the idea of mythologizing the experience of our senses; creating performances and visual art that challenge the viewer’s perception of time and perspective as well as allowing our work’s intention to be spacious enough for empathetic experiences to emerge. Our work realizes and exists in the state of liminality–the sense of being “in-between.” By working across different disciplines, we filter our sensual experiences into the mediums that best embody facets of myth that underlie our concepts. A Crack in Everything (ACIE) is a meditation on the moments that divide people’s lives into before and after. This project spans dance performance, photography, and sculptural video installation. Within these intersecting elements, we create experiences that maintain the idea of liminality; the thresholds of conscious/unconscious, action/reaction, before/after and cause/effect. While this idea of mythologizing serves as the trajectory of our work, our concerns are with relaying non-linear “story-ness,” originating and distilling significance from rigorous physicality, calibrating the dialogue between the mediums in which we work, and literally creating tangible artifacts from the performance within the installation and calcified memories within the photography.

The collaboration between Juniper and Zoe is defined by tandem visual and choreographic designs that seamlessly integrate aesthetics and form. The purpose of our collaboration is to immerse the audience in the conjunction of the physical and fantastical realms.

Image: Courtesy of City Arts

BIOGRAPHIES

ZOE | JUNIPER was co-founded by choreographer Zoe Scofield and visual artist Juniper Shuey for the creation of dance, video installations and photography works.  Their collaboration began in 2004 with I am nothing without you for On the Boards’ NW New Works Festival, and eventually led to the formation of their company in 2006.  Since then their work has been presented/commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, On the Boards, Bumbershoot, SCUBA 2007, Bates Dance Festival, PICA’s TBA Festival, DiverseWorks ArtSpace, Spoleto Festival, Wesleyan University, Spectrum Dance Theater, American Realness Festival, Dance Theater Workshop/NYLA, World Music/CRASHArts, Frye Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center, Trafo House of Contemporary Art, Body Festival, Southern Lights Dance and The Myrna Loy Center.  Zoe, Juniper and composer/musician Morgan Henderson were the co-creators of the Secret of Gold Festival in 2006, an annual multi-disciplinary arts festival in Arlington, WA. The company has received funding from the Artist Trust, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Dance Project, National Performance Network, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Dance Theater Workshop, MacDowell Colony, MAD AIR, and the Mellon Foundation.

ZOE SCOFIELD studied ballet and modern dance at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Boston. She has danced with Prometheus Dance and Bill James among other choreographers in Toronto, Boston and Seattle. Scofield has received the Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award from Wesleyan University, Artist Trusts GAP Grant and Artist Fellowship Award, Seattle Magazine’s Spotlight Award, The Strangers Genius Award short list, Alpert Award Residency and the Princess Grace Foundation Choreography Award. As collaborators, Scofield and Shuey have shown their work at Howard House, SOFA Gallery, Soil Gallery, TBA Festival and the Tacoma Art Museum.

JUNIPER SHUEY is a photographer,  video installation and sculptural performance artist based in Seattle. His work has been featured in exhibitions at SOFA Gallery, Body Festival, Howard House, Tacoma Art Museum, Fashion is Art curated by Thread, Noodleworks, Bumbershoot, Bellevue Art Museum, and La Mostra in Palazzo Pio, Rome. He has received several awards including the Curators’ Choice Award from the Tacoma Art Museum’s Northwest Biennial 2004, the People’s Choice Award from the Bellevue Art Museum’s Northwest Annual 2001, and the 2000 Lambda Rho Art Honorary from the University of Washington School of Art. Shuey was commissioned by composer Huang Ruo to create a video installation for his chamber quartet’s upcoming tour.

ERIC ANDOR is a costume designer currently based in Seattle.  He has created costumes for theatre, opera, cabaret, ballet, dance, circus, film and television in Seattle, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, and Paris.

ROBERT AGUILAR is the managing director and resident lighting designer of Contemporary Classics and is a former Co-Artistic Director of Washington Ensemble Theatre. Aguilar is on staff as a lighting assistant for the Seattle Repertory Theatre. His projects include: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Seattle Children’s Theatre and Speech and Debate, Seattle Repertory Theatre.

CHRISTIANA AXELSEN is a NYC-based artist with a degree in dance and geology from Mount Holyoke College.  She has been dancing with zoe | juniper since 2006 and has had the pleasure of working with dance makers including Dai Jian, Mana Kawamura, Korhan Basaran, Jules Skloot, and Allison Van Dyke.  She received the Chris Komar Merit Scholarship to study at the Merce Cunningham Studio where she performed alongside the Repertory Understudy Company in reconstructions of seminal Cunningham works.

KRISTEN FRANKIEWICZ, a native of Houston, earned her BFA in Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. Frankiewicz has performed and choreographed throughout the United States. Frankiewicz freelances on projects with different artists and companies in between her company work with Suchu Dance and Frame Dance Productions. A competitive rhythmic gymnast growing up, Frankiewicz also coaches The Houston Illusions, the only rhythmic gymnastics program in Houston for both youth and beginning adults.

RAJA KELLY, a DancerWEB Scholar, performer and image-maker, lives between NYC and Seattle as a company member with David Dorfman Dance, zoe | juniper, RaceDance, Christopher Williams Dance and with Malcolm Jason Low/ Formal Structure. He has performed with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.in.motion in THE RADIO SHOW, which received a New York Dance & Performance Award.  Kelly is a co-producer of a summer dance series in Bushwick, Brooklyn: RoofTop Dance and is company manager for Race Dance and zoe | juniper. Kelly holds a BA in Dance and English from Connecticut College.

CATALINA MOLNARI is a native of Bogota, Colombia. She holds a BA in Theater and Dance from the University of Houston. She has also trained at the Instituto Superior de Arte in La Habana, Cuba, and at various national and international festivals. Her choreography has been seen at ACDFA, Big Range Dance Festival, San Jacinto College, DiverseWorks’12 MinutesMax!, HopeWerks, and Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance at Miller Outdoor Theater. Molnari has performed for various artists in Bogota, La Habana, Ireland, France, and Houston, and she currently works at GYROTONIC® Houston, teaches at Hope Center, and performs with Vault, Karen Stokes Dance, and Hope Stone Dance.

KARA NEWTON is a contemporary dancer from the Houston area. She is a recent graduate of the University of Texas, where she received a BFA in dance. Kara has had the opportunity to travel and work with a diverse group of choreographers including Alvaro Restrepo in Cartengena, Colombia; the Salzburg International Ballet Academy in Austria; and Charlotte Boye-Christensen from Ririe-Woodbury. Newton enjoys exploring movement in the modern, post-modern, and contemporary styles and is always looking for her next adventure in dance.

TINA SHARIFFSKUL has been performing with the contemporary dance company Suchu Dance / Jennifer Wood since 1993.  She has also had the opportunity to work with a number of artists including Natasha Manley, Dana Wessale, Daniel Adame, Toni Leago Valle of 6’ , and Rebecca French and Robert Thoth of Freneticore.  Other movement styles include hip hop, Thai folk dancing and muay thai.  In 2007, Tina was a Buffy Award finalist.

MATT STARRITT is a freelance sound designer and writer from Seattle. He designs sound for both theater and dance and was a founder of the Washington Ensemble Theatre, where he was also the resident sound designer for the company’s first four seasons. His most recent designs have been for the Seattle Reparatory Theatre where he designed the sound for The Seafarer, boom and The Imaginary Invalid.

KELLY TODD received a BFA in Modern Dance with a double minor in Environmental Science and Biology from Texas Christian University. She attended the American Dance Festival on a talent scholarship in the summer of 2010. Todd has been featured in modern dance works by Doris Humphrey, Robert Battle, Susan Douglas Roberts, Loretta Livingston and Kanji Segawa. Todd is looking forward to her future in the art of dance and is honored to be working with zoe | juniper.

Image: Courtesy of zoe | juniper

United States Artists Individual Donors for the ACIE Installation:
Orin, Allen Johnson, Geroge Bayuga, Lauren Morrow, Chance Reschke, Glenn Kawasaki, Richard Costello, Mean old Uncle Jack, R Stumberger, Mandy E Greer, Erin, Cassie, Dayna Hanson, Amanda V, Judy, Beth, Vic, Kyle Abraham, Rocky Flowers, Brett Love, JT, D&T, T issac, Dan Thornton, Lauren Hester, Daryle Conners, Matthew G. Echert, Machele and Matthew Curtis, Ann and Boo, Dorah, Kay Stone, J&C, Laura Poitras, Jocelyn, Tina Valdez, Fumi Murakami, Ken Williford, Anonymous 1, Catherine Hillenbrand, Anonymous 2, Andrew, Project Site Team, Derek & Doug, Johnson-Bogart, Gabriel Pederneiras, Kisabelle, John Mc Neary, Keely Isaak Meehan, Pamela Z, MKL, Wyly astley, Marisa J, GoGo Camel, Coralie Winn, Rainbow Fletcher, John Bylan, Tim Summers, Carol McNeary, Jenna Riegel, Bebe Miller, Chery-lyn Philo, Lou, Dawn Aiken, Skoz, Neal Anderson

*Matched funds by Artist 2 Artist

THANK YOU: Sixto Wagan and DiverseWorks, Erin Boberg Doughton and our friends at PICA and the TBA Festival, Lane Czaplinski and On The Boards, Carla Peterson, Janet Stapleton, and the z | j board.

A Crack in Everything is made possible by the Contemporary Art Centers (CAC) network,administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), with major support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. CAC is comprised of leading art centers and brings together performing arts curators to support collaboration and work across disciplines, and is an initiative of NEFA’s National Dance Project.

A Crack in Everything was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

DiverseWorks is a Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by support from the NPN Performance Residency Program. Major contributors include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org.

A Crack in Everything is funded in part by the Princess Grace Foundation.

Sponsored by KUHA (91.7FM), KUHF (88.7FM), Modern B & B, Saint Arnold Brewing Company and Whole Foods.

DiverseWorks is a non-profit art center dedicated to presenting new visual, performing, and literary art. DiverseWorks is a place where the process of creating art is valued and where artists can test new ideas in the public arena. By encouraging the investigation of current artistic, cultural and social issues, DiverseWorks builds, educates, and sustains audiences for contemporary art. For more information, go to diverseworks.org

DiverseWorks Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 12-6pm
Free Admission and open to all.

DiverseWorks is generously supported by:

Underwriters
Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.; Anonymous; Brown Foundation, Inc.; Brad & Leslie Bucher; The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts; Doris Duke Charitable Fund; Houston Endowment; Joan Mitchell Foundation; KUHF (88.7FM) / KUHA (91.7FM)*; LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity); Louisa Stude Sarofim Foundation; MAP Fund/Creative Capital; National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); National Performance Network; New England Foundation for the Arts; Texas Commission on the Arts; University of Houston; Birgitt Van Wijk; The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

Patrons
Foundation for Contemporary Art; Fritz Lanham & Kellye Sanford; Nightingale Code Foundation; Regulatory Economics Group, LLC; Visual Artists Network; Fabéne Welch

Major Donors
Bernie & Mary Arocha; Rosalie Buggs; Felix Sanchez Photography*; Patrick & Tracey Keegan; Que Imaging*; Shannon & Leslie Sasser; Saint Arnold Brewing Company*; Bob & Lillian H. Warren

DiverseDonors
A Fare Extraordinaire*; American Express Charitable Fund; Diane Barber & Karen Niemeier; Adam Brackman; David Brown*; Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar;  Shannon Buggs; CenterPoint/June Deadrick; Jereann Chaney; Cozen O’Connor; Jason Fuller; Greentree Foundation; Guitar Center*; Houston Chronicle*; Houston Independent School District;  Allison Hunter*; Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas – Houston*; JBD Foundation; Mark Johnson; J.B. Kobayashi*; Marshal & Victoria Lightman; Lester Marks & Penelope Gonzalez; Tierney Malone*; Paul Mandell; Sari Miettinen; Lan Norwood & Bryan Vezey; Judy & Scott Nyquist; Poison Girl; Pura Vida Tequila*; Real Ale Brewing Co.*; Howard Sherman*; Kaneem Smith*;  Christina Solís; Target Corporation; Chuy Terrazas; Emily Todd; Mark Dean Veca*; Wade Wilson Art*; Sixto Wagan & Matthew Dirst; Sarah Walters; Frank White*; Whole Foods*; Josh & Tina Zulu*

*in-kind donation

Board of Directors
William Betts, Adam Brackman, Loli Fernández-A Kolber, Jason Fuller, Rob Greenstein, Stephen Hill, Patrick Keegan, Marshal Lightman, Kellye Sanford, Christina Solís, Sarah Walters

Artist Board
Soodabeh Babcock, Elizabeth Barrera, Elaine Bradford, Lucinda Cobley, Sasha Dela, Casey Fleming, Mark Francis, Ryan Geiger, Hank Hancock, Laura Harrison, Thomas Helton, J Hill, Maria Cristina Jadick, Mick Johnson, Laura Lark, Libbie Masterson, Greg Oaks, Louie Saletan, Soody Sharifi, Katherine Veneman

Blurring the distinction between performance, video art and body art, these young artists from the University of Houston work with ideas about media, personal narrative and social commentary.  Using their bodies as tools for expression, short videos include a father’s excessive travel souveniers that take on a life of their own, a poetic line of sand, illegal immigrant stories, tearful false eyelashes and many others.

flickerlounge is a season-long cinematic experience featuring an eclectic lineup of ...

click to continue to flickerlounge – unBlocked: performance based video]]> flickerlounge – unBlocked: performance based video
Co-presented by Aurora Picture Show
January 19-February 25, 2012
Opening Reception:  Thursday, January 19, 6-9pm

Blurring the distinction between performance, video art and body art, these young artists from the University of Houston work with ideas about media, personal narrative and social commentary.  Using their bodies as tools for expression, short videos include a father’s excessive travel souveniers that take on a life of their own, a poetic line of sand, illegal immigrant stories, tearful false eyelashes and many others.

flickerlounge is a season-long cinematic experience featuring an eclectic lineup of rotating full-length films, shorts and video presentations to accompany visual arts exhibitions in the Main Gallery . Lounge. Watch. Learn.

For more information on Aurora Picture Show, click HERE.

Image: Artificial Artifact by Melissa Tran

The DiverseWorks offices and galleries will be closed for the holidays from December 22, 2011 through January 2, 2012.  Please note that Catastrophic Theatre will continue to have performances of Anna Bella Eema through December 23.

DiverseWorks will kick off the new year with an international commission and  U.S. premiere of  (theLID, a conceptualized dance event, by Ayman Harper with Matmos on January 13-14, 2012. For information and tickets, click HERE.

Plus, don’t forget that online voting for Slinging Ink continues through January 18. Vote for your favorite work and one writer could win $100.

Please note that due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will have special hours.

Wednesday, November 23
Business Hours: 10am-Noon
Gallery is closed

Thursday & Friday, November 24-25
DiverseWorks is Closed

Saturday, November 26
Gallery Hours: 12-6pm
Offices are closed

My Life as a Doll
You travel through Tara Conley’s and Tria Wood’s My Life as a Doll as a voyeur might through a stranger’s home, inspecting room after room for what might be occurring inside. At times you do a double take at the wall of mirrors and in the “cock & tail” party room, in the expansive “closet” with its colorful ropey tentaclelike cotton dress and eerily flat ...

click to continue to GALLERY GUIDE – My Life as a Doll]]> Tara Conley & Tria Wood
My Life as a Doll
Curator Diane Barber
November 11-December 17, 2011
Opening Reception: Fri. Nov. 11, 2011
6-9pm

My Life as a Doll
You travel through Tara Conley’s and Tria Wood’s My Life as a Doll as a voyeur might through a stranger’s home, inspecting room after room for what might be occurring inside. At times you do a double take at the wall of mirrors and in the “cock & tail” party room, in the expansive “closet” with its colorful ropey tentaclelike cotton dress and eerily flat black dresses tagged for various emotional purposes, in the breakfast room with table legs dripping in “honey,” or at the cagelike “princess” bed, because you can’t be sure of what you saw, whether fact or illusion. Conley and Wood are astute observers of cloaked feelings and stalled dreams. My own response to the installation, which resembles a cross between a gigantic dollhouse and fairytale pop-up book, is immediate and visceral. Here are two artists tunneling through the complexities of a genuine urgent vision, operating as much from their guts as their heads, and actually saying something about the life choices all of us – female, male, young or elderly – are forced to make on a daily basis.

Combining text, images, objects and sound, the work exerts a palpable closeness, an immediate intimacy with the viewer that is disorienting and destabilizing. There is
a sense of life lived not as a series of decisive moments, but rather as a random accumulation of shrunken events. Toward that end, My Life as a Doll shows the powerful undercurrents of confused motives and mixed signals. Make no mistake, the installation pulsates with sweaty energy and ribald humor, even as it satisfies an appetite for the grand-scale narrative. There’s an overarching air of melancholy just barely kept at bay, balanced with an oddly inviting warmth. Their Pop sensibility is fast and twisted, as likely to embrace gritty urban realism and Barbie fashions as literary masterpieces and underground comics. Such mixing of sources is hardly new, but Conley and Wood pull it off through sheer exuberance and technical skill. What seems like a stage set-like environment of disparate, individually seductive elements in slangy materials and cake icing colors snaps into a handsome orchestration once you journey through the house or scan it as a whole. The result is a giddy dance of pattern, color and buoyant movement.

Conley’s hybrid sculptures are involved with process and image, flesh and physicality. Her images invoke tender touch and luscious, scabrous fury. For the DiverseWorks installation, Conley balances the sense of casual hands-on intimacy with the unexpected poetic interaction of such simple materials as Styrofoam, metal rods, fiberglass and pigment. Both Conley and Wood are skillful wordsmiths—they have an almost unfailing ear for language and overheard phrases—junk mail and sleazy bar come-ons or snippets from classic literature and trashy blogs. In doing so, they aim to unmask the cultural ideals and commercial products that promote the lavish fantasy of role playing from birth to teenage and adult years. Our lives, as Conley and Wood suggest, continue to be shaped by such props. How do others perceive or judge us? How do we perceive ourselves? How have we been manipulated? The artists address commodity fetishism and control, problematizing it as a question of woman’s / man’s desire. What interests them is not merely the activation of desire, but the examination of its complex structures. Can we never have enough? At issue is a deep set of oppositions between the private and the public, between the self and the media at large, between success and failure, between hidden obsessions and our daily passage with one another. And those oppositions make less sense every day. Conley’s and Wood’s highly structured, multitiered installation isn’t a platform for dysfunction or laying easy blame for life’s disappointments. Their fascination with the autonomous falsity of human relationships may undoubtedly offend many viewers. But unlike some artists’ ingratiating vignettes of social norms, they take offense as a good sign.

Indeed, My Life as a Doll packs a considerable punch by posing the dilemma of mass-media believability versus trustworthiness. As we recoil from the shallow fictions of material success and domestic bliss, we also recognize that we are forever wanting things to get better and better, even half-expecting that they will. Still, the dark side of domestic life – familiar though it is now – remains an essential theme. We have known for some time that the center isn’t holding. If the home is where children develop dreams and myths about their future, then what makes a home secure? What makes a home loving and warm, or cold and empty? For Conley and Wood, perhaps the effort “to get one’s house in order,” or at least to try and see it clearly, is less a withdrawal from responsibility than an expression of sanity. Like the dream, you can’t have the perfect home, the perfect lifestyle – you can’t achieve the promised transcendence – unless you buy into a piece of the fantasy. Overall, My Life as a Doll displays the remarkable talent for visual metaphor and for embodying symbols in material form. With this multidimensional tableau, Conley and Wood put into play an impressive spectacle that cuts loose any fixed ideas about identity, time and memory, about probability and luck, good fortune and bad, about relationships and children, fair play and the anxieties bubbling beneath the surface of everyday life.

-Susie Kalil

Curator Statement
Years ago I saw a photograph in an exhibition that, for me, gave rise to a flood of conflicting emotions. The image was a stark, black-and-white portrait of a young, stoic girl dressed in a bridal gown taken by Cuban photographer Tony Mendoza. The title of the photograph was as follows: “Halloween, 1992. Lydia, who had just turned three, wanted to be a bride.” I don’t know why I found that image so disconcerting. On the surface, it was actually kind of charming—the wide-eyed girl playing dress up as so many girls do, publicly trying on a new persona to see how it fits. However, the way the girl was depicted suggested anything but play. She was all dolled up but expressionless, bored even, and I found myself wondering about the source of her discontent and what the photographer wanted to convey by depicting her this way. Perhaps I was over-thinking it. Maybe the dress was uncomfortable or she was disappointed because she had envisioned it with a longer train, or maybe she was simply tired of sitting still for the photographer. Whatever the case, the image stuck with me and resurfaced in my mind all these years later during preparations for this show.

When I first began talking to Tara Conley and Tria Wood about their ideas for My Life as a Doll, I was intrigued but apprehensive. Having recently worked on a cross-generational exhibition by a roster of high caliber female artists—some of whom overtly explored feminist themes in their work and labeled them as such, and others who deliberately disassociated themselves from feminist ideology because to them it seemed outdated—I was cautious about the loaded nature of the exhibition that Conley and Wood imagined and their ideas for tackling it. There’s a lot of baggage here and it fascinates me that explorations of gender roles and societal constructs that reinforce those roles have been undertaken by artists time and again – and, yet, there’s still so much to talk about. Here, Conley and Wood have managed to reframe the conversation in an interesting way. Their approach to this weighty subject matter is disarmingly playful and pretty, couched in the comfort of a storybook rhyme that does anything but reinforce the notion of the “happily ever after” fairytale.

The installation, which is an amalgamation of personal memories and experiences, overheard dialogue, literary references, and metaphoric dioramas, leads us into a claustrophobic circle of conflicted emotions. There’s a sense of joyful exuberance in this candy-colored world tempered by an equally powerful sense of confinement and confusion. The characters are strangely fictional yet completely recognizable and we inhabit their world as interlopers, stumbling upon some dark secret. Conley and Wood are simultaneously internal and external in their approach to the story they’ve constructed, exposing something about themselves as well as something about the culture we all have to navigate in order to become who we ultimately are. My Life as a Doll, like Mendoza’s photograph of the child bride, is certain to resonate with different people in different ways. We all bring ourselves into this imaginary and temporary place Conley and Wood have created and will likely each emerge with a reaction that is acutely personal – one shaped and filtered by our own lives and experiences, beliefs and sense of self.

-Diane Barber

About Tara Conley
A sculptor working across many media, Tara Conley creates curious biomorphic forms by employing innovative approaches to materials such as cotton, metal, and fiberglass. Her sculptures, which hug the ground, hang from the ceiling, and extend from the walls, represent a cast of fantastic characters, each with distinct attributes and attitudes. By bringing her imaginary creatures into three-dimensional space, Conley explores issues of posture, physical space, personality and sexuality, while exhibiting a delightful sense of wonder and humor. She enjoys mixing media, and challenges herself to use materials in ways unfamiliar to the viewer. Conley is also intrigued by found texts and overheard phrases, using them to create word-based sculptures. Throughout her work, she demonstrates her fascination with the ways we form relationships with others. Conley has shown her work from Seattle to Massachusetts, with major exhibitions in Houston and New York. Her monumental Bronze Bunny is currently on display in New Orleans’ Lafayette Square, where it stood with the work of artists Louise Bourgeois and Aria Da Capo as part of Sculpture for New Orleans. Art critic Doug MacCash listed this suite of sculptures in Lafayette Square in the top ten exhibits to see in New Orleans in 2009. Currently, Conley is designing an outdoor sculpture to complement her indoor artworks for the South Gessner police station as part of a commission by the City of Houston. Additionally, she and artist Joe Barrington are creating a monumental outdoor sculpture for the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University to be revealed in 2012. Originally from Bath, New York, Conley holds a BFA from the School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology. She lives and works in Houston, Texas.

About Tria Wood
A native Texan, Tria Wood earned her B.A. and M.A. in English and Creative Writing from Texas A&M University, where she also served as an assistant lecturer before moving to Houston. In addition, she holds an M.Ed. in Art Education from the University of Houston. Currently working as an English professor at San Jacinto College South, she has spent the past six years teaching creative writing to children of various ages and mentoring other creative writing teachers through the nonprofit Writers in the Schools program. Wood has also worked as an instructional designer and as a program coordinator for a nonprofit theater arts outreach for at-risk children. She studied improvisational acting, including completing the UCB Theater’s intensive summer workshop in New York City, and performed as a member of a comedy troupe in Houston. More recently, Wood spent several years as Visual Arts Editor for ArtsHouston magazine. Her poetry, fiction, art criticism and reviews appear in a variety of publications such as SPOT, Snowy Egret, Concho River Review and Arcadia. Her poetry and fiction explore the varied and complex ways we negotiate distance and desire, and comment on the way power structures shape personal life. She is also at work on a young adult novel. A lifelong fascination with museum tableaux and cabinets of curiosities inspires her engagement with installation art.

About Diane Barber
Diane Barber is an Independent Curator with more than 20 years of experience in the Visual Arts. Projects include major exhibitions with an international roster of artists presented in arts organizations, galleries, universities, schools, and other public spaces and institutions. Most recently, Barber served as Co-Director/Visual Arts Curator of DiverseWorks. During her 14-year tenure, Barber curated more than 65 exhibitions for DiverseWorks giving particular emphasis to commissioning new works and site-specific installations and to developing programs with charged cultural and political undertones. Prior, Barber served as Exhibitions/Publications Coordinator for FotoFest International. Professional affiliations include the Warhol Initiative, NPN’s Visual Arts Network, the NAMAC 2009 Leadership Institute, the Advisory Board of FotoFest, the Board of Directors of the Friends of Women’s Studies at the University of Houston, and ArtTable. She is past board president of the National Association of Artist Organizations and former Chairman of the Houston Coalition for the Visual Arts. Barber is also a founding member of the Independent Arts Collaborative, a Houston-based organization working to develop a multi-tenant arts complex in Houston’s urban core.

My Life as a Doll was made possible by:

Devoted Dolls
Leslie & Brad Bucher
Divine Doll
Fabené Welch

Daring Dolls
Mary & Bernie Arocha

Dreamy Dolls
Nancy Allen
Jereann Chaney
Robert Liddell

Delightful Dolls
Gigi & Ken Airheart
Tracey, Drew, & Holt Baird
Carrie & Jim Markello
Winston & Eliot Wood

Darling Dolls
Glenna & William Conley
Jan Diesel
Deborah Dunkum
Candice & Nick Goodwin
Minnette Robinson
Cynthia Toles
Christine Wood

Dandy Dolls
Leigh Smith
Lilly Andress
Toby Kamps
Vickie Hodges
Kellye Sanford & Fritz Lanham

Special Thanks
Marco Guerra

In-kind Contributors
A Fare Extraordinaire
Felix Sanchez Photography
Finch Creative
Bob Abbinanti / Que Imaging
The Stein Family / Triple-S Steel
Dan Workman / SugarHill Studios

Doll Team
Diane Barber
Michelle Engleman-Berns
Greg Bruegger
Jon Clark
Mary & Bill Conley
Oray Derbigney
David Diaz
Randall Dorn
Amber Erksine
Haden Garrett
Sharon Ferranti
Joe M. Flores
Silas Johnson
Susie Kalil
Augustine Perez
Rodrigo Rodriguez
Joy Roliff
Jennifer Shorb
Amy Skoda

Cock & Tail Party Voices
Sara Jo Dunstan
Stephen Foulard
Adam Pecht
Karen Schlag
Cris Skelton
Leighza Walker

Thanks to the DiverseWorks Team!

Your Life as a Doll
Our donors and team members have brought this project to life. You, too, can be recognized in our catalog, documentary and future traveling exhibitions of My Life as a Doll. Be a doll, won’t you? Donate today! For more information or to donate, please contact Tracey Morton at tracey@diverseworks.org or call 713-223-8346.

Events Related to My Life as a Doll:

ArtCrawl
November 19, 2011
Tours at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm
Join DiverseWorks for the 19th Annual ArtCrawl. As part of the festivities, Artist Tara Conley and writer Tria Wood will be giving tours of their exhibition My Life as a Doll and answering questions.

My Life as a Doll Panel
December 3, 2011, 2pm
A panel discussion of current social, cultural, and artistic issues raised by My Life as a Doll moderated by Susie Kalil. Panelists include Kimberly Davenport, Director and Chief Curator, Rice Gallery; Dr. Elizabeth Gregory, Professor and Director of Women’s Studies, University of Houston; and Dr. Nels P. Highberg, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Rhetoric, University of Hartford.

Talk and Tour
Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 7pm
Come by for a talk and tour with Tara Conley and Tria Wood as they walk visitors through their installation My Life as a Doll and answer questions.

Catalog and Documentary (2012)
My Life as a Doll full color exhibition catalog will be published with an essay by Susie Kalil and photography by Felix Sanchez. A documentary by filmmaker Sharon
Ferranti which follows the creative process of My Life as a Doll is in production. The film premiere and catalog signing event will take place in 2012, venue and date to be
announced.

Public Programs
All events are free and open to the public, and take place at DiverseWorks ArtSpace.

My Life as a Doll is sponsored by:
KUHF (88.7FM) / KUHA (91.7FM)
Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Gallery Hours: Tues.-Sat., 12-6pm
Free Admission and open to the public

About DiverseWorks ArtSpace
DiverseWorks is a non-profit art center in Houston, Texas dedicated to presenting new visual, performing, and literary art. DiverseWorks is a place where the process of creating art is valued and where artists can test new ideas in the public arena. By encouraging the investigation of current artistic, cultural and social issues, DiverseWorks builds, educates, and sustains audiences for contemporary art.

DiverseWorks ArtSpace
1117 East Freeway, Houston, TX 77002
713-223-8346
diverseworks.org

2010-2011 DIVERSEWORKS FUNDERS:

UNDERWRITERS
Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.; Anonymous; Brown Foundation, Inc.; Brad and Leslie Bucher; The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts; Doris Duke Charitable Fund; Houston Endowment; Joan Mitchell Foundation; KUHF (88.7FM) / KUHA (91.7FM)*; LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity); Louisa Stude Sarofim Foundation; MAP Fund/ Creative Capital; National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); National Performance Network; New England Foundation for the Arts; Texas Commission on the Arts; University of Houston; Birgitt Van Wijk; The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

PATRONS
Foundation for Contemporary Art; Fritz Lanham & Kellye Sanford; Nightingale Code Foundation; Regulatory Economics Group, LLC; Visual Artists Network; Fabéne Welch

MAJOR DONORS
Bernie and Mary Arocha; Rosalie Buggs; Felix Sanchez Photography*; Patrick & Tracey Keegan; Que Imaging*; Shannon & Leslie Sasser; Saint Arnold Brewing Company*; Bob & Lillian H. Warren

DIVERSEDONORS
A Fare Extraordinaire*; American Express Charitable Fund; Diane Barber & Karen Niemeier; Adam Brackman; David Brown*; Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar; Shannon Buggs; CenterPoint/ June Deadrick; Jereann Chaney; Cozen O’Connor; Jason Fuller; Greentree Foundation; Guitar Center*; Houston Chronicle*; Houston Independent School District; Allison Hunter*; Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas – Houston*; JBD Foundation; Mark Johnson; J.B. Kobayashi*; Marshal & Victoria Lightman; Lester Marks & Penelope Gonzalez; Tierney Malone*; Paul Mandell; Sari Miettinen; Lan Norwood & Bryan Vezey; Judy & Scott Nyquist; Poison Girl; Pura Vida Tequila*; Real Ale Brewing Co.*; Howard Sherman*; Kaneem Smith*; Christina Solís; Target Corporation; Chuy Terrazas; Emily Todd; Wade Wilson Art*; Mark Dean Veca*; Wade Wilson Art*; Sixto Wagan & Matthew Dirst; Sarah Walters; Fabene Welch; Frank White*;
Whole Foods*; Josh & Tina Zulu*

*In Kind

BOARD OF  DIRECTORS
Adam Brackman, Melanie Crader, Loli Fernández-A Kolber, Andrade,Jason Fuller, Rob Greenstein, Stephen Hill, Patrick Keegan, Marshal Lightman, Hal Roach, Kellye Sanford, Kaneem Smith, Christina Solís, Sarah Walters

ARTIST BOARD
Soodabeh Babcock, Elizabeth Barrera, Elaine Bradford, Lucinda Cobley, Melanie Crader, Sasha Dela, Casey Fleming, Mark Francis, Ryan Geiger, Hank Hancock; Laura Harrison, Thomas Helton, J Hill, Maria Cristina Jadick; Mick Johnson, Laura Lark; Libbie Masterson, Greg Oaks, Louie Saletan, Soody Sharifi, Jennifer Tyburczy;
Katherine Veneman

STAFF
William Betts, Tracey Barnett, Shawna Forney, Jon Read, Sixto Wagan

Grandalism is a season-long series of street art commissions presented in partnership with GONZO247, founder of Aerosol Warfare. Throughout the season, the DiverseWorks dock will be the backdrop for a series of rotating, large-scale works that features accomplished street artists.  Featuring a different artist every 8 weeks, Grandalism showcases the raw talent and innovation of the city’s freshest and most prolific urban artists selected by one of Houston’s most notable street art legends.

About Episode

Born and raised on Houston’s north side, Episode has ...

click to continue to Grandalism featuring Episode]]> November 11-December 17, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, November 11, 6-9pm
Curated by GONZO247

Grandalism is a season-long series of street art commissions presented in partnership with GONZO247, founder of Aerosol Warfare. Throughout the season, the DiverseWorks dock will be the backdrop for a series of rotating, large-scale works that features accomplished street artists.  Featuring a different artist every 8 weeks, Grandalism showcases the raw talent and innovation of the city’s freshest and most prolific urban artists selected by one of Houston’s most notable street art legends.

About Episode

Born and raised on Houston’s north side, Episode has been writing for the past 10 years, creating and making his mark on anything and everything from stickers, markers and paint. Episode’s excitement and passion for street writing helped him get noticed at a young age. His inspirations and influences come from old school NorthSide crews like RAGE*KTK.

In 2000, Episode befriended street artists Weah and Prime.  They encouraged him to get serious about his work and start painting legal walls. With that advice, Episode, traveled from city to city painting, and continued to work without taking breaks. This dedication strengthened his technique and style, thus transforming his graffiti to art. Although he continues to be inspired by his fellow street artists, his work continues to be graffiti-based.

Episode’s consistent and personal style reflect in his work where he breaks down the anatomy of a letter, stylizing them using layering techniques of monochromatic color schemes and shading to create  a three-dimensional object in a two-dimensional space.

Join DiverseWorks for the 19th Annual ArtCrawl. As part of the festivities, Artists in Residence, Tara Conley and Tria Wood, will be giving tours  of their exhibition My Life as a Doll and answering questions.

About My Life as a Doll
Sculptor Tara Conley and writer Tria Wood create a residence with rooms defined by pages from a gigantic book. Seductive aspects of this fantasy world slowly give way to reveal the perils for a woman living her life as a doll. Exploring personal spaces and ...

click to continue to ArtCrawl]]> Saturday, November 19, 2011
12-6pm
Artist Tours: 2pm, 3pm, 4pm

Join DiverseWorks for the 19th Annual ArtCrawl. As part of the festivities, Artists in Residence, Tara Conley and Tria Wood, will be giving tours  of their exhibition My Life as a Doll and answering questions.

About My Life as a Doll
Sculptor Tara Conley and writer Tria Wood create a residence with rooms defined by pages from a gigantic book. Seductive aspects of this fantasy world slowly give way to reveal the perils for a woman living her life as a doll. Exploring personal spaces and narrative elements of this character’s life, viewers encounter a complex dialogue about power structures, childhood expectations, and gender distinctions that take root early on and continue to shape us as adults.

Sponsored by Saint Arnold Brewing Company

For participating ArtCrawl artists and studios, click HERE.