See where the city’s art offerings can take you this month with our top picks for openings and events during July 2016.
Also in July 2016
Enjoy all the free events around town with our guide to the city’s museum, gallery, and art space offerings this month.
Top 9 July Art Openings & Events in Houston
- 3 Exhibitions 3 Boxes at Box 13 ArtSpace | Through Saturday, July 9 | FREE – Featuring a multi-sensory video installation by Daniel Bertalot, Andy Davis and Diamond Gray, a re-imagined reality where “after hours” and “art spaces” are viewed as time/space material by Autumn Knight and Robert Pruitt, and a piece that touches on the delicate balance between construction and destruction by Laura Latimer, you’re guaranteed a thought-provoking afternoon curated with plenty of Houston heavy hitters at Box 13. This East End artist-run space is open Saturdays 1pm to 5pm and by appointment.
- Sheila Pepe’s Open Meeting Place & Fiber Sculpture Exhibition at DiverseWorks | Through Saturday, August 6 | FREE – Serving as an open meeting space and platform for events by multiple collaborators, Sheila Pepe’s commissioned installation for DiverseWorks technically marks her first solo exhibition in Houston, but still invites artists and attendees to participate and become a part of the show. For this exhibition, Pepe invites the aforementioned to perform, explore and discuss issues related to race and LGBTQ identity through a series of events that will take place within the artist’s installation in Mid-Main. Wednesday and Thursday noon to 6pm; Friday and Saturday noon to 8pm.
- In Residence Group Show Craft Exhibition at HCCC | Through Saturday, August 27 | FREE – Seven artists who began their residencies at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in 2014: Clara Hoag, Natasha Hovey, Jera Rose Petal Lodge, Sarah Mizer, Alexis Myre, Collette Spears, and Rena Wood, have opened up their studios for HCCC’s annual exhibition of clay, fiber, glass, metal and mixed media. In Residence, which highlights the center’s Artist Residency Program has supported makers and their ingenuity in the field of craft for more than fifteen years now. Don’t be shy, artists will have their studio doors open so feel free to check out what’s inside. Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday noon to 5pm.
- Kusama: At the End of the Universe Interactive Environment at MFAH | Through Sunday, September 18 – Kick off summer at the Museum of Fine Arts where Cullinan Hall has been turned into an interactive space for adults and kids alike. Featuring two of Yayoi Kusama’s famous “infinity rooms”, At the End of the Universe dissolves the viewer’s concept of physical space through the play of light in Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity. In Kusama’s second room, Love Is Calling, museum-goers stroll through a mirrored room where spotted sculptures shoot up from the floor and hang from the ceiling like soft stalactites and stalagmites while strobing lights play with your perception. Tickets start at $15 not including ticket fees. Times vary daily.
- Statements: African American Art from the Collection of MFAH | Through Sunday, September 25 – Statements brings together more than forty works in a wide range of media featuring artists who have shaped the course of American art across eight decades. Starting with a generation of artists who came of age between the 30’s and 60’s, the exhibition presents three intricately woven themes. First those pioneers and celebrated leaders whose recognition helped break down institutional barriers, then artists who mapped America’s changing social landscape during and after the 1950s rise of Civil Rights, and lastly the contemporary artists they’ve influenced that now challenge stereotypes and the complexities of identity. Entrance to this exhibition is included with general admission. Times vary daily.
- Parallel Kingdom: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art | Through Sunday, October 2 | FREE – The Station Museum of Contemporary Art presents the opening of a major cross-generational survey of contemporary art from the Saudi Arabian peninsula. Providing awareness into Saudi culture through the creativity and vision, the exhibition showcases some the most influential Saudi artists of the 21st century, alongside younger voices from the fields of art, comedy, and film. Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 6pm.
- Garage Sale, And So Can You Exhibition & Garage Sale at Suplex HQ | Saturday, July 9 to Sunday, July 10 | FREE – Featuring Texas-based artists with lifestyle commodities and consumer products priced below $200, Suplex presents a group exhibition motivated by the urgency to eject one’s work into the world, to discover forgotten or lost work, and avoid otherwise compounded debts. A literal fire-sale of artworks, Garage Sale, And So Can You showcases the act of resisting to allow artwork and personal artifacts to collect dust. The exhibition is a demonstration of the act of moving on (and quite fittingly it is Suplex’s last Houston presentation) in which the work is displayed as equal parts exhibition and garage sale. Opening reception Saturday at 10am; 10am to 6pm daily. No early birds!
- Art Fair Fever Film Screening + Signing + Discussion with Mark Flood at CAMH | Thursday, July 21 | FREE – Presented in conjunction with Mark Flood: Gratest Hits, Art Fair Fever finds the Houston-based artist further prodding the contemporary art world and its views of art as a commodity in this satirical film. After the screening Flood will sign copies of his exhibition catalogue and Bill Arning, organizing curator and Director of CAMH, will discuss the film and art fair politics with Stephanie Mitchell, Executive Director of Lawndale Art Center. This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. 6pm to 9pm. Art Fair Fever begins at 6:30pm.
- The Big Show 2016 Opening at Lawndale Art Center | Friday, July 22 | FREE – Make your way to The Big Show 2016, Lawndale Art Center’s annual juried exhibition where new work will be showcased in all media by artists living within a 100-mile radius of Lawndale Art Center will be eligible. The 2016 edition of The Big Show will be juried by Apsara DiQuinzio, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Phyllis C. Wattis MATRIX Curator of the Berkeley Art Museum and Tina Kukielski, Executive Director of ART21. The exhibit is on view at Lawndale through Saturday, August 27, 2016. Opening reception Friday, July 22 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Awards announced 7pm.
