Catch the latest exhibitions and installations at art galleries and museums throughout Greater Houston in April 2022.
This month brings a new slate of opening and closing exhibitions at museums and art spaces across Houston.
At MFAH, you’ll find the long-anticipated appearance of two iconic portraits of the Obamas, dream-like landscapes at the Menil Drawing Institute, a special pop-up exhibition at the Printing Museum dedicated to Houston’s underground culture of the ’70s, and more.
You’ll also have a final chance to participate in an award-winning VR experience at Rice University’s Moody Center, catch two closing exhibitions at Houston Museum of African American Culture, and see a special Houston Rockets collab with Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
Plus, you can go deeper and get a look at all the ongoing exhibitions when you check out our guide to installations and exhibitions in Greater Houston.
First Look: Opening Exhibitions in Houston This Month
- Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in Museum District | FREE – This first major solo exhibition in the United States of Austrian artists Paul Renner and Richard Hoeck, Houston, Sie Haben Ein Problem! (opens Friday, April 1) offers playful and unconventional ideas about food, humor, performance art and the social potential of coming together for a meal.
- The Jung Center in Museum District | FREE – Inspired by a personal dream, Eating my own Shadow by artist John Faul (opens Saturday, April 2) utilizes mixed media on canvas to create a language of color and form about the content of that dream in this deeply subjective and personal work.
- Archway Gallery in Montrose | FREE – In For the Love of Earth (opens Saturday, April 2), several resident artists at Archway Gallery join forces for this exhibition that looks at Earth and all living things on it as fragile, and urges action to bring beneficial change.
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in Museum District – The iconic portraits of President Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley, and First Lady Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald make an appearance at MFAH while on The Obama Portraits Tour (opens Sunday, April 3). The two works sharply contrast with the history of presidential portraits, offering fresh perspectives and contemplation on the visual ideas of power and legacy.
- The Printing Museum in Montrose – Two exhibits appear at the Montrose area museum this month; Keliy Anderson-Staley: Raw Materials in Peace and War (opens Thursday, April 7) sees the Houston-based photographer pairing photos and paper negatives of her grandfather’s economic book written in 1937 to create new associations through layers that challenge and erase each other. And for one night, Printing Museum hosts a pop-up exhibit, Exploring Space City!: Houston’s Historic Underground Newspaper (Thursday, April 21), which will have several of the creators of that 1970s-era countercultural magazine on hand to discuss its work.
- Houston Museum of African American Culture in Museum District | FREE – Consisting of a series of life-size self-portraits, Bastards of the Diaspora (opens Saturday, April 16) from Nigerian American photographer Hakeem Adewumi probes the artist’s understanding and history of his Nigerian heritage, allowing him to overcome cultural limitations to “claim parts of myself that might have remained invisible.”
- Blaffer Art Museum in University of Houston | FREE – Catch a one-week exhibition of the late Houston photographer, Pam Francis (Tuesday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 26), who was known for her portraits of iconic athletes, musicians, politicians and Houstonians.
- Menil Drawing Institute in Montrose | FREE – Explore the dream-like landscape drawings of American artist Joseph E. Yoakum in What I Saw (opens Tuesday, April 22), which features more than 80 visionary drawings that chart an imaginative vision of the land and its deep spirituality.
Check out more ongoing installations and exhibitions in museums around Greater Houston.
Save on 1-Day & Multi-Day Museum Passes Around Houston
Last Chance: Closing Exhibitions in Houston This Month
- Moody Center for the Arts in Rice University | FREE – Finishing its run on the first day of the month, Samsāra (ends Friday, April 1) is an award-winning Virtual Reality experience from artist Hsin-Chien Huang that uses interactivity to create the experience of transforming one’s body into different beings, while promoting empathy and a holistic view of our shared experience on this planet.
- Blaffer Art Museum in University of Houston | FREE – Catch your final chance to see the 44th UH School of Art Thesis Exhibition (ends Sunday, April 10), featuring the work of Masters of Fine Arts degree candidates in the fields of graphic design, painting, photography, sculpture, and interdisciplinary practice. Later this month, Blaffer will also host a one-week exhibition of the late Houston photographer, Pam Francis (Tuesday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 26), who was known for her portraits of iconic athletes, musicians, politicians and Houstonians.
- Houston Museum of African American Culture in Museum District | FREE – Two exhibitions close this month at HMAAC; The Secret in the wARTer by Mathieu JN Baptiste (ends Friday, April 15) features works in paint and metal that the Houston-based artist from Haiti utilizes to reflect the interconnectedness of people and the complex maze of life; and April Frazier: Frame of Reference (closes Saturday, April 30) showcases the Houston-based photographer’s work in tracing her ancestral roots in Texas to create a chronology of photographs that reach as far back as 1890 to present day.
- Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in Museum District | FREE – Eleven artists were commissioned by the Houston Rockets to create limited-edition posters of Rockets legends that were handed out at select games in the 2021-22 season. In this exhibition, Houston Rockets x CAMH (closes Sunday, April 17), you can get a look at the posters, signed by the artists and featured Rockets legend.
Check out more ongoing installation and exhibitions in museums around Greater Houston.
Save on Multi-Day Museum Passes Around Houston
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