Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Encyclopedia
The Contemporary Arts Museum – Houston is a not-for-profit institution in Houston, Texas
, dedicated to presenting the contemporary art
of our time to the public.
As a non-collecting museum
, it strives to provide a forum for visual arts of the present and recent past and document new directions in art, while engaging the public and encouraging a greater understanding of contemporary art through education programs.
The Contemporary Arts Museum occupies a stainless-steel building in the heart of Houston's Museum District
. The highly recognizable building was designed for the Contemporary Arts Museum by the award-winning architect Gunnar Birkerts
and opened its doors in 1970.
, lectures and other activities. The Museum initially presented exhibitions at various locations throughout the city, sometimes using The Museum of Fine Arts. These first presentations included "This is Contemporary Art" and "László Moholy-Nagy
: Memorial Exhibition."
By 1950, the success of these efforts allowed the Museum to build of a small, professionally equipped facility where ambitious exhibitions of the work of Vincent Van Gogh
, Joan Miró
, Alexander Calder
, Max Ernst
, and John Biggers and his students from the then-fledgling Texas Negro College (now Texas Southern University
). It was evident that Houstonians were receptive to new ideas.
. Ms. MacAgy wasted no time and soon organized several definitive exhibitions, including "The Sphere of Mondrian," "The Disquieting Muse: Surrealism," "Totems Not Taboo: Primitive Art" and Mark Rothko
's second museum exhibition. During the 1960s, the Museum's continued its dedication to thematic exhibitions, architecture
and design
, and studies individual artists. Landmark exhibitions included "The Emerging Figure" and the influential combine paintings of Robert Rauschenberg
.
By the end of the decade
, the Contemporary Arts Museum had outgrown the original 1950 facility, so the trustees raised funds to purchase a prominent site on the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, where the new building, designed by Gunnar Birkerts
, was built. In 1972, the present building opened with a controversial exhibition called "Ten," featuring several artists working in non-traditional media
. The Museum continued to showcase new national and regional art, throughout the 1970s, including such presentations as John Chamberlain, "Dalé Gas" (one of the first surveys of Hispanic
artists in the U.S.), and a major thematic exhibition, "American Narrative/Story Art." In addition, exhibitions of new Texas
talent provided early venues for works of James Surls
, John Alexander
, and Luis Jimenez
, among others.
, Robert Morris
, Pat Steir
, Bill Viola
and Frank Stella
, as well as Texans Earl Staley, Melissa Miller and Vernon Fisher. In addition, Director Linda L. Cathcart established "Perspectives" in the Museum’s lower gallery—a fast-paced series of exhibitions focusing on cycles of work by emerging and well-known artists that had not previously shown in Houston. As of 2011, over 175 exhibitions have taken place within the innovative series.
In the 1990s, the Museum adjusted its focus to concentrate only on art made created within the past 40 years. It also worked to extend its reach internationally. Major single-artist exhibitions at the end of the 20th century included "Art Guys: Think Twice," "Tony Cragg: Sculpture," "Ann Hamilton: kaph," "Richard Long: Circles Cycles Mud Stone," "Nic Nicosia
: Real Pictures," "Introjection: Tony Oursler: 1976-1999," "Lari Pittman," "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective," "James Turrell: Spirit and Light," "William Wegman: Paintings and Drawings, Photographs and Videotapes" and "Robert Wilson's Vision."
As the new millennium began, the Museum celebrated the change with a look back at some of the exhibitions of the previous decade in "Outbound: Passages from the Nineties." Other exhibitions of the fledgling century have included "Afterimage: Drawing Through Process", "Subject Plural" and "The Inward Eye." Single-artist shows have focused on a variety of media and have included "When One is Two: The Art of Alighiero e Boetti," William Kentridge
, Uta Barth
, and Juan Muñoz
.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, dedicated to presenting the contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
of our time to the public.
As a non-collecting museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, it strives to provide a forum for visual arts of the present and recent past and document new directions in art, while engaging the public and encouraging a greater understanding of contemporary art through education programs.
The Contemporary Arts Museum occupies a stainless-steel building in the heart of Houston's Museum District
Houston Museum District
The Houston Museum District commonly known as, “The Museum District,” is an association of museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting the arts, sciences, and cultural amenities of the area.The Houston Museum District currently...
. The highly recognizable building was designed for the Contemporary Arts Museum by the award-winning architect Gunnar Birkerts
Gunnar Birkerts
Gunnar Birkerts is a prominent American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan. Some of his designs include the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, Marquette Plaza in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in...
and opened its doors in 1970.
Beginning
In 1948, a group of eight Houston citizens founded the Contemporary Arts Museum with the goal of presenting old art to the community and to document arts role in modern life through exhibitionsArt exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
, lectures and other activities. The Museum initially presented exhibitions at various locations throughout the city, sometimes using The Museum of Fine Arts. These first presentations included "This is Contemporary Art" and "László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.-Early life:...
: Memorial Exhibition."
By 1950, the success of these efforts allowed the Museum to build of a small, professionally equipped facility where ambitious exhibitions of the work of Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
, Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
, Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, and John Biggers and his students from the then-fledgling Texas Negro College (now Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....
). It was evident that Houstonians were receptive to new ideas.
Going pro
Another major change occurred in 1957, when the previously all-volunteer Museum hired Jermayne MacAgy as its first professional directorCurator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
. Ms. MacAgy wasted no time and soon organized several definitive exhibitions, including "The Sphere of Mondrian," "The Disquieting Muse: Surrealism," "Totems Not Taboo: Primitive Art" and Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
's second museum exhibition. During the 1960s, the Museum's continued its dedication to thematic exhibitions, architecture
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
and design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, and studies individual artists. Landmark exhibitions included "The Emerging Figure" and the influential combine paintings of Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
.
By the end of the decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
, the Contemporary Arts Museum had outgrown the original 1950 facility, so the trustees raised funds to purchase a prominent site on the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, where the new building, designed by Gunnar Birkerts
Gunnar Birkerts
Gunnar Birkerts is a prominent American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan. Some of his designs include the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, Marquette Plaza in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in...
, was built. In 1972, the present building opened with a controversial exhibition called "Ten," featuring several artists working in non-traditional media
Media (arts)
In the arts, a media or medium is a material used by an artist or designer to create a work.-Architecture:In the art and science of architecture, the design and construction of buildings and interiors, infrastructure and other physical structures are created...
. The Museum continued to showcase new national and regional art, throughout the 1970s, including such presentations as John Chamberlain, "Dalé Gas" (one of the first surveys of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
artists in the U.S.), and a major thematic exhibition, "American Narrative/Story Art." In addition, exhibitions of new Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
talent provided early venues for works of James Surls
James Surls
James Surls is an American modernist sculptor. He earned a BS from Sam Houston State University and an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 1998, he moved from Splendora, Texas to Carbondale, Colorado....
, John Alexander
John Alexander
-Arts and entertainment:* John Alexander , American stage and film actor* John Alexander II , Scottish film actor; see * John Alexander , British television director* John Alexander -Arts and entertainment:* John Alexander (actor) (1897–1982), American stage and film actor* John Alexander II...
, and Luis Jimenez
Luis Jiménez (sculptor)
Luis Jimenez or Luis Jiménez was an American sculptor of Mexican descent. He was born in El Paso, Texas and died in New Mexico. He studied art and architecture at the University of Texas in Austin and El Paso, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964...
, among others.
Continued growth
In the 1980s, the Museum grew significantly, extending its sphere of influence with exhibitions that presented and toured surveys of installations for performance art; contemporary still-life painting; a group exhibition of work by Texas artists; and single-artist shows of artists like Ida ApplebroogIda Applebroog
Ida Applebroog is a notable American painter. Her work is included in many public collections in the United States. During the decade of the 1990s, she received multiple honors including the College Art Association Distinguished Art Award for Lifetime Achievement, an Honorary Doctorate of Fine...
, Robert Morris
Robert Morris (artist)
Robert Morris is an American sculptor, conceptual artist and writer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent theorists of Minimalism along with Donald Judd but he has also made important contributions to the development of performance art, land art, the Process Art movement and installation...
, Pat Steir
Pat Steir
Pat Steir is an American painter and printmaker.-Education:Steir was born in 1940 in Newark, New Jersey, and currently lives in New York City. She attended the Pratt Institute in New York from 1956 to 1958, and Boston University College of Fine Arts from 1958 to 1960. She then returned to Pratt,...
, Bill Viola
Bill Viola
Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist. He is considered a leading figure in the generation of artists whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in New Media...
and Frank Stella
Frank Stella
Frank Stella is an American painter and printmaker, significant within the art movements of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction.-Biography:...
, as well as Texans Earl Staley, Melissa Miller and Vernon Fisher. In addition, Director Linda L. Cathcart established "Perspectives" in the Museum’s lower gallery—a fast-paced series of exhibitions focusing on cycles of work by emerging and well-known artists that had not previously shown in Houston. As of 2011, over 175 exhibitions have taken place within the innovative series.
In the 1990s, the Museum adjusted its focus to concentrate only on art made created within the past 40 years. It also worked to extend its reach internationally. Major single-artist exhibitions at the end of the 20th century included "Art Guys: Think Twice," "Tony Cragg: Sculpture," "Ann Hamilton: kaph," "Richard Long: Circles Cycles Mud Stone," "Nic Nicosia
Nic Nicosia
Nic Nicosia is an American art photographer who was born in Dallas, Texas. He received a BS in radio-television-film, with a concentration in motion pictures, from the University of North Texas in 1974. He was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant in 1984 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in...
: Real Pictures," "Introjection: Tony Oursler: 1976-1999," "Lari Pittman," "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective," "James Turrell: Spirit and Light," "William Wegman: Paintings and Drawings, Photographs and Videotapes" and "Robert Wilson's Vision."
Modern museum
The Museum temporarily closed on January 1, 1997 for the buildings first major renovation in 25 years. The Museum reopened to the public on May 10, 1997 with the presentation of "Finders/Keepers." This exhibition documented the institution’s relationship with its community and friends, borrowing important works of art back from private collectors that had remained in the region after first being presented at the Contemporary Arts Museum. Other important presentations since have included "Elvis + Marilyn: Two Times Immortal," "Abstract Painting Once Removed" and "Other Narratives."As the new millennium began, the Museum celebrated the change with a look back at some of the exhibitions of the previous decade in "Outbound: Passages from the Nineties." Other exhibitions of the fledgling century have included "Afterimage: Drawing Through Process", "Subject Plural" and "The Inward Eye." Single-artist shows have focused on a variety of media and have included "When One is Two: The Art of Alighiero e Boetti," William Kentridge
William Kentridge
William Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two...
, Uta Barth
Uta Barth
Uta Barth is a contemporary photographer who lives and works in Los Angeles. Barth was a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004-05....
, and Juan Muñoz
Juan Muñoz
Juan Muñoz was a Spanish sculptor, working primarily in paper maché, resin and bronze. He was also interested in the auditory arts and created compositions for the radio. He was a self-described "storyteller"...
.