Lo feo de este mundo: Images of the Grotesque
The Jack S. Blanton Museum
August 27 - January 4, 2003

Images of the Grotesque challenges each viewer's attention span, asking us to put off immediate sweet-tooth rewards in favor of the broader pleasure of a deepened understanding of the often marginalized works of Central and South America. A prior knowledge of the political history, and hidden art-history, of these regions would of course, enrich the experience, but
these satirical (mostly) prints and drawings can also serve as a gateway into that same knowledge. For example, Jose Luis Cuevas wrote La Cortina de Nopal (The Cactus Curtain), a manifesto in which he criticized the Mexican Moralists (also in the show) for simplifying their national identity and pushing their own "pompous morality!" Hint: if you're only going to read one set of wall text this year, read this wall text!

Walk Ways
Arthouse
September 13 - November 2, 2003

Based on work that explores the phenomenon of walking, Walk Ways (curated by Stuart Horodner of the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art) surveys work from as early as the sixties up to contemporary artists such as Martin Kersels and Francis Alys. Like our lovers, the work in this show typically enjoys a healthy mix of intelligent ideas and good looks. Don't forget to look at the William Pope.L installation,
now completed with a film of his walk, in the back room. Horodner will give a talk at Arthouse on October 1st at 7pm.

Andy Coolquitt: Trim
DiverseWorks
September 10 - November 15, 2003

Want a reason to go to Houston? No, you say? Why leave Austin you say? Well maybe local hero Andy Coolquitt's show at DiverseWorks can get your car back on 290. The largest solo exhibition of his in quite some time, Trim contains several types of works that he has been showing recently: furniture as soft sculpture, graphs and digital prints, while introducing a playful new series of puff-paint paintings on bed sheets. The real treat here is a sculpture that best embodies Coolquitt's art: A wall-sized positivity graph made of discarded cigarette lighters. Make a day of it!

Cynthia Camlin + Irene Roderick
dberman Gallery
September 18 - October 25, 2003

This is one of the best shows that we have ever seen at dberman. Irene Roderick's Facade Series: Tank I is a real stunner and Cynthia Camlin's The Thing Behind the Thing No. 4 also rocks. Roderick's helmet sculptures expand her questions about façade and decoration, but her ideas, which are distinctly tied to issues of representation and depiction on a 2D surface, may not translate as well when moved into the realm of 3D sculpture.