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    Deborah Colton Gallery

    Artist fuses East Coast grit with California cool for Houston exhibition, Dying to Live

    Adrienne Raquel
    Mar 29, 2013 | 4:00 pm

    Sexy, vibrant and provocative, Harif Guzman's artwork speaks volumes. With past exhibitions in London, Tokyo and Sydney, the New York-based artist has finally made his Texas debut with an extraordinary exhibition entitled Dying to Live — which will be on display at the Deborah Colton Gallery through April 20.

    The Guzman's street art influence and use of mixed media gives viewers a glimpse of life in NYC, as he delves deeper into the social interactions that fuel our everyday lives. His take on popular culture and his depiction of women, materialism and transformation illustrates a collage of images that bring a fresh, gritty flavor to the Houston art scene.

    We recently caught up the artist at Deborah Colton Gallery, where he discussed why he creates art and where he finds inspiration.

    CultureMap: Briefly tell us a little bit about yourself.

    Harif Guzman: My name is Harif Guzman and I didn't get into art to follow any rules. I don't kiss ass and I don't ride coattails. I've been making art for the past 20 years.

    CM: What inspires you to create?

    HG: Most of my inspiration comes from whatever is surrounding me at the time. Women mainly, a lot of my work is inspired by women.

    Life isn't about cars or being successful or money. It's about the communication between people. That's the inspiration.

    I think sharing experiences with people and being able to communicate with people is a beautiful thing — especially when you can communicate without being misunderstood. Being misunderstood is one of the worst feelings one can have. Most of my inspiration comes from connecting with men and women. That's who's here on earth, you and me.

    Life isn't about cars or being successful or money. It's about the communication between people. That's the inspiration.

    CM: You've traveled the world and lived in some of the nation's most desirable cities — NYC, Miami and Los Angles. How has urban life influenced your artwork?

    HG: Miami influenced me a lot. I grew up and went to high school in Miami. I also lived in southern California and northern California, which definitely brought out another side and helped balance me out. If I'd have stayed in NYC at the time, I would have been too crazy. It helped me learn about my spiritual side and mellowed me out a bit.

    There's a saying: "Living in California adds 10 years to a man's life." I feel like those "10 years" were important. But, my home will always be in New York and the Caribbean.

    CM: When people view your artwork, what do you want them to draw from it?

    HG: I want them to draw whatever it is that they feel inside. I don't make artwork for anyone specifically . . . I make it for myself. There's no compromise.

    I want people to get something out of my artwork. It's not important if people like it so much. Even if they don't like it, I want them to remember it.

    I want people to get something out of my artwork. It's not important if people like it so much. Even if they don't like it, I want them to remember it. One of the most important things is to leave an impression on someone's mind, whether it's good or bad. As long as it leaves an impression.

    CM: Your artwork is fresh and vibrant, yet provocative. It strays away from the norm. How does it feel to exhibit your artwork in a conservative city such as Houston?

    HG: It feels like it would if I were to exhibit in any other place. People have been pretty responsive and I think my work fits really well here.

    CM: Out of the entire Dying to Live exhibition, which series do you feel is your strongest?

    HG: I feel strongly about all of them, to be honest. I have 14 series that I've been working on and perfecting for the past 15 to 20 years. What you see here is a small portion of what I really do.

    The series Romance of Petroleum is very important to me, because I feel like everything around us is fabricated in oil. It's based on man's romance with oil. After a while, the romance isn't about money anymore. It's about the need to find it. It's a natural fascination.

    I like the Dark Ages series as well. It's a mix of my street art and inspired by the Louvre Museum in Paris. I'm also stoked about this new LED light series because it's original. I've never seen anyone do that with LED lights. It's canvas with wheat pasted paper on top and LED lights that shine through it.

    CM: If you could chose one word to describe your aesthetic, what would it be?

    HG: I would say "love." I do art for the love of it. It's very simple, yet complex.

    You have to understand there are artists and then there are painters. Artists fabricate shit, especially nowadays. The contemporary market has become so flooded and art has become all about branding. You can brand yourself and appeal to people through emails all day to succeed.

    But, I believe painters are a whole different breed. There are very few painters left that are pure artists. I'm a pure artist.

    Display of Harif Guzman's paintings at the Deborah Colton Gallery.

    Harif Guzman Exhibition, February 2013, Trio
      
    Photo by Adrienne Raquel
    Display of Harif Guzman's paintings at the Deborah Colton Gallery.
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    Movie Review

    Ben Affleck cooks the books in chaotic sequel The Accountant 2

    Alex Bentley
    Apr 24, 2025 | 2:30 pm
    Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck in The Accountant 2
    Photo by Warrick Page/Prime
    Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck in The Accountant 2.

    In this Hollywood era of franchises, finding one to call their own is a priority for many movie stars. Over 30 years into his career, Ben Affleck had yet to find one; he did star as Batman in multiple movies, but that role has been interchangeable. He seemed to get a prime action hero role with 2016’s The Accountant, but somehow it’s taken nine years for The Accountant 2 to come out.

    Affleck’s character of Christian Wolff is a high-functioning autistic man whose abilities to comb through mounds of data quickly and efficiently are matched only by his fighting skills. When Ray King (J.K. Simmons), a former Treasury agent who had previously hunted Christian, is murdered, King’s replacement, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), calls on Christian to help figure out what happened and track down his killer.

    The search quickly finds multiple criminal conspiracies, including a hitman ring, a scheme to abduct migrants, and more. Naturally, Wolff claims to need help in the endeavor, so his mercenary brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) soon joins in on the quest. The two brothers work together to figure out the puzzle while also stopping to have some fun every now and then.

    Directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Bill Dubuque (both returning from the original), the film feels like it is missing many connective scenes. It often starts down one road and seems to be making good progress when it suddenly veers into another storytelling lane with no explanation. This happens multiple times throughout the film, to the point that it becomes almost impossible to tell what the main story is supposed to be.

    In the first film, the oddity of having an autistic math genius also being a world-class marksman and fighter somehow made sense. This film leans much more into Christian’s physical skills, with the autistic side of things showing up in his (mostly) emotionless demeanor. While that works to a certain degree, the choppiness of the story undercuts the character traits that Affleck does his best to impart.

    The best examples of the messiness of the film come in the multiple scenes that serve as nothing more than comic relief, with not even an attempt at connecting them to the main plot, such as it is. Two of them involve Christian proving himself to be a ladies man despite his lack of conversational skills, both of which fall flat as they seem to be making fun of his autism rather than highlighting positive aspects of it. Each of the comic scenes is so disparate in tone from the rest of the film that they essentially bring the story to a screeching halt.

    Affleck is fine in the part, although he’s much better when Christian turns toward action hero mode than when he has to display the character’s autistic traits. Bernthal is great at being an over-the-top macho guy, and he gets to indulge that side of him throughout the film. Addai-Robinson is disserved by a role that doesn’t give her character any autonomy despite her high-powered position.

    Affleck’s career has been one of the most up-and-down ones of any supposed A-list actor, and The Accountant 2 marks another down moment for him. He may have finally gotten his first sequel for a film in which he’s the main character, but don’t expect there to be a third installment.

    ---

    The Accountant 2 opens in theaters on April 25.

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