Gray Contemporary opens Gray Area, an exhibition of paintings by Lucinda Cobley and sculptures by Michael Crowder. The opening reception will take place on Feb. 13, 6-8:30 p.m., and will remain on view through March 14. An artists talk will be held on Feb. 28, 2-3 p.m.

Cobley is a British painter and printmaker who since 1998 has been residing in Houston. She graduated with a BA from Staffordshire University followed by a PG Dip from Saint Martin's College of Art and Design from the University of Arts, London. Initially she developed an interest in ceramics while at Bournville College of Art and Design in Birmingham, UK. This led to working with glass three-dimensionally, including casting, fusing and laminating painted enameled layers together. After many years of investigation into painting, layered processes take form through the application of oil or acrylic onto multiple layers of translucent glass, vellum or plastic. The individual works are arranged in sequences following linear or grid formations. Color relationships become discernible through subtle refractions of light in tandem with physical movements made by the viewer. Sometimes barely visible, each translucent layer reveals luminous color interactions and exposes the history of the mark-making process.

Crowder is a mixed media sculptor who exhibits across the U.S. and internationally. Originally from New Orleans, he is currently based in Houston. His conceptually-driven sculpture often incorporates museum "art/ifacts" made of glass particles fused together in a variation of the ancient pâte de verre technique. Exploring ideas of fragility and impermanence, his work is sometimes cast using very ephemeral materials — from sugar or chocolate to marble dust or cigarette ashes.

He was recently an Artist-in-Residence at the Dora Maar House in Ménerbes, France, and he was one of only two Americans invited to participate in an international sculpture park project involving 30 artists from 15 countries held in Bodh Gaya, India in 2010. His MFA from Kent State University with a concentration in Glass followed a BFA from Louisiana State University with a concentration in Sculpture. Museum collections include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Gandhi Maidan Museum, Patna, India.