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    Pick Five (Plus)

    Your weekly guide to Houston: Near-death art, Fashion on Sale, artsy teapots &Uncle Fester dancing

    Joel Luks
    Jan 12, 2012 | 10:56 am
    • One of the whimsical and delightful teapots at the Fifth Annual InternationalTexas Teapot Tournament at 18 Hands Gallery.
    • The Addams Family may be slightly twisted, but the members face problems anyloving family encounter when dealing with teenagers.
      Photo by Jeremy Daniel
    • Have a penchant for anything fabulous? CultureMap Fashion on Sale is a must thisweekend fashion and accessories in a one-stop-shop shopping bacchanal.
    • Pop-up show at Houston Pavilions courtesy of Hope Stone Dance Company withMercury Baroque and Houston Boychoir. Titled la vie à pleines dents, the showencourages goers to live each day to its fullest.
    • Kirill Gerstein takes on Rachmaninoff's Piano Concert No. 1 and No. 4 at thesecond concert run of RachFest.
      Photo by Marco Borggreve

    If there's anything that signals the beginning of 2012, it's the arts community's relentless offerings of concerts, socials, performances, openings and receptions. So much for a break, it didn't take very long for presenters to get me out and about in the new year.

    Have you been to a Cultured Cocktails event at Boheme? It's an informal yet chatty gathering of artsy folk every Thursday looking to learn a bit more about organizations and people doing creative and groundbreaking work in Houston. Sponsored by Spacetaker, the same nonprofit troupe that brought Houston the Winter Holiday Art Market (WHAM), you know that funds raised affect your local economy.

    Aside form the wicked frozen mojitos, it's all about the mishmash-style decor and the recently-upgraded patio, where we found art scene regulars like Heather Pray, Michael Coppens, Mandy Graesle, Nancy Wozny with her hubby Mark, all toasting to last week's featured organization, Society for the Performing Arts. Next week, it's FotoFest.

    Did you make it to RachFest 1? This is what we thought.

    A packed house watched attentively British Arrows 2011 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The screening amassed the best of the best television commercials, ads and public service announcement campaigns. Though there was oodles of hilarity and absurdity — always heightened by British sass — the Best Television Commercial of the Year went to T-Mobile for its instrument-less musical flash mob at Heathrow Airport.

    Albeit what piqued my interest were tactics behind communication strategies, like Silver Award winner, Who Killed Deon PSA by The Metropolitan Police, with its efforts to educate youth about the law of joint enterprise that melded elements of engagement with suspense and drama.

    How are good commercials designed? Doritos' David Shane had something to say about it.

    Amid sporty socials, football frenzy and an imploding building in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, the past is past. Future is here. On tap for next week:

    Aurora Picture Show Screening of "Pretty Dark" Short Films at Barnevelder

    Now that the holidays are over, it's time to let go of those happy spirits and take a journey to the dark side. Indy film presenter Aurora Picture Show has curated a Thursday screening of eight short films — ranging in length from five to 13 minutes — that delve into psychologically disturbing themes like tragedy, gluttony, brutality, isolation, gastronomic carnage and wounded rabbits.

    I tend to be a merry guy, always looking on the bright side, but a reminder that not everything in life is rainbows and unicorns serves as a mental note that most of us are quite fortunate.

    Houston Symphony's RachFest 2 at Jones Hall

    It's round two of piano god Kirill Gerstein against Rachmaninoff's brutal writing. Though the composer's tunes are the apex of Russian Romanticism, made in America, whizzing through his scores is an athletic feat not for the faint at heart. If you didn't make last week's RachFest concert, don't be a musical fool, this one is not to miss.

    The 32-year-old Gerstein has the physical prowess to take on these masterpiece with musical sensibilities to render the experience aesthetically thrilling.

    One piano concerto is plenty. In this installment of RachFest, Gerstein takes on Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 1 and Concerto No. 4, both works often neglected in favor of the Second and Third. Think of it as a double feature. "RachFest 2" runs Friday through Sunday.

    Hope Stone Dance Company presents la vie à pleines dents with Mercury Baroque and Houston Boychoir at Houston Pavilions

    Three for the price of one? I was already sold at the French title, loosely translated as "live each day to its fullest," though the collaboration with Mercury Baroque and Houston Boychoir is enough ammunition for any art lover to put this Hope Stone performance on his/hers must-do list.

    The content is serious. The company used research and interviews from those who have experienced near-death situations and terminally-ill patients. Lighting design by Jeremy Choate and set/stage design by David Graeve.

    la vie à pleines dents plays Thursday through Sunday at Houston Pavilions on the second level above Yao Restaurant & Bar.

    Fifth Annual International Texas Teapot Tournament at 18 Hands Gallery

    Forget milk. Tea does a body good. I learned that when I first embarked in an immersive experience to learn about the stepped beverage at the Path of Tea — where I hold "office hours" regularly. Tea is part of my regular routine evident by the cute owl teapot and mug parched on my desk.

    Teapots galore. That's what you'll find at the Fifth Annual International Texas Teapot Tournament. The exhibition opens at 6 p.m. Saturday at 18 Hands Gallery in The Heights, where a myriad of artists from around the world will display more than 60 clay gems.

    The show is juried by Cindi Strauss, curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

    Peter and the Wolf at Houston Zoo with River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and InterActive Theater

    The rain and wind should go away by the weekend, so we recommend taking advantage or the lovely outdoors with an al fresco performance at the Houston Zoo with Peter takes on the Wolf. Yes, we all know what happens in Prokofiev's music, but when River Oaks Chamber Orchestra partners with InterActive Theater, children will have the opportunity to be truly engaged through the musical adventures, and learn about the instruments of the orchestra.

    The performance is free with zoo admission, so take time to enjoy the critters that call Houston Zoo their home. There are two performances on Sunday, at 2 and 3:30 p.m. at the Brown Education Center Auditorium.

    Assistant editor and nightlife expert party gal Caroline Gallay's pick: CultureMap Fashion on Sale at West Ave

    Caroline says: "My pick this week is CultureMap Fashion on Sale, an exclusive shopping event in West Ave above Tootsies Friday through Sunday. Being that it's my 25th birthday month, I'll be arriving early to scoop up discounted fall season designer duds and springtime splurges for an upcoming trip to Cabo.

    "VIPs have access to food and drink while they shop, and Q Custom Clothier teaming up with CRU, Ava/Alto, Eddie V and Pondicheri to host a Man Cave for your reluctant boyfriend/dad/brother/shacker. For more info, click here."

    Arts smarty pants and dance maven Nancy Wozny's pick: The Addams Family presented by Broadway Across America at Hobby Center

    Nancy says: "Gomez and Morticia are back, with Wednesday, Pugsley, Lurch and more in tow. I hear the familiar opening hand click theme of The Addams Family and I'm instantly transported back to my childhood and favorite 1960s television program.

    "What's not to love about this family of adorable creepsters? With tunes by Andrew Lippa, libretto by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and the design duo of Shockheaded Peter Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, The Addams Family musical is a barrel of macabre fun. Douglas Sills' smooth Gomez Addams will make you forget John Astin and McDermott/Crouch's cool design touch is in full evidence, especially when Uncle Fester performs a pas de deux with the moon.

    "I wonder if Charles Addams, who drew the original cartoons in The New Yorker, ever imaged Uncle Fester dancing? He does, by the way. Plays through Jan 15."

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    Hodge Podge

    Houston artist bids farewell, for now, with career-spanning new exhibit

    Craig D. Lindsey
    Jun 18, 2025 | 10:29 am
    Robert Leroy Hodge Sanman Studios
    Courtesy of Robert Leroy Hodge/SANMAN Studios
    The exhibit shows a range of the artist's works.

    Artist Robert Leroy Hodge is saying goodbye to Houston – well, not exactly.

    The Houston-born multidisciplinary artist recently debuted his latest exhibit, Diamonds That Fall from the Treetop, at SANMAN Studios. Known more for his eye-catching, pop-art collages (in 2023, he collaborated with Austin artist Tim Kerr for the No Kings But Us exhibit at Blaffer Art Museum), this mini-retrospective will feature selected works from his two-decade career – including the early stuff.

    “A lot of kids think I only make collages,” Hodge tells CultureMap. “And, also, I'm not making collages anymore like that. So, it's like the end of an era. I show where I started with these portraits and real paintings and drawings and how I kind of got into collage. It's a wide range of things I do, not just collage.”

    Diamonds will also be his last exhibit in Houston, but he’s not moving away. Hodge will cut down on doing local exhibits and focus more on getting his art and his name out there in other parts of the world. He’s out to prove that serious art can come out of this place.

    “When I interact with politicians and people in higher positions, they treat local artists like they're secondary, they're not good enough,” he says. “[They say] ‘They're in Houston because they can't be in New York and LA,’ and that's not the case. I could be anywhere, and I chose Houston.”

    But Hodge wants to be known as an artist from Houston, instead of just in Houston. “There’s nothing wrong with being a local artist in your city, but that’s not what I want,” he says. “I live here, but for me to get to the next space I wanna get to, I need to be showing more in New York, LA, out the country. And it's nothing personal – when you do a lot of stuff here, you just can't keep doing the same thing. You start to feel stagnant.”

    As much as he loves both the city and its art scene, Hodge knows that the visual arts isn’t a high priority around here. “We are an oil-and-gas city,” he says. “And because that's the main way money is being made, arts and culture is not primary. And, then, the new mayor is not really into art. So, it's like it all depends on who loves art and who's in office.”

    Within city limits, Hodge says he will be more of a curator and mentor, helping young artists and working with galleries and studios on creating showcases for those artists and others. He also wants to continue collaborating with fellow art enthusiasts of color, like the folks at SANMAN.

    “I wanted to do it with SANMAN because it's owned by two young Black men,” he says. “They got a staff of Black creatives, and I wanted to really show cohesiveness between Black men.”

    But Hodge isn’t completely hanging up the idea of doing another big solo show in his hometown. “This is the last one for a while,” he says, “unless the Menil calls or something crazy happens.”

    -----

    Diamonds That Fall will be on display through Saturday, July 26.

    Robert Leroy Hodge Sanman Studios
      

    Courtesy of Robert Leroy Hodge/SANMAN Studios

    The exhibit shows a range of the artist's works.

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