Hometown Glory
GQ delightfully surprised by Houston's "Meditative Mecca"
Based on the ever-so-slight surprise in the title, "A Meditative Mecca — In Oil Country," it seems in writing about the Rothko Chapel in its December issue that GQ magazine is surprised to find culture among the uncouth oil barons of Houston.
But hey, that's OK — we are equally surprised to find a mention of culture in GQ!
Deputy editor Michael Hainey seems at first bemused by the curious caretaker of the chapel, Hana Tiric, before being lost in raptures over the intense mood of the place:
It's a place that captures opposites: It's large yet intimate. Dark yet bright. Spare yet rich. The chapel is infinity captured. Vastness contained.
I think Houstonians are so proud of Rothko Chapel not because of the major art world cred, but because the chapel is in so many ways like Houston itself — deceptively unimpressive to outsiders and yet spellbinding in its own way to the people who really choose to explore it.
Welcome to Houston and The Rothko Chapel, GQ. We think you'll like it here.