Czech It Out

MFAH gets more national magazine love — lauded for "must-see" exhibits

Karel Teige, Untitled, 1947, collage, collection of Roy and Mary Cullen, fromthe MFAH exhibition, New Formations: Czech Avant-Garde Art and Modern Glass fromthe Roy and Mary Cullen Collection
© Estate of Karel Teige
Jules Olitski, With Love and Risregard: Rapture, 2002, acrylic on canvas,private collection, from the MFAH exhibit Revelation: Major Paintings by JulesOlitski
Photo by Michael Cullen
Aoki Katsuyo, Predictive Dream, 2005, porcelain, from Shifting Paradigms inContemporary Ceramics: The Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection.

Architectural Digest is doling out some love for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — honoring not one, but three MFAH exhibits in its most recent "Season's Best Museum Shows" wrap ups.

All three exhibitions are currently on view, but time's quickly running out for those who haven't caught the museum's intriguing look at Czech modern art.

Here's what the popular national design magazine wants to make sure you see:

All three exhibitions are currently on view, but time's quickly running out for those who haven't caught the museum's intriguing look at Czech modern art.

New Formations: Czech Avant-Garde Art and Modern Glass (though March 11)

In December 2011, Architectural Digest placed the museum's exploration of Czech modernism at the head of a pack that includes Maurizio Cattelan's Guggenheim retrospective and the opening of Denver's Clyfford Still Museum.

Inspired by local collectors Mary and Roy Cullen, who provided the exhibit's pieces, New Formations uncovers a strain of modern art that remained largely hidden to non-Czech citizens throughout decades of Communist rule.

In more than 150 examples of avant-garde paintings, collages and works in glass, the exhibition examines early homegrown movements like Artificialism and Poetism in the 1920s as well as the country's own take on Art Nouveau and Surrealism.

Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski (through May 6)

The March 2012 issue of Architectural Digest highlights the MFAH's Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski as one of this spring's "must-see exhibitions."

Regarded as one of American art’s last classic modern painters, Color Field artist Olitski started his career in the 1960s with expansive canvases of flat yet vibrant colors devoid of brushstrokes. The show traces his constantly evolving techniques and modes, ending with the bold and swirling abstractions he painted in the decade before his death in 2007.

Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics (through June 3)

The MFAH's look at late 20th and early 21st century ceramics also made the grade for Architectural Digest.

Through examples taken from what writer Stephen Wallis calls a "pioneering collection" from Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio, Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics seeks to challenging any traditional preconceptions one might have of the media. The exhibit traces modernist efforts of postwar potters through the new innovations in contemporary ceramics seen today in the work of young artists like Barnaby Barford and Aoki Katsuyo.

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"Here come the grannies!"

Walk through the Magic Door to experience the world of Bluey in Houston

bluey and bingo's bedroom at camp in houston

Courtesy of CAMP

Houston will soon be the home of a new CAMP store, featuring interactive installations like the house from "Bluey."

Bluey is coming to the Galleria this February “for real life” through an immersive event that invites visitors to enter the world of the famous Australian Heeler family. This one-of-a-kind experience brings the Heeler home and backyard to life with intricate details that will delight fans of all ages.

Tickets are on sale now for Bluey x CAMP, the inaugural interactive experience of the combination toy store, party venue, and immersive theater space. This is The Family Experience Company’s first CAMP location in Houston, with the business securing a 7,500-square-foot permanent retail space in the Galleria.

Through “The Magic Door,” a pivoting wall, visitors step into seasonally rotating interactive spaces beginning with a 5,000-square-foot lifesize replica of Bluey’s house.

Visitors can play games made popular by the show, such as grannies and keepy uppy, and bust a move when “dance mode” is activated. The kitchen’s fridge is covered in drawings by the Heeler puppies, while the living room TV plays Bluey.

Families can explore both a pillow fort and a cardboard castle — two-story structures complete with slides — before venturing into a playroom stocked with toys and costumes from the show. In the backyard, a recreation of the Heeler’s large tree is surrounded by charming gnomes. A photo opportunity with Bluey and Bingo tops off the visit.

Beyond the world of Bluey, CAMP offers even more for visitors in its Canteen space, with a splatter room, The Schmutz Bar (a slime creation station), a party room, and a playable truck. Customers can also shop for toys, clothing, and accessories.

Houston joins a list of CAMP’s locations in Dallas, Atlanta, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Installations change seasonally, with other current features including Paw Patrol, The Little Mermaid, and Encanto.

Courtesy of CAMP

Houston will soon be the home of a new CAMP store, featuring interactive installations like the house from "Bluey."

bluey galleria-houston camp bluey x camp