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Small wonders: Menil-organized Richard Serra drawing exhibit dazzles New York

Richard Serra, "Untitled," 1971, private collection, © Richard Serra
Photo by Savage
Richard Serra, "Untitled," 1972, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, giftof John Coplans, © Richard Serra
Richard Serra, "Untitled," 1972–1973, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;purchase with funds from Susan Morse Hilles, © Richard Serra
Photo by Sheldan C. Collins
Richard Serra, "Untitled," 1973, collection of Mary and Harold Zlot, © RichardSerra
Photo by Ben Blackwell
Richard Serra, "Notebook: Saqqara Pyramid, Egypt," 1990, collection of theartist, © Richard Serra
Photo by Rob McKeever

Minimalist artist Richard Serra's monumental rusted steel sculptures can be found in museums and public plazas worldwide. The imposing works draw strong opinions from the audiences they engulf (sometimes quite literally — a rigger was crushed to death in the early '70s during an installation). Leave it to the Menil Collection to mine the artist's lesser-known drawings and private sketchbooks in a landmark exhibition currently on view at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The show, which travels to the Menil in March 2012, has drawn wide praise from the New York art community, most notably in a New York Times article by chief critic Roberta Smith. Writes Smith of the exhibition,

Laying out Mr. Serra's drawing career with unfamiliar thoroughness, it barrels through 40 years of his adamantine engagement with the medium with a sweep that manages to encompass aspects of latter-day Abstract Expressionism while presaging today's sociable relational-aesthetics art . . . It is not quite like anything seen at the Met before: genuinely radical, physically unsettling art installed with a reasonable degree of effectiveness. It proclaims this august institution's commitment to recent art with an encouraging forcefulness."

The exhibition represents the first retrospective of drawings by the American artist, tracing 40 years of his pursuit of drawing as an independent form, yet still linked to sculptural practice. Through the 50 works on display, viewers can trace Serra's evolution from the traditional drawing media of ink and charcoal to dramatic black paintstick (a combination of pigment, oil and wax). The resulting drawings from the mid-'70s reflect an "emotional urge" that may be harder to detect in Serra's more widely-known monumental sculptures. Indeed, he considered the black in his drawings not mere color, but a material with its own weight strongly influenced by gravity.

Whereas institutions on both coasts may be reluctant to recognize the nation's mainland art powerhouses, the Menil is getting credit where credit is due for the retrospective. Smith quotes Menil curator Michelle White, "His drawings 'are not about something, they are something.'"

The Wall Street Journal, which has increased its cultural coverage as of late, is also moved by the Menil's effort. In her WSJ review, Ellen Gamerman praises the show for its variety: "The black paintstick that Richard Serra uses in his drawings rarely produces the same effect: It can thicken like asphalt, pucker delicately like lace or pour down paper like a sheet of rain."

Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective will be on view at the Menil Collection March 2 through June 10, 2012. To watch an interview with Richard Serra about his drawings on Charlie Rose, click here.

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Concert News

Jack Johnson rides into Houston on surf-themed 2026 tour

Photo by Tahnei Roy

Jack Johnson will play at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas on August 30, 2026.

Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, known his for laidback surf-rock music, will embark on the SURFILMUSIC Tour in 2026, which will include a stop at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on Friday, August 28.

The expansive 43-date North American tour, which starts on June 19 in Gilford, New Hampshire, will have three separate legs.

The three Texas dates — The Woodlands on August 28, Austin on August 29, and Dallas on August 30 — will be part of the second leg, where Johnson will be joined by Lake Street Dive.

The tour is Johnson’s first since 2022 and will celebrate a new era of music, film, and environmental connection rooted in his 20+ year career.

Johnson is touring in support of a forthcoming soundtrack, scored by Johnson and Hermanos Gutiérrez for a new documentary, SURFILMUSIC, that chronicles Johnson’s evolution from surfer to filmmaker to musician.

The film, which will be released in 2026, weaves through the making of his iconic surf films Thicker Than Water (1999) and The September Sessions (2000), which paved the way for his music career.

It celebrates the lifelong friendships and ocean-driven community that shaped Johnson’s path, and features many of the surfers who appeared in the original films, including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and the Malloy Brothers.

Johnson released his first album, Brushfire Fairytales, in 2001, and he has gone on to put out eight other albums, most recently Meet the Moonlight in 2022.

Fans can register for the Jack Johnson presale at jackjohnsonmusic.com, now through Sunday, November 9. The presale begins Monday, November 10, 2025 at 10 am local time and runs through general on-sale date of Friday, November 14.

Jack Johnson SURFILMUSIC 2026 Tour Dates

June 19 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
June 20 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
June 21 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
June 24 – Saratoga, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 26 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 27 – Philadelphia, PA – Highmark Mann Center
June 28 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
June 30 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre
July 1 – Canandaigua, NY – CMAC
July 3 – Burgettstown, PA – Pavilion at Star Lake
July 4 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
July 5 – Grand Rapids, MI – Acrisure Amphitheater
July 7 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
July 8 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
July 10 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
July 11 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
July 12 – Shakopee, MN – Minnesota Quarry Amphitheater
August 18 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
August 19 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 21 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
August 22 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park
August 23 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
August 25 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
August 26 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater
August 28 – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 29 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
August 30 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
September 1 – Riverside, MO – MORTON Amphitheater
September 2 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
September 3 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
September 4 – West Valley City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
September 6 – Stateline, NV – Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic
September 26 – George, WA – The Gorge Amphitheatre
September 27 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
September 28 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
September 30–October 1 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre
October 3 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
October 4 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
October 6 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
October 9 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
October 10– Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
October 11– Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl

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