Warhol or The Beast?

The art by the sea: Galleries of wonder dot the Texas Gulf Coast from Rockportto Beaumont

Jesus Bautista Moroles, "Lighthouse Fountain," 2002
John Alexander, "The Beast, Arnhem Land, Northern Australia," 2001 (detail)
The Fulton Mansion in Rockport
Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas
Collage from the Museum of the Gulf Coast's Robert Rauschenberg Gallery
A portrait of Princess Caroline of Monaco in "Being Andy Warhol," on view June13-Aug. 15 at the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur

Coastal waters have long been incubators of artists' enclaves. And although the Texas Gulf Coast is no French Riviera, the area still brings a lot to the table. This summer, take the plunge and navigate the waters of these art communities.

Rockport

Named one of the "Top Ten Art Colonies" in the United States by Coastal Living Magazine, Rockport is less than a three-and-a--half-hour drive away, but offers an authenticity and natural beauty that makes it feel much farther. Aransas County has been an art colony since the late 1800s, and in 1948, the Fulton School of Painting was founded. More than 15 galleries dot the town's grid, which is just enough to fill a weekend getaway. On July 3 and 4, the Rockport Center for the Arts is host to the 41st Annual Art Festival, featuring over 120 artists, as well as live music.

The center boasts a seaside sculpture garden — don't miss the work of National Medal of Arts Award Recipient and Rockport resident, Jesus Moroles.

If you've got a flair for historic architecture and the decorative arts, take a turn by the Fulton Mansion, a restored mansard roof villa dating to 1877. Family portraits, gas lamps and starfish collections offer insight on Gilded Age life on the Gulf. Stroll around the majestic, windswept oaks dotting the property. The crashing waves of a nearby beach will be waiting for you when you're finished.

Orange

At the Stark Museum of Art, paintings, sculpture and prints from the 19th and 20th centuries highlight the stunning land, dramatic people and diverse wildlife of the American West. The earthy collection makes a thoughtful juxtaposition to the clean lines of architect Ernesto G. Liebrecht's design. The current temporary exhibition, "Blooms: Floral Art in the Stark Collections" is unapologetically pretty, featuring a collection of paintings so earnest that Houston art spaces would never dare to display them.

Of a higher pedigree are works by naturalist artist John James Audubon, housed in the permanent collection galleries.

Port Arthur

A landmark in the Golden Triangle, the Museum of the Gulf Coast spotlights the rich array of talent across the plain. A highlight is the Robert Rauschenberg Gallery, containing 21 works by the combine-obsessed artist. This collection underscores the tumultuous state of pop culture in 1960s America, with images of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War, Janis Joplin and J.F.K.

The gallery is unique for its display of works created between 1985 and 1991 — long after the reign of Pop Art — called Rauschenberg's "Overseas Cultural Interchange," with each work focussing on a different nation, from Cuba to Germany to Malaysia. Of special interest to Houstonians is the display of posters the artist designed for the Houston Grand Opera.

Opening June 13, the exhibition "Being Andy Warhol" presents a series of photographs taken by the pop art prince during the 1970s and 1980s. The collection illustrates the artist's preoccupation with fame, his use of the camera both as a social equalizer and social diary and his construction of identity as a commodity. These 18 black-and-white photographs lend a glimpse into the elusive artist's public life, his social circle and the artistic phenomenon he curated.

The June 13 opening will be accompanied by a screening of the 2002 documentary Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture at 2 p.m. The exhibition remains on view through August 15.

Beaumont

It's more than refineries and a pitstop on the way to Louisiana border casinos. As the current exhibition of Beaumont-born John Alexander at Houston's McClain Gallery may attest, the region implies a singular mystique deriving from its swampy landscape and heavy industry. This summer, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas on Main Street features the temporary exhibition, "Rusty Scruby: Playing in the Sand." Scruby's sculptural installations meditate on life by the sea, informed by his childhood on Kwajalein Island, a secret U.S. military base in the middle of the South Pacific, and now his studio in Beaumont.

The museum's permanent collection is also worth a gander. Don't leave the premise without staring Alexander's The Beast in the eye.

Craving something off the beaten path? Underground art enthusiasts should make the short drive north of the city to the Ice House Museum and Cultural Center in Silsbee. The galleries there offer a mix of fringe craft art and travelling exhibitions by contemporary artists. In August, the Ice House will hold its annual "Piney Woods Artist Competition," which will be judged this year by Alexis McCarthy, director of the Beaumont Art League.

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Movie Review

Feuding couple fights for survival in dark comedy Over Your Dead Body

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

Jason Segel and Samara Weaving on Over Your Dead Body.

When dysfunctional couples are depicted in movies, about the worst that typically happens is an acrimonious divorce. But in the new comedy/thriller Over Your Dead Body, the husband-and-wife have already gone way past that point by the time they’re introduced to the audience, with their plans leaning toward murder.

Dan (Jason Segel) is a low-level filmmaker relegated to directing pop-up ads, while Lisa (Samara Weaving) is an actor making do in small theater productions. The film finds them heading toward a rare getaway to a remote lake cabin, but it’s clear from the start that the married couple has been at odds for months, if not years. As the film begins, Dan clumsily drops hints at an alibi for his planned murder of Lisa to his ailing dad (Paul Guilfoyle) and others.

His shoddy planning was already sussed out by Lisa, who turns the tables on him when he tries to attack her, revealing a plan of her own. The situation naturally heightens their shared enmity of each other, but their blind hatred turns out to reveal the presence of Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Todd (Keith Jardine), two escapees from a nearby prison who were helped by guard Allegra (Juliette Lewis). What was once a shared murder plan turns into a fight for survival, forcing Dan and Lisa to work together.

Directed by Jorma Taccone (The Lonely Island) and written by former SNL writers Nick Kocher and Briand McElhaney, the film aims to mine comedy out of darkness. Dan and Lisa’s ire for each other is palpable, and their interactions early in the film are uncomfortable. As the film turns increasingly violent with the introduction of other unsavory characters, most of the humor is derived from the creative ways people are attacked and the ultraviolence that results from them going after each other.

It’s a little tough to get fully invested in the story when the filmmakers throw the audience directly into the plot with almost zero setup. There’s not even a cursory montage of Dan and Lisa being in love, so it’s hard to care a lot about their current hate for each other. Likewise, the presence of the prison guard and escapees is completely random, and the three of them aren’t utilized well in the story despite having a couple of well-known actors portraying them.

The saving grace of the film, though, is the twists and turns it takes in the final act. Everyone on screen is put through the wringer, with each of them suffering multiple injuries or worse. The mayhem becomes so chaotic that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going to happen next, which slightly makes up for the fact that the story as a whole is lackluster. Even though the audience knows they’re being manipulated, the sequences are entertaining enough to overcome that fact.

The cast as a whole is solid. Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Shrinking) uses his comic sensibility to keep the proceedings light. Weaving (Ready or Not) has done multiple movies in this vein, so she knows how to navigate the comedy/thriller waters. Olyphant feels a little out of place, but he has a presence that elevates his part. Lewis goes a little too manic in her part, and Jardine ably embodies the dumb brute.

The comedy history of Taccone, Segel, and Weaving keeps Over Your Dead Body as a positive experience even when the story doesn’t quite measure up. The film never becomes fully predictable, giving the audience a great dose of pandemonium that lifts it up despite its other faults.

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Over Your Dead Body is now playing in theaters.

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