The People of The City

Taking the hammer to the streets: Modern metalsmith Gabriel Craig's guerilla jewelry hits Main

Gabriel Craig working in the heat at the Wheeler St. station.

Steven Thomson

While the international art community has been abuzz this summer over the Museum of Modern Art retrospective of Marina Abramović's provocative performance art, a strain of renegade performance that refuses to be tamed by a pristine gallery is taking place in Houston.

It's the work of studio jewelry artist Gabriel Craig, who is currently featured in the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston exhibition, Hand+Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft, along with several other artists who introduce their handiwork into the public realm.

Craig set up a metalsmith's bench on Monday afternoon in the green space along Main Street, between Wheeler and Blodgett streets, adjacent to the Wheeler Street Metro rail station. It was a pro bono affair, in which several visitors received a piece of on-site handcrafted silver jewelry. Craig composed silver rings while engaging onlookers in conversation about the state of handmade goods in today's economy.

"As a culture, we're separated from the means of manufacture and the means of production," he lamented as a light rail car swooshed behind him. "I'm out here to show people how to make this one thing, but typically we don't see where anything comes from."

Craig is well-versed in the thinking behind the life of a modern metalsmith: He delivered a lecture for the 2010 Society of North American Goldsmiths conference in March in Houston, and he is publishing an article about jewelry making and metalsmithing in the city, to appear in the fall issue of Metalsmith magazine. Craig is currently an artist-in-residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and in the fall he will be an instructor at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

"We've stopped demanding quality in exchange for getting more things," he said. "The Arts & Crafts movement in the 19th century was more about having less waste, and having quality stuff."

Since everything Craig produces is handmade, his priority is to make something of lasting quality. Craig showed his commitment by banging out his creations in near 100-degree heat on Monday. Both the rail station in the background and Craig's artworks shimmered beneath the scorching rays.

This demonstration marked the completion of a project in which Craig brought his jeweler's bench into public spaces and offered impromptu custom work while providing passersby with the experience of what it is to create jewelry. Since 2008, he has used such performance to connect the world of studio jewelry with the general public.

By giving away the jewelry, Craig is able to focus on the art's cultural, not commercial value — an act he refers to as "craft activism." The dialogue established with onlookers results in artwork that is both wearable, and a vehicle for memory.

Monday afternoon's intimate crowd was a mix of artists, art community figures (including the CAMH director Bill Arning), and also the intrigued pedestrian who might not typically enter a museum, gallery or craft fair.

"I just do very simple designs," Craig explained as he hammered at his stock of recycled silver. "That way, I can talk and work at the same time. I'm not making a ring for a particular person. I'll just be making something, and hopefully, it will fit somebody."

Hand+Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft is on view through July 25.

Metalsmith craft activist Gabriel Craig works on one of his pro bono creations.

Steven Thomson

Metalsmith craft activist Gabriel Craig works on one of his pro bono creations.

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Show business

Federal judge once again strikes down Texas drag show ban

Kristi Waters/ Facebook

San Antonio queen Kristi Waters performs a Selena tribute.

Texas once again cannot enforce its restrictions on some public drag shows after a federal judge declared a 2023 law unconstitutional for the second time.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner initially declared Senate Bill 12 unconstitutional in September 2023 only a few months after it was passed by the Texas Legislature, citing First Amendment violations. More than two years later in November, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unblocked the law and returned the case to Hittner with specific instructions on how to reassess it.

Hittner reaffirmed his ruling Tuesday, August 25, stating in his order that besides removing several plaintiffs and defendants from the lawsuit, the appellate court’s decision “did not disturb” his prior decision declaring SB 12 unconstitutional. The ruling again pauses the law, which had gone into effect in March after the 5th Circuit’s decision.

The ruling described SB 12 as overly broad in its definitions of performance and nudity, stating that provocative cosplay at conventions, swimming athletes, or Dolly Parton and Elvis impersonators could potentially be penalized under the law.

“The vast majority of the law’s numerous applications violate the First Amendment because all the performances that it has an actual impact on are constitutionally protected and are targeted for prohibition based on content and viewpoint,” Hittner wrote.

The suit was originally filed against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, two counties three district attorneys, and one county attorney by two community pride groups, two entertainment groups, and Brigitte Bandit, a drag queen and longtime Texas LGBTQ+ rights activist. After the 5th Circuit’s ruling, the two pride groups were removed as plaintiffs and Paxton was left as the sole defendant, which Hittner said satisfied the higher court’s instructions.

Tiffany Epiphany and Brigitte Bandit Tiffany Epiphany with local celeb and activist Brigitte Bandit at an Austin Pride parade. Photo by Natalie Grigson

“We use our performances to assert liberation, power, and joy with our community,” Bandit said in a statement provided by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, which represented the plaintiffs. “As a lifelong Texan, I’m sick of this state trying to censor art and stoke hatred and violence against drag artists and the LGBTQIA+ community.”

SB 12 as adopted in law contains no language explicitly referencing drag performances, however a previous version while in the Legislature specifically included references to drag. Hittner noted in Tuesday's ruling that opponents of drag performances are not obligated to attend them.

“Finally, for those who find such activities as described in this case offensive, the solution is relatively simple … just don’t go,” he wrote.

Hittner also denied a request from Paxton for a supplemental trial and new discovery in the case. Paxton, in a social media post Tuesday, said his office would seek an appeal to the ruling to protect Texas kids.

“This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,” he said.

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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