changing teams

Friendly art heist: Menil Collection snags CAMH curator Toby Kamps

Toby Kamps, The Menil Collection's new Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Photo by Anton Henning
Barnaby Furnas, "John Brown," 2005 (from award-winning exhibition, "Old, WeirdAmerica")
Bruce Nauman, "The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths(Window or Wall Sign), 1967
Bruce Nauman, "Self Portrait as a Fountain," 1966

Is Houston art world incest on the rise? After an extensive search (that involved national and international candidates), The Menil Collection has named Toby Kamps, currently senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, as the museum's new curator of modern and contemporary art.

Kamps is coming off of a three-and-a-half year stint at the CAMH, to which he brought national acclaim with such exhibitions as 2008's The Old, Weird America, a study of folk themes in contemporary art, winning a "Best Thematic Show Nationally" award from the U.S. chapter of the International Association of Art Critics. At the CAMH, Kamps cultivated a reputation for curating exhibition programs that travelled to other museums, accompanied by critically praised catalogues.

The art arena's merry-go-round of curatorial posts makes for an interesting study: For example, Kamps will be replacing Franklin Sirmans, who moved to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art earlier this year. Sirmans was recruited by LACMA director Michael Govan, who previously collaborated with the curator when the two worked at New York's Dia Art Foundation — an organization founded in part by Philippa de Menil, daughter of Dominique de Menil.

"Following Toby's expression of interest in coming to the Menil and our thorough interview process, I am most pleased that we found our ideal candidate right here in Houston," Josef Helfenstein, director of The Menil Collection, said. "He brings impressive credentials, national and international experience and a real enthusiasm to the Menil as we move forward, building upon the legacy of its founders."

Kamps' rise as seasoned purveyor of modern and contemporary art began with his earning a bachelor's degree in German from Bowdoin College, after which he studied art history at Kunsthistorisches Institut at the Free University in Berlin, eventually returning to the U.S. to earn a master's degree from Williams College. Working at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, he co-edited the comprehensive catalogue raisonné of conceptual artist Bruce Nauman.

Other accolades include serving as curator and department head at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, where he led the collections committee and was active in identifying and presenting works of art for acquisition. Leaving the CAMH, a decidedly non-collecting institution, Kamps will reenter a realm of museum work where he can draw upon a potent permanent collection.

"The Menil has been a model and inspiration to me since I first visited the museum in 1991," Kamps said. "I am tremendously excited about organizing exhibitions in the Menil's beautiful spaces and working with — and building — its extraordinary collection. The institution's emphasis on spirituality, diversity and social justice resonates with my own interests, and its amazing holdings provide a unique and thrilling context for aesthetic and life-engaged thinking."

Once Kamps assumes his post, we can expect future exhibitions with a broad range of modern-and-contemporary subjects, including major surveys of internationally known artists, provocative thematic shows, and intimate project-style endeavors — geared to engage general and academic audiences alike. To date, Kamps' projects have been characteristic simply for their breadth of media, spotlighting painting, sculpture, photography, installation and sound.

"We look forward to Toby's arrival," Helfenstein said. "At the Menil, he will continue to expand his range as a curator with eye-opening exhibitions, scholarly publications and exciting programs."

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Movie Review

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York lifts big rewards from small stakes

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

John Turturro in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.

John Turturro is one of those people who embodies the term “character actor” the best. With over 120 credits in his nearly 50-year career, Turturro has rarely been the star of any of his projects. Instead, filmmakers have mostly used his unique face, New York accent, and inimitable acting style to help support the lead actors, a role for which Turturro seems well-suited.

Now 69, Turturro is taking the reins in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, playing Harry, a long-in-the-tooth thief who still has skills but not as many opportunities. The plucking of wallets isn’t as lucrative in the mostly-cashless modern society, and Harry has little use for smartphones since he doesn’t know how to use them. However, a rare opportunity presents itself when he happens upon Dylan (Will Price), a young man who seems to be as oblivious as he is rich.

After a clever robbery of Dylan’s vintage car, though, Harry discovers he might be in over his head, especially when he finds a card-shaped USB drive. It's the contents of the drive that soon puts Harry and anyone around him in danger, including his wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave), who’s suffering from unresponsive wakefulness syndrome; Ben (Steve Buscemi), who helps Harry sell stolen items; and even his estranged daughter Kelly (Tatiana Maslany).

Written and directed by Noah Segan, the film is a low-key thriller made to emulate the tempo of Harry’s life. While one of the plot points puts a degree of urgency into his actions, for the most part Harry is someone for whom slow and steady always wins the race. He is someone who has developed relationships over decades, including with NYPD Detective Warren (Giancarlo Esposito), and it’s those bonds that help him make it through each day.

Even though Harry is a criminal, the film treats him as an overall good guy, especially through the way he takes care of Rosie and the generosity he displays with his (stolen) money. Almost no one has a bad thing to say about him, and so Segan comes up with a couple of ways to give him more depth. His one scene with Kelly does the trick, providing a glimpse into a lesser man who clearly existed at one time.

One of the pleasures of the film for longtime movie fans are the reunions Turturro has with Buscemi (his co-star in The Big Lebowski) and Esposito (his co-star in Do the Right Thing). All three could be all-stars on a team of character actors, with each having made big impressions in all sorts of roles over the past 40 years. Seeing them back together again as very different characters from when they last collaborated underscores the level of talent each of them has.

Turturro ably carries the load in the lead role, but given his acting style and the type of role he’s called to play, his performance is far from showy. The same goes for Buscemi and Esposito, who are there to give great support to the classic supporting actor. When someone does go over-the-top, as Price does in most of his scenes, it stands out in a bad way. Maslany scores a lot of points in her brief appearance.

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a quiet film with big rewards despite its small ambitions. The beauty of the story lies in its small details, both character-related and not. Turturro rarely disappoints when he’s not the lead actor, and he demonstrates that he’s equally capable of making a movie great when he’s out front.

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The Only Living Pickpocket in New York opens in theaters on October 30.

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