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    Inside the art

    Curatorial conversation: Revolutionary abstractionist Kurt Schwitters' overdueMenil moment

    Steven Devadanam
    Oct 20, 2010 | 6:05 pm
    • Courtesy photo
    • Schwitters' "Merzbau"
      Photo by Cameron Blaylock
    • Installation view of "Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage"
      Photo by Cameron Blaylock
    • "Mz 371 bacco," Kurt Schwitters, 1922, Collage of cut and town printed,handwritten, tissue and coated papers on paperboard
      Photo by Hickey-Robertson
    • Kurt Schwitters derived the title for his series from the name of a top Germanbank.
    • "Merz 1926, 3. Cicero," Kurt Schwitters, 1926, Paint on wood nailed on wood
    • Installation view of "Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage"
      Photo by Cameron Blaylock
    • "Grey and Yellow," Kurt Schwitters, 1947, Collage, paper, cardboard, tissuepaper and canvas on cardboard

    When East Texas artist Robert Rauschenberg began producing his "combines" — artworks in which discarded objects were incorporated to form a collage — in mid-1950s New York, he was regarded as a revolutionary in the art world, eschewing the emotion of Abstract Expressionism in favor of an honest depiction of modern urban life.

    Rauschenberg in fact derived much of his style from German-born artist Kurt Schwitters, whose collages, or Merz, he saw at New York's Sidney Janis Gallery in 1952 and 1956. Recalling walking out of one of those exhibitions, Rauschenberg said he had the feeling it was "made solely for me," and later confessed that he had investigated collage "because everyone was talking about Schwitters."

    The Texas artist's indebtedness to Schwitters is on full view in Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage, an exhibition at the Menil Collection that opens Thursday and runs through Jan. 30. Works by other American artists of the second half of the 20th century, the likes of John Chamberlain and Cy Twombly, dot the exhibition's entrance, immediately drawing a connection between Schwitters and the artists he influenced (who happen to be heavily represented in the Menil's permanent holdings).

    "An exhibition of Schwitters' work has been at the top of my list since I first came to the Menil," museum director Josef Helfenstein tells CultureMap. "Schwitters is a very important artist for Americans who are strong in this collection, like Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly and Jasper Johns, many of whom collected Schwitters' work in their own right."

    The Menil exhibition, curated by Isabel Schulz, executive director of the Kurt and Ernst Schwitters Foundation and Curator of the Kurt Schwitters Archive at the Sprengel Museum Hanover, is the first major American exhibition on the artist in 25 years. The show is also a tribute to Walter Hopps, the Menil's founding director who curated the first American exhibition on Schwitters at the Pasadena Museum (now Norton Simon Museum).

    "As soon as I came here, Walter and I discussed doing a Schwitters show," Helfenstein says. "It's been five years in the making. This exhibition is long overdue."

    The Menil show focuses on the role of color in Schwitters' abstract collages, which he termed Merz in 1919, a word he cut out at random from an advertisement for Commerzbank, now the second largest bank in Germany. Entering the first gallery, the influence of Dada artists, particularly Hans Arp, is in its clearest form.

    Schulz describes these collages as reflecting the morose post-WWI Weltgefühl, or "feeling of the world," and the new generation's aim to create a new reality by forgoing the bourgeois taste for representational painting. These Merz collages radically reconsider composition and materials: bits of typography, wrapping paper, cigarettes and wine labels litter the works of this primary room. For Schwitters, this sort of ephemera was the new paint.

    Schwitters frequented a handful of avant-garde networks in the 1920s, which becomes more apparent walking through the second and third galleries. Traces of hard-edge Constructivism emerge in a series of prints, and the artist's peripheral affiliation with Mondrian and the Dutch De Stijl movement evinces itself in a series of limited-patette mounted wood constructions.

    Yet despite these similarities to different currents of the vanguard, Schwitters never subscribes to their heavy-handed manifestos: a round, red sphere may take a cue from Malevich or Lisitzky, but is in fact a detached ladle, and he strays from Mondrian's strict three colors into different shades of blue, while also incorporating found driftwood from the coast of Holland.

    "There's always a connection to daily life," Schulz says.

    In a fourth gallery, the rise of Nazism in 1930s German becomes apparent. Upon being classified by the regime as among the "degenerate artists," Schwitters fled to Norway. Gray and white tones, influenced by his studio's Nordic light, flood the works from this period. From this solemn corner of the exhibition emerges a passageway to the show's crowning jewel: the reconstructed Merzbau.

    Originally built at his parents' home in Hanover in 1933, the Merzbau is an architectonic installation-cum-conceptual artist's studio. Visitors are encouraged to penetrate the space and marvel in the hundreds of white pieces of wood and plaster that coalesce to form an arched space akin to a Gothic cathedral.

    Remnants of Schwitters' life poke through the pristine-white assemblage grotto, ranging from pop culture to the macabre (a sculpture of the head of the artist's first son, who died 14 days after his birth, adorns a perch). Bright fluorescent light alternating with warm, yellow flashes provide insight on how the space changed through the day as Schwitters would write letters and paint.

    At the time, the Merzbau gained recognition as among modern art's first forays into installation art, winning the heart of Museum of Modern Art director Alfred H. Barr, Jr. when he visited in 1935.

    The original Merzbau was destroyed in 1943 under Nazi command. The devastation of the Second World War bleeds into the exhibition's penultimate gallery, where thicker strokes of dark paint emerge on the collages. Dark organic forms, such as feathers, appear with greater frequency, along with traces of his origins as an expressionistic landscape painter.

    In the final gallery, the exhibition's narrative comes full circle.

    "In this room, we try to show the amazing connection between Schwitters and the artists after the Second World War generation," Helfenstein says.

    From this selection of works by Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, and of course, Robert Rauschenberg, Schwitters' abstraction immediately becomes lucid. The compositions of the more than 90 collages on view are no longer dense manifestations of a string of modern movements, but reveal their vital importance in the trajectory of 20th-century art. A few Merz collages linger in this final chamber, and beside the works of American postwar artists, their positioning illustrates that Schwitters' collages were not constructed in a vacuum, but are instead inventories of quotidian life in Europe at the cusp of the eruption of modern art.

    Schwitters' relevance doesn't end with the post-WWII American canon, though.

    "Walking through this exhibition, what becomes clear to me," elaborates Helfenstein, "is how unbelievably seminal he is as an artist, and independent. He's very progressive: he's a performer; he's a poet; he's a writer."

    The museum director continues, "Schwitters is an unbelievably multifaceted artist, and in that regard, he's extremely relevant, because that's what contemporary art is today. There are no boundaries anymore, no defined media anymore. Everything is available for everyone."

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    weekend event planner

    Here are the 15 best things to do in Houston this weekend

    Craig D. Lindsey
    Jun 18, 2025 | 6:30 pm
    Morgan Wallen
    Photo courtesy of Morgan Wallen
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    Juneteenth is on Thursday, June 19, which means those who want to celebrate will find plenty of events happening across Houston this weekend. We’re talking about such gatherings as the Children’s Museum Houston’s Juneteenth celebration, the Juneteenth 160 Fest, and Club Sienna’s Juneteenth Jubilee, just to name a few.

    But we also have the all-star return of Comicpalooza, live performances from a country bad-boy and a neo-soul legend, a YouTube show getting an early jump on celebrating DJ Screw Day, and the 20th anniversary of a movie that we wish we knew how to quit.

    Thursday, June 19

    Buffalo Bayou Partnership presents Underground Sounds: Sarah Grace Graves - “Three Names”
    All this weekend, the Underground Sounds series in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern returns, featuring Sarah Grace Graves performing her composition "Three Names," which is inspired by the vast, unique architecture of the Cistern and arranged especially for its natural acoustics. Graves is a composer and vocal performer working at the intersection between ritual and recital. She pulls inspiration from a variety of media, including classical literature and archival music recordings, to weave together stories through a blend of compositions and improvisation. 6 pm.

    Plot Swap Theater presents Pheromones
    Best friends Lucy and Vic slide into a downtown lounge, where Lucy unveils a slim vial she swears will make its wearer irresistible, putting their handsome waiter Danny in the crosshairs. Whether the pheromones ignite romance, trigger disaster, or expose deeper rifts between the friends is decided live by the audience. Pheromones is an intimately hilarious choose‑your‑adventure story, performed for only 10 guests per night. Through Thursday, July 24. 7 pm.

    The River Oaks Theatre presents When Houston Had the Blues
    When Houston Had the Blues focuses on the city’s rich (but sadly unheralded) history of great Black music. No other city can claim giants such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Bobby Blue Bland, Albert King, and Albert Collins, plus Black-owned labels like Duke and Peacock. The doc features new interviews with Billy Gibbons, CJ Chenier, Grady Gaines, and others. Producer Drew Barnett-Hamilton and Houston blues artists Trudy Lynn and Steve Krase will be around for a post-screening Q&A. 7:15 pm.

    Friday, June 20

    Comicpalooza
    The three-day pop culture con Comicpalooza is back, featuring vendors from all over the galaxy, programming covering a multitude of fandoms, special attractions intriguing the curious minds, panels featuring this year’s guests, and other geeky entertainment. Celebrity guests will include Hayden Christensen, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, Anthony Michael Hall, Patton Oswalt, Ming-Na Wen, WWE wrestlers, the cast of Resident Alien (including Alice Wetterlund, who will be at Punch Line Houston this weekend), and more. 1 pm (9 am Saturday and Sunday).

    Asia Society Texas Center presents AsiaFest
    AsiaFest celebrates the rich diversity of Houston’s Asian and Asian American communities through performances, art-making activities, food, live demonstrations, and more. The event will feature Asia's different regions' traditions, cultures, and food. Guests will get to interact with a dragon boat display on their front lawn, tour Asia Society Texas' exhibition "Hung Hsien: Between Worlds," and more. 5 pm.

    Morgan Wallen in concert
    Country star Morgan Wallen may not have dug hanging around at Saturday Night Live a few months back (he quickly bounced during the goodnights and later posted “Get me to God’s country” on his Instagram page), but he’ll be sticking around in Houston this weekend. He’ll be performing not one, but two shows at NRG Stadium, in support of his new album, I'm The Problem. Well, at least the man knows he’s got issues. 5:30 pm. (Saturday, 5:30 pm).

    Maxwell in concert
    The last time ‘90s neo-soul pioneer Maxwell performed here was in October, as his tour (which celebrated the 15th anniversary of his 2009 comeback album BLACKsummers’night) made a stop at the Toyota Center. Now, he’s returning to H-Town territory, preparing to rock the house over at Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre. So, if you conceived children while listening to his baby-making jams (or if you were conceived during a Maxwell song and you just wanna see what the hype is all about), Maxwell will be here to give you a little sumthin’ sumthin’. 8 pm.

    Saturday, June 21

    River Oaks District presents Motor Mornings with Post Oak Motor Cars
    River Oaks District invites car enthusiasts, collectors, and industry insiders to its Motor Mornings – presented by Post Oak Motor Cars – to see an extraordinary lineup of supercars and hypercars, including bespoke Bentleys, roaring Lamborghinis, and sleek Bugattis. Automotive aficionados can come together to enjoy a curated collection of some of the most coveted vehicles in the world to connect over shared passion and engineering perfection. This event is open to the public and will offer live music and complimentary coffee for attendees. 8 am.

    Kroger 70th Anniversary Celebration
    The nationwide grocery chain will mark 70 years of Houston operations with a party at its store in the Heights (1035 N. Shepherd). The first 70 customers through the door at 10 am will have the opportunity to buy seven items for just $0.70 each. Everyone else will enjoy wine tastings, gift card raffles, Winfield's Chocolate Bar giveaways, an appearance by the Texans cheerleaders, and activities for kids. To mark the occasion, Kroger will donate $35,000 to the Houston Food Bank. 10 am.

    Morgan Wallen
      
    Photo courtesy of Morgan Wallen

    Morgan Wallen is performing Friday and Saturday.

    Spin the Block at Screwed Up Records and Tapes
    Spin the Block, the new YouTube show where DJs and influencers take over a local Houston space and have a nice little kickback, will be at Screwed Up Records and Tapes this weekend, just in time for DJ Screw Day next weekend. Rock/hip-hop duo Blaze x Black will be performing as well as hosting, along with King Borris. DJ Pablo Barre will provide the beats, and food trucks and other vendors will be outside. Noon.

    Nate Jackson: Super Funny World Tour
    Stand-up comedian, actor, and viral sensation Nate Jackson is taking his signature high-energy comedy on the road with the Super Funny World Tour. His blend of sharp wit, relatable humor, and unmatched physical comedy has made him a favorite both on social media and in live performances, where he sells out comedy clubs and theaters across America. See him before his first Netflix special drops in July. 7 pm.

    Houston Symphony presents Disney and Pixar’s Up in Concert
    In Up, the quirky duo of Carl, a cantankerous 78-year-old balloon salesman, and Russell, an adventurous 8-year-old stowaway, embark on a laugh-out-loud and touching journey to a hidden world full of thrills and surprises. The 2009 Disney/Pixar tearjerker will be projected on a massive screen, accompanied by the Houston Symphony performing Michael Giacchino’s Academy Award-winning score live. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

    Sunday, June 22

    Laura Rathe Fine Art presents "A World Within" opening reception
    "A World Within," a group exhibition featuring Lucrecia Waggoner, Carly Allen Martin, Audra Weaser, and Sandrine Kern, is that quiet, internal space we all carry. A place shaped by memory, emotion, and the small moments that do not always have language. A world where past experiences and passing thoughts live side by side, building emotional landscapes that feel intimate and vast at the same time. Each artist offers a different entry point into this space, a glimpse into their inner world. Through Monday, August 4. Noon.

    The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents "From India to the World: Textiles from the Parpia Collection" opening day
    A celebration of artistic mastery and cultural exchange, "From India to the World: Textiles from the Parpia Collection" showcases the Museum’s recent acquisition of Indian textiles from the holdings of New York-based Banoo and Jeevak Parpia, who have assembled one of the most significant private collections of its kind outside India. This exhibition offers a rich cross-section of India’s textile traditions, from intricate court silks to boldly patterned cottons, dazzling tie-dyes, and masterfully woven ikats. Through Sunday, September 14. 12:30 pm.

    Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra presents Brokeback Mountain: 20th Anniversary
    Winner of three Academy Awards including Best Director, Brokeback Mountain is a sweeping epic that explores the lives of two young men, a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection. The complications, joys, and heartbreak they experience provide a testament to the endurance and power of love. The late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver emotionally charged, remarkably moving performances. 6 pm (9:30 pm Sunday).

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