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    Police In the Gallery

    Art Guys rail against vandalism of controversial marry a tree project, comparethemselves to the JFK Umbrella Man

    Tyler Rudick
    Dec 20, 2011 | 1:30 pm
    • Michael Galbreth, left, and Jack Massing pose with a new work in their northHouston studio.
      Photo by Tyler Rudick
    • On the morning of Saturday, Dec. 3, the live oak tree at the center of The ArtGuy's controversial piece was broken near its trunk.
      Photo by Julie Knutson
    • A new work featuring a circle of suitcases awaits its upcoming home in SanAntonio.
      Photo by Tyler Rudick
    • The Art Guys Lie in State: a lunchtime concert, 2008, event at the Rotunda, CityHall, Houston, Texas
    • The health of the tree remains unknown, as the artists and The Menil decide onthe next steps to take.
      Photo by Julie Knutson

    Two weeks after the attack on the tree at the center of their controversial Art Guys Marry a Plant project, the art team of Michael Galbreth and Jack Massing still seemed a bit shaken by the surprise act of vandalism.

    “We’re big boys,” Galbreth told CultureMap in an interview at the Art Guys’ studio. “There’s not much people can do hurt our feelings after 28 years of working together.

    “Honestly, though, we don’t know how to deal with this yet. For now, we’ve decided not to remain silent.”

    Sparked by the Marry a Plant project's Nov. 19 dedication into The Menil Collection, factions of the Houston art community voiced concern about the piece, viewing it as a slight against gay marriage.

    Former Houston Chronicle arts writer Douglas Britt, now Devon Britt-Darby, led the opposition with a staged public protest marriage and a string of heated online videos about the piece. Following his sudden Nov. 28 departure from the Chronicle, Britt-Darby embarked on a soul-searching road trip he currently charts on his blog.

    "I can't think of another instance in Houston when an artwork has been publicly vandalized," Galbreth said. "This is new and strange to us . . .

    On Nov. 30, a piece of curtain hardware acting as a wedding ring around one of the tree’s branches was stolen, according to Jack Massing. The artists decided to remain quiet and replace the ring after tensions calmed, but on the morning of Dec. 3, the tree was discovered snapped near its base.

    At 2:30 p.m. the day of the vandalism, Houston police received a phone call reporting a Nov. 29 argument between The Art Guys and art dealer Hiram Butler outside Butler’s gallery. The artists declined to comment on the occurrence and Butler, who filed the complaint, could not be reached.

    The details of the verbal confrontation remain unclear, although the incident has been confirmed in a HPD report obtained by CultureMap.

    "There's an irony to this protest that doesn’t seem to get discussed," Massing said. "If you have a group of people trying to get their rights under the law — and I totally believe in equal marriage rights — trying to violate someone else’s right to make art seems like odd choice.”

    "I can't think of another instance in Houston when an artwork has been publicly vandalized," Galbreth said. "This is new and strange to us . . . I love this city and I love the art community here. We deserve a higher-level of discourse.

    "As far as the actions that have occurred with this piece, something has changed. You can't damage a Paul Kittelson sculpture, if you don't like it. You can't do it to Joe Mancuso or Rachel Hecker, if you don't like their work."

    “We don’t have any control over what people say about the piece and that’s fine,” Massing said. “However, we do have something to say about someone who tries to vandalize a piece of art — that’s just wrong.”

    The Art Guys Lie in State

    Turning to a nearby computer, Galbreth brought up images from a 2008 piece entitled The Art Guys Lie in State. For the work, which was staged for an hour during the noon hour lunch rush, the two artists assumed the role of dignified corpses placed on risers in the Rotunda of Houston’s City Hall.

    As a point of comparison to the tree marriage, he said, passersby could interpret the project as a commentary on the death of a gay couple, but they could also view it as a piece on funeral practices or the role of government in death. The piece, like the Marry a Plant project, isn’t intended to be about one specific aspect of death, but rather about a broader look at death itself.

    "We don’t have any control over what people say about the piece and that’s fine,” Massing said. “However, we do have something to say about someone who tries to vandalize a piece of art — that’s just wrong.”

    "We do stuff in public contrary to a lot of social norms," Galbreth said. "In some ways we ask for criticism like this. But we always do our work in an open and self-critical way. We're not asking anyone to do anything. We're just inviting them along to watch.”

    Nevertheless, The Art Guys Marry a Plant has received a barrage of anti-gay accusations in the past two years while what they view as a similar Lie in State piece received mainly positive reviews.

    The Umbrella Man

    To explain the complex nature of reading intent, Galbreth and Massing showed a brief online video called The Umbrella Man by Errol Morris, marking the recent 48th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.

    Long a suspect in JFK’s shooting, Louis Steven Witt was brought before a U.S. House committee to explain why he was the only person in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 carrying an umbrella. For years, conspiracy theorists speculated on Witt’s involvement, going so far as to suggest his mysterious black umbrella was equipped with a gun. In the end Witt claimed it was only a simple act of protest about Joseph Kennedy’s actions at the start of World War II.

    Galbreth sees similarities with that situation and the criticism of the Marry a Plant piece.

    “You can’t just assign these meanings to things, these sinister meanings that don’t exist," he said. "It’s not fair. You can’t put a gun in the umbrella.”

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    Metallica concert review

    Heavy metal legends Metallica roll into Houston with thunderous riffs

    Craig Hlavaty
    Jun 15, 2025 | 12:59 am
    Metallica concert Houston NRG Stadium 2025
    Photo by Brittaney Penney
    Metallica played a career-spanning set on June 14, 2025.

    Heavy metal is a baton that has been passed on for generations now. Now, more than ever, metal has turned into family entertainment. On Saturday night at NRG Stadium, the Metallica family reunion left ears ringing and hearts full, with a few scorch marks from hellacious pyro.

    Metallica — 44 years into this — is a frenetic, multigenerational machine. Four gray hairs from San Francisco that can still pack out a football stadium. The current lineup of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo is the longest-running one in the band’s history.

    Hetfield’s frenzied screech from 1981 is now a smoky, barrel-chested growl. Hammett’s metallic, exploratory guitar lines are a part of the metal vocabulary, and Trujillo — still the new guy — has been the sturdy thunder below it all. Urlich’s reliable drumming is its stadium-honed heart.

    Openers Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera provided direct support, with ST serving as a bracing thrash appetizer. Keeping it all in the family, Trujillo’s 21-year-old son Tye is now playing bass for ST, just as Robert did in the ‘90s. The band’s set whizzed by before most fans were able to enter the building, but those who arrived early witnessed a masterclass in ‘80s hardcore thrash.

    Texas sludge legends Pantera have been celebrating the lives of departed brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul since the group reformed in 2022. Collapsing in acrimony in 2001, the band and its fans never got a proper sendoff, and, with the violent shooting death of Dimebag and Paul’s death due to heart disease, the current lineup only features two original members in lead singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown. Guitar hero Zakk Wyle, stepping into Dimebag’s shoes, is a Hall Of Fame avatar for Dimebag, perhaps the only living human that could have delivered the appropriate riffs. Anthrax’s Charlie Benante now handles drumming duties.

    It’s 2025, and I’m watching a Pantera pit on the floor of NRG Stadium from a comfortable seat in the end zone. Anselmo, seemingly ageless, stalked Metallica’s sprawling, jaggedly circular stage barefoot and howling, splitting the difference between Henry Rollins and Rob Halford. Heathen anthems “Walk” and “Cowboys from Hell” still slice with precision, just as they sounded in the adjacent Astroarena in 1995.

    Before Metallica hit the stage around 9 pm, bored fans passed the time by doing the wave in NRG Stadium, but it only made a few laps before fizzling out.

    Kicking off with “Creeping Death” from 1984’s Ride The Lightning, Metallica reveled in rumbling NRG Stadium’s foundations.

    “For Whom The Bell Tolls” sounds as apocalyptic as ever, one of the early highlights of the night. The band has embraced it’s Load and Reload era recently, with the latter’s “The Memory Remains” and “Fuel” making setlist appearances. The crowd deftly filled in for the late Marianne Faithfull during the former. There’s still a lot of love for ‘90s eyeliner Metallica.

    Metallica’s 2023 album 72 Seasons saw the quartet reconvening for a loose and unrelenting collection of songs. “Lux Æterna” and “If Darkness Had a Son” have a slithery swing to them, borne from those famous Metallica jam sessions that sometimes appear on YouTube.

    1991’s “Nothing Else Matters” is still a romantic ballad for metalheads, a Gen X wedding staple.

    Few hard rock bands can still pack a football stadium in 2025, which makes Metallica among the last of a dying breed. All in their early ‘60s, they’re not unlike a performance hot rod team with 30 or so souped-up machines in the garage that only they know how to drive. They just have to take a few more breaks than they used to in between laps. Those four guys together still make magic via extremely loud noises.

    Closing out with “Master of Puppets and “Enter Sandman,” Metallica pushed Houstonians out into a humid Saturday night, covered in each other’s sweat, looking forward to the next Metallica family reunion.

    Setlist

    Creeping Death
    For Whom the Bell Tolls
    Ride the Lightning
    The Memory Remains
    Lux Æterna
    If Darkness Had a Son
    Kirk and Rob Doodle ("Hit the Lights" and ZZ Top's "La Grange")
    The Day That Never Comes
    Fuel
    Orion
    Nothing Else Matters
    Sad but True
    One
    Seek & Destroy
    Master of Puppets
    Enter Sandman

    Metallica concert Houston NRG Stadium 2025
      

    Photo by Brittaney Penney

    Metallica played a career-spanning set on June 14, 2025.

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