Archway Gallery Exhibitions - 2021
November 6 - December 2, 2021
Colors of a Place
Featuring Recent Paintings and Mixed Media Collages by Harold Joiner
The exhibition’s title refers to the American Southwest. Having grown up in New Mexico, Joiner has had a lifelong love for the region. Deserts have a beauty of their own kind; Joiner has traveled through, and lived in, some of the world’s notable deserts. “As much as I love the visual lushness of the coastal regions, there’s a sense of openness in the desert landscape and a reductive abstract beauty that is captivating to many,” he says.
Joiner uses color, line, and shape to convey his inspiration. The land is wide, horizontal, and undulates in ever- receding layers before one’s eyes. The colors of this place are rich and include not only the actual colors of the land, but also the colors of its history and culture: the earth colors of the pueblo, the blacks and terra cottas of the regional pottery, and the ubiquitous turquoise that is seen everywhere – as itself and as a pervasive pigment applied to just about anything.
The exhibition includes abstract landscapes that play on the region’s land forms and small, multi-media collages that take a cue from the Native American jewelry identified with the region. Also included in the exhibition are paintings inspired by Chaco Canyon’s Pueblo Bonito, built in the period from approximately 850 to 1130 CE, by the people commonly referred to as the Anasazi. Joiner visited there for the first time in late 2019, and he said, “Even though I grew up in the state and had visited numerous other ancient sites, I had never been to Chaco Canyon. The place greatly inspired me, and now I can cross it off my bucket list.”
Joiner is an architect by profession and a graduate of Texas Tech University. His professional projects included numerous corporate, hotel, and institutional projects in Houston, other cities in the United States, and abroad. He lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for ten years, working first for Saudi Aramco in its properties division and then for a private firm with offices in Saudi Arabia and Cairo, Egypt. He traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, as well as South and Southeast Asia. Returning to Houston in late 2001, he opted to indulge a lifelong interest in painting. His paintings have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the greater Houston region, and are owned by collectors across the United States and Canada.
Joiner uses color, line, and shape to convey his inspiration. The land is wide, horizontal, and undulates in ever- receding layers before one’s eyes. The colors of this place are rich and include not only the actual colors of the land, but also the colors of its history and culture: the earth colors of the pueblo, the blacks and terra cottas of the regional pottery, and the ubiquitous turquoise that is seen everywhere – as itself and as a pervasive pigment applied to just about anything.
The exhibition includes abstract landscapes that play on the region’s land forms and small, multi-media collages that take a cue from the Native American jewelry identified with the region. Also included in the exhibition are paintings inspired by Chaco Canyon’s Pueblo Bonito, built in the period from approximately 850 to 1130 CE, by the people commonly referred to as the Anasazi. Joiner visited there for the first time in late 2019, and he said, “Even though I grew up in the state and had visited numerous other ancient sites, I had never been to Chaco Canyon. The place greatly inspired me, and now I can cross it off my bucket list.”
Joiner is an architect by profession and a graduate of Texas Tech University. His professional projects included numerous corporate, hotel, and institutional projects in Houston, other cities in the United States, and abroad. He lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for ten years, working first for Saudi Aramco in its properties division and then for a private firm with offices in Saudi Arabia and Cairo, Egypt. He traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, as well as South and Southeast Asia. Returning to Houston in late 2001, he opted to indulge a lifelong interest in painting. His paintings have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the greater Houston region, and are owned by collectors across the United States and Canada.
October 2 - November 4, 2021
SOLIPSISM
Featuring Recent Paintings by John Slaby
Slaby presents an ecclectic collection of paintings created over the last three years. Though his intention was to do another figure show as a follow-up to his highly successful, The Male Gaze of 2018, which sold out, the pandemic caused a radical change of plans when access to professional models was curtailed. Instead, the artist turned inward and began with a series of self-portraits, Solipsism and, Perpetual Self-Portrait among them. Other works venture into the hallucinatory madness of quarantine isolation, such as, Pygmalion. These inward journeys led to many other works such as, Out! Out! which offers thoughts on mortality as represented through the traditional memento mori of a candle. The exhibition will also feature a number of pedestal pieces in which both sides of a wood panel have been painted. This technique offers the artist the opportunity to contrast the opposing images in dynamic and challenging ways as in, The Great Equalizer. These few examples offer but a taste of the wide range of almost 80 works presented in this show. In a sense, the isolation of the pandemic has provided endless material for this highly creative artist.
All of the work in this exhibition will be offered in a silent auction, beginning on opening night and closing on Saturday, October 30. John Slaby will be donating 50% of the sale proceeds to local mental-health charities to be selected by the patrons via popular vote. A similar process was used during his last show which raised over $10,000 for charities focused on women and children in need.
September 4 - 30, 2021
Parallel Journey
Featuring New Paintings by Cookie Wells and Wood Furniture by Tom Wells
Longtime Archway Gallery member Cookie Wells’ new exhibition showcases a completely new direction in her painting style. Known primarily for her paintings of the figure, Cookie took a giant step outside of her comfort zone and began painting totally non-objective works. “I felt driven to make this change,” Cookie recounts. “It was exciting, almost joyful, to be so free in this body of work. And it’s always interesting to hear the viewer's interpretation of a piece. Every person brings their own experiences to what they see.”
The reflections and observations that inform this body of work began in late 2019 and continued through the pandemic and into the beginning of 2021. “It was a period of time that tested me -- mind, body, and soul -- in ways I couldn’t have imagined,” she says. One series of paintings that she calls, "Fenced In" speaks to the isolation of lockdown. As we started the new year full of hope and were then hit with the freeze of the century, Cookie created another series called, "Recovery," observing the hope for new life amidst the devastation. Using her new artistic voice, Cookie painted the highs and lows of this unique and challenging time.
Cookie's new direction can be best described in a quote from one of her favorite artists, Henri Matisse: "Color was not given to us to imitate nature. It was given to us to express our emotions." This exhibition reflects Cookie’s search for new ways of using color and texture to express emotion, movement, and action. Allowing herself to be led by her materials – an attitude she considers critical to her creative process -- Cookie discovered that acrylic inks on yupo paper create incredible color and texture. This discovery played a major part in her transition to non-objective painting, and features prominently in this exhibition.
Cookie is sharing this exhibit once again with her husband, Tom Wells, who builds fine wood furniture. Cookie and Tom met at work where she was a graphic artist and he a chemical engineer. After retirement, Tom turned their garage into a woodworking shop and started making furniture. After filling their home with his unique creations, Tom started doing pieces on commission. Since 2007, he has made more than one hundred and fifty pieces of furniture, first for friends then for a larger client base. Referrals and expanding opportunities led him to pursue new ideas and learn new techniques. With the mind of an engineer and the soul of an artist, Tom continues to design and build unique furniture.
The reflections and observations that inform this body of work began in late 2019 and continued through the pandemic and into the beginning of 2021. “It was a period of time that tested me -- mind, body, and soul -- in ways I couldn’t have imagined,” she says. One series of paintings that she calls, "Fenced In" speaks to the isolation of lockdown. As we started the new year full of hope and were then hit with the freeze of the century, Cookie created another series called, "Recovery," observing the hope for new life amidst the devastation. Using her new artistic voice, Cookie painted the highs and lows of this unique and challenging time.
Cookie's new direction can be best described in a quote from one of her favorite artists, Henri Matisse: "Color was not given to us to imitate nature. It was given to us to express our emotions." This exhibition reflects Cookie’s search for new ways of using color and texture to express emotion, movement, and action. Allowing herself to be led by her materials – an attitude she considers critical to her creative process -- Cookie discovered that acrylic inks on yupo paper create incredible color and texture. This discovery played a major part in her transition to non-objective painting, and features prominently in this exhibition.
Cookie is sharing this exhibit once again with her husband, Tom Wells, who builds fine wood furniture. Cookie and Tom met at work where she was a graphic artist and he a chemical engineer. After retirement, Tom turned their garage into a woodworking shop and started making furniture. After filling their home with his unique creations, Tom started doing pieces on commission. Since 2007, he has made more than one hundred and fifty pieces of furniture, first for friends then for a larger client base. Referrals and expanding opportunities led him to pursue new ideas and learn new techniques. With the mind of an engineer and the soul of an artist, Tom continues to design and build unique furniture.
August 7 - September 2, 2021
Respite
Featuring New Paintings by Margaret Miller
This exhibition of oil paintings by Margaret Miller represents her artistic journey through the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of 2020, Miller knew she had an exhibition coming up in August of 2021. “Under normal circumstances, I would have picked a theme to guide my efforts in preparing for a show,” Miller recounts. Anticipating a period of isolation, she decided to use the time to explore her own selfexpression and paint what came to mind. Tense and nervous about the state of the world, Miller started with four small paintings to calm her nerves. “I decided to paint as I did when I was in high school -- a house and a tree would do, only Texas-style, because that is where I have lived most of my adult life.” When What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong, came on the radio, Miller felt she should paint a house with a rainbow. From there she moved on to local places in Houston such as the Heights, Midtown, and Memorial Park areas, and she ventured out to Brazos Bend State Park.
Then came the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Movement. “It seemed to me that the world was shattering, breaking apart and reforming before my eyes -- hopefully, reforming in a better, fairer, and more equitable way,” says Miller. As a response to this, she began to experiment with a technique of breaking her paintings apart without trying to resolve how their world would be reformed. The result is a series she calls “Broken Landscapes.” Miller found this experiment satisfying and continued using the technique in many more paintings.
Miller got a great sense of relief from painting during the pandemic. “It’s strange,” she muses, “but in many ways the pandemic provided a respite, a time to self-reflect and stretch as an artist.” This exhibition contains Miller’s response to the turbulent times of 2020-21, with feelings of loneliness, thoughtfulness, whimsy, and hopefulness. Some of the paintings are moody while others are rich with the sheer appreciation of being alive.
Margaret Miller traces her fondness for art back to spending three childhood summers visiting an aunt in Washington, DC. During those trips, Miller, her sister, and her aunt often visited museums together. Miller would sometimes select the National Gallery of Art. This, she says, was the start of her appreciation of art. Her interest in art was further nurtured by her parents, Marian and Rick Hanner, who encouraged her with private art lessons throughout her childhood and teenage years. “My parents always displayed my art around their home and made sure I went to art shows and museums,” Miller says.
After a 30-year career as a print and web designer at a major energy company, Miller can now devote her energies to painting. Her paintings start from sketches or photographs taken on her walks when the light is right. Light and mood are just as important to her as subject matter. “After I get the basics down, I try to capture what’s in my head,” Miller says as she describes her process. She continues by asking herself, “How do I feel about the painting? What do I want to share with the viewer? As soon as I feel that I’ve captured those feelings, I move on to the next painting.”
Then came the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Movement. “It seemed to me that the world was shattering, breaking apart and reforming before my eyes -- hopefully, reforming in a better, fairer, and more equitable way,” says Miller. As a response to this, she began to experiment with a technique of breaking her paintings apart without trying to resolve how their world would be reformed. The result is a series she calls “Broken Landscapes.” Miller found this experiment satisfying and continued using the technique in many more paintings.
Miller got a great sense of relief from painting during the pandemic. “It’s strange,” she muses, “but in many ways the pandemic provided a respite, a time to self-reflect and stretch as an artist.” This exhibition contains Miller’s response to the turbulent times of 2020-21, with feelings of loneliness, thoughtfulness, whimsy, and hopefulness. Some of the paintings are moody while others are rich with the sheer appreciation of being alive.
Margaret Miller traces her fondness for art back to spending three childhood summers visiting an aunt in Washington, DC. During those trips, Miller, her sister, and her aunt often visited museums together. Miller would sometimes select the National Gallery of Art. This, she says, was the start of her appreciation of art. Her interest in art was further nurtured by her parents, Marian and Rick Hanner, who encouraged her with private art lessons throughout her childhood and teenage years. “My parents always displayed my art around their home and made sure I went to art shows and museums,” Miller says.
After a 30-year career as a print and web designer at a major energy company, Miller can now devote her energies to painting. Her paintings start from sketches or photographs taken on her walks when the light is right. Light and mood are just as important to her as subject matter. “After I get the basics down, I try to capture what’s in my head,” Miller says as she describes her process. She continues by asking herself, “How do I feel about the painting? What do I want to share with the viewer? As soon as I feel that I’ve captured those feelings, I move on to the next painting.”
June 5 - July 7, 2021
Found Objects
Featuring New Sculptures by Joe Hale Haden
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Haden’s specialty is re-purposing found objects, trash, or scrap materials, with the intent of changing the viewer’s perception of that object. He elicits a renewed interest in an object by de-emphasizing its usefulness -- altering its original purpose for a greater beauty. In this exhibition, Haden juxtaposes organic and non-organic shapes, marrying their superficial differences. His metal cutting technique relies on light and shadow of the positive and negative space to help transform the perception of an object. The result is an analytical experience of how an object which has been discarded, or had its original, practical use retired or rendered non-functional, can still have purpose with an altered perspective.
May 1 - June 3, 2021
Exploring Paint
Featuring New Paintings by Shirl Riccetti and donna e perkins
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When friends Shirl Riccetti & donna e perkins decided to have a show together, they could never have anticipated such a tumultuous year as 2020. Perkins, an abstract painter working in acrylics, and Riccetti, a more traditional painter working in pen and watercolor, decided to confront the challenges of 2020 by continuing to do what they have been doing for most of their lives, Exploring Paint.
Shirl Riccetti is an avid traveler. She has documented her trips to Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal (just to name a few) in pen and watercolor. Her sketchbooks hold narratives from her journeys, with notes of the smells and sounds, as well as her reactions and feelings of the moment. Riccetti feels that historic buildings hold memories of their past, and that people reflect their own journeys and stories. The memories evoked from her sketches and notes empower Riccetti’s pen to create lines that might be thick, thin, wobbly, uneven, or precise. She develops each painting differently, putting herself back into that time, and the moments that ‘grabbed’ her attention. Each drawing brings a memory into focus.... The giggling Chinese girls taking her photo in Sorrento as she was sketching, watching a family cow saunter down the mountain following a Slovak shepherd, the horrific sight of WWII bullet holes in a wall in Budapest, a family’s garden wall in Italy.... Shirl Riccetti captures moments of peoples’ lives and honors these encounters by documenting them with her pen and brush, with the drama of line and color.
In contrast, the paintings in this exhibition by donna e perkins are abstract and reflect her physical relationship with her materials. Perkins delights in the tactile dance of her body, her arm, her fingers; a solo dance of meditation. She loves the slight bounce of the canvas resisting the pressure of her brush. She loves how liquid paint drips, runs, flows, and how one color morphs into another. She loves how paint squashes making micro mountain landscapes when the squashes are pulled apart and how light flirts with the iridescent and metallic then bounces off the miniscule ridges of strokes of paint. “My work is process driven,” says perkins. “While there is always a back story, there is never a narrative.”
The studio in which an artist works has an influence on that work. Some of this influence is physical and practical, but some is emotional. Perkins’ paintings were created in three different studios and represent three different relocations, all of which were stressful both physically and emotionally. Some of her paintings are somber, some bright, some shiney. Instead of a cohesive body of work, perkins presents the turmoil of the past two years, three hard moves, and an injured body in a COVID haze. “In many ways, this has been such a stressful time for me that I struggled just to keep my hand moving,” perkins recounts. “This work is very experimental.”
Shirl Riccetti is an avid traveler. She has documented her trips to Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal (just to name a few) in pen and watercolor. Her sketchbooks hold narratives from her journeys, with notes of the smells and sounds, as well as her reactions and feelings of the moment. Riccetti feels that historic buildings hold memories of their past, and that people reflect their own journeys and stories. The memories evoked from her sketches and notes empower Riccetti’s pen to create lines that might be thick, thin, wobbly, uneven, or precise. She develops each painting differently, putting herself back into that time, and the moments that ‘grabbed’ her attention. Each drawing brings a memory into focus.... The giggling Chinese girls taking her photo in Sorrento as she was sketching, watching a family cow saunter down the mountain following a Slovak shepherd, the horrific sight of WWII bullet holes in a wall in Budapest, a family’s garden wall in Italy.... Shirl Riccetti captures moments of peoples’ lives and honors these encounters by documenting them with her pen and brush, with the drama of line and color.
In contrast, the paintings in this exhibition by donna e perkins are abstract and reflect her physical relationship with her materials. Perkins delights in the tactile dance of her body, her arm, her fingers; a solo dance of meditation. She loves the slight bounce of the canvas resisting the pressure of her brush. She loves how liquid paint drips, runs, flows, and how one color morphs into another. She loves how paint squashes making micro mountain landscapes when the squashes are pulled apart and how light flirts with the iridescent and metallic then bounces off the miniscule ridges of strokes of paint. “My work is process driven,” says perkins. “While there is always a back story, there is never a narrative.”
The studio in which an artist works has an influence on that work. Some of this influence is physical and practical, but some is emotional. Perkins’ paintings were created in three different studios and represent three different relocations, all of which were stressful both physically and emotionally. Some of her paintings are somber, some bright, some shiney. Instead of a cohesive body of work, perkins presents the turmoil of the past two years, three hard moves, and an injured body in a COVID haze. “In many ways, this has been such a stressful time for me that I struggled just to keep my hand moving,” perkins recounts. “This work is very experimental.”
April 3 - 29, 2021
Consequential Journeys
Featuring New Works by Becky Soria
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In her paintings, Becky Soria approaches the human figure less from its familiar shapes, and much more from within, making visible its visceral emotional life. Using abstractions of language, color, and texture that allow her to capture the profound sentiments that humans have felt throughout the ages for the Earth as Goddess and Mother, Soria explores the inexorably evolving woman. “Within the quietude of my studio, and while the pandemic ravaged the world, I let my sensations, feelings, visions, and thoughts of what we were experiencing further my investigation of the human body and its inner reality,” recounts Soria.
This collection of images flows from the stark perceptions of the difficult times we are living in. They juxtapose the fragility and strength of the human spirit. “These images are at once representations of personal and universal images engendered by my muse, the mysterious source of creation,” says Soria. “The meditative journey that walked me through the real and illusory perceptions of the body and its ability to heal brought to life this exhibition of twenty-four works.”
Becky Soria, an American born in Bolivia, began her artistic career in the 1980s. She studied painting in the studios of South American artists, and with the artist and philosopher Dr. Fernando Casas. She also attended the Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas. Her works are included in corporate and private collections in the United States, Europe, Canada, and South America.
Soria uses physicality, especially the physicality of human bodies and animals, as a primary source of inspiration in her work. She is concerned with intense emotions, bodily states, love, pain, and discomfiture. She is also interested in current world affairs, nature, and issues of humanity.
Soria believes the other important factor informing her Art is her background in the nursing and medical sciences; it gives her work a distinctively organic or biological flavor. She seeks to depict her ideas not as objective representations but rather as tunnels into realities as she experiences them.
This collection of images flows from the stark perceptions of the difficult times we are living in. They juxtapose the fragility and strength of the human spirit. “These images are at once representations of personal and universal images engendered by my muse, the mysterious source of creation,” says Soria. “The meditative journey that walked me through the real and illusory perceptions of the body and its ability to heal brought to life this exhibition of twenty-four works.”
Becky Soria, an American born in Bolivia, began her artistic career in the 1980s. She studied painting in the studios of South American artists, and with the artist and philosopher Dr. Fernando Casas. She also attended the Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas. Her works are included in corporate and private collections in the United States, Europe, Canada, and South America.
Soria uses physicality, especially the physicality of human bodies and animals, as a primary source of inspiration in her work. She is concerned with intense emotions, bodily states, love, pain, and discomfiture. She is also interested in current world affairs, nature, and issues of humanity.
Soria believes the other important factor informing her Art is her background in the nursing and medical sciences; it gives her work a distinctively organic or biological flavor. She seeks to depict her ideas not as objective representations but rather as tunnels into realities as she experiences them.
March 6 - April 1, 2021
There Is An Instant
Featuring New Paintings by Silvia PintoSouza
When Silvia PintoSouza was very young, she read a poem titled, “There Is An Instant” by Guillermo Valencia, a 19th century Colombian poet and statesman.* The poem moved her deeply and has stayed with her ever since. “My original theme for this exhibition was “Old Barns” then the poem resurfaced from my memory in a very loud way and I was compelled to broaden that theme,” says PintoSouza. “A feeling of nostalgia took over -- a feeling of what was and is not anymore, but the spirit of which can still be felt.” Looking through the doors of an old and dilapidated barn, PintoSouza senses the presence of those who were there before, “the generations of families who cherished, worked, and stored so many hopes in it. These are nostalgic places imprinted with stories and memories that are not mine, but which I can sense. To me, this is the strength and symbolism of barns, their tangible link to the past.”
There is an Instant captures the moment when the sun sets -- the end of a day, as well as a metaphor for the end of a life -- a mission accomplished in a beautiful and generous way, full of nostalgia and feeling for what is about to end. A beautiful sunset can be enjoyed for just a few minutes before it ends, but the spiritual effect of having viewed it persists long afterwards. “I see in both, a crumbling barn and a glorious sunset, the stillness of existence,” says PintoSouza, “a silence that invades the moment. They both symbolize the completion of a journey, the successful completion of a day or a life’s work. They contain magic!”
Silvia PintoSouza’s paintings are intimate, romantic, and direct. Her message is the image itself, simply what you
see. “Critics often overthink a piece of work,” she remarks. “They overlook the possibility that ‘the moment of
beauty’ is what the artist wanted, nothing more. I hope that when you look at my work you are caught in that
moment of beauty and living it, because to me Art is comfort. It is where we take shelter. It is the shoulder where
we can rest our head.”
There is an Instant captures the moment when the sun sets -- the end of a day, as well as a metaphor for the end of a life -- a mission accomplished in a beautiful and generous way, full of nostalgia and feeling for what is about to end. A beautiful sunset can be enjoyed for just a few minutes before it ends, but the spiritual effect of having viewed it persists long afterwards. “I see in both, a crumbling barn and a glorious sunset, the stillness of existence,” says PintoSouza, “a silence that invades the moment. They both symbolize the completion of a journey, the successful completion of a day or a life’s work. They contain magic!”
Silvia PintoSouza’s paintings are intimate, romantic, and direct. Her message is the image itself, simply what you
see. “Critics often overthink a piece of work,” she remarks. “They overlook the possibility that ‘the moment of
beauty’ is what the artist wanted, nothing more. I hope that when you look at my work you are caught in that
moment of beauty and living it, because to me Art is comfort. It is where we take shelter. It is the shoulder where
we can rest our head.”
THERE IS AN INSTANT
(Translation from Spanish by the artist)
There is an instant at dusk
when things shine more,
a brief throbbing moment
of a slow intensity.
Tree branches turn velvety,
towers smooth their contour,
a bird engraves its silhouette
on a sapphire like background.
The afternoon changes,
it concentrates on forgetting the light,
and it is filled by the soft gift
of a melancholic stillness,
as if the orb gathered
all its goodness and beauty,
all its faith, all its grace
to face the arriving shadow...
My being flourishes at this hour
of a mysterious blooming;
I carry in my soul a twilight,
of dreamy tranquility;
in it burst the shoots
of a spring like hope,
and in it I inebriate myself with aromas
of a garden which is ‘somewhere beyond’!
*Guillermo Valencia (1873— 1943)
Studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, spoke several languages, translated other literary works from French, Italian, and Portuguese authors, and led an active career as a statesman and a diplomat being twice a candidate for the presidency of Colombia in 1918 and 1930. It was actually his son Guillermo León Valencia who became president from 1962 to 1966.
(Translation from Spanish by the artist)
There is an instant at dusk
when things shine more,
a brief throbbing moment
of a slow intensity.
Tree branches turn velvety,
towers smooth their contour,
a bird engraves its silhouette
on a sapphire like background.
The afternoon changes,
it concentrates on forgetting the light,
and it is filled by the soft gift
of a melancholic stillness,
as if the orb gathered
all its goodness and beauty,
all its faith, all its grace
to face the arriving shadow...
My being flourishes at this hour
of a mysterious blooming;
I carry in my soul a twilight,
of dreamy tranquility;
in it burst the shoots
of a spring like hope,
and in it I inebriate myself with aromas
of a garden which is ‘somewhere beyond’!
*Guillermo Valencia (1873— 1943)
Studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, spoke several languages, translated other literary works from French, Italian, and Portuguese authors, and led an active career as a statesman and a diplomat being twice a candidate for the presidency of Colombia in 1918 and 1930. It was actually his son Guillermo León Valencia who became president from 1962 to 1966.
February 6 - March 4, 2021
Regeneration
Featuring New Works in Clay, Paint, and Glass by
Carol Berger, Liz Conces Spencer, and Gene Hester
In this joint exhibition, Carol Berger, Liz Conces Spencer, and Gene Hester explore nature’s regenerative force in the face of enormous odds. The works in this exhibition reflect the artists’ concern about the impact of human encroachment, the destruction of habitats, and the planet’s survival. The eradication of plant species and diversity through human infringement and global warming, the disappearance of bee colonies and other animal/bird/insect/fish populations, and the devastation of massive pollution in the oceans, landmasses and atmosphere have engendered in each artist a response that celebrates and honors the rapidly shrinking natural world. Each artist presents works that, created solo or collaboratively, celebrate what may be lost if we do not quickly act. Even though nature has powerful regenerative abilities, it cannot withstand the onslaught of the need for humans to “grow.” Carol Berger’s works in clay along with Liz Conces Spencer and Gene Hester’s works in glass explore visual ideas using the landscape and its natural elements as starting points. Spencer additionally will present dimensional paintings on wood and traditional works on canvas.
To further support local efforts to protect Houston’s natural habitats, Archway Gallery is partnering with the Houston Arboretum, a 155-acre non-profit urban nature sanctuary which provides education about the natural environment to people of all ages. It plays a vital role in protecting native plants and animals in the heart of the city where development threatens their survival. During the month of February, the gallery is hosting a silent auction of artwork to benefit the conservation efforts of the Houston Arboretum.
To further support local efforts to protect Houston’s natural habitats, Archway Gallery is partnering with the Houston Arboretum, a 155-acre non-profit urban nature sanctuary which provides education about the natural environment to people of all ages. It plays a vital role in protecting native plants and animals in the heart of the city where development threatens their survival. During the month of February, the gallery is hosting a silent auction of artwork to benefit the conservation efforts of the Houston Arboretum.
Carol Berger’s art education began with her artist grandparents and various classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Berger has a double major in Art and Spanish from the College of Wooster and spent a year focusing on art history at the University of Madrid with side trips to France and Italy. After retirement from a career as a public-school teacher, Berger took a ceramics class which led to a second career as a professional artist. Currently, she teaches ceramics classes to adults and children in her studio. Berger draws inspiration from the designs, colors, and textures in nature. She joined Archway Gallery in 2018.
Liz Conces Spencer grew up in Pasadena, a refinery town east of Houston, and studied art at the University of St. Thomas in the early 1970’s. A Winant Clayton Volunteer in 1975, Spencer developed a summer art program in London, a placement which engendered her passion for teaching and socially collaborative work. Upon her return, she created figurative, nonrepresentational, and landscape works which led to her first major commission in 1996. She has taught continuously since the 1980’s for schools and organizations including The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Project Row Houses, City ArtWorks, St. Thomas High School, Incarnate Word Academy, and Young Audiences of Houston. She joined Archway Gallery in 2005 and has participated in numerous exhibitions, including three solo shows.
Gene Hester was raised on a farm in the rural west Texas town of Haskell. After studying ceramics in college, he joined the Peace Corps teaching math and science in a village primary school using the Malay language on the island of Borneo. Moving to Houston upon his return, Hester apprenticed with a glass studio, and then founded Genesis Art Glass late in the 1970’s. He has taught at the Glassell School of Art and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; he has also been featured on HGTV. His expertise in ceramics and glass has cemented his reputation for artistry and craftsmanship, attracting numerous commissions. Hester moved his studio to Hockley, Texas two years ago, ending his active role as an Archway Gallery artist but has maintained professional and personal ties to the Houston art, glass, and design community. Hester and Spencer have collaborated on public and civic art projects, liturgical commissions, and gallery exhibitions since 2007 with projects in Houston, Rockport, Corpus Christi, and Plantersville. This is their first exhibition with Carol Berger.
Liz Conces Spencer grew up in Pasadena, a refinery town east of Houston, and studied art at the University of St. Thomas in the early 1970’s. A Winant Clayton Volunteer in 1975, Spencer developed a summer art program in London, a placement which engendered her passion for teaching and socially collaborative work. Upon her return, she created figurative, nonrepresentational, and landscape works which led to her first major commission in 1996. She has taught continuously since the 1980’s for schools and organizations including The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Project Row Houses, City ArtWorks, St. Thomas High School, Incarnate Word Academy, and Young Audiences of Houston. She joined Archway Gallery in 2005 and has participated in numerous exhibitions, including three solo shows.
Gene Hester was raised on a farm in the rural west Texas town of Haskell. After studying ceramics in college, he joined the Peace Corps teaching math and science in a village primary school using the Malay language on the island of Borneo. Moving to Houston upon his return, Hester apprenticed with a glass studio, and then founded Genesis Art Glass late in the 1970’s. He has taught at the Glassell School of Art and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; he has also been featured on HGTV. His expertise in ceramics and glass has cemented his reputation for artistry and craftsmanship, attracting numerous commissions. Hester moved his studio to Hockley, Texas two years ago, ending his active role as an Archway Gallery artist but has maintained professional and personal ties to the Houston art, glass, and design community. Hester and Spencer have collaborated on public and civic art projects, liturgical commissions, and gallery exhibitions since 2007 with projects in Houston, Rockport, Corpus Christi, and Plantersville. This is their first exhibition with Carol Berger.
January 9 - February 4, 2021
Duo • Identity
Featuring Recent Works by Jiashan Lang and Anthony Pabillano
In this joint exhibition, Jiashan Lang and Anthony Pabillano explore ideas related to duality and contrast, as well as identity and culture through their shared interest in figurative art. Jiashan Lang’s three-dimensional figurines invite the viewer to encircle each piece and examine it closely for the fine details of her sculpture, whereas Anthony Pabillano’s two-dimensional pieces (some life-sized) rely on the surfaces of walls for support and are optimally viewed from a vantage point.
Lang and Pabillano tell stories through their figurative art. Lang’s dough figurines are based on scenes and events from Chinese history and literature; they depict traditional people, folklore, and scenes from ancient times. By contrast, Pabillano’s layered paper images portray contemporary Houstonians; people he has met, whose stories he relates to, and whose voices he hears as representatives of our culturally and linguistically diverse city. Though their stories contrast in terms of time and context, there are parities that weave the two bodies of work together. Lang and Pabillano are equally concerned with culture and identity – they strive to understand, capture, and celebrate the lives of others, past and present. In doing so, they seek not only to explore culture and identity in others but also to discover and define their own along the way.
“Dough figurines are a very old Chinese art form,” Jiashan Lang explains, “with their origins dating back to the Song Dynasty around 1000 CE. These figurines preserve Chinese history and lore by passing it down through the ages.” Lang’s technique involves coloring the rice dough and then sculpting it into the desired form so that no painting is required. Her work is in the collections of various museums, galleries, and individual collectors around the world.
The elevation of paper from a substrate to a medium has informed Anthony Pabillano’s choice of materials and style as he pursues his foundational interest in portraiture. Early in his career, he began creating portraits by layering blocks of colored paper cut along the defining contours of the human figure. He has spent many years developing and perfecting his technique. Through his portraits, Pabillano explores all aspects of the human condition and experience, from ideas relating to self and identity to topics about diversity.
Lang and Pabillano tell stories through their figurative art. Lang’s dough figurines are based on scenes and events from Chinese history and literature; they depict traditional people, folklore, and scenes from ancient times. By contrast, Pabillano’s layered paper images portray contemporary Houstonians; people he has met, whose stories he relates to, and whose voices he hears as representatives of our culturally and linguistically diverse city. Though their stories contrast in terms of time and context, there are parities that weave the two bodies of work together. Lang and Pabillano are equally concerned with culture and identity – they strive to understand, capture, and celebrate the lives of others, past and present. In doing so, they seek not only to explore culture and identity in others but also to discover and define their own along the way.
“Dough figurines are a very old Chinese art form,” Jiashan Lang explains, “with their origins dating back to the Song Dynasty around 1000 CE. These figurines preserve Chinese history and lore by passing it down through the ages.” Lang’s technique involves coloring the rice dough and then sculpting it into the desired form so that no painting is required. Her work is in the collections of various museums, galleries, and individual collectors around the world.
The elevation of paper from a substrate to a medium has informed Anthony Pabillano’s choice of materials and style as he pursues his foundational interest in portraiture. Early in his career, he began creating portraits by layering blocks of colored paper cut along the defining contours of the human figure. He has spent many years developing and perfecting his technique. Through his portraits, Pabillano explores all aspects of the human condition and experience, from ideas relating to self and identity to topics about diversity.