Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1033442
ART + DECORATION TIME TRAVEL T he 2014 Texas Artists of the Year are back. At Sam Houston Park, Houston Downtown District mounts Havel Ruck Projects' latest. As Dan Havel and Dean Ruck continue to make waves with Ripple, on view at Cherryhurst House (through February 24, 2019), this project, called Open House, is unique: While the structure appears new, it's actually a salvaged 1940s cabin, into which the artists cut circular holes, then plugged them with PVC pipe, reminding us of Swiss cheese or lace. While the exterior is jarring — turquoise PVC pipe contrasting with purple-painted walls — the inside is a virtual time capsule of vintage photos sourced from individuals, Houston Public Library's Houston Metropolitan Research Center, and the artists' own family photo albums. Open House's interiors feature a love letter to our city: From '60s-era astronauts and early parades passing the Rice Hotel to a high school photo of Mayor Turner and Ruck's own mother star upon its floor-to-ceiling photo collage. Open House at Sam Houston Park, through February 2019; downtownhouston.org/guidedetail/ open-house. Catherine D. Anspon INSIDER OUTSIDER Outsider Art in Texas: Lone Stars is the first book in 20 years to survey the rich kingdom of outsider and visionary artists in our state. The recent release from Texas A&M University Press is penned by the ultimate insider: assiduous collector and curator Jay Wehnert. T h e Te x a s - b a s e d scholar lives with thousands of works by self-taught talents in a rambling Victorian cottage surrounded by a sculpture-filled garden; his collecting mania is shared by his family- therapist wife, Victoria Harrison. The couple's Houston Heights home has been on numerous tours, including the Orange Show's Eyeopener folk art treks. What makes Wehnert's volume unique is his focus on 11 talents, represented by generous images alongside charming pen-and- ink portraits by Mary Lawton. The author's sensitivity, close observation, a n d d i r e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p and knowledge — through an u n e x p e c t e d f r i e n d s h i p , in the case of mysterious street artist Richard Gordon Kendall, w h o d e p i c t e d Houston's built environment — give the book a patina equal t o t h e l i v e s profiled within its pages. Outsider Art in Texas, $40, at area b o o k s e l l e r s , t a m u p r e s s . c o m . Catherine D. Anspon COURTESY THE J. MASSING FAMILY COLLECTION Henry Ray Clark aka The Magnificent Pretty Boy's I Am King of My Planet, 2006 Havel Ruck Projects' Open House, 2018, at Sam Houston Park FERNDALE {DESIGN} DISH E xpansion hits fabled Ferndale, where Upper Kirby Consignment, Courtney Barton's Mela & Roam, and Donna Brown will share a 2,100-square-foot space inside The Gray Door. Expect an early October opening for the design triumvirate. Upper Kirby Consignment owners Peggy Strode and Colleen Smith's trove of pedigreed finds and decorative objects hold court with Mela & Roam's linens, global textiles, and Eastern wares, while Brown's design services take up the remaining first-floor interior. UKC's original location — the carriage house behind Phyllis Tucker Antiques at 2919 Ferndale — remains, now including choice pieces from Tucker's collection of august silver and linens. Catherine D. Anspon COURTESY THE ARTISTS AND DOWNTOWN DISTRICT, PHOTO MORRIS MALAKOFF 58