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ART TOPICS B eijing- and Houston-based artist Weihong, whose work tilts to performance, reprises her tea ceremony in the limited-engagement pop- up "Tea-Tao" at the 4411 Montrose Gallery Building. Christine Starkman, former department head of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, curates. Weihong's interactive teatime has been enacted globally, from Milan to Miami and Manhattan; to date, more than 2,000 art-world luminati and dis- tinguished guests such as Giorgio Armani have participated. Email the artist, wh@ weihong.org, for (gratis) teatime reser- vations (December 6 – December 14). TEATIME AT 4411 SUERAYA SHAHEEN 106 S icardi | Ayers | Bacino, commemorates 25 years at a temple to Latin American art. A visit to Sicardi is as near to a kunsthalle as you'll fi nd in a commercial gallery. This month's exhibition, "Alejandro Otero: Rhythm in Line and Space," opens a window onto a Venezuelan artist who birthed a radical new abstraction that redefi ned painting and sculpture; Otero worked on such novel public projects as a kinetic commission for a hydroelectric power plant in his homeland (through January 16). Also focusing on art from the southern continent, Art of the World Gallery presents "Homage to the Great Latin American Masters." The exhibition brings together works by Rufi no Tamayo, Fernando Botero (whom the gallery rep- resents), Diego Riv- era, Wilfredo Lam, and Beatriz González (concurrently exhibiting at the MFAH in her fi rst North American mu- seum solo) among oth- ers, while serving as a third anniversary show (through January 11). LATIN AMERICA RISING O n Colquitt, two dealers celebrate signifi cant dates. Hooks-Epstein Galleries marks a half-century. The gallery where Mrs. de Menil shopped, represents Kermit Oliver, the only American artist to design scarves for the house of Hermès; an array of museum- level glass; taxidermy and diorama images by West Coast-based Kathryn Dunlevie; and Swedish photorealist painter Yrjö Edelmann. Its opening Saturday, December 7, showcases past and current gallery artists while it toasts founder Geri Hooks (through January 11). Neighboring Laura Rathe Fine Art turns 20, and mounts a lively survey of its stable including Hunt Slonem, painter of avians, butterfl ies, and bunnies; Rome Prize-winning photog George Krause; second-gen Ab Exer Tony Magar; graffi ti master/brand ambassador RETNA; and lensman Steve McCurry, of the haunting 1985 National Geographic cover image, Afghan Girl (December 7 – January 11). 50+20 Alejandro Otero's Tablón 12, Tablón 37, Tablón 32, and Tablón 13, 1973/1987, 1978/1990, 1973/1988, 1973/1987, at Sicardi|Ayers|Bacino Weihong RETNA's Excessive Writing, 2019, at Laura Rathe Fine Art T wo Houston art spaces roll out shows that make for a very surreal holiday. Cult fave Ryan Hawk, a former MFAH Core Fellow with a thing for body parts, takes over Gray Contemporary. Silicon, synthetic hair, tattoos, and ink are just some of the weapons in Hawk's sculptural artillery (December 7 — January 11). Brasil Caf e's Flatland Gallery serves up a pendant show that also alludes to the body. Houston artist Ernesto Marenco employs human, animal, and synthetic tresses to forge odd little objects (through December 8). SEASON GREETINGS Ryan Hawik's Untitled (wetness), 2019, at Gray Contemporary By Catherine D. Anspon