Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1195863
OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. W o m e n r u l e i n 2020, taking a cue from the 19th A m e n d m e n t ' s centennial — aka suffragettes gaining the right to vote. In the art world, museums focus upon female artists and dedicate budgets to righting gender parity. In Houston, McClain Gallery devotes both buildings to a survey of works by Elaine Reichek, one that extends across five decades. Known as an artist's artist, Reichek is collected by the cognoscenti, including MoMA; Museum O ne of our time's great conceptual talents, the late Sol LeWitt (1928- 2007), has just entered the permanent p u b l i c a r t collection of Rice University. T h e m i n i m a l i s t k n o w n for geometric abstractions defined by primary hues is represented at Rice's Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies by a pair of wall drawings. The more iconic of the two works, Wall Drawing #1115: Circle within a square, each with broken bands of color, 2014, has quickly become the school's calling card. Featured as the cover of Glasscock's Fall 2019 course catalog, the 14–by-14-foot acrylic painting — executed T he stylish hard-shell suitcases by cult-favorite brand Away aren't just airport status symbols. Much like a fully stamped passport or a coveted Global Entry designation, an Away roller signifies traveling expertise. With premium materials that can stand up to the baggage claim, innovative features such as built-in phone chargers, an array of colors, and hand-painted monogram options, they make for ideal travel companions. Away has opened its first store in Houston in Highland Village Shopping Center, stocking the core product line and limited- edition collections. Away, Highland Village Shopping Center, 4033 Westheimer Road, awaytravel.com. Lisa Collins Shaddock M id-January, after a year-long search, t h e 7 1 - y e a r- o l d C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t s M u s e u m Houston will have a new leader at its helm. The 40-year-old Hesse McGraw becomes the CAMH's 10th director — and perhaps its most iconoclastic to date. McGraw is known as an artist's advocate. He's collaborated with diverse talents, including the great SOL IS IN THE HOUSE GRAPHOLOGY OF FEMINISM GOT TO GET AWAY JUST IN: THE CAMH'S NEW LEADER according to its creator's instructions by a band of fellow artists — holds court in the Dean's Commons of the Anderson- Clarke Center, visible en route to the neighboring Moody Center for the Arts. Alum Russell H. Pitman funded Wall Drawing #1115; Moody Center director Alison Weaver, who oversees public art at Rice, suggested the artist. glasscock- info.rice.edu/lewitt. Catherine D. Anspon of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Whitney (where she's currently in the group show "Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950-2019"). Her intelligent conceptual work melds feminism with text and craft traditions spun into delicate, nuanced sewn works on paper, linen, and organdy. At McClain, 1970s-era breakthrough embroideries are presented, as well as Reichek's recent work that dialogues with authors across time — Vladimir Nabokov to Margaret Atwood — with literary passages obsessively hand- stitched. January 18 – February 29, mcclaingallery.com. Catherine D. Anspon Theaster Gates, to realize impactful projects that redefine art-making in the 21st century. His background is refreshingly nontraditional: The eagerly awaited hire is a curator, writer, and artist — the first artist ever (that we're aware of) to be in charge of a major museum in Texas. With McGraw, CAMH trustees broke with tradition and looked outside the culture fields of the East Coast and beyond the museum world. McGraw arrives from Kansas City, Missouri, where he led curatorial initiatives as a partner of the avant-garde design and architecture firm El Dorado. McGraw said that he is thrilled to join CAMH as our times need artists now more than ever. Stay tuned. Catherine D. Anspon COLLECTION RICE UNIVERSITY, GIFT OF RUSSELL H. PITMAN. © ESTATE OF SOL LEWITT / ARS, NYC. Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #1115: Circle within a square, each with broken bands of color, 2014, at Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies COURTESY THE ARTIST AND MCCLAIN GALLERY Elaine Reichek's Henceforth (Foucault), 2019, at McClain Gallery MIKE SINCLAIR Away travel wares 12