Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1255943
Sales of Lita Cabellut's Bodas de Sangre benefit Art League Houston. OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. P rescient Painting at HMAAC: In keeping with our focus on one worthy art space and a notable Texas talent in this column each month, until the larger art world resumes, we draw your attention to Melissa Aytenfisu. The emerging Houston artist was scheduled to step into the limelight with her first museum solo this summer a t H o u s t o n M u s e u m o f A f r i c a n American Culture in the Bert Long Jr. Gallery, with a tightly curated exhibition focusing on a dozen paintings, collages, and prints. Delayed until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control — check back with HMAAC (hmaac.org) for museum updates — we're looking forward to seeing Aytenfisu's melding of realism with adroit passages of abstraction, work suited for our time that addresses community and issues a call for activism. A signature piece in the show, Homeless, typifies her approach. This diptych formed from charcoal drawing, watercolor, aerosol, and collaged imagery (culled from ads and other printed media) contrasts two sides of life: sleeping on the streets and driving a Mercedes-Benz. The rising painter, whose day job is a teaching gig at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, takes as her subject a neighborhood she knows well: "the physical, social, and emotional setting of Houston's Third Ward." Works range from $50 for 12-by-18-inch prints to $2,000 for an ambitious 48-by-60-inch mixed-media painting depicting Emancipation Park, making for a nice entry point for beginning collectors. Synergistically, the Canadian- born artist who's lived and taught in Macau, China, mirrors the world view of the museum where she'll debut her latest; HMAAC, led by CEO emeritus John Guess Jr., current CEO Seba Raquel Suber, and exhibitions manager Dominic Clay, is known for presenting openings and happenings filled with tremendous energy, encompassing performances by the storied Mardi Gras Indians, a parade of slab-car culture, and exhibitions for the likes of David McGee, Bert Long Jr., Malick Sidibé, Ti-rock Moore, as well as social justice narratives including an unflinching look at the Sandra Bland case. Catherine D. Anspon ART NOTES COURTESY THE ARTIST AND HMAAC SCENTS SURROUND I f Diptyque can make our surrounding scents so sublime, imagine what it can do to scent our very beings. L'Art du Soin, Diptyque's collection of skin and body care in classic Diptyque packaging, focuses on a range of textures — lotion, balm, oil, wax, and water — that transform on the body. Cleansing balm becomes an oil and then a lotion; radiance powder changes to foam. Infused with essences of bitter orange, rose and iris petals, violet, and jasmine, the collection ranges from $26 to $90. At the Diptyque boutique in NorthPark Center, Neiman Marcus. diptyqueparis.com. Diptyque Émulsion Velours pour les Main BOOKS FUNDING BOOKS BOTERO AND CABELLUT BENEFIT ART LEAGUE I t's helping hands extending across the pond — much needed and appreciated during our pandemic times. Kudos to Spanish publisher Artika Books for reaching out via Art of the World Gallery and offering a portion of proceeds from recent limited editions on Latin American master Fernando Botero and European expressionistic painter Lita Cabellut to benefi t a Houston nonprofi t impacted by COVID-19. Art of the World proposed Art League Houston, which needs funding to publish its catalog honoring 2020 Texas Artist of the Year Rick Lowe (Project Row Houses founder, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, and U of H professor). The gallery then matched Artika's donation. For every Botero or Cabellut limited-edition book sold, a generous $500 will go to ALH's publication on Lowe. Fernando Botero: Botero's Women and Lita Cabellut: Bodas de Sangre, $5,000 each, through artoftheworldgallery.com. More on this story at papercitymag.com. Catherine D. Anspon Melissa Aytenfi su's Homeless, 2020, at Houston Museum of African American Culture Crème Riche pour le Corps