Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1321684
(Continued on page 80) (Continued from page 76) defining aha features that inspires awe is its grand three-story atrium, graced by Calder's 1949 International Mobile (which seems designed for this particular placement). On the floors below, the lively pattern of the terrazzo — hand-laid by the grandson of the artisan who created the Law Building's terrazzo floors decades before — sets up a jazzy dialogue. Then there's rare African limba wood in such spaces as the formal restaurant, sourced from Houston heritage millwork company Brochsteins, which the firm had held on to for more than half a century, awaiting its perfect home. Unlike the Law or Beck buildings — or most museums, in fact — the outside world and nature are considered and even brought inside the Kinder, making us aware of its place in the verdant Museum D i s t r i c t n e i g h b o r h o o d . Pedestrians along Main Street are also rewarded by peeks into the galleries, which become shop windows for art gazing, including basking in a collection of kinetic Jean Tinguely works that once made an impression on a young Gary Tinterow; 50 years later, the MFAH museum director decided to bring these extraordinary works out of storage. The outdoors will be further activated by two commissions. At the principal entrance, Spanish installation artist Cristina Iglesias has been tapped to create a water element paired with a cast-bronze topographical form that will alternately be submerged then drained, mimicking the effects of a tidal pool. Three sculptures by Korean master Byung Hoon Choi hold court outside the museum's handsome new formal dining destination. Formed from unpolished Indonesian basalt, the torqued trio evoke the Asian tradition of scholar's stones. Artful Dining + lAtin AmericAn Spotlight Weeks before the official media preview, MFAH director Gary Tinterow led a small band of press through the Kinder Building, which was filled with masked workers and curators busily readying for the opening. We checked out the two new restaurants: Café Leonelli with cool Spencer Finch lighting and the more formal Le Jardinier, boasting beautiful paneling, a view of the Cullen Sculpture Garden, and a 10-by-22-foot tapestry by Houston artist and former MFAH Core Fellow Trenton Doyle Hancock (who has been in the Whitney Biennial twice). Both concepts arrive from New York's Bastion Restaurants, overseen by Michelin-star chefs, with the cafe unveiling early 2021, followed by Le Jardinier in Spring 2021. Tinterow then bounded upstairs, and we followed, to peer into breathtaking new second-floor galleries. We began with modern and contemporary — the museum's jaunty Léger and Matisse fireplace murals stood out as did a tiny Forrest Bess, which held it own amidst a sea All works ColleCtion MFAH. CloCkwise FroM Middle ColuMn, © ZAnele MuHoli, Courtesy oF tHe Artist, yAnCey riCHArdson, new york, And stevenson, CApe town / JoHAnnesburg. © yAyoi kusAMA. © Ars, nyC / C/o piCtorigHt AMsterdAM. Looking into the second- floor atrium, Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston