Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1387796
"Olga de Amaral: To Weave a Rock," at MFAH, July 25 – September 19, mfah.org. Catherine D. Anspon Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art (the Bogotá-born artist's alma mater), Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Down the street from the MFAH, Museum District photo dealer Foto Relevance presents Ali's solo, including a site-specific installation created for the gallery. "Cartographies of Pattern" showcases four bodies of work. Unforgettable photographic images feature swaddled figures enveloped head to toe in striking fabrics that evoke distant lands and suggest ritualistic headdress, including turbans. Thus, Ali cracks open the dialogue about colonialism and cross- Faye Toogood cultural pollination. "I'm excited to see how individuals from Houston's richly diverse communities reflect themselves in the various bodies of work which embrace woven stories, cultures, and identities through motifs and textiles," she says. "The textiles range from a wide variety of places such as Yemen, India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, and the Netherlands … [and] address themes of migration, borders, language, identity, and citizenship." "Alia Ali: Cartographies of Pattern" at Foto Relevance, July 9 – September 4, fotorelevance.com; Opposite page: Alia Ali's Chevron, 2019, from the "Indigo" series, at Foto Relevance. Clockwise from top left: Portrait of Olga de Amaral, circa 1965. Olga de Amaral's Estelas (Stelae), various dates, at MFAH. Alia Ali's Rythmic Vibrations, 2021, from the "Flux series, at Foto Relevance. Olga de Amaral's Brumas (Mists), 2013, at MFAH. ALIA ALI ARTWORKS COURTESY THE ARTIST AND FOTO RELEVANCE. PORTRAIT OF OLGA DE AMARAL © ARCHIVE OLGA DE AMARAL, PHOTO © DIANE WITLIN. OLGA DE AMARAL ARTWORKS COURTESY THE ARTIST, © OLGA DE AMARAL, PHOTO © DIEGO AMARAL. 40