Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/304026
The Houston social scene is in full bloom. Friday, May 2, The Glassell School of Art bids adieu to its current residence at The Wrecking Ball. Sara Paschall Dodd and Greg Fourticq Jr. chair the farewell soirée, with cocktails in Cullen Sculpture Garden, seated dinner and auction (713.639.7572; glassellbenefit@mfah. org). Also May 2, enjoy an evening al fresco with Catastrophic Theatre at the annual Gala: Camp Catastrophic. Held at The SPJST Lodge and co-chaired by Paul Brockman and Scott Greenwood, Erin and Chet Farmer, and Caroline Starry LeBlanc and Jared LeBlanc, media sponsor PaperCity (713.522.2723; tamarie.cooper@catastrophictheatre. com) … Thursday, May 8, join chairman Diane Caplan and honorary chair Dominique Sachse at Omni Hotel Houston for the Heroes & Handbags Luncheon, benefitting Heroes for Children. Signature silent auction of designer handbags; media sponsor PaperCity (713.401.9930, ext. 1) … Saturday, May 10, is the 27th Annual Houston Art Car Parade's VIPit Party, benefitting Orange Show for Visionary Art. Chairs Cabrina and Steven Owsley join art enthusiasts at The Heritage Society for front-row shaded viewing; media sponsor PaperCity (713.926.6368; wendy@orangeshow.org) … Wednesday, May 14, CancerForward's New Summer Standard honors City Councilwoman Ellen Cohen, a 44-year survivor. Chairs Gina and Devinder Bhatia, Millette and Haag Sherman; honorary chairs Donna and Robert Bruni, Ellie and Michael Francisco; dinner and dancing to Richard Brown Orchestra (713.840.0988; ojc@cancerforward.org) … Thursday, May 15, take a chance at DiverseWorks' Luck of the Draw fund-raiser. chaired by Bridget and Patrick Wade; cocktails and lite bites catered by Down House; media sponsor PaperCity (713.223.8346; jordan@diverseworks.org) … Friday, May 16, Houston Area Women's Center welcomes comedian Margaret Cho to its Stand Up and Roar Gala at Hilton Post Oak. Chaired by Yvonne Cormier, Claire Cormier Thielke, Michelle Cormier Bliss, and Marisa Cormier; media sponsor PaperCity (hawc.org) … Also on May 16, The Blaffer Art Museum presents Ready. Steady. Go! A Nod to Mod Gala. Cullen Geiselman, Ryan Gordon, and Leslie and Mark Hull co-chair a celebration honoring Welcome Wilson Sr. and Joanne Guest Wilson; media sponsor PaperCity (713.743.9537; echurch@uh.edu) … Thursday, May 29, Holocaust Museum Houston honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gerda Weissmann Klein with The Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award at its annual dinner; speaker Congressman John Lewis; media sponsor PaperCity (713.942.800, ext. 121; hmhdinner@hmh.org). Erin Oppenheim SocialWhirl Here are two more chances to add inscribed tomes to your design library. Tuesday, May 13, NY-based designer Stephanie Stokes signs Elegant Rooms That Work: Fantasy and Function in Interior Design ($50), 6 pm, at Fixtures & Fittings showroom at Houston Design Center, 7026 Old Katy Road, Suite 171. To RSVP, email info@ fixturesfittings.com. Then Thursday, May 15, The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art brings architect Phillip James Dodd to town for a presentation and signing of his new book The Art of Classical Details: Theory, Design & Craftsmanship ($70) at Canopy, 3939 Montrose Blvd., 6 pm cocktails, 7 pm lecture. ICAA gratis; $10 nonmembers. To RSVP, email joyce@icaatexas.org. Booked! Keegan McHargue's Borrowers and Lenders, 2013, at Fredericks & Freiser He came out with the top prize at the 2013 Texas Contemporary Art Fair — landing the impressive second annual $10,000 Texas Contemporary Award, juried by the astute duo of CAMH director Bill Arning and, in from LACMA, curator Rita Gonzalez. Meet Keegan McHargue, a 30-something Brooklyn-based painter whose semi-abstract paintings overlaid with figuration are fresh and lyrical, with a jolt of the political and a whiff of cartooning (but you'll have to work to decipher the content, which is the way McHargue likes it). As to this internationally exhibited talent's influences — he's shown from Moscow to Melbourne and, natch, extensively in Manhattan — they range from raiding the icebox of art history (at the moment, he's thinking of Fragonard in the midst of an idyllic Rococo period). He's also been shaped in ways subtle yet significant by cave painting, Bosch, Bruegel (both Elder and Younger) and della Francesca, as well as Munch, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Manet, Courbet, Soutine, John Wesley and even Peter Saul. He even names musical impresarios, from Houston's own late DJ Screw to minimalist dancer Simone Forti and pianist/composer Charlemagne Palestine, as making an impact upon his art-making. Coming to the prime-time art world after growing up in Portland, where he majored in literature at Portland State University, McHargue is low-key about his success, which began with a show a decade ago at Rivington Arms, NYC. "The gallerist's father came in and did all the lighting — turned out it was Brice Marden," he recalls. "I was too naive at the time to even be in awe." Currently represented by eminent Chelsea dealer Fredericks & Freiser — who brought McHargue to the Texas Contemporary in 2013 and will show him again at the TC, come September — the painter admits, "Winning this prize was a big break." What did he spend the five figures on? "The prize went back into my practice," he says. "With money, your oils are creamier and your colors are more heavy-bodied, your stretcher bars are straighter and your canvas has a tighter weave. I'm kidding, but … a lot of investment in materials. Also, I took a trip to Turkey." Catherine D. Anspon Contemporary Canvas: Keegan McHargue / BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR September 4 – 7, 2014 H O U S T O N txcontemporary.com COURTESY THE ARTIST AND FREDERICKS & FREISER, NYC A mong the world's fabled jewelers, the roll call reads one per country: Cartier, Asprey, Tiffany & Co. and, when you get to Italy, it's the incomparable Bulgari, which is synonymous with Rome, the Eternal City. Get intimate with Bulgari this month when a bauble blockbuster travels to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, on the 130-year anniversary of the gem house that defined post-war la dolce vita. Approximately 150 show- stoppers of the most impeccable pedigree come to town, and HMNS is the only museum outside of Europe to display these dazzlers that represent more than a century. These are distillations of the highest bijoux art, sporting a confectionery cascade of colored gemstones, both precious and semiprecious, signaling a new style and representing an audacious attitude paired with beauty — all trademarks of the exquisite Roman rock house. So Bulgari was built on the new, as well as on a foundation of tradition extending back to the Romans, established from the brand's well-flocked shop on the Via dei Condotti, at the base of the Spanish Steps — which, by the way, Bulgari has adopted as a restoration project. The exhibition explores the beginnings of Bulgari through today, dipping into the decades from its launch in 1884 by Sotirio Bulgari, a gem master of Greek descent. Drawing inspiration from Greco-Roman classicism, the Italian Renaissance, and 19th-century Italian goldsmiths, the march of elegance and inventiveness is laid out, up into the Serpenti and Monete designs (the former alluding to the Roman motif of the serpent, considered a talisman for protection, and the latter, a hallmark of the jet-setters from the 1970s on, marrying contemporary design with the allure of antique numismatics). Then there's the intersection of celebrity — and even a whiff of delicious scandal, primarily in the Liz Taylor collection as her romance with Richard Burton during the filming of Cleopatra played out in the vaults of Bulgari. Or the more innocent visits of Audrey Hepburn, who used to pedal by on her bike while making Roman Holiday, selecting a gold bag for her mother. Not to be overlooked are our hometown global glam Lynn Wyatt, Joanne King Herring and Christina Girard, all of whom lend treasures to this monumental lineup. We'll see you round the HMNS cases, ogling the Bulgari sautoir Dick gave to Liz. "Bulgari: 130 Years of Masterpieces," at Houston Museum of Natural Science, May 2 – October 5. Catherine D. Anspon Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, 1975; she wears his gift of a Bulgari sautoir Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren, she in Bulgari, in Pret-a-Porter, 1994 Phillip James Dodd Stephanie Stokes Rock HOUSE Roman Bulgari Heritage Collection sautoir in platinum, sapphires and diamonds, from the vaunted Elizabeth Taylor collection, 1969 Marilyn graces Life, May 25, 1953 Marilyn memorabilia: The Babydoll Museum's prized frock, the gown Miz Monroe wore in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Keegan McHargue It all began in 1992 with an almost paranormal experience for Houston philanthropist Marie Bosarge. She still recalls a vivid dream-state conversation she had with Marilyn Monroe; soon afterwards, she began to collect the late film siren's ephemera. First came a gift from son Andrew: a piece of a black velvet dress that Monroe wore in the film Asphalt Jungle. Next, Bosarge's husband, Ed, surprised her with original images by the icon's favorite photographer, Milton Greene. Flash forward: Bosarge has assembled a 100-piece cache of memorabilia that ranges from the tantalizing to the arcane, under the auspices of The Marilyn! Babydoll Museum. It will be unveiled to the public for the first time in "The Inner Marilyn" at the Jung Center this month. Most fascinating is the chance to encounter the legend's garments and cinematic costumes, from a racy black bra to pink Ferragamo heels from Let's Make Love, as well as photography, artwork and correspondence. It is Bosarge's desire to one day create a permanent home for her trove. May 3 – June 10 at the Jung Center, junghouston.org. Catherine D. Anspon MARILYN+CARL Marie Bosarge GITTINGS GRAEME MITCHELL Bulgari Heritage Collection Seven Wonders necklace in platinum, emeralds and diamonds, 1961