The Houston Public Library invites the community to view two outstanding art exhibits now through May. This is a great opportunity to view an exhibit that highlights impressionist art by Emma Richardson, “Emma Richardson Cherry, Houston’s First Modern Artist.” Harvey Johnson’s exhibit “Negro Spirituals: A Triple Middle Passage” is dedicated to the depiction of the human condition, showing the spirit of man struggling above adversity and the commonplace. Programs associated with the exhibits will also be presented. The exhibits and programs are free and open to the public. “Emma Richardson Cherry: Houston’s First Modern Artist”
Thru May 4, 2013
Emma Richardson Cherry (1859-1954) came to Houston in the mid 1890’s and remained a Houstonian for almost 60 years. Through her work as a teacher, lecturer, civic organizer and professional artist, she helped shape the art environment of the City and of Texas. Almost alone at first, she laid the foundation on which the Houston of later decades would build a vibrant art culture. She was a vital conduit, bringing current ideas from the greater art world to a Houston that was a small town of fewer than 30,000 when she arrived, and still fell far short of a million when she died in 1954. As the first woman and one of the first Americans of either sex to paint at Giverny in 1888/89, she arrived in Houston with first-hand knowledge of impressionism, and soon mounted the first impressionist exhibition anywhere in Texas. As a result of her encounter with such artists as Marsden Hartley and Stuart Davis in Gloucester, MA, and as one of fewer than 100 members worldwide (and the only one from Texas) of the avant-garde Societe Anonyme in New York in the early 1920’s, she was exposed to the ideas of fellow members Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray among others, and put Houston in touch with the most advanced art ideas circulating anywhere at the time. After study with cubist painter Andre Lhote in Paris in 1925/26, she painted what are likely the first cubist paintings made by a Texas artist.
The exhibit is free and open to the public at the Library’s Julia Ideson Building, 550 McKinney, 77002, 832-393-1662. For more details please visit www.houstonlibrary.org . Second Saturday Series: Mrs. Cherry’s Studio (Family Program)
Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 2 PM
Julia Ideson Building, 550 McKinney, 77002, 832-393-1662
A workshop for all ages that introduces creative methods and techniques that Cherry and her students used in their work. An art instructor will provide fun activities to keep everyone engaged as they learn about the exhibition “Emma Richardson Cherry: Houston’s First Modern Artist.” This program is free and open to the public “Negro Spirituals: A Triple Middle Passage”
Thru May 25, 2013
Known for his narrative paintings and outstanding draftsmanship, poet Harvey Johnson has dedicated his work to the depiction of the human condition, showing the spirit of man struggling above adversity and the commonplace. As Johnson leads us through his own expression into self-discovery we discover ourselves at our most intimate. The exhibit displays 32 works of art that include paintings and drawings and one installation with found objects from Johnson’s travels. The exhibit expresses Johnson’s continuous journey in life that he has identified as three central themes he calls the “triple middle passage”: life, the transatlantic slave trade, and human transformation. “Negro Spirituasl: A Triple Middle Passage” explores these themes. African and African-American women function as solid and graceful allegories of creativity, life, hope and the survival of a community and culture. Recurring symbols, such as the shotgun house, are used to express the importance of social ties essential to black American cultural life. Johnson says, “The First Middle Passage is life – how we enter into this life through the boat of Heaven that is the sacred womb of all mothers. The Second Middle Passage speaks to the transatlantic slave trade and its ramifications to the present day, a holocaust of unmerciful human pillage and destruction. The Third Middle Passage is about human transformation not only ultimately from body to spirit, but transforming human and environment abuse into positive spirituality and humanness.”This exhibit is free and open to the public at The African American Library at the Gregory School, 1300 Victor St., 77019, 832-393-1440. For more details please visit www.houstonlibrary.org. Gallery Talk
Saturday, April 27, 2013 at 2 PM
The African American Library at the Gregory School, 1300 Victor St., 77019, 832-393-1440
In conjunction with the exhibition “Negro Spirituals: A Triple Middle Passage” poet Harvey Johnson will give an informal Gallery Talk on his work and the impact of the white-washing of his student murals at Texas Southern University. Lunch with a Legacy
With Harvey Johnson and Willie and Annie Moore
Saturday, May 25, 2013 at 2 PM
The African American Library at the Gregory School, 1300 Victor St., 77019, 832-393-1440
A conversation with poet Harvey Johnson and his former teacher Willie Moore, and the closing reception of the “Negro Spirituals: A Triple Middle Passage” exhibit. About the Houston Public Library
The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries, four HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent Resource Library located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving more than seven million customers per year in person and online, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7. For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org or call 832-393-1313.
