Two for the Show: Colors Converge in Joint Exhibit at Anya Tish

Two for the Show: Colors Converge in Joint Exhibit at Anya Tish

'Voz de Mujer' by Escallon

THIS WEEKEND, A new show goes up at Anya Tish Gallery. Dialogues: A Convergence of Color and Form features works by Colombian-born painter Tatiana Escallón and sculptor Marisol Valencia, who hails from Guadalajara, Mexico. Escallón’s large-scale abstract paintings are filled with color and action, and Valencia’s twisted and folded porcelain and steel sculptures are just as beautiful as they are unsettling. While each artist explores wildly different mediums of expression, hot-blooded emotion is contained in the colors they choose and the forms they create. The show opens Friday, Jan. 12, and both artists will be present.


'Ways to Endure' by Valencia

This isn’t the first time Escallón has shown at Anya Tish. Last summer, two of her paintings, “La Fiesta (The Feast)” and “Voz de Mujer (Woman’s Voice),” were included in Strike the Match! — a sensuous, all-too-brief pop-up exhibit of Texas-based female painters curated by Tish and gallery director Dawn Ohmer. Both of those paintings began as original poems, and throughout her work, words in both Spanish and English share space alongside harried-looking dots, dashes, and longer lines, not unlike the emotive, gestural work of such abstract expressionist heavies as Helen Frankenthaler and Cy Twombly. Using acrylics, oils, graphite, and materials such as rope and wood, Escallón conjures a form of assemblage that is closer to alchemy than collage.

Valencia has lived in the United States since 2004, and recently completed the Block XXI program at the Glassell School of Art and was awarded a certificate of achievement for her studies in ceramics. Her new series of sculptures Ways to Endure is the result of her experimentation with the physical properties of porcelain, and a comment on how we endure or crumble in the wake of tragic circumstances. Each sculpture begins with an ordinary cardboard box as its armature, which Valencia covers with a porcelain slip, and then fires at an unusually high temperature. Out of this unusual but methodical firing process unpredictable cracks, textures, and deformations occur, as each box crumbles or collapses entirely.

Dialogues: A Convergence of Color and Form is on view through Feb. 24.

Art + Entertainment
Top Realtor Beth Wolff Says Her Career Took Off ‘When I Focused on Others’
How did you get where you are today? “Life is what happens while you’re making plans.” After graduating with a BBA from the University of Texas, I married, and was a stay-at-home mom. Divorcing when my children were just four and six, I became their sole supporter, and I chose real estate for the time flexibility and income potential. After four years working for another Broker, I founded my own company with one sales associate and 375 square feet. Little did I imagine this journey. Houston offers amazing opportunities for those who are willing to work hard and persevere! I have watched the city mature with the addition of all the wonderful, talented people from around the country and around the world who have made Houston their home. It was once said that Houston had a “can do, cowboy capitalism attitude.”
Keep Reading Show less

The inspired menu at Amalfi emphasizes fresh seafood and, on right, Giancarlo Ferrara

THIS WEDNESDAY, AMALFI Ristorante will transport guests to the sun-soaked shores of Southern Italy’s Campania region, home to the glamorous island of Capri, with a six-course dinner. The menu, curated by Executive Chef Giancarlo Ferrara, will be paired with wines from Agricola Bellaria Winery, one of Campania’s most celebrated estates.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

A model on the runway at the Saks show kicking of the Nutcracker Market

A PAIR OF fashion-show events kicked off the annual Nutcracker Market in support of the Houston Ballet.

Keep Reading Show less
Fashion+Home