'Llano Estacado' by Steve Wrubel
We flagged Wrubel’s work back in 2022, when his stunning photos of riders on bucking bulls and broncos, with the original rodeo backdrops digitally removed and replaced by desert landscapes, were on display for the debut of Ben Berg’s “pop-up” eatery, The Ranch Saloon + Steakhouse. (Which, we’re excited to report, is back for 2024.)
On Feb. 3, Houstonians and out-of-towners will have the opportunity to view this wild body of work when Let’s Ride: A Western Exploration goes up at Avant-Art Gallery. Visitors can meet Wrubel at the opening, and sample the tastes of his wine label, Ride & Ridden, and the Texas-owned label Rose Gold Rosé. The show will be up through Mar. 2.
Wrubel's works at Avant-Art
Capturing these heat of the moment, hyperreal images is a challenge, but one that Wrubel relishes. “Finding a way to get in the dirt without getting in the way and not getting run over by a 1500-pound wild horse is all part of the chase,” says Wrubel, who strives in his rodeo photography to “really feel and become a part of the energy and chaos and turn it into a split-second representation of that amazing dance between man and beast.” Regardless of your level of equestrian experience, Wrubel’s photos will leave you breathless.
Also on view at Avant-Art Gallery is Submersion: The Artistic Odyssey of Hugh Arnold, an immersive exhibit of Arnold’s vibrant and dreamlike underwater photography. The “pop” these large-scale images possess is rooted in the skillsets Arnold developed as a fashion photographer for Vogue, Elle, and Marie Claire, and broken up into three “chapters,” address life’s journey, including birth and the beauty and inevitability of growing old.
'Agua Alta, Aparicion' by Arnold
'Agua Alta, Fruition' by Arnold
Houston Symphony presents Get Up and Dance! for families (photo by Melissa Taylor)
Beginning with a solo clarinet trill on a low F natural that with a sigh and a scream sails upwards two-and-a-half octaves into the stratosphere, Rhapsody is a melting pot of musical inspirations, including early 20th-century jazz, that era’s modern European composers, and the Jewish music of Gershwin’s youth. For this weekend’s performances, Roberts’s trio will transform Rhapsody’s piano solos, interludes, and cadenzas into newly conceived moments of improvised interplay, paying homage to the music of early 20th-century African-American originators Gershwin and many other Jewish American composers felt a kinship with. Rounding out the program is Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Catherine Russell, who will join Roberts and the Symphony, led by Principal POPS conductor Steven Reineke, for a set of love songs by Gershwin (with lyrics by his brother Ira), including “The Man I Love,” “Embraceable You,” and “I Got Rhythm,” songs that are now standards of jazz repertoire. The concerts take place Friday through Sunday (Feb. 2-4) at Jones Hall.
Cat Russell
Martin Jaffe
Jason Marsalis
For parents whose kids are already bobbing their heads to music, this Saturday’s PNC Family Series concert Get Up and Dance! is a great way to introduce the wee ones to dance rhythms from around the world. Houston Symphony assistant conductor Gonzalo Farias will lead the orchestra in such groovy numbers as Ary Barroso’s Brazil (samba), Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer (ragtime), and Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” from Rodeo. (Did somebody say RODEO???) In the Jones Hall lobby, kids are invited to try out various orchestral instruments at the symphony’s popular “Instrument Petting Zoo” and enjoy dance ribbon crafting, coloring, and a performance by the Folklorico Dancers. Get Up and Dance! takes place Feb. 3 at 10am and 11:30am.