Benito Huerta + Janet Chaffee
January 12 - February 16, 2019
This exhibit is part of our new LAN* season.
Saturday, January 12, 2019: Opening Reception, 6 – 8 pm
Saturday, February 16, 2019: Closing Reception, 3 – 5 pm
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Here and There: Janet Chaffee + Benito Huerta is the first of three exhibitions dedicated to LAN 2019 (*Latino Art Now), a series of citywide shows focusing on Latino Art in connection with the LAN 2019 Symposium at the University Houston (April 4 -6, 2019).
Benito Huerta, besides his studio practice, has been involved in and has influenced Latino Art in Texas in a major way as an educator, curator, gallery director and art magazine founder, to name a few of his accomplishments. In his paintings, drawings and prints he explores the intersection of cultures and eloquently fuses language, abstraction and representation, high art and the mundane. He examines shifting boundaries, conflicting information or cultural stereotypes in order to create modern archetypes, which can be funny, ambiguous or downright unsettling.
Janet Chaffee, the other half of the art couple, in her work provides a certain counterpoint to Benito’s action packed canvasses. She is more interested in textures and structures that are subtle and deliberate. She often uses naturally occurring elements such as beeswax, minerals or mica rather than commercial products and most of her recent work has been executed using dry pigment, oil, and encaustic. Although referencing patterns in the natural world, her work feels like an authentic part of nature.
The next exhibitions in connection with LAN 2019 are Artimanas / Revealed from February 23 to March 23 and Duelo de Espejos : Reflecting Back from March 30 to April 27.
Janet Chaffee, Over the Pass, No. 10, 2018, Oil on panel
Janet Chaffee, Hess CaC03 (Calcium Carbonate), 2015, Encaustic, dry pigment and oil on panel
Janet Chaffee, In-Kah-Pah, 2015, Encaustic, dry pigment and oil on panel
Benito Huerta, Casting Call, 1995 – 2012, Oil on canvas
Benito Huerta, Mils Mascaras Redux, 1987 – 2013, Oil, straw, pencil, china marker, oil stick, plumb bob and wire on canvas with lead, nails on wood
(in memory of Lorenzo Thomas)
Benito Huerta, Crown of Creation, 2016, Oil on canvas