the Art MuseuM of the university of houston

n e W s L i n esuMMer 2009

It is with great enthusiasm that we greet spring at Blaffer Gallery. This is my first season as director and chief curator of the museum and I am grateful to have earned the trust of the search committee members who have appointed me to this position. I feel fortunate indeed: I inherit a healthy

institution with a dedicated staff and an enthusiastic board who are bound by an ambitious agenda. In difficult economic times such as these, we find great comfort in our proven ability to successfully negoti-ate challenging situations without compromising our institutional relevance. Blaffer Gallery is staying true to its mission and will continue to do so in the future.

The past three months have been action-packed with programs and events. Coinciding with the closing of the Center for Land Use Interpretation’s exhibition texas oil: Landscape of an industry and electric Mud, we co-hosted systems of sustainability, a

multi-faceted, cross-disciplinary program that com-bined academic and populist agendas. Unfolding over three days, it drew audiences old and new to the University of Houston and Blaffer Gallery. The first of its kind to have been organized together with our partner, the UH Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, we celebrate its success and look forward to further developing this format of part-symposium, part-festival in our collaborative ventures.

May 15 is a big day: it marks the opening of existed: Leonardo Drew, a mid-career retrospective of this significant artist based in New York and San Antonio. It is also the night of our annual gala. Sporting the title renGen remix, this year’s event is dedicated to the celebration of regeneration and new beginnings. You will note that we have changed locations and we will be off-site. Please join us at the New World Museum for an evening filled with great food, music, and art. We hope to see you there!

Claudia Schmuckli Director and Chief Curator

froM the Director

upcoMinG eventsfriday, May 156–8 p.m.Opening Reception for existed: Leonardo Drew

friday, May 158 p.m.–12 a.m.renGen remix 2009 Blaffer Gallery Gala

Wednesday, June 312 p.m.Brown Bag Gallery tour

Wednesday, June 24 6:30 p.m. Artist’s and curator’s talkfeaturing Leonardo Drew and claudia schmuckli

Wednesday, July 15 6:30 p.m.contemporary salon *Programs subject to change. Please visit www.blaffergallery.org for the most updated calendar of events.

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the scene At BLAffer

1. Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture’s Visual Resource Curator Jean Krchnak and Director of the Graduate Design/Build Studio patrick peters at the texas oil: Landscape of an industry Contemporary Salon 2. electric Mud contributing artist patrick Wilson with sara cochran (center), Phoenix Art Museum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and claudia schmuckli (right), Director of Blaffer Gallery, at the electric Mud roundtable discussion and luncheon 3. Donald van nieuwenhuise, Director of the UH Petroleum Geoscience Program, points to the forty-two-gallon barrel of oil

at the texas oil Brown Bag Gallery Tour 4. The Center for Land Use Interpretation Founder and Director Matthew coolidge gives a tour of texas oil to Blaffer Gallery docents 5. Visitors look over photographs during the texas oil exhibition opening 6. electric Mud contributing artist Michael reafsnyder (left) with exhibition curator David pagel (right) at the electric Mud roundtable discussion and luncheon 7. Artist Divya Murthy (left) with Blaffer Curator of Education Katherine veneman at the texas oil Contemporary Salon

8. Blaffer advisory board member sallie Morian (right) at the electric Mud exhibition opening 9. Joseph pratt, Interim Dean of the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, at the systems of sustainability welcome address 10. John reed, Director of the UH School of Art, and nancy Zastudil, Program Manager of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, at the texas oil Contemporary Salon 11. cindi strauss, MFAH Curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts and Design, at the electric Mud roundtable discussion and luncheon

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existed:

Leonardo drew May 16 – August 1, 2009

Opening in mid-May, existed: Leonardo Drew presents sculptures and works on paper created over the last twenty years by New York- and San Antonio-based artist Leonardo Drew. Throughout his career, Drew has been engaged with the cyclical nature of existence. Made to resemble the detritus of everyday life, his formally abstract but emotion-ally charged compositions have an aesthetic authority and metaphorical weight that are unique, transcending time and place in a celebration of things eternal. These works range from the intense drama of his sculptures and installations of the 1980s, to the epic sweep of his massive wall-bound tableaux of the 1990s, to the ethereal language of his paper casts of the early 2000s. Add the poetic intimacy of his recent works on paper, and Drew’s practice can be described as a journey toward enlightenment, full of reprises and returns as well as new beginnings.

Exhibition curator and Blaffer Director Claudia Schmuckli sat down with Drew to discuss what he has been working on for the exhibition.

claudia schmuckli: You often describe certain bodies of work in terms of “developing” and “arriving,” as if you saw them undertaking a series of journeys. It seems to me that the shift in trajectory in your work often coincides with a focus on a new material or form. How do you arrive at these junctures?

Leonardo Drew: I’ll say that the shift in material, and sometimes in trajectory, has to do with self-exploration. There are basically two different things we can draw on: we can draw on our personal history, and we can draw on a collective history. I think that I pretty much go back and forth between the two. I can see in hindsight how some experiences introduced themselves in the work because they made me gravitate toward a certain material at a particular point in time, but the work is never literally about personal experience. It’s about a human experience — there is a larger history at work here.

cs: There is an undeniable emotional charge to your art that carries through from your first mature work, Number 8 (1988), to your most recent paper casts. I feel, though, that the intensity and tenor of the emotion has changed quite significantly. In your art throughout the nineties, there was a lot of emphasis on notions of temporality, ruin, and decay. This is most palpable in the works that employ rust, but it applies to the paper casts as well. Their ghostlike presence speaks to the absence of the actual objects and

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Above: Number 43, 1994 (detail) Fabric, plastic, rust, string, wood 138 x 288 x 12 inches Marc and Livia Straus Family Collection and the Saint Louis Art Museum Photo © Dorothy Zeidman

conjures up a lost history of people and their lives that we may or may not know about. I feel that your most recent work strikes a lighter, somewhat more jubilant stance. It speaks more about the originary aspect of nature than its transience.

LD: I would say that is what’s actually happening. I mean, if we were to speak of birth, life, death, and regeneration — this shows the work going through that very process.

cs: So do you agree that your work is at a regenerative stage at this point?

LD: The work references itself now. It’s all part of a journey, and I think that at this point in the journey, it’s about trying to reinvent myself. There is a need to reassess. The work is in a state of reinvestigating itself by referencing its past.

But the thing that remains consistent in the overall feeling of the work is that it’s weighted. When I began to take up paper, I thought I was pushing against the idea that my work was always going to have that very same weight or effect. But there was no getting around it: you look at the paper casts, and they have the same substantial emotional magnitude as the other sculptures. And that’s who I am; I can’t avoid that. That’s going to be a part of my actual sen-sibility, and that’s going to be my signature, no matter what materials I touch. The results are the same, absolutely the same, so I think that has to do with a sensibility at the core of my creative self that cannot be denied. At this point in my life, I’m just allowing it to take hold, take shape, and be. It’s important for the work to be able to breathe and to have an identity that is not in denial of itself.

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on vieW

Number 26, 1992 Canvas, rust, wood 120 x 168 x 6 inches Private collection, New York Photo © John Berens

Leonardo Drew Number 26, 1992 Canvas, rust, wood 120 x 168 x 6 inches Private collection, New York Photo © John Berens

Number 104, 2005 Cast paper, graphite, paper, rust 95 x 96.5 x 3 inches, unframed Private collection Photo © Luciano Fileti

cs: And where do you locate this emotional weight in yourself?

LD: It’s like a dance. Things are coming to me or flowing out of me without my having to tag them. It’s a type of freedom, something that also comes out in the work. I don’t question it. I think you just allow these things to sort of take shape and take form. It sounds very strange, but for me it’s the most natural way of creating.

existed: Leonardo Drew is organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation, the Harpo Foundation, the Linda Pace Foundation, Allen Bennett MD, The Fifth Floor Foundation,

Guillermo Nicolas, and The TOBY Fund. Support for the cata-logue is provided by Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Following its Blaffer debut, existed: Leonardo Drew will travel to the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina, from February 7

through May 9, 2010.

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Number 8, 1988 Animal carcasses, animal hides, feathers, paint, paper, rope, wood 108 x 120 x 4 inches Courtesy the artist Photo © Frank Stewart

Number 33a, 1999 Canvas, metal boxes, oxidized metal, rust, shoes, wire 99 x 96 x 22 inches Collection of the McNay Art Museum. Museum purchase with the Helen and Everett H. Jones Purchase Fund Photo © McNay Art Museum

doubLe PhysichromieThe University of Houston is honored to now have in its collection a work by the world-renowned artist Carlos Cruz-Diez. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1923, Cruz-Diez was part of the advertising world until 1955, when a trip to Europe introduced him to the work of geometric abstract painters and the Bauhaus. Due to his intense interest in, and understanding of, color and color theory, as well as the contemporary influence of Kinetic and Op Art, Cruz-Diez switched careers, becoming one of the most important artists of his generation and one of the most revered Latin American artists living today. Exhibit-ing internationally, he has received numerous honors, and his works have found a home in such institutions as the Tate Gallery, MoMA, the Centre Pompidou, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 1997, he opened the Carlos Cruz-Diez Print & Design Museum in Caracas as an educational resource to support Venezuelan artists.

Cruz-Diez has executed numerous public commissions around the world, but the one for UH is the country’s

first. Creating Double Physichromie (for the University of Houston) was a collaborative effort. The large ser-pentine sculpture measures five feet tall and sixty-five feet long, with over two thousand aluminum and steel parts; these were fabricated locally by Blumenthal Sheet Metal and painted by J. E. Titus Company from detailed drawings made by the artist. Located at Entrance 1 off Calhoun, the sculpture was commissioned using the 1% of the budget of the new Welcome Center/Parking Garage that had been set aside for public art. The work is meant to be seen in motion and from multiple angles, although standing still in front of either side, one can appreciate the complexity of the color combinations and forms: repeating vertical stripes of color and alternating blade shapes create dizzying optical effects. Double Physichromie is a remarkable piece of art. You can learn more about the artist at www.cruz-diez.com and at www.sicardi.com, or by visiting Sicardi Gallery in Houston.

Michael Guidry Curator, University of Houston Public Art Collection

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speciAL feAture

Detail: Double Physichromie

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bLaffer GaLLery and mitcheLL center send out an s.o.s.

Part arts festival and part academic symposium, systems of sustainability (s.o.s.): Art, innovation, Action was held March 27–29 in partnership with the Cynthia Woods Mitch-ell Center for the Arts to examine creative enterprise as an integral tool for cultural growth and social change. A diverse audience of community members, artists, and students at-tended events showcasing the innovative practices of local, national, and international sustainability advocates.

From its opening kickoff party, headlined by DJ and artist Steve Nalepa, to the closing remarks of collaborators Liz Lerman and robert harriss, S.O.S. provided three days and evenings filled with programs that asked questions, sparked dialogue, and illuminated new artistic practices in today’s ever-shifting cultural landscape. Friday evening featured an “Animated Keynote” given by Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, following an introduction by University of Hous-ton President renu Khator and Mayor Bill White, who each addressed the importance of sustainability in the arts, higher education, and Houston.

Mornings opened with casual conversation followed by lectures and related panel discussions on provocative topics. “Research and Environs,” moderated by Harriss, investigated practices that foster interaction between art and technology as well as our interaction with the environ-ment. “Poetics and Performance: Art in Public Spaces,” moderated by Blaffer Director claudia schmuckli, extended the conversation by considering site-specific artworks that activate and change their surroundings. Finally, “Society and Community,” moderated by artist Barbara pagh, directly addressed ways to sustain and nurture artists

who either work collectively or share a common space and artistic philosophy.

S.O.S. also offered numerous afternoon and evening in-teractive opportunities, site-specific projects, and on- and off-campus field trips. For instance, on Friday, Brian collier gave those interested a tour of his observation station for non-native Quaker Parrots in Houston. On both Saturday and Sunday, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange performed a community tea ceremony. A full list of activities that took place can be found online at www.soshouston.org.

S.O.S. attendees benefited from three days of inspired and fresh perspectives on the future of sustain-ability. Blaffer Gallery and the Mitchell Center extend their sincere thanks to participants, guests, volunteers, and every-one else who made S.O.S. a weekend to remember.

S.O.Ssystems of sustainability

art . innovation . actionmarch . 27 – 29 . 2009www.soshouston.org

Deja Rendez-Vous party and project unveiling with CLUI representatives and the SIMPARCH designers

Karen Farber (left) and Claudia Schmuckli

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s.o.s. recAp

Houston Mayor Bill White

UH President Renu Khator

Katherine Veneman (left), Barbara Pagh (center), and Alexandra Broches (right)

UH design students at the kickoff party

Robert Harriss

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

Lindsay Utz

Steve Nalepa

Lindsay Utz

Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Liz Lerman

Michael MercilDario Robleto

Richard Lerman

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JosePhine mecksePer septeMBer 12–noveMBer 14, 2009Born and raised in Germany, Josephine Meckseper received her M.F.A. in 1992 from the California Institute of Arts in Valencia. She has lived in the United States for nearly twenty years, creating magazines, installations, and films that address leftist theories and politics in a consum-erist reality. Her work playfully examines the semantics of media propaganda as well as capitalist sales and advertis-ing strategies. As the artist has said, “Instead of aestheti-cizing political issues and problems, what I try to do is to

challenge ingrained perspectives, for instance, habits of seeing while leafing through a newspaper in which horror sto-ries from Iraq appear side by side with underwear advertise-ments. These works exaggerate this mode of dissemi-nating information and consumerism in order to expose it.” The individual

elements of the works symbolize or simulate commercial objects.

Meckseper’s exhibition at Blaffer Gallery will focus on her recent artworks, which examine the conflicting interests of the mass media, politicians, and the oil and auto industries as played out in the Iraq War. This is spelled out in the film 0% Down (2008), a mix of American car commercials set to the song “Total War” by Boyd Rice/NON. The exhibition will also contain Meckseper’s documentary photographs of

antiwar protests, and her sig-nature mannequin and product display installations. Blaffer will also debut Untitled (2009), a re-creation of the stage sets used during U.S. presidential television debates.

Meckseper’s work has been included in such prominent exhibitions as New Photography 2008 at MoMA, Prospect 1 New Orleans, That Was Then . . . This Is Now at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, the international touring

exhibition USA Today: New American Art from the Saatchi Gallery, the 2006 Whitney Biennial Day for Night, and a significant retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. Blaffer Gallery is pleased to present Meckseper’s first full one-person museum exhibition in the United States. JRP|Ringier is publishing a catalogue of the exhibition with texts by exhibition curator Rachel Hooper, Heike Munder, and Sylvère Lotringer (in conversation with Paul Virilio). The catalogue is published on the occasion of Meckseper’s ex-

hibitions at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst Zürich, the Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössis-che Kunst Münster in Germany, and Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. Josephine Meckseper is organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition

and publication are made possible, in part, by The Cecil Amelia von Furst-enberg Endowment for Exhibitions and Programs, Houston Endowment, Inc., and the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Save a Bundle, 2007Mixed media Part I: 65 x 48 x 24 inches Part II: 48 x 48 x 24 inches Courtesy the artist, Elizabeth Dee, New York, and Arndt & Partner, Berlin/Zürich

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Untitled (Angry Brigade), 2005Acrylic, gouache, pencil, and fabric on canvas60 x 48 inches Courtesy the artist and Elizabeth Dee, New York

0% Down, 2008Video6 minutesCourtesy the artist, Elizabeth Dee, New York, and Arndt & Partner, Berlin/Zürich

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Jon PyLyPchuk septeMBer 12 – noveMBer 14, 2009Jon Pylypchuk was born in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1972, received his M.F.A. from UCLA in 2001, and currently splits his time between Winnipeg and Los Angeles. His work lays bare the frailty of human existence and social relationships. A contemporary fabulist, Pylypchuk draws upon the animal world to create heart-wrenching stories of attraction and repulsion, love and loss, pleasure and pain, triumph and failure. The creatures populating his paintings, drawings, and sculptures channel our worst fears and greatest hopes. Endowed with human attributes, yet endearing in their furry cuteness, Pylypchuk’s animals inspire empathy. Their expe-riences and struggles speak to the pathetic banality, stub-born determination, and relentless optimism that define many of our paths through life, that unfolding tragicomedy of epic proportion.

The exhibition will include ten sculptures and twenty paint-ings created between 2000 and 2008, as well as a new

large-scale and multi-figure instal-lation conceived for this debut at Blaffer. Composed of scrap plywood, wallpaper, fabrics, sand, glitter, and matchsticks, Pylyp-chuk’s works have a raw, amateur-ish look suggestive of early Art Brut, here enriched by a vibrant palette. Instead of a paintbrush, Pylypchuk often uses a screw gun to fabricate his paintings, and employs pen and paper to inscribe self-defeating, abusive, or self-effacing dialogues onto his im-ages, exchanges that encapsulate

the relationships between his characters. The crudeness of his materials only heightens the fragility of his characters.

Pylypchuk is fearless in his use of themes and materials — nothing is considered too trivial or pathetic

— yet the results are oddly heroic and deeply affecting.

Organized by Claudia Schmuckli, Director and Chief Curator of Blaffer Gallery, the exhibition will be on view through mid-November. A fully illustrated catalogue, co-published with the Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster (AZKM), Germany, will accompany the artist’s first solo mu-seum exhibition in Europe following the Blaffer show. The book will include work shown in both Houston and Münster, providing a transatlantic, comprehensive, and in-depth look at this artist’s oeuvre. It will feature about fifty color plates, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and collages, and essays by Schmuckli and Gail Fitzpatrick, Director of the AZKM.

Jon pylypchuk is organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition and publication are made possible, in part, by The Cecil Amelia Blaffer von Furstenberg Endowment for Exhibitions and Programs and Houston Endowment, Inc.

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hey, don’t fuck with the pipsqueak!, 2004Mixed media78 x 36 x 48 inches

My life would be good if I didn’t have so much to complain about, 2005Mixed media on panel72 x 48 inches

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suMMer Arts noW enroLLinGOne of our most popular children’s programs, Summer Arts gives children ages 6–12 hands-on art experience through a series of fun activities and lessons. During six sessions led by a professional art educator, students cre-ate two- and three-dimensional artworks that are inspired by Blaffer’s exhibitions. The class is held June 16–26, and class size is limited. For more information, please visit our website or contact Katy Lopez at klopez@uh.edu.

Winter proGrAMs AttrAct Artists AnD experts

Each season, the museum brings in artists, curators, and experts to present insightful and challenging viewpoints on Blaffer exhibitions. This semester, the museum was pleased to present artists Michael reafsynder and patrick Wilson, along with curator David pagel, Associate Profes-sor of Art Theory and History, Claremont Graduate Univer-sity in California, to discuss the electric Mud exhibition with Director Claudia Schmuckli. Later, Blaffer’s Brown Bag Gallery Tour of the exhibition featured artist Lucinda cobley and cindi strauss, MFAH Curator of Modern and Contem-porary Decorative Arts and Design. For texas oil: Land-scape of an industry, a series of programs featured guests Matthew coolidge, Founder/Director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation; Donald van nieuwenhuise, Director of the UH Petroleum Geoscience Program; John reed, Direc-tor of the UH School of Art; patrick peters,

Director of the Graduate Design/Build Studio at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture; and nancy Zastudil, Program Manager of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

stuDents shine At BLAffer

From high school students in our Young Artist Apprentice-ship Program to college students participating in the mu-seum’s internship program, Blaffer has seen its students put on stellar performances. Twelve students from four HISD schools (Austin, Chavez, Eastwood, and Milby) suc-cessfully completed the six-week after-school workshop and produced an exciting exhibition entitled Alternating/current. At the college level, the spring semester intern team of taylor Alvis, Kerry ingram, Maria Mora, Jasmine Moses, and trinh nguyen made significant contributions to the daily operations of the curatorial, education, and public relations departments. The staff congratulates the students on a job well done.

houston heiGhts MeMBership tour In January, Blaffer Gallery members had the privilege of touring the home of Beverly and Wayne Gilbert. After enjoy-ing beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and the Gilberts’ unique

The texas oil Brown Bag Gallery Tour led by Donald Van Nieuwenhuise draws a large crowd

young Artist Apprenticeship program students along with artist-mentors and Blaffer education staff members at the opening reception for Alternating/current in March

private collection, guests headed over to nau-haus, redbud Gallery, and G Gallery for a tour of their current exhibitions. Stay tuned for similar upcoming members-only events. To en-sure that you don’t miss the next one, call 713.743.9528 to become a Blaffer member.

in MeMoriAMEarly this year we lost a close friend, donor, advisory board member, and University of Houston alumnus —Jerome Robinson. An ever-present example of great strength with a splash of humor, Jerome will be missed around the museum. the Jerome and Minnette robinson scholarship endowment, begun in 2001, will be awarded each year in perpetuity to one student who shows both academic achievement and exceptional ability as a museum docent.

This year’s recipient, Julia Wallace, has been involved with the museum’s educational programs for several years. She has made exemplary contributions to the tour program by informing audiences of all ages about the emerging artists exhibited within the galleries. She is currently pursuing a B.F.A. degree in painting, with a double minor in art history and English.

surf the internet AnD Give to BLAffer!Simply by surfing the internet using Goodsearch and shop-ping online with Goodshop, you can direct a portion of your purchase to the museum. Just enter “Blaffer Gallery” in the “Who Do You Search For?” and “Who Do You Support?” search windows at www.goodsearch.com.

celebrate reGenerAtion with renGen remix!

When Friday, May 15, 2009 8 p.m.–12 a.m.

Where New World Museum 5230 Center Street

honorees Leonardo Drew and Claudia Schmuckli

tickets Individuals $250 Underwriters $1,000, $2,500, and $5,000 A limited number of tickets to the after-party will be available for $50. After-hours tickets are for 10 p.m.–12 a.m. only.

your hosts Judy and Scott Nyquist • Patrick Drew • Karen and Steve Farber • Ryan Gordon • Michelle Aviña and Steven Hempel • José Solis

Dinner, Silent Auction, and Dancing to the Sounds of DJ Drew and Siákara

Auction Artists and donors include, but are not limited to: Armandos • Melissa Borrell • The Center for Land Use Interpretation • Leonardo Drew • Mariquita Masterson • Josephine Meckseper • Peel Gallery Shop • Tootsies • Jon Pylypchuk • Michael Reafsnyder • Jim Richards • Tupelo Grease Co. • Patrick Wilson Details Call 713.743.9537 or email seconaway@uh.edu

sponsors

Join RenGen Remix: Blaffer Gallery’s 2009 Gala on Facebook!

eDucAtion/DeveLopMent

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Wayne Gilbert leads a tour of his home and private art collection

Jerome robinson

M A G A Z I N E

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Lead sPonsorsThe City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance George and Mary Josephine Hamman FoundationHouston Endowment, Inc.

ProGram PartnersBaker Hughes FoundationThe Barbro Osher Pro Suecia FoundationThe Eleanor and Frank Freed FoundationMarita and JB FairbanksHarpo FoundationInstitute of Museum and Library ServicesJohn P. McGovern FoundationLinda Pace FoundationNational Endowment for the ArtsJane Blaffer OwenLouisa Stude SarofimSikkema Jenkins & Co.Dorothy Carsey SumnerEllen and Steve SusmanTravelers FoundationThe Visionary Initiatives Fund Vicky and Don Eastveld, Miranda and Dan Wainberg, Founding Members

director’s circLeAllen Bennett MDThe Michael & Rebecca Cemo FoundationSallie Morian and Michael ClarkRed Claw LLCShirley and Don RoseChris and Don Sanders

director’s PartnersAnonymousKaty and Michael CaseyCenterPoint EnergyConsulate General of FranceLinda and Simon EylesKaren and Stephan FarberGastonia and Gordon GoodmanClaudia and David HatcherKinder Morgan FoundationGretchen and Andrew McFarlandNancy and Robert MartinGuillermo NicolasJudy and Scott NyquistMinnette Robinson, in honor of the late Jerome RobinsonLisa and Russell SherrillStephen W. and Marilyn R. Miles FoundationTexas Commission on the ArtsThe TOBY FundVinson & Elkins LLP

Visionary PartnersAnonymous DonorEmily Baker and Gerardo AmelioMary Criner BlakeThe Brown FoundationBuck Family FoundationKristen and David BuckDr. Fran Sicola CardwellTammy and Bob Casey, IIIConsulate General of the Federal Republic of GermanyThe Fifth Floor FoundationVictor B. FlattFlemish GovernmentJo and Jim FurrRyan GordonDorene and Frank HerzogAnn JacksonMary JohnstonKaren and Eric Pulaski Philanthropic FundMr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner, IIILester Marks and Penelope Gonzalez MarksMitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.The Mitsui USA FoundationMorgan Family FundMeg and Nelson Murray Mr. and Mrs. Robert N. MurrayOccidental Energy Marketing, Inc.Morgan Dunn O’ConnorJennifer Smith and Peter RagaussVeronica ReedRichard Stodder Charitable FoundationKaren and Scott RozzellWilhelmina R. SmithStanford and Joan Alexander FoundationHillary StrattonCynthia TolesE. Wayne Wood Mr. and Mrs. Michael Zilkha

foundinG PartnersToni and Jeffery BeauchampSheila CooganSusie and Sanford CrinerDr. Roger EichhornKrista and Michael DumasMarion Barthelme-Fort and Jeff FortTerrie Sultan and Christopher FrenchGlobal Impact for UBS FoundationChristopher C. HillHouston Assembly of Delphian ChaptersLeslie HullDavid JamesonAnne and Lee LeonardKatherine and David LuckeCabrina and Steven OwsleyEdna and Drew RobinsBeverly and Howard RobinsonScott SparveroTexas State Bank

Kelley and Harper TrammellUBS Financial Services, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Ronald B. WalkerJoanne and Derby Wilson

the martha meier memoriaL schoLarshiP endowment fundAndrew T. AntonLavinia and Stephen BoydMary Ann and Robert BrezinaLinda BuchananPeggy and Thomas CaskeyGrayson CecilMichael ChmielSallie Morian and Michael ClarkMabeth and Kenneth ColemanNancy and Bert CorkillJoan K. Bruchas and H. Philip CowdinDean DeVossDianne and Robert EdmonsonJennifer FichterCarol and Dave FlemingMichael FranceCathy Coers and Jay FrankEdward GomulkaCaroline Caskey GoodnerPaul D. GrossbardAmir HalevyWarren HaleyTissy and Rusty HardinHelene and Tod HardingAdana and Chris HaynesMarilyn HermanceBonnie HibbertJulia Jervis and O.L. KirkpatrickBillie KoetterJim KollaerShirley A. KopeckyWilliam LewisLinda and David LynnGundula McCandlessTerry S. MahaffeyMarsha Amdur MalevPat MaloneMarie Mansour-PartridgeMartha Meier Family EstateClark MartinNancy and Robert MartinEmily MillerBetty MoodyNancy and Lucian MorrisonNational School of Public Relations AssociationNolan-Rankin Galleries, Inc.Monica and Mark OathoutMarilyn O’Connor and Don Gill Custom Homes Janet and Tony ParisiAda PerryTerri and David PetersonEarline Jones and Mike PrescottPeggy Vineyard and Jim PruittSally and Norman ReynoldsNorma and Davis RichardsonDavid W. Roark

Shirley and Donald RoseBillie and John SchneiderNatalie C. SchwarzCarolyn and Calvin SimpsonMary Ann and Neal SimpsonGina and Kenneth SonesGrayson and John StokesGwyn and Tolis ThanosAnn and David TomatzCorinne and Charles TracyMary Faye and Peter WayLinda J. WebbNancy and Jim WillersonClinton T. WillourDorothy WrightWilliam A. Zugheri

in-kindNoora AlsalmanArmandosBergner and Johnson DesignMelissa BorrellBright Star Productions, Inc.Continental AirlinesDJ DrewMasterson DesignMixed Emotions Fine ArtPeel GallerySaint Arnold Brewing CompanyTupelo Grease Co.Lillian WarrenJeff WilliamsAudry Worster

recent Gifts (AS OF MARCH 31, 2009)Cindi Strauss and Chris BallouThe Bennett Design GroupDr. Molly CapronPenny CerlingWilliam E. ColburnStephen DerryTrang DoanJoanne GoffDorothy HoganKim and Mike HowardJeffrey JenningsCatherine and William McNamaraMarsha Amdur MalevLawrence MarkeyBetty MoodyEsther and Gary PollandSusan RodaitisSafeway, Inc. Brian ShawPeter Cohen and Jeffrey SposatoAlisa Stevenson-WilliamsDavid StoneMary Lou SwiftMartha Claire TompkinsGabriela TrzebinskiMegan and Jason WilliamsXiaojing YuanBeatrice VillegasDavid Ashley WhiteClinton T. WillourXiaojing Yuan

BLAffer pArtners

All efforts are made to be accurate. If you identify incorrect information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at 713.743.9537.

Exclusive benefits for $10,000+ Program Partners, $25,000+ Major Contributors, and $50,000+ Lead Sponsors are available. Please call 713.743.9537.

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❑CommunityPartner$35+

❑SupportingPartner$100+

❑LeadingPartner$250+

❑FoundingPartner$500+

❑VisionaryPartner$1,000+

❑CorporateorDirector’sPartner$2,500+

❑CorporateorDirector’sCircle$5,000+For more information call 713.743.9528 or visit us online at www.blaffergallery.org

$35+ Community Partner• 10%discountonmuseumcataloguesandpurchases

• Advancenoticetoallexhibitionpreviews,lecturesandevents

• Invitationstoselectmuseumprograms• SubscriptiontoBlafferGallery’snewsletter,Newsline

$100+ Supporting PartnerAllofCommunityPartnerbenefitsplus:• 25%discountonmuseumcataloguesandpurchases

• InvitationtoonespecialeventorganizedbyBlafferGallery

• Invitationtomembers-onlydaytripandtravelopportunities

$250+ Leading PartnerAllofSupportingPartnerbenefitsplus:• ComplimentarycopyofanyoneBlafferGallerypublication

• InvitationtotwospecialeventsorganizedbyBlafferGallery

$500+ Founding PartnerAllofLeadingPartnerbenefitsplus:• Complimentarycopyofanyoneexhibitioncatalogue

• RecognitioninNewsline

$1,000+ Visionary PartnerAllofFoundingPartnerbenefitsplus:• Invitationtoprivateeventstomeetvisitingartistsandcurators

• Recognitiononthemuseum’sentrywall

$2,500+ Corporate or Director’s PartnerAllofVisionaryPartnerbenefitsplus• Complimentarycopiesofselectexhibitioncatalogues

• Recognitiononpromotionalliteraturefortwelvemonths

• SpecialcocktailreceptionwiththeDirector

$5,000+ Corporate or Director’s CircleAllofCorporateorDirector’sPartnerbenefitsplus:• TheopportunitytohostaprivatefunctionatBlafferGallery

• DinnerwiththeDirectorfortwo

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LocationBlafferGalleryislocatedintheFineArtsBuildingontheUniversityofHouston’scentralcampus,Entrance16offCullenBoulevard,neartheintersectionofCullenandElgin.

DirectionsFrom Downtown and points North:

TakeI-45SouthtowardGalveston.Exit#44CCullenBoulevard.TurnrightontoCullen.PassthroughthelightatElgin.TurnleftintoEntrance16.

From points South:

TakeI-45NorthtowardsDowntown.Exit#44AElgin-Lockwood⁄CullenBoulevardandcontinueonfeederroad.TurnleftontoCullenBoulevard.TurnleftintoEntrance16.

ParkingReservedparkingformuseumvisitorsisalongthefrontofparkinglot16BdirectlyacrossfromtheFineArtsBuilding.Visitorsparkinginthereservedareashouldcheckinatthemuseum’sfrontdesk.

HoursOpenTuesday–Saturday.10a.m.–5p.m.

ClosedonSundays,Mondays,andUniversityholidays.

Allexhibitionsandrelatedprogramsarefreeandopentothepublic.

ThemuseumisADAcompliant.

for information call 713.743.9530 or visit us online at www.blaffergallery.org

non-profit org.u.s. postagepAiDhouston, txpermit no. 5910

existed: Leonardo Drew May 16–August 1, 2009

Josephine Meckseper September 12–November 14, 2009

Jon pylypchuk September 12–November 14, 2009

2009 school of Art Annual student exhibition December 5–19, 2009

tomás saraceno January 16–March 27, 2010

Leonardo DrewNumber 28, 1992rust, canvas132 x 256 x 156 inchesMarc and Livia straus family collectionphoto © carlo fei

front coVer :

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From I-45South

Elgin Avenue

Cullen Boulevard

Entrance 16

Blaffer Gallery