Jessica Fuentes talks with Christian Cruz about the challenges of performance work and the difficulties of its documentation."I'm interested in investigating invisible labor, as opposed to any physical labor. Lately my work has been closer to what I call pink collar instead of blue collar which means it is the work of those that are caretakers."See…

Jessica Fuentes and Gabriel Martinez discuss the Surrealist century and the slate of upcoming shows celebrating this influential movement."It was important for María Elena Ortiz (curator of "Surrealism and Us") to use the term surreal because she was talking about this worldwide conversation. This is a movement that spanned great distances across t…

Gabriel Martinez talks with Robert Boyd about Charles Burns, Gary Panter, and the art of underground comics. "The publishing industry doesn't work the way the art industry does. You have a royalty system. Whereas if you resell a painting, unless you're in California, the artist doesn't get anything."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/…

William Sarradet talks with Brian David Johnson about his time in Austin's robust art scene and his experience running Cloud Tree Gallery."There's more art-making than there's ever been in the history of the world and I feel like that's only going to continue towards this notion that we'll all be artists someday."See related readings here: https://…

Jessica Fuentes and Gabriel Martinez discuss this summer's group exhibitions and upcoming fall shows."Altering photographs has always been a possibility and a practice. I think sometimes people forget that or only think about the seemingly limitless possibilities now in the digital age and with AI, but photographers since the beginning of the camer…

William Sarradet and Gabriel Martinez discuss the links between a critical history of Latin America, a fictionalized account of a military coup, and our robotic future as depicted in animated sci-fi cinema."Short War is a bildungsroman with the setting of the dissolution of a political regime. It's funny and charming and sweet and dramatic."See rel…

Leslie Moody Castro and Gabriel Martinez discuss the growing number of residencies in Texas and beyond."It's important to see how other people are solving similar problems in the studio. We learn by example and by seeing people's thought processes and studio techniques. Some of the most rewarding parts of residencies are spending time with people a…

Leslie Moody Castro and William Sarradet talk about recent events in the art world including the beheading of a public sculpture, the discovery of the oldest cave art, and fake Picassos in a Tasmanian Museum."I connect with the sentiment of exhibitions as being a site of experimentation and play. I appreciate at some level vaunting art canon as the…

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the redesign and expansion of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art and the upcoming "Delta Triennial." "Traditionally, the Delta is a juried exhibition. This year AMFA decided to also have an invitational component. It still functioned as a juried exhibition, anybody could apply that fell within that geograph…

Brandon Zech talks with Erin Dorn about her experiences working in Houston's art institutions and starting her own gallery, Seven Sisters."It's a relationship-based industry, and being able to anticipate what your clients would like or would respond to and introducing them to new material is part of the cycle that comes with the territory."See rela…

Inspired by recently unveiled controversial portraits of King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, Brandon Zech and Gabriel Martinez discuss portraiture's privileged place in art history."For the entire history of portraiture, the goal has been to depict the person as they are because it has been the only way for us to be able to tell how …

William Sarradet and Gabriel Martinez discuss the Julio Torres film Problemista and its depiction of the difficulties of succeeding in the contemporary art world."One of my favorite things about art film is that it certainly can follow a conventional narrative arc; it doesn't just have to be talking about Snow White and Prince Charming."If you enjo…

Leslie Moody Castro and Jessica Fuentes discuss new art organizations, the appeal of non-urban spaces, and the many changes occurring at art institutions across the state."There might be more opportunities in these smaller places because there are less restrictions and more space. It will be interesting to see how they continue to build, and develo…

Brandon Zech talks with Texas artist Paul Hester about his over 50-year career taking photographs."There are photographs that I look at and say 'that just feels right,' but there are others that bug the hell out of me, and those are the ones that stick with me."See related readings here:https://glasstire.com/2024/04/21/art-dirt-talking-art-architec…

Brandon Zech, Leslie Moody Castro, and Gabriel Martinez talk about the 2024 editions of the Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas Invitational."The opening night party was kind of sparse. Normally it's a zoo; you can't walk through the lobby, the valet line is a mess. There was a nice crowd, but nothing like I have experienced in the past."See related rea…

Brandon Zech and Gabriel Martinez talk about the changing state of Houston's art scene and what the future may bring."I think we're seeing one of the most significant changes in the Houston museum landscape in the last ten years. Galleries come and go, artist-run spaces come and go, smaller nonprofits come and go, but the places that we think of as…

Brandon Zech talks with actor, comedian, and art collector Cheech Marin about how he came to collect Chicano art, the Texas artists he's looking at today, and his museum, The Cheech, in Riverside, California."The other great center of Chicano art was San Antonio, because they had a lot of artists and they supported them, but there was no director o…

Leslie Moody Castro talks with artist, musician, and podcaster Barry Stone about how he engages with local artists, performers, and photography through his long-running project, Porch Swing Orchestra.“The relation of image and sound is, at its core, really what Porch Swing Orchestra and 'Vast is the Sea' is about. So, all the artists are bound, in …

William Sarradet talks with Natalia Padilla about making art in Dallas, her work as a designer, and tips on applying to grants in the city."My project, 'Yellow,' is a poem to the Dallas community. I love this city. It has taken care of me and allowed me to have a practice and explore my creativity."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2…

Brandon Zech talks with the Blaffer Art Museum's outgoing director, Steven Matijcio, about his approach to curating in peripheral art cities, engaging with local communities, and what he'll miss about Houston."I have really come to love working in the unexpected place. Because in a lot of ways, I feel like you can spread your wings, you can oftenti…

Brandon Zech talks with Glasstire's new Editor-in-Chief, Gabriel Martinez, about what makes a good work of art, how music, writing, and art differ, and why artists should know art history."Every artwork is in dialog with art history, and I think it's important for artists to contextualize where their work stands in that conversation. It becomes sho…

Leslie Moody Castro talks with Harrison Guy about Houston's Fifth Ward, his Urban Souls Dance Company, and what keeps him motivated to build community in the city. "Our projects are based on this thought process that memory builds the monument. The way that we look at it is that if you don't have a lot of assets in your community, because they're g…

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss memorable art happenings, exhibitions, and events from 2023."For a long time, and even still now, the art world has been caught up in the idea of a single genius, a singular voice, and the prestige of a solo exhibition. But I think coming out of the pandemic there was this need for communi…

William Sarradet talks with Houston's Sarah Welch and Fort Worth's Raul Rodriguez about the nature of zine festivals and the landscape of self-publishing in Texas."I think being in Texas has actually put us at a good advantage for doing self-publishing work because there are so many major cities in the state...We've done some out of state stuff, bu…

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss recent shows they've seen across Texas, the opening of new galleries in Houston, Austin, and Wimberley, and the art news that's been making headlines this fall."In a lot of ways, Jeremy Strick's retirement from the Nasher Sculpture Center isn't surprising — we've talked recently about how …

Jessica Fuentes talks with Dallas' Darryl Ratcliff about the rise of unions for arts and culture workers."Ultimately, we're all served by a more engaged public, and we're all served by taking care of people. And I know that our large institutions and their supporters want to do that, and sometimes it is up to us as artists, as culture workers, as p…

William Sarradet talks with Eric Schnell about what it's like to live, work, and run a ten-month residency program in Galveston."Galveston is exactly the right size, where you can hold the whole island in your brain at one time. If it were bigger, that wouldn't be possible."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/10/22/art-dirt-talkin…

Brandon Zech talks with special guest Jon Revett about life in the Texas Panhandle and about the 50th anniversary of artist Robert Smithson's "Amarillo Ramp.""Smithson is using the land to give you a place to re-view the land and see it from a different point of view and think about it in a different way."See related readings here: https://glasstir…

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss exhibitions they've seen so far this fall, including shows at The Warehouse, Ruby City, Inman Gallery, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and beyond."If you're going to use a kooky installation technique for a show, you've got to go all or nothing."See related readings here: https…

To wrap up the summer, Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss what this season's hottest blockbuster says about our current moment."The film has this incredible potency, but somehow it very neatly ties up what it aims to do...which is totally fine, but I feel like there's some need to find out what happens next, because we just spent a year w…

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss our recent loss of numerous influential Texas art legends, and talk about the implications of Frieze's acquisition of The Armory Show and EXPO CHICAGO."The people who are building a future in Texas are very much committed to being here and working here and buffing up and adding to the Texas art scene."See re…

Leslie Moody Castro and Brandon Zech discuss what's been happening in the art world this summer, including Sotheby's buying the Breuer Building in NYC, an increase in museum admission prices, and the Dallas Museum of Art picking an architecture firm to redesign its building. "One element of this new design is a major almost floating contemporary ar…

William Sarradet talks with Dallas artist Andrea Tosten about calligraphy, her artwork, and her new position at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center."I think my main point of being in this position is to get city dollars into artists' hands — public hands."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/07/30/art-dirt-talking-with-artist-andrea-tost…

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss their visits to Dallas-Fort Worth's newly opened Meow Wolf location."One of the things about truly great art is that it changes every time you revisit it; you bring something new to it, you see something new in it, and you get to continue to explore it in various levels over an extended period of time."S…

Brandon Zech talks with Ann Graham, who for the past ten years has run Texans for the Arts, about the ins an outs of art funding policy and how to advocate for art in your community."At Texans for the Arts, we know that the arts are essential to our lives, so how do we bring that passion and commitment to the fore so citizens can get engaged, artis…

William Sarradet talks with Lauren Shults, who is a Glasstire contributor and a reporter at the "Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post," about writing, art, and what it's like to live in a smaller, Hill Country town."In smaller Texas towns, the social fabric is a little more tenured; people know each other — there’s a history that’s not getting wiped …

Leslie Moody Castro and Brandon Zech discuss a recent decision by the Supreme Court, which ruled against The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts."Forget about separating the art from the artist. Instead, can you separate the art from its intent?"See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/06/04/art-dirt-is-the-supreme-courts-andy-w…

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss "The Art of Making It," a 2021 documentary that explores the underside of the art world."A lot of issues the documentary points out are just issues in the world, period."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/05/21/art-dirt-what-does-it-mean-to-make-it-in-the-art-worldIf you enjoy Glasstire an…

William Sarradet talks with Nick Barbee about his artwork, his founding of the Galveston Art Lending Library, and why he decided to settle in the city."The longer you stay on the island without going over the causeway, you become more relaxed and move at a different sort of pace."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/05/07/art-dirt-…

Brandon Zech and Leslie Moody Castro break down the trends they found at the 2023 Dallas Art Fair."Faux naïf surrealist figuration is the era we are solidly in right now."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/04/23/art-dirt-reporting-from-the-dallas-art-fairIf you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider d…

Brandon Zech talks with artist and public art specialist Tommy Gregory about the possibilities and pitfalls of making a public art project."I think that art can be pretty, but it also should be challenging. It should make people think and look at the world differently, and that's always been my motivation."See related readings here: https://glassti…

Brandon Zech talks with Houston artist Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee, who recently completed a large-scale installation in Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, about the possibilities and pitfalls of making a public art project."They don’t teach you business 101 in art school."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/03/26/art-d…

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the art they saw and the art spaces they visited in Laredo, McAllen, Corpus Christi, Rockport, Harlingen, and beyond."One of my favorite things about traveling around Texas and going to different museums and galleries is seeing works by familiar artists in different spaces, because each space adds to the…

Leslie Moody Castro talks with Dallas artist Vicki Meek about her Nasher Sculpture Center fellowship, for which she and a group of artists are researching, documenting, and interpreting the history of the Tenth Street Historic District Freedman’s Town in Oak Cliff. "I wanted to be able to have a group of artists tap into this community, which is cu…

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss their recent visit to Laredo, McAllen, Corpus Christi, Rockport, Harlingen, and beyond."Today we're talking about some of the people we met through the museums, the institutions, the cultural organizations, and the collectors of South Texas."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/02/12/art…

Brandon Zech and Leslie Moody Castro discuss Yayoi Kusama's new Louis Vuitton collaboration, the coopting of Frida Kahlo's image, and other instances where an artist and their work is thrust into the commercial world. "My question is: are these artists actually controlling their image, and does this image reflect what their ethics are as an artist?…

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss some of their big-picture takeaways from Jerry Saltz's recent lecture at the Dallas Museum of Art."If you're in art and culture for the long haul, if you're a lifer, you know cycles happen, and when people start to say something is out, cheesy, or needs updating, these are interesting clues that attitude…

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss how looking at art and being in art spaces impacts our mental health."In the same way that being out in nature can be restorative, being in a museum, where you're looking at works of art and are surrounded by groups of people, is a way to get people out of their house and into a social environment."See r…

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss memorable art happenings from 2022."In the past year, art-related issues and stories have been picked up more in popular media in a really interesting way."See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/12/18/art-dirt-looking-back-at-2022If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to supp…

Brandon Zech and special guest Pete Gershon discuss the history of Houston's artist-run spaces, and also talk about Gershon's new position as Curator of Programs at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art."If a space lasted for a year or a couple of years and then the proprietor moved on to do something else, that’s hardly a failure." See related …