Texan-French Alliance for the Arts at the Houston Fine Art Fair

TFAA booth at the HFAFPlease join the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts as our VIP guest for the opening night of the Houston Fine Art Fair. Please see some pictures en avant-premiere! Artworks from Walid Zouari, Sebastien Boileau, Skunkdog and Robert Hodge.
Please CLICK HERE to print your pass: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/texan-french-alliance-for-the-arts-vip-pass-tickets-12736391891.
Un tres grand merci to our sponsors including GDF-SUEZ, TOTAL, Air France, TECHNIP and Schlumberger, for their support and for believing in TFAA’s programs and vision.

Un tres grand merci to all our volunteers who will be volunteering on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for TFAA. This is so appreciated !  You are an important key to our community!

 

Celebrate Houston as an Arts Mecca

Discover the 4th annual HFAF, a celebration of Houston’s visual arts. HFAF has established itself as a must-attend art experience. Set to international standards, HFAF offers its most spacious and impactful art viewing experience to date. This year, curators thoughtfully assembled a list of 60 displays from 17 countries. This well-curated and expansive selection showcases promising up and coming artists, mid-career and the masters from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and the US.

Each year, over thirteen thousand fairgoers return to reconnect with past exhibitors and discover new ones. HFAF is an opportunity to uncover treasures for your home and office. There is easy access at NRG Center, with convenient parking and a valet option.

2014’s Special Events

  • Explore nearly 1,000 contemporary works of art by 300      renowned artists-Houston’s largest selection of fine art- making it the      acquisition event of the year.
  • Explore the memorable Houston Artists Hall of Hame@HFAF as we salute 15 pioneering art inductees who help place      Houston on the national art map.
  • Sit in on the thought-provoking HFAF ArtSpeak      series presented by CultureMap      featuring 5 sessions throughout the weekend. Gain insights on topics      ranging from museum curating to managing your collection.
  • Meet the 2014 honorees on Sat. Sept. 20 – Lifetime      Achievement Awardee is MFAH’s esteemed curator of photography      Anne Tucker, and Illumination      Award of Excellence in Arts Education to David E. Brauer, the      longtime revered educator at the Glassell School of Art, MFAH.
  • Join a lineup of 60 prestigious museum and cultural      institutions from the region who support the fair.
  • Witness cutting-edge installations      traveling to Houston from Egypt and Mexico, as well as local artists.
  • Gain exclusive access to the coveted VIP lounge,      presented by Luxe Interior + Design      magazine. The VIP Lounge is designed with a theme of “Natural      Elements” showcasing various textures and a touch of royal blue,      complete with hand-selected furnishings and custom-made stone bar.
  • In addition to the international flavor, meet with 8      respected local Houston      galleries
  • Discover the latest trends in collecting both Latin      American (Sept. 19) and Middle Eastern Art (Sept. 21).
  • #RelaxandRevive in the CultureMap Collectors Lounge      furnished by Cantoni. Providing patrons the opportunity to relax in style,      the lounge will feature one of Cantoni’s newest arrivals, the Natuzzi      Re-Vive, an intuitive chair that is the world’s first performance      recliner. Engage with our sponsors on Twitter by tagging @CantoniDesign      and @CultureMap and using the hash tag #RelaxandRevive

Join the astonishing action this weekend!

Skunkdog, a soulful street artist from Marseille opens the door

Open the Door Artist Interview: Skunkdog

 
“These two women painted on the door, to me, are a symbol of the old Europe and the new America. They represent this duality that exists in my own spirit, the tradition of European painting and the novelty and modernism of American painting since the 1950’s. They are also an affirmation of my name and my sense of belonging to my group of graffiti artists. The door also represents my friendship with the painter DOK. The first name of each person that I met in Houston is inscribed on the door to evoke my gratitude to those who opened their door to me and gave me support.” Skunkdog

 

1- Skunkdog, were you familiar with Texan-French Alliance for the Arts prior to participating on this project?

 Yes, I had heard of it from friends living in Houston. And I had received pictures of the open door exhibition. 

 2. What drew you to participate in this project?

 Participating in a project is always a challenge especially when the support/material is original.

 3. What are your thoughts on Public Art and did your experience with Open the Door (OTD) change your perception or understanding of the potential impact this art form can have on a community? Please explain.

I have participated in several projects in which the artworks were exhibited in the street, like the cow parade or the Cool globe and the funny zoo in Marseille. It’s great fun to see the reactions of people on the street and the reactions are often surprising. What I like in all of that is the reactions of the children who are usually enchanted by what they can see on the street. But the art on the street should certainly trigger the interest of people who have no access to art in their daily lives.

The idea of a door painted on one side by one artist and the other side by another artist opens a set of amusing questions & answers. I liked it so, and I hope to get a chance on my return to Houston to meet local artists. In each city in each country, artistic approaches are different, and art is nourished by   encounters and exchanges. I painted Houston differently, the city, the people have influenced me. We always grow up when we travel and work in a country that is not ours. I have already participated in these kinds of projects and I’ll do it again for it is important to experience art in the street.

 4. What was the most important thing you learned from it and/or what surprised you about this process?

You always learn when you paint away from your studio, the most important thing was the encounter with the people who opened their doors to realize this project. the astonishing diversity of the American people, their good spirit and their hospitality.

I am a painter who uses energy, the word and who follows his instinct. I never know where I go when I start painting, I adapt to the support and I try to paint my everyday life. I liked expressing and giving a little piece of France with my painting.

 

5. How did this project enhance your connection with or understanding of Houston and Houston’s multi-ethnic communities (given the diverse locations of the doors across Houston)?

I am impregnated with American culture, music, cinema, painting. Expertise is different between old Europe and the new world, but the ideas are often consistent. Global thinking is taking place all around the world, only the sensitivities and the way we express ourselves change from a continent to another. With the emergence of street art,  language has become identical.  From the encounters that I made in Houston, I can say that multiculturalism is obvious here as it is in my city of Marseille.

 6. Did this project impact your community, family or organization? How?  Any final thoughts? For example, what artistic doors would you like to open in the future (individually, collectively or institutionally)?

I will able to tell you more upon my return to Houston, a month and a half spent here does not allow me to answer you, but what I can say is that the French people in Houston are sensitive to this project.

The foreign sun,

it squints upon

A bed that is never mine

As friends and other strangers

From their fates try to resign

Leaving men wholly, totally free

To do anything they wish to do but die

And there are no trials inside the Gates of Eden

Bob Dylan

Art Save Lives Phase One Launches This Fall

Art Saves Lives: A Cultural Conversation purposes to offer a conversation of hope and awareness, encouragement and possibility via the universal language of the arts. This project is a collaborative arts exchange partnership between Susan Blair, a Houston-based writer/choreographer/dancer/actor and Patrice Pike, singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of the Grace Foundation of Texas, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization serving young adult survivors of homelessness. French artist, Eric Oberhoff, choreographer and director of Compagn
ie Humaine, Nice, will join Susan and Patrice as the initial artist collaborators.

linoventuratheaternicenewsletter

As phase one of two phases, this Educational Outreach Arts Exchange brings together artists of the two cities in two performances and five outreach workshops focused on underserved teens and will be presented in a week-long residency in Nice in September 2014. Phase two of the exchange is planned for Houston in 2015.
Date: September 7-14, 2014 (phase one, Nice); 2015 (phase two, Houston)

 

TFAA presents Book Machine Houston

Blaffer Art Museum is pleased to announce BOOK MACHINE (HOUSTON)powered by Onestar Press, based in Paris. Twenty graphic communication seniors from the University of Houston will be at the Texas Contemporary at the George R. Brown Convention Center during a 2.5-day period to work with artists from the Houston community to realize their vision for an artist’s book under the guidance of Onestar Press. The event will culminate in the presentation and discussion of the 100 new titles produced over the 2.5-day period on Sunday, September 7, 4-5 p.m. with a reception to follow. As part of the official BOOK MACHINE edition of Onestar Press, the titles produced in Houston will be made available worldwide.

bookmachinehouston-txcontslide1

This event is presented by Blaffer Art Museum and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts in collaboration with the School of Art Graphic Communications Department at the University of Houston. BOOK MACHINE (HOUSTON) is supported by the Texan French Alliance for the Arts and the Cultural Service at the French Consulate in Houston.

Houston and Toulouse Dance Companies Exchange

The French Exchange Project is the collaborative effort of Toulouse and Houston-based dance organizations to create unique new dance works, share insight into the creative process, and offer public performances to the people of Houston free of charge. The two works to be performed are Je Suis/I am and Point de vue sur coin de rue/Point of view on the street corner. Je Suis is being created collaboratively over the course of a year-long cultural exchange between the two partner organizations and is a dance that explores the stories of who we are and where we live, intertwining both CORE’s and Manifeste’s visions of our own, and each other’s cities and countries. This dance is performed by the 5 CORE dancers. Point de vue is a dance created by Manifeste that layers (literally, via video projection), street corners from Toulouse over a street corner in Houston. A trio of dancers highlights the obvious differences between people of different cultures, but the work speaks mostly to the meeting points that bind us and connect us. The project also includes multiple opportunities for direct interaction with the artists, through master classes, open rehearsals and an open showing.

coreperformance

Date: October 20-25, 2014

Locations: To be confirmed soon

TFAA’s Fall Programming

Partnerships Launching in 2014 – Happening in 2015

Virtuosi of Houston/Conservatoire de Paris Exchange

 

In March of 2015, the Virtuosi of Houston, a Houston-based, non-profit organization that provides semi-professional performance opportunities for youth musicians, will travel to Paris to rehearse and perform with students at the Conservatorie de Paris, the premiere youth music school in France. This exchange will provide an unforgettable cultural experience, as students will stay with French families and tour Paris, as well as an invaluable educational experience: Students will rehearse in the French style, rehearsals that will culminate in a performance at one of Paris’s most famed venues. Stay tuned, if you want to support this amazing project.

The Children Hospital Workshops and Mural

TFAA is proud to partner with the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and the Fondation Lenval in Nice, to create therapeutic creative workshops for patients, the fruits of which will inspire a mural created by respected Houston graffiti artists. These workshops will provide stress relief as well as teach the patients how to use creativity to problem-solve and as a constructive emotional outlet.

French Circus to Perform at Discovery Green

Barolosolo Cirkus Company from Carcasonne will perform July 3 and 4 at Discovery Green with Houston’s own Cirque La Vie and FrenetiCore Dance Company. Barolosolo will perform their show “ile O” for the first time in Texas, a mix of comic physical theater, aquatic poetry, and music. The event is free, and attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets, lawn chairs, pets, and picnics.

The event is from 7-10 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

7 p.m. FrenetiCore Dance Company

7:40 p.m. Barolosolo’s performance of ”ile O”

8:30 p.m. Cirque La Vie

9:30 p.m. Barolosolo’s performance of “ile O”

More information can be found here.

Meet the Dallas/Dijon Chapter of the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts

On June 17th, the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts would like to introduce you to the leaders of its new Dallas/Dijon chapters and to meet French artist/photographer Sebastien Godret. Hailing from Dijon originally, Godret will be in Dallas to shoot footage for his upcoming project, a series on American cities called La Ville Américaine.
Tuesday June 17th, 2014
5:00 to 7:00PM
CentralTRAK Artist Residency
800 Exposition Boulevard Dallas, TX 75248
RSVP: Pierrette Lacour
pierrette@utdallas.edu

Feature of the Month: The Biggest Mural in Houston, Preservons la Creation

FBchronadAt over 8,000 square feet of surface area, Preservons la Creation (Let’s Preserve Creation) is the largest mural produced in the history of the metro area of Houston. This work of art carries with it a mission of public art awareness and community centered art projects that connect the business and creative sectors. A portion of the proceeds from the project will benefit a children’s hospital mural project, which will begin production in Houston and in France in 2014-2015. Texan-French Alliance for the Arts (TFAA) joined with Sebastien “Mr. D” to bring to life a conversation about the importance of street art, and other urban art forms, to the culture of a city, and to have and preserve creativity in daily life. In doing so, we act on one of the main principles of TFAA, which is cognizance of the link between art, society, and the human condition – with all its trials and triumphs.

Keeping this point in mind, we see Preservons la Creation as a stepping stone to our upcoming mural project, collaboration between TFAA, Sebastien “Mr. D” Boileau, and children’s hospitals in Houston and France, with the participation of Foundation Lenval. The program, which will last several months, will comprise of therapeutic artistic programs for the children and a mural to celebrate the creations they make. Our hope is that the project will boost the children’s moral, allow them the opportunity to experience and learn about new cultures, and empower them with the knowledge of their creative capabilities.

If you want to support these projects, you can donate through Power2Give, where every dollar will be matched by 50 cents thanks to the generosity of the Houston Alliance for the Arts. To celebrate the opening, we are having a festival June 7. Tickets can be brought here.