On Display at Monterroso Gallery: Patinas of the Highlands and Holding Light
Houston IS art. How do you transform a swampy, insect infested, steam bath into desirable living space? It takes a lot of imagination. That is something the city has never lacked. If you need proof go to Monterroso Gallery; on Main Street where the historic Isabella Court is experiencing a renaissance.
A first look at some of the pieces on display at Monterroso Gallery.
With Houston’s METRORail at her side, the gallery is on track (pun very intended) for happenings in this city’s art community. It is a sanctuary in what was once a languishing stretch of the city. The stark contrast of the unhoused seeking shelter nearby the shimmery white walls of the gallery reminds us that this space of respite allows us to escape into a world without trouble, even if only for a brief visit. It’s a luxury that requires only keeping your eyes and mind open.
This month gallery owner and artist Gabriela Monterroso is host to artists from her native Guatemala, as well as Venezuela, Houston, and Austin. The offerings are as varied as Houston’s restaurant menus and just as appealing. It’s eye candy that lets you sit and stare without ever taking a bite.
Two shows are on hand – the first presents Alfredo Garcia’s pastel-colored landscapes. His small canvases are like road signs on a big white highway. They are beautiful reminders of what uncluttered space can offer. Gabriela handles the space well, weaving Garcia’s Patina of Highlands onto the whitewashed walls of gallery. She gives us this master’s POV – straight up. No chasers. Gracias, Gabriela.
With “Holding Light” the gallery extends a welcome through work that glows, smolders, shimmers, and shines. Maria Rusinek’s ceramics appear burnished. Exquisite small pieces, well-defined in their volume but ambiguous in their skins, bring us textures and colorations that are organic, and fertile while the geometric aspects are precise and balanced.
Other participants in the show include Throughline founder and artist Jonas Criscoe. The Austin transplant offers a visual sandwich called “Sunset” made of paint on boards wedged together for a delicious bite of color and texture that is satisfying on more than one level.
Eve Leonard is represented with small and larger oils on stretched canvas that convey a dense landscape-type perspective without any commitment to perspective or spatial orientation. The colors and the stacking-type of arrangement suggest a light from within and without as if the ground were glowing – before a lava flow. Unsettling but inviting for the viewer.
East West, by Margaret O’Brien-Nelson, is one of the pieces on display at Monterroso in Holding Light
Ken Mazzu’s work totally surprised me. I was happy to find an artist who is so engaged with Galveston coastal area displays. The grasses, sand, mud, palms and brush are treated with grace in his watercolors. They offer no apology – just a simple request to look at them and see them honestly, not as some stage set – but for what they are everyday … objects of the earth – objects for observation.
Ellen Doe’s ceramics offered a delicate and fluid contrast to Maria Rusinek’s vessels. Doe’s work is playful, colorful and shining with a beautiful glaze. Rusinek’s work is still, but engaging in its subtle coloration and texture. The ruffles and ridges in Doe’s work make you want to touch and lift – just a little touch, please? Both artists offer work that is stimulating and approachable. See it yourself now through the 23rd.
Oh, yeah. I have some paintings in there. Art makes my little light shine.
The artists with works on display for Holding Light. From Left: Ellen Doss, Maria Rusinek, Ken Mazzu, Margaret O’Brien-Nelson, Eve Leonard
