Gift of Gift of 2010 Vote Night and Party

New to the Houston photography scene this year is Gift of Gift of, an innovative idea from Curatorial Assistant in Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Natalie Zelt.  Aimed at young photography patrons who would like to help expand the collection at the MFAH but do not have the means to make a major donation individually, GOGO is a collective which raises money through ticket sales for a One Night Only event.  During the event, each attendee votes for his or her favorite piece on display, and the winning pieces are purchased with the pooled ticket funds and then offered as a gift of "Gift of Gift of" to the fantastic collection at the museum.

This year's Vote Night Party will feature delicious frozen treats from The Fruit Palette, tantalizing bites from POParazzi's POPcorn and you will be able to sip a signature GOGO beverage courtesy of Nouveau Antique Art Bar or frosty brew from St. Arnold Brewing Company while dancing to Grrrl Parts in the back yard.  It promises to be a fun time that benefits a worthy institution.


To purchase tickets or for more information on this exciting event, please visit the website at http://www.giftofgiftof.com/.  We hope to see you there!


- Catherine Pasho Couturier

John D'Agostino

John D'Agostino

The Arms of Undertow

archival pigment ink on canvas, 2008

According to John D’Agostino the shards of rescued Tiffany he photographs are used not as objects in a still life but as “negatives”. The combination of good lighting and Tiffany’s favrile glass create unique and beautiful biomorphic forms printed on sheets of archival canvas.

John D'Agostino

The Signature of All Things

archival pigment ink on canvas, 2009

John D’Agostino’s work is a continuation of his ancestor’s heritage and passion for the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany. John D’Agostino’s grandfather, Vito D’Agostino, was such an admirer of Tiffany’s work that during his fall from public adoration and liquidation of Tiffany’s studios, Vito saved and salvaged dozens of boxes of Tiffany pieces from destruction. In the boxes collected were scrapbooks, original designs and favrile glass, the raw material intended for Tiffany’s stained glass. What Vito D’Agostino could not salvage was thrown into the East River. His grandfather’s passion for a fading art form is to thank for John D’Agostino’s modern day photographs.

John D'Agostino

Anasazi

archival pigment ink on canvas, 2009

Recently, John D’Agostino’s work and the history behind it have received a number of great reviews and publicity. Hunting Grounds, 2008 was featured on the cover of Glass #119, Summer ’10 with a nicely written article about D’Agostino and his work gracing the pages of the publication. In a lecture titled The 10 Most Exciting Photographers I Learned About in the Last Year given by Rebecca Senf at the Phoenix Art Museum, John D’Agostino is mentioned along with other photographers using photography in a way that presents the world in a manner such as the world has never seen. Also this summer, ARTFORUM's Art&Education published John D'Agostino's paper The Strength to Dream: How Remnants of the Past Illustrate a Legacy of The Representation of Vision. A special edition monograph, Empire of Glass, done with the Griffin Museum of Photography was recently released in 2009. Empire of Glass is a limited edition of 25 copies of 72 pages with 32 full color plates.

John D'Agostino

The Strength to Dream

archival pigment ink on canvas, 2009

To view John D’Agostino’s work or monograph in person, or if you have any questions about him or one of our other artists, please call or come by the gallery!


-Leah Hebert Fourmy

Found

Tom Hawkins

Obelisk and Meeting House:  Bonaire

platinum and palladium print 2000/2010

Found is an exhibition that brings recently discovered and emerging artists to the public eye and gives them a chance to display their work in a professional setting. This is the second Found exhibition the John Cleary Gallery has hosted. The artists selected to be in this show were hand picked by Catherine Couturier, the owner of the John Cleary Gallery, for their uniqueness, quality, and craftsmanship. The artists in Found were discovered in Houston’s FotoFest and New Orlean’s PhotoNOLA.

Michael Donnor
Elizabeth
waxed gelatin silver print

FotoFest’s portfolio reviews at the Meeting Place occur biennially and PhotoNOLA’s portfolio reviews take place annually. Both events offer the opportunity for artists to get their work exposure and for the reviewers to see the latest and most contemporary work not yet on the market. These mutually beneficial experiences were the catalyst behind Found.

John Chervinsky

All Watched Over

archival pigment ink, 2005

Found features artists who hail from as far away as Switzerland to as close by as Houston. Artists selected to be in the exhibition are Darryl Baird, Edward Eakins, EJ Major, Elaine Ling, Ferit Kuyas, Gerald Pisarzowski, Isa Leshko, Jessica Somers, John Chervinsky, John D’Agostino, Michael Donnor, Niniane Kelley, Robert Covington, Renate Aller, Tom Hawkins, and Trudy Cohen. Found will be each artist’s first exhibition at the John Cleary Gallery.

John D'Agostino

The Arms of Undertow

archival pigment ink on canvas, 2008

Come by the gallery and see what we Found!