Art has always been about breaking the rules, especially the unwritten ones.

This year’s Houston Area Exhibition at the Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of UH, will shake things up with an exhibit that’s devoid of traditional pieces. Instead, it will feature interactive works in video, performance art, installations, and drawings.

The exhibit opens with a special reception at 7 p.m. Friday and will run through Aug. 29. At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, artist Rachel Cook will present her performance piece, “Duets.”

“There are no traditional paintings or sculptures,” said Terrie Sultan, director of Blaffer Gallery. “All of the pieces are provocative takes on prevailing contemporary media including video, photo-based art and installation.”

The Houston Area Exhibit debuted at the Blaffer in 1974 and offered local artists a chance to have their work reviewed by a panel of judges and then shown in the gallery. The event became a frequent fixture at the Blaffer in 1986 and since then, it has returned to the gallery every four years.

While this year’s event marks a departure from conventional artwork, it also has swerved from having a panel of judges vet artists’ work.

This year, a sole judge, Bill Arning, curator of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s List Visual Arts Center, reviewed works from 375 Houston-area artists. He selected 26 of these artists for one-on-one studio visits, and then chose 14 finalists to participate in the exhibition.

“When the artists bring their work into the gallery and the pieces are judged by three panelists, there is no interaction,” Sultan said. “One of the things the Blaffer stands for is dialogue. The artist can’t have a dialogue with the people judging their work if they never see them. It was important that at least 26 artists had an hour in their studios with this year’s judge.”

Sultan said that arts patrons also will benefit from the revamped judging process. In the past, the exhibit would feature up to 100 artists. By narrowing the show’s scope to 14 participants who will each have three to four pieces in the exhibit, the public can gain a better understanding of each artist’s methodology and personality.

The new approach to the Houston Area Exhibition is not without difficulties. Sultan said that all 14 artists have been working in the gallery simultaneously to install their art. While the time and logistics involved with pulling the exhibit together have been challenging, Sultan believes that art patrons will delight in the finished product.

“Some people have drawn on the gallery’s walls and one artists has set up a stage in the gallery,” Blaffer said. “There also is a big installation that resembles the interior of a house. It’s all very complicated but those who visit the gallery will actually be in the artists’ work instead of looking at a painting or a sculpture. It’s very 21st century.”

For more information about the Blaffer Gallery, visit www.hfac.uh.edu/blaffer/.

Mike Emery
memery@central.uh.edu