Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts

The Blaffer Art Museum is honored to present the first solo museum exhibition of work by artist John Guzman (b. 1984). Flesh and Bone focuses on works produced in the artist’s hometown of San Antonio and the Texas debut of paintings completed during, and immediately following, time at the NXTHVN Studio Fellowship Program in New Haven, Connecticut.

As a spectator to claustrophobic psychological and physical states growing up in San Antonio’s Southside, Guzman’s monumental paintings are a byproduct of experiences, recordings, and environmental reflections. The artist abstracts the human figure to reflect the harm endured by the body, and the unrecognizable transformation brought on by years of punishment, addiction, relapse, and self-destruction.

UH Dance faculty professor Toni Valle and her dance company, 6 Degrees, premieres “POP DEMO,” an original evening-length dance performance set in an immersive “Speakeasy” setting, at MATCH, September 2023. “POP DEMO” views the historical use of propaganda through the lens of political cartoons in a live 3-D experience of contemporary dance, aerial dance, theatre, and visual projections. Through 60’s Pop Art costume designs by Judy Masliyah, lighting by Hudson Davis, and music by George Heathco, “Pop Demo” creates the surreal world of political cartoons.