Thursday, April 17 is the official San Antonio release of Linda Pace's Dreaming Red: Creating ArtPace, a lush, 320-page publication chronicling the first six years of the contemporary art foundation. The book includes texts by ArtPace Executive Director Kathryn Kanjo, distinguished art historian and critic Eleanor Heartney, and syndicated columnist/Lady Bird Johnson biographer Jan Jarboe Russell, among others. Russell and Pace will read excerpts from the book beginning at 6:30 p.m., with a reception and book signing following at 7:30. Call ArtPace at 212-4900.
While sipping cocktails in celebration of this occasion, be sure to take a gander at El Paso filmmaker Willie Varela's "Crossing Over: New Video Installations" (in memory of Stan Brakhage) on display in the Hudson Showroom. Varela has been making experimental films in and around Texas for more than 30 years, and has shown in such prestigious establishments as the Whitney, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and the LA Film Forum. He teaches a course in American avant-garde film at the University of Texas at El Paso. (Note: "Crossing Over" is a two-part installation - you will have to drive to Blue Star to see the rest.)
Dallas, formerly known as the city that killed JFK, has certainly taken a shine to San Antonio talent in recent months. Fresh from the widely hyped, emerging talent showcase, "Come Forward," at the Dallas Museum of Art, which included four San Antonio artists, the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art recently unveiled "Tech Talk: Mediated Images." The delicately cerebral work of Andrea Caillouet and Laurence Jennings represents the Alamo City. "Tech Talk" runs through May 31. Also, at the University of Dallas, the ever clever Gary Sweeney is part of a group show at the Haggerty Gallery entitled "WORD," which, well, explores the use of text in contemporary art practice. The show runs through May 7. •
