Spaztek is the alter ego of Houston-born Cruz Ortiz, 38, who for years has portrayed his fictional doppelganger in video art and photos-and depicted him in folk-tilting screen prints-in exhibits from L.A. to Madrid. The character, says the artist, who has been alternately celebrated and criticized for his take on Mexican-American lifestyles, offers a funny but fundamentally serious spark for dialogue about Hispanic identity in modern America.
Ortiz hits the Contemporary Art Museum Houston May 6-July 11 with an exhibit that features his primitive-style prints, video pieces, robotic found-object sculptures and possibly some performance art, all of which interprets the anti-hero Spaztek's search for love.
"Curator Miki Garcia, executive director of the Santa Barbara Contemporary Art Forum, has assembled a lively show brimming with wit and cleverness..."
The inaugural "Multiples" show, featuring works in a wide range of media by some of the region's most accomplished and respected artists, is well worth the drive.
Within Multiples, the aptly titled exhibition, the David Shelton Gallery has collaborated with several artists to create multiple works. The gesture seems to have been returned tenfold. Multiples delivers to the viewer a body of work united by craftsmanship, that delves into the distinctly modern while maintaining direct ties to the classical. As the viewer moves from one piece to the next, each body of work successfully adds to the exhibition a new dimension rooted in the individual artist's distinct sense of style. Shortly thereafter, this plethora of individuality proceeds to collide into an interesting, and well thought out exhibition.