Bond describes Art Is Bond as a project space, and the vibe is definitely more non-profit than white cube. “4411 Montrose was chosen with deep intention,” says Bond of the location, home to forward-thinking veteran gallerists as Barbara Davis, David Shelton and Anya Tish. “The building has history. And it was imperative to show and share that there are many ways to support and engage the art world and creativity, particularly in Houston.”
Art Is Bond is not only a place to exhibit work of acclaimed Houston and global artists of the African diaspora, but a space for a non-profit to host a fundraiser, or a group of budding collectors to gather and learn more about the local and international art scene. With that mind, more than 2,000 books and catalogs from Bond’s personal archive are available in the gallery as part of a public reading room, where people can ask questions and learn more about art history and collecting. Early in her hyphenated career, Bond wasn’t sure where to begin when it came to collecting art, and sought advice from Patric McCoy, co-founder and president of Diasporal Rhythms, an organization dedicated to the appreciation of artists of the African diaspora. “He said, ‘I collect art like I collect music,’” says Bond. “Do you like the song? Buy the record!”
'Cheeks' by Colby Deal
'Mildred Bradley' by Colby Deal
With an eye on bringing Houston artists even more international recognition, Bond divides her time between her hometown and Portugal, her “family base,” where her husband Sergio and their four children live in a village with a long history as an artisan community. Currently on view at Art Is Bond, after a successful show last December by Ghanaian painter and graffiti artist Kingsley Kofi Deffor, is an exhibit of portraits, landscapes, and still lifes taken in Houston’s Third Ward by analog photographer Colby Deal. In March, the gallery will show Houston-born multidisciplinary artist Lovie Olivia.
“We’re not a final concept yet,” says Bond of her new gallery. “We’ll evolve as the community and the world shapes us.”
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Lucas and Arthur Jussen (photo by Marco Borggreve)
Lucas, who turns 30 this month, and younger brother Arthur, 26, received their first piano lessons in their native town of Hilversum, as children were invited to perform for Dutch Queen Beatrix, and are now one of the most critically acclaimed performers of works for four-hand piano and two pianos.
Recording exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon since 2010, they’ve released award-winning albums of Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Rachmaninoff, as well as music by various modern and contemporary Dutch composers on their excellent 2022 album Dutch Masters. Together they are the ideal duo to realize Takemitsu’s Quotation of Dream, a composition HSO music director Juraj Valčuha describes as “some kind of discussion between silence and music, dream and reality.”
“That’s a beautiful description of the piece,” says Arthur of Valčuha’s interpretation, adding that while Takemitsu’s score is “very strict and mathematical,” the resulting music sounds quite open and free.
“The way we prepared it was very different from preparing Schubert or Rachmaninoff,” says Lucas, who confirms counting the piece’s constantly changing meters and “abstract” notes was a challenge at first, but one the brothers were able to master. “You start to play just trusting your gut feeling,” explains Lucas. “And that’s how it should be. This piece should be played in a romantic and sensitive way.”
“You have to play it as if it’s a memory of a dream or an imagination of something you remember,” says Arthur.
And like moments remembered from a dream, Takemitsu incorporates several immediately recognizable quotations from Debussy’s La Mer throughout the concerto, along with other excerpts of works he composed while inspired by the sea. Takemitsu, who died in 1996, compared these quotations to glimpses of hills and lakes surrounding the borders of a Japanese garden. Debussy too had a deep interest in and respect for Japanese culture, and upon completing La Mer, chose Hokusai’s dramatic woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa as the image for its printed score.
Lucas and Arthur Jussen (photo by Marco Borggreve)
Lucas and Arthur Jussen (photo by Marco Borggreve)
This weekend will be the first time the Jussen brothers have performed Quotation of Dream for the public. Given the fact that they’re brothers, and seem to share a telepathic rapport while playing, can they sense when a performance is going especially well?
“Sometimes you have those types of concerts where you feel everything is going very naturally and the music is flowing,” says Lucas. “It’s very strange. That doesn’t always have to do with preparation, or how well you’ve practiced.” While maintaining a busy schedule of concert appearances across the globe can feel like trying to surf Hokusai’s great wave, Lucas and Arthur are adept at keeping it all in perspective. “We love to play the piano, but there are also other things in life that we appreciate very much,” says Arthur, who acknowledges eating healthy and getting enough sleep is not always possible given the demands of constant touring. Making time for sports, the music of Ray Charles, James Brown, and Stevie Wonder, and “a good glass of wine with people you love” are just a few things that help them maintain their equilibrium.
“It’s important to keep the fun alive,” says Arthur of life on the road with his brother. “We are very happy we can do this together, and that we can share those beautiful moments, and those moments when your luggage doesn’t arrive, have a good laugh and enjoy a beer after the concert. It keeps you sane.”
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