Peep These Mesmerizing Commissions by One of Houston’s Favorite Artists

Peep These Mesmerizing Commissions by One of Houston’s Favorite Artists

A detail of 'Cycle' (Photos courtesy Barbara Davis Gallery)

NEWS OF RECENT commissions by Houston artist Paul Fleming led us to several photos of his eye-catching, large-scale wall installations, many of which are installed in the sunlit interiors of some of the city’s most beautiful homes and apartment communities, including the resident lounge of The Southmore, located just a few blocks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.


While Fleming’s Houston representative Barbara Davis Gallery describes his work as “process driven,” the results are far more engaging and attractive than most art described in such terms. It’s easy to see why such superstar interior designers like Houston’s own Lucinda Loya are so enamored with his work.

A Fleming installation is a carefully composed collection of dozens of small circles, rectangles, and other simple shapes, each cast in hydrocal and translucent layers of pigmented resin varying in size, depth, and opacity. These small — sometimes very small — crystalline-like stones may be arranged formally, in concentric circles or grid-like lines, but more often are positioned to resemble the rhythmic pattern of a flock of birds seen at a distance or the temporal nature of Houston’s everchanging dramatic cloudscapes. The installations seem to ripple and swell, activating the space within the room while playing with the viewer’s ocular perception.

Paul Fleming lives and works in Houston, Texas, and is featured among 62 artists in Catherine Anspon’s 2010 limited-edition book Texas Artists Today. His solo exhibitions include shows at Barbara Davis Gallery and Lawndale Art Center. Fleming’s group exhibitions include Sergio Tossi Arte Contemporanea, Florence, Italy; AR Contemporary, Milan, Italy; The Art League Houston, Texas; University of Houston, Houston, Texas and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

A detail of 'Ballad II'

'Harbor (for Miles)'

'Pathways (Proposal 5/6)'

'Ballad II'

Art + Entertainment

'Technicolor Tombstone'

THERE IS A pivotal scene in The Matrix where Morpheus (played by a thoroughly in-shape Laurence Fishburne) prepares the film’s hapless hero (played by a pre-John Wick Keanu Reeves) for his jump into the proverbial rabbit hole by asking him, “Have you ever had a dream . . . that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Apollo Chamber Players and, right, DJ Spooky

CAN MUSIC EXPRESS the sound of a melting ice cap? It’s a question Houston’s Apollo Chamber Players and New York-based composer, author, and multi-media artist Paul Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky, will explore Nov. 18 at the Burke Baker Planetarium in “Canceled,” a concert of works for string quartet, digital electronics, and A.I. generated visuals.

Keep Reading Show less