Sawyer Yards Silos Transformed for 'Sculpture Month,' Which Starts Saturday

Sawyer Yards Silos Transformed for 'Sculpture Month,' Which Starts Saturday

Sculptures by Jessica Kreutter and Sarah Sudhoff

THE TOWERING, INDUSTRIAL grain silos at Sawyer Yards are the site of The Sleep of Reason: The Fragmented Figure, Sculpture Month Houston’s seventh annual group show of provocative sculptural and installation art. The dark, dank, cylindrical silos are the antithesis of the traditional “white cube” gallery space, and each year challenge and inspire the participating artists to experiment and expand their creative vision, with results that range from strange and disturbing, to humorous and pretty weird.


On view Oct. 7 through Dec. 2, The Sleep of Reason includes works by Frances Bagley, Rabea Ballin, Jimmy Canales, Elizabeth Chapin, Colette Copeland, Jeff Gibbons, Suguru Hiraide, Allison Hunter, Jessica Kreutter, Yuliya Lanina, Nadin Nassar, Steve Parker, Kris Pierce, Hugo Santana, Sarah Sudhoff, James Sullivan, and the late great Jesse Lott, who passed away at age 80 last July.

Upon entering The Sleep of Reason, visitors are encouraged to explore the individual silos and engage with the art at their own pace. All manner of materials are on display, with many artists augmenting their three-dimensional constructions with sound, light, and video. Houston artist Sarah Sudhoff uses photographs and video projections of her body to create startling, three-dimensional images that explore contradictory and harmful societal norms regarding motherhood, healthcare, and physical intimacy. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Chapin’s mixed-media portraits on stuffed canvases use fringe, silk, and neon to transform what would be a traditional flat image into a wild, unruly, and very recognizably “Southern” pantheon of three-3D belles and buds. Meanwhile, lurking somewhere in the silos is one of Jesse Lott’s iconic, large-scale, humanoid figures, created out of wire and other found objects, standing in tribute to Lott’s legacy and as an oracle, its presence offering the viewer a way out of the pervasive angst and anxiety of our age.

The Sleep of Reason coincides with Sculpture Month Houston’s fourth Biennial Festival, where over 40 galleries and art spaces across Houston are invited to exhibit a range of three-dimensional art. For more details, and information about upcoming curator and artist tours and musical performances, follow Sculpture Month Houston or visit their website.

Art + Entertainment
‘Embrace Changes,’ Says Valobra, Whose Namesake Jewelry Store Has Become a Houston Institution
How did you get to where you are today? I had little choice in the matter; I grew up being trained to become the fourth-generation jewelry designer behind my great grandfather, grandfather, and father. It was my duty to carry on the family business and continue the hard work and success they built from nothing, beginning in Torino, Italy in 1905. I was surrounded by jewelry and its craftmanship as a young child and was taught the business from a very young age.
Keep Reading Show less

HOW DO YOU get more than a million streams, two singles in the Top 40 on the Texas Regional Radio Report Chart, and Grammy-winning Country music superstar Brad Paisley to play on your album? Practice! Just ask Katy native and up-and-coming singer and guitar slinger Hayden Baker.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Surf lessons are taught by handsome Australian instructors

THE PERSONAL SERVICE starts as soon as guests clear customs at the Maldives’ Malé Velana international airport. Visitors are whisked away in a speedboat to the Gili Lankanfushi resort, reminiscent of the opening scene of a new White Lotus season. While sipping a ginger juice, guests’ shoes are taken off and feet are cleaned. Then they’re handed back their belongings, in a bag labeled “No news, no shoes” — Gili’s mantra.

Keep Reading Show less
People + Places