Mcallen’s Manichaus (manic house) is a great alternative art space that all serious RGV art lovers should visit. On June 6, Manichaus will premiere “Non-Composition,” a new show by artist Kris Ohlinger. The show will kick off with a reception at 7 p.m. on June 6 and will continue through June 27. Check out the flyer below and the press release right here.

The Galeria 409 in downtown Brownsville is asking Valley artists to submit work for a number of upcoming shows. If you’re intereseted in displaying your art, this is the place to do it in the lower RGV.

Gallery owner Mark Clark might close the gallery for the summer, unless some artists out there want to do a show about hot topic issues like the Iraq war, terrorism, border crossing, etc. Check out the press release below for more info …

409 SEEKS ART

409 Art Gallery
ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES
Mark Clark of the 409 Art Gallery is calling for artist for the following four upcoming art shows:
*DEAD
*HISTORIC BROWNSVILLE/HEROIC MATAMOROS
*FE / FAITH
*ROTULOS
Artwork should relate in some way to the show entered. Contact Mark Clark for more information: 956-455-3599.
Mark Clark will be closing the 409 gallery for the summer but is considering to stay open if there is enough interest by local artist and artwork to do an art show that reflects on controversial issues : border fence & immigration reform , oil prices, Iraq war, terrorism, local politics, social or economic issues. Artist wanting to exhibit artwork on these issue contact Mark as soon as possible..

Look here for information on selected upcoming events happening in the Rio Grande Valley. Know about a cool event? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

‘Illusions in Light and Shadow’
When: Ongoing through March 28
Where: Alonso Building, 510 E St. Charles and 6th Streets, Brownsville
Contact: ( 956)882-5050 or (956) 504-6862.
This event sounds like a fun time for lovers of glass art and light manipulation. The exhibit promises to showcase “some outstanding examples of light shifters from both the world of nature and from the skilled hand of man.” What exactly does that mean? I’m not quite sure, but it sounds like there’s some interesting art on display at the Alonso Building, as per usual.

Emerging Art Leaders Creative Conversation
When: 6 p.m., Thursday, March 15
Where: The Museums of Port Isabel’s Treasures of the Gulf Museum, located at 317 E. Railroad Ave. in downtown Port Isabel.
Contact: Call Edward Meza at (956) 943-7602 or e-mail at  director at portisabelmuseums.com.
This is the third Emerging Art Leaders Creative Conversation hosted by the Cameron County Creative Alliance. The art advocacy group holds these meets to discuss ways to promote and create art in the community and to identify emerging leaders in the local art scene. Those interested in really investing some time in making the Valley’s art scene prosper are encouraged to attend.

Urban Elements Fest
When: 1 p.m. - 8 p.m., Friday, March 16
Where: La Plazita Circle Park, Lissner and 24th St. in Donna
Contact: Contact René Z. Garza at (956) 534-1997 or  museoimenos at gmail.com.
Area hip-hop acts Broken Poets, Fishermen, Ethiks, Damaja Squad, C-Styles, and DJ Dabble will perform at this event which will also feature a workshop by artist Rene Z. Garza of Museo {i}menos. The workshop will include a brief history of the stenciled image and basic stencil making techniques. You can make your own images in the workshop. This is the third of twelve monthly workshops for 2007 held by the museo to promote “independent arts practice,” or making cool art on the cheap. To participate in the workshop, you will need to attend with posterboard, a no. 1 exacto-type knife, a can of spray paint, some designs and something to paint your image on like t-shirts or canvas. Also, {i}menos will lend you materials or they may be purchased as they are available.

Posted by Mike

The current “Wild Style” exhibit at Brownsville’s Galeria 409 displays some of the best raw artistic talent the Rio Grande Valley has to offer. Just check out the great work above by Karla Miranda.

“Wild Style” is an eclectic exhibit with pop art and tattoo designs sharing space with comic book illustrations, colorful surfboards, airbrushed truck body parts and more traditional art. Art professors share walls with graffiti artists, amateurs and even inmates. It’s a fun mix of work that I think everyone should catch.

I visited the gallery on Saturday and owner/curator Mark Clark was nice enough to take a break from his mural project to show me around. He’ll do the same for you. The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. It’s located in downtown Brownsville at 409 E. 13th Street and admission is free. The exhibit will be up until March 31. What follows are a few snapshots and my thoughts on some of my favorite pieces in the exhibit. Still, there’s a lot more to see, so visit the gallery before March 31. Plus, Mark can tell you a lot more about the art than I can.

Rene Garza’s work (below) mixes graffiti and pop art styles. His work is striking and, visually, it’s probably my favorite in the entire exhibition.

The following piece, “La Ruta de Che” by Garza is based on a phony passport that Che Guevara onced used to travel from country to country.

This is Garza’s “Back in Time,” an active piece that I wish I had the extra income to buy and take home with me.

Next is Hector Reyna’s more traditional work. Reyna is an inmate, Clark said, and he bides his time in the pin by creating great stuff like this.

Below is Gabriel Trevino’s graffiti stencil logo for The Art of Brownsville, a blog started by Brownsville artist Mayra Cruz that everyone should check out. Like many Valley artists, Trevino sells his work for cheap on the weekends at the 77 Flea Market in Brownsville.

I found the following piece by Javier Barbosa really striking. It might seem like just another Last Supper rendering, but look closely. Barbosa airbrushed Jesus and his homeboys on the tailgate of a Ford F-150 pickup truck. This is “puro Valley,” but in a good way. Barbosa works with Special Education students at Brownsville’s Vela Middle School and he also sells his work at the flea market. He has a few other great airbrush art pieces in the exhibit.

Paul Guevara from Luke Fruia Motors contributed this flaming hood to the exhibit. I thought it fit in rather nicely.

If you know me, you know I’m partial to pop art, especially when it’s Andy Warholesque. So, it goes without saying that i dig Cecilia Lara’s work below.

Brownsville tattoo artist Carlos Truan contributed this pair of trippy paintings on canvas. You can also see a bunch of tattoo designs and some other eye-popping pieces by Truan at the gallery.

I was really impressed by the work of Karla Miranda. Here’s a closer look at one of her illustrations. The images inside the thought bubble are drawn on post-it notes. I hope we see more of Miranda. Her work, especially the self-portrait at the top of this post, reminds me of the comic book “Phonogram”

The following is a detail shot from … well I didn’t get the artist’s name, so I’ll just go along and call him just another punk kid from Weslaco. (Does Weslaco have a lot of punk kids?) This was hanging outside the gallery and is much larger than it appears here.

So, I only covered about half of the “Wild Style” exhibit here. There’s a lot more to see and Mark can tell you all about the artists that contributed to the show. Mark might even show you some pictures of some of the decked-out motorcycles he had on display during the exhibit’s opening night. Take the time to stop by the gallery and support your Valley artists, they’re a talented bunch.

Posted by Mike