The best plays, musical performances, and exhibits in Texas are enjoyed by record number crowds, according to our cultural adventurer Leanne Raesener, who shares our favorite recommendations for what to enjoy this summer across the state.
AUSTIN
HERE COMES THE SUMMER
Zachary Scott Theatre’s Summer Under the Stars: Summer Series brings to you Come Together: Beatles Redux featuring the timeless music of the legendary Beatles. ZACH greats perform iconic hits like Yesterday, Hey Jude, Let it Be, and more. July 8—25. At ZachTheatre.org.
ON IMAGE: Michael Valentine performs. Courtesy of Zachery Scott Theatre.
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
The Blanton Museum’s new exhibition, Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, highlights his work in the late ’50s through ’60s. Brathwaite, a key figure of the second Harlem Renaissance, and his older brother, Elombe Brath, founded the African Jazz-Arts Society & Studios (AJASS) and Grandassa Models. June 27—September 19. At BlantonMuseum.org.
ON IMAGE: Kwame Brathwaite, Sikolo Brathwaite wearing a headpiece designed by Carolee Prince, African Jazz-Art Society&Studios (AJASS), Harlem, ca. 1968; from Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful (Aperture, 2019).
DANCING EXISTENTIALLY
ISHIDA Dance Company presents Faraway, so close, an evening of thought-provoking world premieres in contemporary dance: new works based on original poetic narratives that invite existential questions by Brett Ishida, a new work by former Batsheva dancer and USC Professor Bret Easterling, and a new creation by award-winning European choreographer Kristian Lever. In Austin August 13–14 at Dell Fine Arts Center at St. Andrew’s and in Houston August 19–21 at MATCH Midtown Arts & Theater Center. At IshidaDance.org
ON IMAGE: Courtesy of ISIDA Dance Company
DALLAS / FORT WORTH
JAPANESE AESTHETIC
Tokyo-based artist Tomoo Gokita’s first North American museum exhibition, Get Down, presented by The Dallas Contemporary, features Gokita’s large-scale paintings and never-before-seen pieces. These creations were all done during the pandemic. Through August 22. At DallasContemporary.org.
ON IMAGE: Tomoo Gokita. Remarriage, 2021.© Tomoo Gokita
EXOTIC ALLURE
The Kimbell Museum’s new exhibit, Buddha, Shiva, Lotus, Dragon: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society, presents nearly 70 of the finest examples of Asian art in the United States. It highlights pieces collected by the couple between the ’40s and ’70s. Through September 5. At KimbellArt.org.
ON IMAGE: Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Shiva Nataraja). India, Tamil Nadu. Chola period, about 970. Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.20. Photograph by Synthescape
ABSTRACTION APPREAL
The Fort Worth Modern’s new exhibit, Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas, features the artist’s most significant works and examines his contribution to the development of abstraction over nearly five decades. Through October 10. At TheModern.org.
ON IMAGE: Sean Scully, Pale Fire, 1988, Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth,
Museum purchase, Sid W. Richardson Foundation Endowment Fund©Sean Scully
HOUSTON
DEEP DIVE INTO AMERICA
Three Centuries of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston highlights more than 200 works from the private collection of Fayez S. Sarofim. The Houston-based collector has assembled an extraordinary representation of painting in America. His devotion to 19th and 20th century painting is at the center of his collection and this exhibition. Through September 6. At MFAH.org.
ON IMAGE: John Singer Sargent, Madame Ramón Subercaseaux, c. 1880–81 Fayez S. Sarofim Collection
LOVE. RESIST. DREAM.
These rallying cries echo throughout Los Angeles-based artist Cauleen Smith’s works, which remind us to nurture each other and the planet that sustains us. Her exhibition, Cauleen Smith: We Already Have What We Need, at The Contemporary Art Museum emphasizes acts of caring as antidotes to the injustices and inequities that shape our past and present, envisioning a better world. July 15—October 3. At CAMH.org.
ON IMAGE: Cauleen Smith, Light Up Your Life (For Sandra Bland), 2019. Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin. Commissioned and produced by Artpace San Antonio. Purchase through the generosity of an anonymous donor, 2020.
COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL
Color Factory is a collaborative and multisensory exhibit featuring participatory installations of colors and hues. A collection of artists, creatives, and designers have teamed up to tell their unique color stories inspired by the city and space, with NASA also being a collaborator. Through September 6. At ShowClix.com.
ON IMAGE: Photo courtesy of Color Factory
SAN ANTONIO
MEET ME AT THE FAIR
In 1998, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art, a 30,000 square-foot wing, opened to display Latin American art from ancient to contemporary. On Permanent View—Latin America Galleries. At SAMuseum.org.
ON IMAGE: Roberto de la Selva (Nicaraguan, 1895-1957), At the Fair (En la Fería), 1934, Museum purchase, 59.19.5, Photograph by Peggy Tenison, Courtesy of San Antonio Museum of Art.
RENAISSANCE ROTTEN
Enjoy an evening of theatre as The Public presents Something Rotten. Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom set out to write the first musical in the 1590s after a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting simultaneously. Fridays through Sundays, July 9—July 18. At CTXLiveTheatre.com.
ON IMAGE: Courtesy of Something Rotten national tour
HOME, HEART, AND HEARTH
Joanna Keane Lopez, a New Mexico native, is a multidisciplinary artist whose work blurs the boundaries between contemporary sculpture and architecture through the medium of adobe mud. She creates work that seeks healing and reparation of fragmentation towards land, home, family, and community. July 1―September 5. At BlueStarContemporary.org.
ON IMAGE: Nine Ways to Say Hello Adobe bricks, mirror, lime wash, mica, cotton, cochineal insects, onion skins. Courtesy of Joanna Keane Lopez