CULTURAL ADVANTAGES

While Harry Connick, Jr. is the definition of a multi-talented star, the foundation of his art has always been his music. Enjoy an evening with this bayou renaissance man and his band for an intimate performance of songs from his impressive new record, True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter, as well as classics from his remarkable career. March 10. At TheLongCenter.org.

Courtesy of the Harry Connick, official website and The Long Center

The Fashion Forward exhibit at the Bullock State History Museum explores the evolution of style and how we think about clothes, all through a Texas lens. Discover the historical and cultural context of garments from some of the fashion world’s biggest names. Create your own looks at a fabric draping station and strike a pose on the runway. Through April 12. At TheStoryOfTexas.com.

Evening Dress, Valentino Garavani. Photo courtesy of the Bullock Museum in collaboration with the Texas Fashion Collection, College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas.

The special exhibition, Flesh and Blood, will feature nearly 40 masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. These incredible paintings are a journey through the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods. Such extraordinarily beautiful scenes can be moving or imposing, violent, extravagant, or even seductive. On view March 1―June 14. At KimbellArt.org.

Guido Reni, Atalanta and Hippomenes, c.1620―25, oil on canvas. Photo courtesy of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. “

Looking In: Photography from the Outside takes an in-depth look by six influential twentieth-century artists: Richard Avedon, Morris Engel, Laura Gilpins, Dorothea Lange, Danny Lyon, and Paul Strand, who navigated their role as “outsider” differently, raising complicated questions about perception, representation, and power. Through May 10. At CarterMuseum.org.

Freida Kleinsasser, Thirteen Year Old, Hutterite Colony, Harlowton, Montana, 1983, Gelatin silver print, Richard Avedon (1923–2004). Photo courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Perfect as a reminder for these political times, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents Norman Rockwell: American Freedom, an exhibition devoted to Rockwell’s iconic depictions of FDR’s Four Freedoms—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear, and Freedom from Want. Houston is the fifth venue for the acclaimed exhibition’s seven-city tour organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum. Through March 22. At MFAH.org.

Photo courtesy of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), “Freedom of Speech,” 1943. Illustration for “The Saturday Evening Post,” February 20, 1943. Photo courtesy of the collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum © 1943 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN. All rights reserved.

R. Strauss’s compelling psychodrama Salome returns to the Houston Grand Opera for the first time in 20 years in a production directed by Francisco Negrin. The revolutionary score reinvents Oscar Wilde’s biblical drama of a deeply disturbed princess who has fallen in love with Jokanaan (John the Baptist). April 18―May 1. At HoustonGrandOpera.org.

Courtesy of Houston Grand Opera

The McNay Art Museum’s new exhibit, Fashion Nirvana: Runway to Everyday features iconic and innovative garments plus video art from the 1990s—a decade that’s known for revolutionizing the fashion and art worlds. It features designers including Oscar de la Renta, Gianni Versace, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, and more. Through May 17. At McNayArt.org.

Victor Costa, Wedding Dress, 1992. Silk satin, net, rhinestones. Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas, Gift of the Estate of Doris I. Dixon, 1996.016.002.

This ongoing focus installation, The Magic of Clay and Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, is now in its second rotation, featuring sixteen new works that showcase unique shapes, techniques, and glazes. Through April 22, 2020. At SAMuseum.org.

Miyashita Zenji, Japanese, 1939-2012, Ki no jôshô (Rising Air), 2004, Stoneware and colored clays bands with clear overglaze; h. 19 ¼ in. (48.9 cm); w. 12 ¼ in. (31.1 cm); d. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm), Collection of Susan L. and C.J. Peters, Photography by Richard Goodbody.