Throughout Downtown Galveston
October 3, 2018
One night only!
6:00 – 9:00 PM
The Museum of Pocket Art
featuring Elaine Bradford and Ernesto Walker
The Galveston Arts Center welcomes the Museum of Pocket Art (MoPA) for a special one-night only visit during ArtWalk on October 13, 2018 from 6 to 9 PM. MoPA presents two exhibitions by artists Elaine Bradford (Houston, TX) and Ernesto Walker (Monterrey, Mexico).
The Museum of Pocket Art began fifteen years ago with an idea that everyone should carry with them a small artwork in a pocket to enrich their day and share with others. MoPA developed this idea and organized it into a formal venue for contemporary artists and patrons.
MoPA introduces artwork from contemporary artists in an intimate and personal way. The Museum displays works of art created to fit in the pocket, usually around the size of a business card, in galleries selected to best frame the work, which range from wallets to mobile devices. MoPA shows at the opening of other art exhibits, or “leaches” the reception. At the reception, a MoPA representative approaches people individually and asks if he or she would like to visit the museum, and then shares the works on display. Currently MoPA hosts two shows a year.
Robert Jackson Harrington currently directs the Museum of Pocket Art and is a member of the Center for Experimental Practice and the curatorial collective, Los Outsiders, based in Austin, TX. Harrington creates drawings and sculptural installations from everyday materials that center on the concept of potential. Recent exhibitions include All on the Line at The Backdoor Biennial 2018, Kyle, TX and C wut stix, at Bill’s Junk, Houston, TX.
www.mopaonline.com
About the exhibitions:
Elaine Bradford
Ties that Bind
“I am a collector. I mine thrift and antique stores to find discarded pieces of people’s lives. The collectibles, which have personal histories that have long been forgotten, are transformed. The pieces in this exhibition are representations of relationships. Found family photos have been repurposed. The extensions of embroidery represent hopes, thoughts and fears that can bind people together, or tear them apart. The added fibers are portrayals of being wrapped up in another person, and the distance or closeness that can be created between one another. They talk about longing and unrequited love. I am taking strangers discarded objects, connecting them with craftwork, and creating personal portraits. I see some of myself in each of these objects. I also see some of everyone else.” – Elaine Bradford
Elaine Bradford lives and works in Houston, TX. She holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (2003) and a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin (2000). Her work has been included in shows at Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, IL; Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY; Handmade in America Gallery in Asheville, NC; and Centre Culturel Aragon in Oyonnax, France. Select solo shows have been at The Picture Gallery at Saint Gaudens Memorial, Cornish, NH; ArtLeague Houston, Houston; and Hunt Gallery at Webster University, St. Louis, MO. She is a founding member BOX 13 ArtSpace, an innovative artist run studio and gallery space in Houston. She was a resident artist at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in 2010. In 2011, Bradford completed a permanent civic art commission for the City of Houston at Vinson Neighborhood Library. In 2017, she worked with Houston poet Sara Cress on a project called Routine Fables, where they create a “sculpture poem” every week of the year.
Ernesto Walker
Antigravity
This project consists of a series of video-holograms entitled Antigravity that are projected from gadget screens through an accessory that creates the effect of a floating object and helps the image emerge from the screen. The general idea has been developed for its exhibition at The Museum of Pocket Art, a disruptive exhibition space that’s contained on the inside of an Ipod. In these regards, Antigravity is directly related to the nature of MoPA and intends to generate reflections not only about the artwork, but about the platform itself. The holograms are played with the help of an accessory that’s attached to the screen and provokes the effect of three-dimensional objects floating outside the device. Having the image emerging from the screen seeks for an experience that expands the visual possibilities of the screen and generates more ephemeral content. These gestures are combined with the fact that the artwork is played online from a controlled server, so that video presented does not reside in the device nor the server but can only exist by the combination of the played file and the screen accessory. In this regard, the technology only serves as a conduit for the contemplation of an image that poetically just travels through the system but does not touch it.
Based in Monterrey, Mexico, Ernesto Walker’s work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including exhibitions in London, Brussels, Luxemburg, Athens, Switzerland, Argentina, United States, Colombia, Italy, and Spain. His work is included in collections in Italy, England, United States, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico. Among other distinctions, he was award first place in the Saatchi Gallery Drawing Showdown 2011; obtained the FONCA Young Creators Fellowship from the National Arts Fund (2016); is recipient of the PACMyC fellowship given by the Arts and Culture National Council of Mexico (CONACULTA); as well as the FINANCIARTE production fellowship given by the State Arts Council (CONARTE). Since January 2011, he is professor for the School of Art, Architecture and Design at Tec de Monterrey College.