As summertime sets in the Alamo City, the arts scene heats up with six red-hot exhibits. Between the Texas Biennial and Fotoseptiembre in town all month long, San Antonians have a wealth of wondrous exhibits to experience. Add in Oaxacan art, floating felines, and a conversation with the Duke’s daughter at the Briscoe, and September is set to dazzle.
Witte Museum
“¡Órale! The Magical Art of Oaxaca.” Now through December 5.
The popular art of Oaxaca, from woodcarvers to weavers and potters, celebrates ancestral crafts and techniques passed down from generation to generation. This exhibit showcases how contemporary artists are preserving tradition while exploring the impact of change in their communities, including that of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon indigenous Zapotec traditions, the artists utilize local materials and techniques to create vibrant and innovative art forms that reflect a heritage deeply rooted in tradition and the land itself.
Ruby City
“A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon: 2021 Texas Biennial.” September 1-January 31, 2022.
Ruby City is one of five institutions to present the 2021 Texas Biennial: “A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon,” an exhibition spread across both San Antonio and Houston. Biennial curators have even broadened the scope to include “Texpats,” Texas natives working anywhere in the world with ties to the Lone Star State. Principal themes of the project — the mutable histories contained within objects and people, activism and issues of racial and social justice, and narratives unique to the history and land of Texas — are examined in multiple creative disciplines and across multiple sites. Those featured in the 2021 Texas Biennial range from emerging artists and collectives to well established and internationally celebrated artists working in sculpture, film and experimental video, photo-based media, installation, sound, painting, printmaking, music and performance, social practice, and public art.
Briscoe Western Art Museum
A Conversation with the Duke’s Daughter. September 4.
Join the Briscoe as Aissa Wayne, daughter of the legendary John Wayne, shares memories of her father and her experiences as a child appearing in four of her father’s films: “The Alamo,” “The Comancheros,” “McClintock,” and “Donavon’s Reef.” And hear stories of her regularly traveling to her father’s movie sets during his career. Wayne, a retired criminal and family law attorney, authored a memoir of her life with the Duke, John Wayne, My Father, in 1998. After the event, catch the Briscoe’s “Still in the Saddle: A New History of Hollywood Westerns” exhibit while you can, and learn more about the rich and entertaining history of the Hollywood Western.
Brick at Blue Star Arts Complex
“Yoko Misu: Floating Felines.” Now through September 29.
Artist Yoko Misu creates art celebrating life with a dash of humor. Her current works are a series of feline images, inspired by her own life with cats and learning Buddhist philosophy by observing her feline companions. She develops compositions from her daily casual drawings and eclectic inspirations, such as Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and prehistoric cave paintings of animals. The technique she employs is a combination of printmaking (dry point and stenciling) and mixed media on paper.
Mexican Cultural Institute
“Handmade Tradition.” September 6-November 19.
“Handmade Tradition” is a window into the merging cultural heritages that converge in Mexico, that cross borders, and that have taken roots in San Antonio in a very unique way. The exhibit features the master hands of Gregorio Rebollar of Isaac Maxwell Metal, who creates extraordinary pieces inspired by techniques and designs from both sides of the border. As the institute notes, the metal that illuminates us and the rebozos (traditional handwoven Mexican shawls) that embrace us find a meeting point in San Antonio through “Handmade Tradition.”
Various Locations
Fotoseptiembre 2021. September 1-30.
San Antonio’s annual celebration of the photograph returns as a hybrid of both in-person and virtual exhibits. Local and international photographers include Al Rendon (San Antonio), Mami Kiyoshi (Japan/France), Guilherme Bergamini (Brazil), Yang Shun-Fa (Taiwan), and Tracey Maurer (San Antonio). Notable works include In Tempore at Slab Cinema’s new Arthouse space; Hayfer Brea’s Nothing to Say, and Mari Hernandez’s Figments of Truth.
Artist Yoko Misu brings her whimsical feline images to Brick at Blue Star.
