The Menil Collection The Menil Collection

Artist Charles Ray discusses subject matter as a formal element in the last of his series of lectures, “Thoughts on Sculpture.” Ray will consider themes like subject matter as a formal element; sculpture with holes; and bronze and the work of Rodin, Degas, and Matisse.

The film follows a group of mostly New York artists in the late 60s and early 70s to America’s desert southwest where with earth, rocks, and other natural materials, they made art on a monumental scale and on their own terms, that was, as the film’s director James Crump writes, “impervious to commodification.”

Join the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s Teen Council as they present Root Shift: Photographs of Stasis and Change Selected by CAMH Teen Council, an exhibition of photographs from the Menil’s holdings that explores ideas of stability and adaptation.

The Da Camera Young Artists present music that reflects the essence of the exhibition The Precarious. The performance embraces collage as an art form that embodies the joy and vulnerability of depending on others.

Poet and photographer Ewa Zebrowski reads and signs copies of her new book, twombly, italia.

The Menil Collection celebrates FotoFest and the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson with a lecture by photography scholar and curator Peter Galassi. From 1991–2011 Galassi was chief curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art.

Founded in 2010, Marfa Dialogues was conceived as a symposium to broaden public exploration of art, politics, and culture. Ballroom Marfa, FotoFest International, and the Public Concern Foundation bring Marfa Dialogues to Houston in conjunction with FotoFest “Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet” at the Menil Collection.

All public programs are free and open to the public; seating is limited. Programs take place in Menil foyer unless otherwise noted. Information is subject to change.