Always a gallery. I’ll include two here. First up was Gallery of Illusions: a small private space that amuses and somewhat educates, settled in a large shopping centre with its notable international clothing names and the like. I was not so much surprised by names like Tiffany reappearing or Ralph Lauren and the rest, but some decidedly more plebian chains that must be international did surprise me. Whatever, this gallery amused with various illusions that we’ve seen in film and more. Otherwise, it was the big public Houston MFA (Museum of Fine Arts). We were limited in time so moved quickly and missed some parts, but impressive as expected. I was mightily impressed that names of the likes of Picasso were not behind glass so you could view details and experience great intimacy. Amongst the moderns, I only noticed a few very minor Jackson Pollocks behind glass and they were certainly not Blue Poles equivalents. Strange that. Reminds me of Mona Lisa when I first saw it, on a wall, with perhaps six viewers from a few feet away. Those were the days. Otherwise a lovely overview of various cultures. One item reminded us of the Louvre sadnesses: a gold helmet weighing ~80oz that we guessed would be worth ~$A500K. There were several temporary exhibits including French fashions from the Louvre and Roman/Greek antiquities. I particularly enjoyed the historical photography exhibit. Maybe I shouldn’t have been too surprised but we ran into a baroque concert in progress by the local Mercury Chamber Orchestra. It seems a big organisation although this concert was just a baroque quintet with a countertenor singing for Christmas. Particularly interesting was a program insert called the Houston Music Card composed by DaCamera which listed 32 concerts (“Chamber music and more”) over the period Dec25-Jan26. Houston does seem well provided with classical gigs.
The Museum of Illusions and the Museum of Fine Arts are in Houston, TX. The Houston Music Card is compiled by Dacamera Houston and is accessible online.
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