Moody Center for the Arts

About the Greet:

The Moody Center for the Arts is an exciting new arts destination in Houston. Come explore exhibitions by groundbreaking artists, then enjoy lunch or a cup of coffee in our café. We are located in a state-of-the-art building on Rice University campus, conveniently located at Campus Entrance 8 at University Blvd. and Stockton St. The award-winning building by acclaimed architect Michael Maltzan serves as an experimental platform for creating and presenting works in all disciplines; we have public galleries, a black box theater, project studios, student classrooms, and a café. Depending on how much time you have, you can also explore some of Rice Public Art’s collection on Rice’s arboretum-like campus. We are open from 10am-5pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is free. This spring the Moody presents “Sideways to the Sun,” Natasha Bowdoin’s springtime proliferation of carnivorous plants, creeping vines and poisonous color, inspired by such far-reaching sources as early cartoons, transcententalist texts, and 1970s patio prints. Commissioned by the Moody, the installation spills from the main gallery’s walls and floors into the building’s foyer and corridors and is on view through May 18.

Also on view this spring in the Brown Foundation Gallery is French artist Michel Blazy’s “We Were the Robots”. This site-specific installation created for the Moody is a fable about resilience. It features burnt wood pallets depicting robots and animals working on the ruins of a post-apocalyptic landscape. It is a world that tries to become alive again on the consumed remains of an absurd way of life with its commercial exchanges, human relations, energy consumption, consumerism and waste. Blazy (b 1966, Monaco) is based in Paris. The Moody is proud to present the first exhibition of his work in Texas, on view through May 18.

In the Media Arts Gallery, participate in the virtual reality experience, “Planet”, a dystopian tale by Japanese artist and filmmaker Momoko Seto on view through May 18. And on the lawn just outside the gallery’s main entrance, Justin Brice Guariglia’s “WE ARE THE ASTEROID III, 2019” is a solar-powered LED message board – like those typically found at construction sites – which alerts viewers to slow down and beware of dangers ahead. Instead of road conditions, however, the board features aphorisms calling attention to ecological issues such as “TRIASSIC WEATHER AHEAD,” “WARNING: HURRICANE HUMAN” and “WE ARE THE ASTEROID.” Through poetry, metaphor, and humor, audiences are drawn into the conversation, prompting diverse discussions about the planetary crisis. On view through April 15.

Images: Michael Maltzan Architecture; Nash Baker