Anthony Figueroa
JUST WORDS
November 13 - December 4
Opening Reception: November 13, 6 - 8 pm
Location: Russell Hill Rogers Galleries, 1201 Navarro
JUST WORDS by Anthony Figueroa explores the gap between what is communicated and what is understood. Figueroa examines how words, sounds, images, and familiar symbols can change meaning depending on how they are presented and received. Throughout the exhibition, communication is given in unusual ways. Viewers hear only one side of conversations, encounter fragmented or rearranged language, and experience sounds and images they must navigate as they try to make sense of what they are taking in. When information is incomplete, the missing pieces can leave room for the viewer to form their own understanding of what they are experiencing. Familiar objects and symbols are also placed in situations where their meaning becomes uncertain or changes from what the viewer initially expects. The works ask how we understand information when it is intentionally presented in a way that keeps us from fully getting it.
Braulio Ivan Gutierrez Gonzalez
De Aquí y De Allá
November 5 - 19
Opening Reception: November 6 (First Friday),
Closing Reception: November 19 (Third Thursday)
Hours: 6-9pm
Gallery: C136 at Blue Star
Location: 1414 S Alamo, 78210, Suite 136
De Aquí y De Allá is the MFA thesis exhibition of Braulio Ivan Gutierrez Gonzalez, an installation artist whose work explores identity, cultural hybridity, and the psychological fragmentation of the self. Born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and raised in Brownsville, Texas, Gutierrez’s practice is shaped by border culture and the experience of navigating overlapping cultural systems. Drawing from Parts Theory, he approaches identity as a collection of shifting and sometimes conflicting parts shaped by culture, lived experience, media, and social pressures. Through nine “Zodiac Neo-Alebrijes,” Gutierrez transforms the exhibition space into a visual representation of his conscious mind, combining illustration, sound, animation, sculpture, and performance to create an environment centered on curiosity, play, memory, and connection. De Aquí y De Allá (From Here and From There), reflects the experience of belonging to more than one place and embracing the different parts of oneself that come with it. Rather than viewing a mixed cultural identity as something that must be divided or resolved, Gutierrez’s work celebrates the ability to be from both places at once. The exhibition invites viewers who share similar experiences of cultural hybridity to recognize themselves in the work and feel pride in where they come from, while encouraging all visitors to explore the complexity, joy, and individuality of a layered identity.
