Strand Gallery

June 3 - July 9, 2017

Opening Reception Saturday, June 3, 2017
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Artist talk at 6:30 PM

Robert Hodge and Tierney Malone
Two & 1/2 Years: A Visual Celebration to the Spirit of Juneteenth

Two & 1/2 Years: A Visual Celebration to the Spirit of Juneteenth is a collaboration between multidisciplinary artists Tierney Malone and Robert Hodge. The story of the institution of slavery in Texas and the origins of the Juneteenth celebration are reexamined and retold musically and visually. The exhibition is a visual representation of the music project Two and 1/2 Years: A Musical Celebration to the Spirit of Juneteenth, produced by Robert Hodge and Tierney Malone, released June 19, 2016.

Robert Hodge is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores themes of memory and commemoration. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in the City’s Third Ward district, the artist studied visual at the Atlanta College of Art before returning to Houston. Hodge has exhibited his work in numerous national and international institutions including Project Row Houses; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; and the Contemporary Museum of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. Named amongst the Houston Press’ 100 Most Creative People in 2011, Hodge has also received grants from the Houston Arts Alliance and The Idea Fund. Hodge recently received the Joan Mitchell Artist Grant and Young Master Prize in 2014. Hodge attended the prestigious Skowhegan residency summer of 2014 and had his first solo museum exhibition in 2014-2015 as well at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Robert Hodge recently released “Two and 1/2 Years” A Musical Celebration to the Spirit of Juneteenth a record he executive produced in June 2016. He is working on two new music projects along with exhibitions this year.
www.robertleroyhodge.com

Tierney Malone was born in Los Angeles, but has long called Houston his home. Malone is a modern-day storyteller who creates works on paper and mixed media constructions. He uses the cannon of African-American history and pop culture to create contemporary tales about life. By invoking colorful and emotionally charged figures from jazz, sports and literature, Malone makes powerful and sensitive works that are both visually beautiful and politically provocative.

Malone has exhibited his art widely throughout Texas and the U.S., including numerous solo exhibitions. His works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; the Kansas City Jazz Museum, Kansas City, Missouri; Goldman Sachs, New York; and the Federal reserve Bank, Houston, Texas. He is the recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant, a CACHH Visual Artist Grant and Kimbrough Visual Artist Grant.

Malone has collaborated with noted jazz musicians, commissioned to create the jacket cover for musician Con Byrons’ 199 CD, “Romance of the Unseen”, on the Blue Note label and jazz pianist Randy Weston for a 2003 performance at the Miller Outdoor Theater. In 2008, he completed two major commissions; a limited edition print celebrating Da Camera of Houston’s 20th Anniversary and an outdoor mural entitled “Southern Sounds” for the Coleman Art Center in York, Alabama. Music and the creators of music are a major influence in his work. It was November 2009 that Malone presented a solo exhibition in Houston, Texas “Third Ward My Harlem.”
www.tierneymalone.net