University Of Houston: Dorothy Hood Exhibition Offers Glimpse Into Texas Artist's Life, Legacy

Press release from the University of Houston:

November 9, 2021

Artworks and archival materials by pioneering artist Dorothy Hood are the centerpiece of a new exhibition organized by Public Art of the University of Houston System in collaboration with the Art Museum of South Texas (AMST) and UH Libraries Special Collections. "Dorothy Hood: The Edge of Being" is on view through March 2023.

Concentrated at UH Libraries Special Collections in the M.D. Anderson Library, the exhibition expands beyond the gallery space with artworks on display at additional locations throughout the UH System.

The works featured in the exhibition reflect the late Texas-born artist’s aesthetic range and are complimented by a display of ephemera and other materials from the artist’s personal archive, such as the Dorothy Hood Papers, a collection of the AMST and UH Libraries Special Collections. These materials serve as extraordinary examples of the intensity and soul that defined her captivating, yet under-recognized artistic career.

Hood, who died in 2000 at 81, was a seminal figure in midcentury American modernism, fusing the Mexican and New York Schools through a unique Texas borderland ethos.

“As with many women artists of her generation, Hood is only now beginning to receive critical attention for her relevance to 20th century modern art,” said María C. Gaztambide, Public Art UHS director and chief curator.

The University of Houston is fast becoming a premier destination for scholars, students and others interested in her work thanks, in large part, to the expanding body of artworks in Public Art UHS’s collection and the recently acquired Dorothy Hood Papers (1920s-1990s) at the UH Libraries Special Collections.

Additional works are on display at the lobby of the office of the dean of the UH Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts (Bert F. Winston Band Complex at TDECU Stadium), the lobby of UH’s Wortham Theatre, and at the Bayou Building at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. 

Exhibition Information

WHAT:     “Dorothy Hood: The Edge of Being”

WHEN:      On view through March 31, 2023

                 UH Special Collections is open to the public 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For an extended look into Dorothy Hood’s personal archives and for questions, contact Christian Kelleher, cdkelleher@uh.edu or 713-743-0346.

The entire exhibition is free and open to the public, but to enter the Special Collection section, visitors must check in with security at the M.D. Anderson library entrance.

                The office of the dean of the UH Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts is open to the public 9  a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

PARKING:   Free parking for Public Art UHS visitors is available in UH lot 16B (Zone B); for more information about campus parking, please visit the Public Art UHS website.

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This press release was produced by the University of Houston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.