VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Steel Lounge Underground is a monthly event showcasing Houston-based musical artists performing live in the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Presented with DJ Pooks and Josh Zulu, Steel Lounge Underground showcases Houston’s diversity and talent by bringing together musical artists representing a variety of genres and attracts an audience representing all walks of life. During the event, the audience is free to explore the exhibitions on view while enjoying the music. Join us for this month’s talented lineup: DJ Melodic, Champa Moore, and Wild Moccasins. There is no charge for admission; cash bar.

DJ Melodic learned as much as he could about DJing from as many as he could and applied those characteristics to his vast knowledge of music to become one of Houston’s most respected, well-liked, and precise DJs. His unique aesthetic contributes to creating an uncompromising signature of sounds that have no match. To listen to Melodic is to be taken on a path of great music that blends together seamlessly and continuously.

When Andy "Champa" Moore is DJing, love is in the music. When love is in the music, you can feel it. Unique in his ability to create a cathartic, big-room experience, or transform the most comfortable, leisure lounge into a rocking party, Champa Moore knows how to bring it, taking listeners on a journey filled with suspense, seduction, and surprises. For more than two decades Champa has kept people dancing until dawn in Spain, the Netherlands, and around the United States.

Wild Moccasins, a quintet of 20-somethings, offer a sound that balances a musical guile beyond the band’s years with a vibrant energy that flaunts its youth. Their high-energy pop songs driven by male/female harmonies, and pop-infused percussion and string work can uplift anyone’s mood. From the saccharine sweet sing-a-long "My Favorites Die" to the fleshed out syncopated, brisk rhythms of "Fruit Tea,” the Moccasins have a flair for creating arrangements filled with a concoction of vivacious vocals and gravitating guitar quirks topped with a coat of tambourine gleams. The band was nominated for Best New Act and Best Indie Rock Band in last year’s Houston Press Music Awards.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Free from the land-use and zoning ordinances that shape other large American cities by separating residential, commercial, and industrial areas, Houston allows a mixed-use approach where disparate architectures and functions blend. In this often chaotic, jarring urban topography, many Houston artists have been able to carve out spaces and opportunities for themselves, their work, and their communities. No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston is the first museum exhibition to consider the current and past efforts of regional artists working in the urban environment. Through October 4.

The first solo museum exhibition of the work of innovative, Berlin-based artist Torsten Slama, Perspectives 166  will feature a selection of approximately 35 large drawings, paintings, and works in airbrush on paper. Slama’s architectural and landscape scenes and his figurative images are filled with meticulous detail and mysterious narratives. The works often depict post-apocalyptic worlds filled with abandoned avant-garde architecture, esoteric technology, and humans engaged in symbolically charged psychodramas. Through August 2.

STEEL LOUNGE UNDERGROUND SUPPORT
Steel Lounge Underground would like to especially thank DJ Pooks and Josh Zulu of Soular Grooves (www.soulargrooves.com). Listen to Soular Grooves every Saturday night from 9:30 PM to midnight on KPFT 90.1 FM.

Wine generously provided by “one of California’s oldest and most award-winning wineries:” Geyser Peak Winery.

GENERAL SUPPORT
The Museums operations and programs are made possible through the generosity of the Museum’s trustees, patrons, members and donors. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston receives partial operating support from the Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through the Houston Museum District Association, National Endowment for the Arts, and Texas Commission on the Arts.

Continental is the official airline of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

CAMH MISSION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is an idea and a place shaped by the present moment. The Museum exemplifies the dynamic relationship between contemporary art and contemporary society through its exhibitions, public and educational programs, and publications. The CAMH provides the physical and intellectual framework essential to the presentation, interpretation, and advancement of contemporary art; it is a vibrant forum for artists and all audiences, and for critical, scholarly, and public discourse.
ALWAYS FRESH, ALWAYS FREE

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is located at 5216 Montrose Boulevard, at the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, in the heart of Houston’s Museum District. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Thursdays to 9:00 PM, and Sundays noon to 5:00 PM. Admission is always free. For more information, visit www.camh.org or call (713) 284-8250.