VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents their October Artful Thursday: A Conversation with Photographer Richard Misrach, October 21, 2010 at 6:30 PM, at the Caroline Wiess Law Building.  Presented by Anne Wilkes Tucker, The Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography, MFAH.

Just after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in 2005, photographer Richard Misrach (pictured)  used a 4-megapixel pocket camera to capture messages left behind by evacuees. The resulting visual narrative, seen in the exhibition Richard Misrach: After Katrina and the accompanying catalogue, Destroy This Memory, reveals the human anguish left behind in Katrina´s wake.

After Katrina is Misrach´s first series of photographs made without film, a radical departure from the exquisite clarity and large-scale format that define his signature style. Misrach (born 1949) is best known for his ongoing series Desert Cantos, in which he studies the landscape and man´s complex relationship to it.

The MFAH has collected Misrach´s work in depth, and in 1996 organized the artist´s midcareer retrospective Crimes and Splendors: The Desert Cantos of Richard Misrach. Tonight, Anne Wilkes Tucker talks with Misrach about how his work reflects his longstanding commitment to responding to environmental disasters, whether manmade or natural.

Misrach will sign copies of Destroy This Memory, available in the MFAH Shop, during the reception that follows.

This event is open to the public, and admission is free. Seating is limited. Register to win great giveaways from KUHF 88.7 FM and the MFAH.

Artful Thursday programs receive generous funding from the Rockwell Fund, Inc. Promotional support is generously provided by KUHF 88.7 FM, Houston Public Radio.

Refreshments are generously provided by the Buffalo Speedway Starbucks (corner of Buffalo Speedway and Westpark), Carla Everett, manager; and the Rice Village Starbucks, Jenna Ortiz, manager.

Related Exhibition: Richard Misrach: After Katrina.