VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Houston Arts Alliance Gallery presents the exhibition Beautiful Freaks/Nature's Bastards, work by 2011 Hunting Prize Winner Leigh Anne Lester. Opening Reception Thursday, September 8, 6 - 9 pm. On view through October 14.

The exhibition will feature sculpture, carbon drawings, embroidery and cut paper pieces. Lester's works address the place between the genesis of genetic modification and its after effects. Using beauty as a tool to entice viewers, Lester asks them to consider the paradox of beauty as a balance of order/control with abandon/uncertainty. Lester's "Frankenstein Flora" brings into play a sense of what's possible, whether good or bad, thus creating an artistic premonition of the consequences of genetic modification.

Lester holds a BFA in Painting from the University of Texas and is co-founder, co-owner and co-curator of Cactus Bra Space, an alternative exhibition venue in San Antonio.

The Hunting Art Prize, sponsored by international oil services company Hunting PLC, is an annual competition that awards $50,000 to a single artist. Founded in the UK in 1981 with the commitment to provide recognition, sponsorship and visibility to deserving artists from emerging to established, The Hunting Prize relocated to Houston in 2006, and is the largest annual award given in North America for painting and drawing.

Pictured above: Crocboleaparsempeustusgiaervivum Zpnaluriaspetecttusduraorum, Silk on Silk Embroidery, Antique Victorian Frame, 2008.