Home, to Paris and Back

Once in a while, if you have the time and the means, it's kind of nice to get out of town, even if it is only for a day or the weekend. This weekend, "Momentum: Art Doesn't Stand Still" opens in Oklahoma City, with parties both Friday and Saturday night.

The biannual exhibition, sponsored by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, has become quite the tradition in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa, showcasing the talent of young artists all across Oklahoma, including a hefty bunch from T-Town, with two exhibitions each year. In each exhibit, Oklahoma artists under 30 show work in all media--painting, photography, sculpture, film, installation and more.

"You truly never know what to expect at Momentum," said the event's co-chair Jennifer Barron. "The variety of artwork means that there is something to interest or inspire anyone. And maybe it's most inspiring to know that all that diverse creativity came out of our community."

The exhibition opens Fri., Jan. 11 with "Momentum: Downtempo," a more relaxed, subdued version of the event, which includes a preview part from 6 to 8pm, music by OKC singer-songwriter Carter Sampson and food from Sauced, Saturn Grill, The Diner and Mediterranean Imports. From 8pm until midnight, guests can continue the party with music by OKC bands Magnificent Bird, Tall Cotton String Band and The Rounders.

On Sat., Jan. 12, the party continues with "Momentum: Full Speed," the event's high-energy counterpart. That evening will include performances by JGST, Pudding Attack and The Disposables. Tickets to Friday night's preview party are $25, and tickets to each night of opening weekend are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Not bad for a full weekend's worth of art and music.

The exhibit continues, free and open to the public, through January 19 at 3532 SW 2nd St. (Google it). Hours are 5 to 8pm Wednesday through Friday and 10am to 2pm Saturday. For more information and to get advance tickets to the opening weekend, visit www.momentumoklahoma.org.

Art Nouveau

While you're in the City, you might hop over to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, for "Paris 1900," which opened December 20. The exhibit showcases more than 100 paintings, prints, posters, ceramics, decorative objects and sculptures that reveal the art scene in Paris at the turn of the 20th Century.

The exhibit explores aspects of the art nouveau movement, as well as other influences of the Paris art world at the time, including four-color woodblock Japanese prints and art pottery.

The exhibit showcases some of the era's leading artists and most notable poster makers, including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha and Jules Cheret.

"The 1900 Paris Universal Exposition, which celebrated the opening of the new century, emphasized the arts and is associated with the maturation of the complex and sensual beauty of the convoluted style of art, architecture and interior design known as art nouveau," said the exhibit's co-curator and organizer Hardy George. "The exhibition will show the very interesting variety and extraordinary quality of the whole range of art forms associated with fin de siecle Paris."

Poster and magazine artists in Paris at the time depicted scenes from circus, theatre and cabaret performance and advertisements for soap, cigarettes and publications that redefined commercial art.

"Paris 1900" will be on display at the Oklahoma Museum of Art through March 2. For more information about this exhibit and others, visit www.okcmoa.com.

Last Chance

In Bartlesville, "Oklahoma Moderne: The Art and Design of Olinka Hrdy" closes Sun., Jan. 13, so this weekend is your last chance to scamper over to Price Tower Arts Center for one last look.

The exhibit explores the work of Prague, Okla. artist Hrdy, whose Czech and Oklahoma roots influenced her work as an artist and a designer.

Curator of the exhibit Mark Andrew White said, "Her artistic development demonstrates an intriguing fusion of modernist abstract, Czech embroidery, a family tradition in which she was trained and 1920s and '30s art deco, an architectural and ornamental style that was not only popular in her native Oklahoma and adopted home of California, but was also practiced at one time by both (Bruce) Goff and (Frank Lloyd) Wright (distinguished architects with whom she worked)."

Though she is not as well-remembered in the history of art and design as her aforementioned counterparts, she led an accomplished career and was highly acclaimed by her peers. Early in her career, Goff recommended Hrdy to create one of Tulsa's first abstract decorations on the interior of one of his art deco buildings, The Riverside Theatre, now known as the Spotlight Theatre, on Riverside.

Price Tower's exhibit of Hrdy's work shows how she used her many diverse influences to create a distinctive style, one she applied to painting, murals, textiles and consumer products. The museum's hours this weekend are Thursday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm and Sunday 12 to 5pm. For more information about this exhibit and other happenings at Price Tower, visit www.pricetower.org.