LOCAL Houston | The City Guide FEBRUARY 2015 | Page 48

Local February 2015 final.qxp_002houston 1/26/15 1:57 PM Page 48

MEL CHIN
Artist
Last month, Houston-born artist MEL CHIN
launched a traveling retrospective exhibit
that spans four venues with a staggered
speaking series. Mel Chin: Rematch is a
mixed media exhibit that includes sculpture, video, drawing, painting, collage,
and both land and performing art. By
dispersing the collection across four sites,
Chin was hoping to avoid a chronological presentation. The demonstration’s 60
artworks showcase the extensive range of
subject matter and talent that his artwork
encompasses. Chin describes the survey
as an opportunity to revisit, reframe and
battle his previous conceptions. “Points of
view established in the past are no longer
up to date,” he says. “It’s time for a
rematch.”
The 31-piece collection on view at the
Blaffer Art Museum focuses on Chin’s
most well-known, science-based projects,
namely Revival Field, in which he worked
with agronomist Rufus Chaney on a
unique set of sculptures that used phytoremediation, or metal-accumulating plants,
to absorb toxins from contaminated soil,
as a reductive technique. This can be
compared to the way a sculptor carves
away marble to create a masterpiece.
Rematch at CAMH focuses on Chin’s
work from the early 1970s, as well as
his iconic and moving animation 9/11–9/11, created in 2007. The
exhibition at Asia Society Texas Center shows a deep connection to the
artist’s interest in the culture, history and aesthetics of Asia. The interactive aspect of the display, KNOWMAD, allows visitors to experience
mapping, borders, nomadism and the encroachment of technology.
The Station Museum of Contemporary Art will present a study for the
proposed State of Heaven, where an oversized, floating, hand-knotted
carpet serves as a symbolic and sacrificial sky, and is placed under a
directive that parallels the actual destruction of the ozone layer.

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Throughout his career, which successfully spans over four decades,
Chin has worked on several site-specific, research-driven and collaborative projects in which he has partnered with scientists, fellow artists and
community members. Various pieces from Rematch will be on display
through March 21 at the Blaffer Art Museum and through April 19 at
both the Contemporary Arts Museum and Asia Society Texas Center.

By Jill Patir | Photography by Helen Nagge