Houston Museum to Feature Jazz Art in Spring Exhibition

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (pictured) will unveil its spring exhibition Black Light/White Noise: Sound and Light in Contemporary Art on May 26. The showcase features the work of 16 black artists experimenting with sound and light, with a number of the pieces borrowing elements from jazz, soul, hip-hop and other musical genres.

Artist Jennie C. Jones often channels her art through jazz. In What a Little Moonlight she edits Billie Holiday’s vocals on “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” into a howling sound in a reflection on primal nature.

Another piece in the exhibition, Arthur Jafa’s My Black Death, modern jazz booms out of the speakers of a Trans-Am, parked in a sparsely lit room.

Once inside Satch Hoyt’s 8 Track Shack, a six-foot high structure built from 8-track tapes, museum visitors will have the opportunity to sing along with a compilation of black recording artists from the 1970s.

“The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is dedicated to discovering and presenting the newest and most exciting contemporary art, running the gamut from experimental practices and critically-acclaimed artists to the reflections of younger generations and unexplored talent,” said Contemporary Arts Museum Houston director Marti Mayo in a press statement.

Black Light/White Noise will run at the Contemporary Arts Museum through Aug. 5. For more information on the Museum, visit its official Web site.

Originally Published May 8, 2007