Tuesday 9 August 2011

Postcards: Heimo Wallner

San Antonio, Texas is rich with history. You can spend days exploring the Alamo, the Mission district, and the River Walk. When you've had enough history vernacular house designs and their gardens gladden the eye. I've long had a fascination with contemporary Texas house architecture, and in 2007 I discovered that the small older homes in the Mission district were equally well-designed. 


Another highlight of San Antonio was the Blue Star Contemporary Arts Center on the edge of town. During my March 2007 visit, work by Austrian artist Heimo Wallner was on offer in the University of Texas San Antonio Satellite Space. The postcard shows a detail from Maotsetung. Walking into the space was like walking into a cartoon -- the walls were covered floor to ceiling with drawings by Heimo Wallner. Being in this space was a lot like standing in front of a massive Dorothy Caldwell quilt where you feel like you've become a part of the artwork. Intimate artwork does the opposite: it enters you. Just a thought.

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