PAST EXHIBITION

Jim Pirtle

September 4, 2008—October 11, 2008

JIM PIRTLE is one of Texas’ most infamous cutting-edge performance artists. Having bought an old building in the very heart of old downtown Houston, Pirtle opened notsouH, a 24 hour coffee shop and performance space. Known for his audacious and memorable stunts, Pirtle leapt from the second floor of a building in 1993, fracturing his
back but delighting the crowd that gathered to watch the stunt. Pirtle follows in the footsteps as such other artists like Christo, wrapping his entire house in fabric 6 accented by two mountain goats roaming the roof. A graduate of Baylor University in Waco, TX, Pirtle was an aide at the Austin State Hospital and then spent years as a prekindergarten
teacher back in Houston. However, Pirtle found himself drifting more and
more into the alternative arenas of performance art. During more than a decade of performing, Pirtle has frequently embraced an alter ego, Stu Mulligan, lounge singer supreme. Over the years, Pirtle’s best-known piece is a long-running work in progress, the 1893 Kiam Building at 314 Main in Houston.
THE ART GUYS, Michael Gallbreth and Jack Massing, have worked together since meeting at the University of Houston, TX in 1983. Using materials “metaphorically rich and economically cheap,” the duo produces overtures in sculpture, drawing, performances, installations and video. Employing unconventional media and humor to explore modern issues, The Art Guys’ aim is to provoke society into examining its values and assumptions in a more objective light. Recognized as the 2005 Texas Artists of the Year, The Art Guys’ work appears in the Menil Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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