Texas Sculpture Garden

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		*Two Starched Shirts*

		2001 commission

		bronze

		6801 Gaylord Parkway - Interior Texas Sculpture Garden

	From the artist: "The shirt sculpture is able to communicate in contradictory ways, remaining ambiguous and evocative while at the same time being accessible because of the specific nature of the imagery. They can be figurative and seem narrative, but also be seen as abstract and poetically associative. The animated quality of the sculpture further emphasizes their ambiguous status because it suggests change. In contrast, the symbolic quality of a white shirt, particularly in the setting of Hall Financial, suggests a meaning much more fixed and iconic. I am using clothing to suggest the relationship between individuals in a more abstract way. That leaves the viewer responsible to work out his or her own associations." Joseph Havel

Joseph Havel

Joseph Havel lives and works in Houston, Texas. He received his B.F.A. from Pennsylvania State University and a M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota. He is the director of the well-known Glassell School in Houston, which is affiliated with the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

His work has been shown nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. Recent solo exhibitions have been in France, Dallas, and Houston. His 2001 group exhibitions include the Whitney Museum in New York, the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, and the Phoenix Museum of American Art in Arizona. In 2000 his work was selected for the prestigious Whitney Biennial. His work is in important museum collections including the Musee Arte in France, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Art Museum in Honolulu. Mr. Havel has received the Louis Comfort Tiffany Artist's Grant as well as artist grants from the NEA, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and others.

Joe Havel is represented by Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX. Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX. Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris, France.