A Major Houston Arts Leader Bolts for San Francisco, Hiram Butler Proves Less is More and Media Art Takes New Form

The Bloom on the Rose: Proving that less is more and Mother Nature rules, Hiram Butler Gallery presents an exhibition of only two paintings — but what glorious canvases they are (through September 24). Their creator is American master Jennifer Bartlett, whose stained glass windows can be seen at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on West Alabama — a significant piece of ecclesiastical art, also rooted in nature.

Booking It: To celebrate PaperCity’s new perfect-bound format, we tapped Laura Rathe Fine Art talent Karen Hawkins to create a sculpture out of vintage issues representing our first 22 years. Austin-based Hawkins is enamored of books and all things paper; see the result at Laura Rathe Colquitt, paired with luscious abstractions by Texan Sydney Yeager, who paints from a historic storefront in Elgin (September 10 – October 22).

On view at Rathe’s Post Oak location are Stallman Studio’s wall sculptures, suggestive of wave theory (through September 17).

Departing: Blaffer Art Museum’s transformative director Claudia Schmuckli, one of Texas’ best contemporary curators, has been tapped for a plum post at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Schmuckli was always ahead of the game, presenting early on such talents as Urs Fischer before he was anointed by a Whitney Biennial. She was also responsible for the Blaffer’s futuristic new look by Work Architecture Company.

Schmuckli’s swan song is “Matthew Ronay” (through October 1), his American museum debut; the phantasmagoric shapes and kaleidoscopic colors conjure the set of a Saturday-morning cartoon.