John Houck
The Anthologist
Dallas Contemporary
January - April 2017
Houck’s fascinating practice borders on the scientific method. Photography is the glue used to create distinct bodies of work, applying diverse media and digital technology such as computer code, simple props, pigment printers, paint, and personal objects. Houck establishes meaning by utilizing personal objects or items that have been given to him by friends—for instance, the driftwood log that decorated his home or the tape measurer from his grandmother’s sewing kit. Throughout his practice, Houck uses a feedback loop, a system that recycles output for further input and results in imagery and techniques, which cross over to other bodies of work, for instance, applying paint to artworks to disrupt the reality of a photograph with the messiness of painting.
In Houck’s first solo museum exhibition, The Anthologist, he presented 3 paintings back to back with photo-based works. Although the related works could not be seen simultaneously, their proximity and similarity established a conversation between the individual works and overall practice. Houck’s work reflects a desire to reconcile opposing forces: order and chaos, rational thought and emotions, function and creativity, intention and play. His work suggests the struggle to balance the order of rational systems with the messiness of creative expression, human emotion and play. Houck does not take pictures, he makes pictures, resulting in mesmerizing imagery that pulls the viewer into the picture, demanding inspection between what is real and what is perceived as real. Demanding the viewer place close attention to what is authentic and what is simulated. Houck’s practice presents a critical metaphor at a time of contradicting narratives and “fake news”.
This text was written for an exhibition that opened in January 2017, a couple of weeks before Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. After which, the notion of credibility and what is real, changed. Houck’s work is an elegant reminder that we must pay close attention to reliable news sources in order counteract misinformation.
Adjunct Curator: Pedro Alonzo
IG @dashouck / johnhouck.com
Photo credits: Kevin Todora