Jean Shon: Remains

• Saturday, Dec 9, 2023  2pm - 3:30pm Artist Talk
• Thursday, Dec 7, 2023  6pm - 8pm Opening Reception
• Thu, Nov 16, 2023 - Sat, Jan 13, 2024  9am - 5pm On view

Remains features photographs and mixed media works that explore the politics of land, erasure, loss, memory, and preservation through the lens of The 1867 Settlement in Texas City. Shon’s work explores spaces instilled with meaning and memory, family and community legacy, forgotten and missing information, and reimagined futures.

Sourcing newspaper articles from The Daily News (Galveston County), her photographs reveal convoluted and contentious records regarding the preservation and subsequent demolition of the Lincoln Auditorium, the last remaining structure of the historically black Lincoln High School. Shon repurposes images of houses from the deteriorating wallpaper of The Bell Home, extending the structural lines through laser-cut wood to create room for reflection and speculation. The exhibition patches together remnants of loss and unveils a new narrative that focuses on the voices of the community both past and present.

Jean Shon is an artist and educator working in installation, photography, text, and mixed media. Her work explores memory, identity, loss, melancholia, and recovery in the context of family history and surrounding community. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from the University of California-Irvine in 2020 and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This exhibition is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

Image title: Wallpaper (1887 Frank Sr. and Flavilla Bell House): Ruth