b. San Diego, CA
current: Spokane, WA
email: houstonfryer@gmail.com
About the Artist
Houston Fryer is a Washington state based artist making work that examines systems of harm in a practice that spans drawing, painting, performance, and video. Since receiving his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Houston has exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Art in Tallahassee, FL; Buckham Gallery in Flint, MI; the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; and the Luis Leu Gallery in Karlsruhe, Germany. Houston is currently a faculty member in the Art department at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Artist Statement
I’m interested in making abstract functions of harm visible so we can better understand, improve, and ultimately reduce their injury. Things like the Rule of Law, Use of Force, and commercial media reveal what we collectively consider acceptable and just, beyond the abstract. Visually framing harm can be unpleasant, but it is necessary to consider because it affects all of us. What journalism does through the presentation of absolute fact I do through visual art’s perspective of metaphor and analogy, to explore what is true beyond what is measurable, so we can mitigate the harm we experience and how we harm others.