'Bones of Texas' opens at Ellen Noël
Jan. 13—It's called "Bones of Texas" but don't expect to find any skeletons in this exhibition.
Except maybe in one photo.
In the Ellen Noël Art Museum's newest exhibition, which opened this week and is on display until Feb. 23, 30 photographs taken by Morgan Page and Dustin Rice show off different communities of Texas.
They seek to capture natural textures and patterns in Texas' landscape.
The photographs in this exhibition are accompanied by placards that weave stories of personal emotion and forgotten presence in and around the remaining architecture.
"This is a different exhibition than what we've had before," Ellen Noël Art Museum Curator Daniel Zies said. "It's a husband and wife team. They're both photographers but they're both writers as well. This big project started with them locating and finding all these abandoned ghost towns of Texas. The photography is interesting because it shows all the different towns and communities of Texas."
The photographers saw all the different towns and communities and different structures.
Along with it, Zies thought it was so interesting to include stories that feature narratives that went with the photos instead of just taking a simple photo of a town.
"This exhibition gives a chance to learn about these ghost towns in Texas because it gives you a chance to learn about so many of them," Zies said.
There are about 14 total stories to go along with the exhibition.
The exhibition also includes a map of where Page and Rice went on their tour of Texas.
Both of them will be at the museum (which is currently at the Presidential Archives due to renovations at the Ellen Noël) at 6 p.m. Feb. 23 for an Art Talk.
"The photographers are going to be here and they're going to talk about the show," Zies said. "That's one of our big things that we stopped doing because of COVID. But we're able to once again to talk to the artists about their work."
For Zies, a big thing that stands out from the exhibition are the stories with the photos.
"You don't see that a lot and learning more about these little towns and why they popped up. They're not all histories but they actually went and interviewed a bunch of people about the communities and I think that's a fascinating touch."
The exhibition also includes a map of where Page and Rice traveled to across the state.
"Bones of Texas" replaces the previous exhibition "Spitting Image" which went up in September, shortly after the Ellen Noël relocated to the Presidential Archives.
"We're really enjoying our temporary space here at the Presidential Archives," Zies said. "It's always fun and different to do different exhibitions in different spaces. A lot of the shows we're going to start doing will start tying into the history of the presidential archives. Our next exhibition will be more so of what we're doing with that."
For more information on the exhibition, go to tinyurl.com/4mk87m9b.
