Opening reception: Saturday, November 16, 2–4 PM
With Aura, Seven Sisters presents the resonant pairing of gulf-coast artists Jane Allensworth (b. 1937, Marshall, MO, d. 2023, Galveston, TX) and Leila McConnell (b. 1927 Los Angeles, CA, lives and works in Houston, TX). Their artistic paths ran parallel through time and place but never intersected. Aura takes a look at the synergistic qualities of Allensworth and McConnell's paintings, works on paper, and collages as they independently traverse seascapes, landscapes, scientific exploration, and the influence of artistic movements from Light and Space and Minimalism to Abstract Expressionism. Seen alongside each other, the innovation of these artists invites insights into color as material, nature-based abstraction, and the coincidence of place in their distinctly atmospheric work.
We are excited to partner with Foltz Fine Art to showcase a unique selection of historic collages and paintings by McConnell. The artist's recent work will be featured in Foltz's upcoming exhibition, Leila McConnell: The Time Between, December 6, 2024–January 18, 2025.
Having first worked in the medical research field, Jane Allensworth studied painting at the Art Students League in New York, New York, and then at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts School (now Glassell School), Houston, TX, under the influential tutelage of Dorothy Hood (1918–2000). Allensworth's career was rooted in South Texas, with four solo exhibitions at the storied art dealer Tibor de Nagy's Houston outpost between 1976 and 1981, three at the Galveston Arts Center between 1972 and 2014, a 1979 juried exhibition at Women and Their Work in Austin curated by Marcia Tucker, and many regional group shows.
Leila McConnell was born in Los Angeles, California. Her family moved to Houston when she was six and, after graduating from high school, she enrolled at Rice Institute (now Rice University). At the time, Rice had no department of architecture, but McConnell sought inspiration from iconic professor, James Chillman. According to McConnell, Chillman had the greatest influence on her sense of design, proportion, and the ability to see her art. Studying freehand drawing, design, watercolor, art, and architectural history under Chillman, McConnell excelled. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice, she continued her art studies at the Museum School (now Glassell School) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
McConnell’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally, including the Museum of Fine Art, Houston; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Witte Museum, San Antonio; Art Museum of South East Texas, Beaumont; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi; Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK; among others. McConnell’s work has been covered in prominent publications such as Art in America, Houston Chronicle and Houston Press and is featured in several recent books on Texas Modern Art, mid-century Houston art scene and Abstract Expressionism in the Southwest.
Her work is in collections of Civic Art Program, City of Houston; the Menil Collection, Houston; the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; the Old Jail Art Center, Albany; Public Art, University of Houston Systems, Victoria; and Texas A&M University Museum, College Station; The John Nau Collection of Texas Art, Houston; as well as numerous other public and private collections.
