Heat Silhouette
Asia Society Texas, Houston, 2024Two-person Exhibition
This collaboration between Cuban American artist Rafael Domenech and Vietnamese American artist Tomas Vu assumes the form of a dynamic outdoor pavilion with two stages, occupying AST’s 13,000-square-foot lot at the intersection of Oakdale and Caroline Streets in the heart of Houston’s Museum District. Rafael Domenech and Tomas Vu: Heat Silhouette is commissioned in partnership with the University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.
Described by the artists as a form of “urban acupuncture,” Heat Silhouette is a physical structure designed to welcome the spontaneous circulation of people, energy, and events. The outdoor pavilion takes cues from college campuses, popular culture, and experimental magazines. Made of wood, aluminum framing, and laser-cut construction mesh — the very materials used to build the city of Houston — the pavilion becomes an extension of the museum and a public programming space.