Published on the occasion of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s 65th anniversary, Outside the Lines documents the conceptual framework of the institution’s ability to act and think outside the norm. This publication, originally conceived as an ongoing curatorial dialogue, features six exhibitions on abstract painting, focusing on the legacies and contemporary manifestations of the genre. With text and analysis by museum director Bill Arning, curator Dean Daderko and senior curator Valerie Cassel Oliver, Outside the Lines details, in three sections, Arning’s UIA (Unlikely Iterations of the Abstract) and Painting: A Love Story; Daderko’s Outside the Lines and Rites of Spring; as well as Cassel Oliver’s Black in the Abstract: Epistrophy and Black in the Abstract: Hard Edges/Soft Curves. Each section includes texts and images for the exhibitions featured, as well as information on over 90 artists whose works are highlighted.

Text by: Bill Arning, Dean Daderko