The De Luxe Show

In August 1971 Peter Bradley mounted the landmark exhibition IThe De Luxe Show/I at the legendary DeLUXE theater in Houston's Fifth Ward. IThe De Luxe Show/I was a milestone in civil rights history, as one of the first racially integrated shows in the United States. Curated by Bradley with the backing of collector and philanthropist John de Menil, the exhibition featured emerging and established abstract modern painters and sculptors of the time, including Darby Bannard, Peter Bradley, Anthony Caro, Dan Christensen, Ed Clark, Frank Davis, Sam Gilliam, Robert Gordon, Richard Hunt, Virginia Jaramillo, Daniel Johnson, Craig Kauffman, Alvin Loving, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons, Michael Steiner, William T. Williams and James Wolfe.brIn August 2021, for its 50th anniversary, Karma and Parker Gallery staged a contemporary bicoastal tribute to IThe De Luxe Show/I. The tribute honors the long, pioneering legacies of the artists of IThe De Luxe Show/I, and continues the dialogue between these innovators in the field of abstraction that began 50 years ago. This fully illustrated catalog includes texts and installation images from the original 1971 catalog, as well as a newly commissioned text by Amber Jamilla Musser and a text by Bridget R. Cooks that expands upon her 2013 essay in IGulf Coast/I.