The Houston show includes approximately 30 more works than were displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where the exhibition opened last December. In preparing the show, Alexander says he worried that the scope of his subject material and even the evolution of his painterly style over 40 years might pose something of a dilemma. His richly colored renderings of the natural world—birds, plants, trees, fish, crustaceans, the swamps and swamp life of east Texas—evoke the exacting beauty of John James Audubon. But other, more frenetic works, monochromatic by comparison, are filled with the iconography of a planet on the verge of destruction and carry titles such as "Paranoia Can Destroia" and "I’ve Been Living in a Hydrogen Bomb." In all, Alexander says, he and Livingston considered some 1,300 paintings and another 1,000 drawings. As it turns out, the culling came easily. "You go for the best examples of work in each period and genre and mode," Livingston says. "John and I had virtually no disagreement about what were the best examples from every period."

The painting reproduced on the cover of the catalogue, "Ship of Fools," 6½ feet wide and 8 feet tall, depicts a band of monkeys, skeletons and corporate titans—including a pig in a suit—slipping from a sinking boat, their money drifting away in bloodied waters. The largest painting in the exhibition, "Parade," which is 7 feet high and 15 feet wide, employs similar figures but tosses in more businessmen, more priests, a smattering of sorcerers, at least one devil with pitchfork and lots more pigs. Taken together—both paintings were completed within the past two years—"Ship of Fools" and "Parade" represent marvelously both Alexander’s abundant gifts and the current state of his artistic imagery, to say nothing of his state of mind. Say what you will, but this much is true: Subtle Alexander ain’t.

Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans
504.522.1999 arthurrogergallery.com

Donna Leatherman LLC, New York
917.273.2921 dleatherma@aol.com

Eaton Fine Art, West Palm Beach, FL
561.833.4766 eatonart.net

Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas
877.430.7804 gpgallery.com

Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
202.234.5601 hemphillfinearts.com

Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA
760.776.9890 imagogalleries.com

McClain Gallery, Houston
713.520.9988 mcclaingallery.com

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
713.639.7300 mfah.org