Adam Pendleton dissects history and popular culture with precision and austerity in his paintings, installations, videos, and performances. Borrowing images, text, and sound from an unusually diverse array of sources to supply the raw materials of his works, he dismantles and reassembles appropriated slices of film, photography, and experimental poetry to create juxtapositions that bridge the political and social histories of radical politics and avant-garde art. In so doing, he challenges the commonplace assumption that contemporary art has become indifferent to the harsh realities of current political and social strife.

James Sham utilizes video performances to facilitate role-playing situations with the public, creating a delicate play between humor and sincerity. His work delves into the exploration of dualities that exist in the translation-and more often mistranslation-of language and culture. His recent video, Close Caption (2008), presents DJ Kool's 1996 hip-hop classic, Let Me Clear My Throat, as interpreted by an American Sign Language translator who maintains stoicism while energetically signing laugh-inducing lyrics along to the beat of the music.

Through the rearrangement and recontextualization of ordinary objects, German conceptual artist Florian Slotawa examines the concept of Heimat: a deep emotional attachment to one’s place of origin and the cultural distinctiveness of that place. His work involves the transformation of common personal effects or existing objects, the photographic recording of the transformation, and, ultimately, the restoration of the objects to their previous state. For his MoMA PS1 exhibition in 2009, the artist built a shelter-like structure using only furniture from his Berlin apartment as sculptural material; this is part of an ongoing series titled Besitzarbeiten or “possession works” that began in 1996.

Tony Feher is known for his use of common household and everyday objects usually overlooked and generally discarded. His careful consideration transforms and re-contextualizes these items into unique works of art. For Artpace, the Hudson (Show)Room will serve as the backdrop for a site-determined installation where the space, volume, and light become his primary motivations. Through a reductive use of materials, he maximizes the viewer’s experience.

Judith Cottrell earned her MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2006, and has since shown her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions, recently including San Antonio Draws: A Survey of Contemporary Drawing, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (2011); An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts (2011); Road Show: Houston, David Shelton Gallery at Inman Annex, Houston, Texas (2010); Drop Off Your Drop Cloth, Museo de Arte Moderno, Trujillo, Peru (2010); and Amalgamations 25: 28 Artists for 25 Great Years, Blue Star Art Center, San Antonio (2010). She was nominated for the Arthouse Texas Prize in 2010 and received the Artist Foundation of San Antonio’s Visual Art Grant in 2009. Her work can be found in the collections of the McNay and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Cottrell presently teaches at the International School of Design and Technology in San Antonio in the Graphic Arts program, and works as a surgical technician at South Texas Veterinary Specialists.