FLATS

Bennie Flores Ansell: Particle and A Wave
Opening Thursday, October 8, 6–9pm

FLATS is excited to present Particle and A Wave, a solo exhibition by Houston-based artist Bennie Flores Ansell (benniefloresAnsell).

Beginning with the physical fact that light is both a particle and a wave, and drawing inspiration from the work of Mark Rothko, Flores Ansell uses light as both subject and medium. Through dichroic acrylic, mirrors, theater gels, film, and glass, she shapes and photographs projected light—returning to photography’s root definition: drawing with light.

The exhibition includes The Test Pattern Prints, a series inspired by the television test patterns once broadcast when a channel went off the air. Begun during COVID, these images of suspended transmission and waiting took on new meaning during the pause of 2020.

Join us for the opening and experience Particle and A Wave in person.

OPENING PARTY
Thursday, Oct. 8 | 6–9pm

ON VIEW
Oct. 8, 2026 – Jan. 2027
Tues–Thurs | 3–6pm
Fri | 12–7pm
Sat | 11am–4pm

More info in bio

🖼️: Andres Soler

Jun Su An: Market
Thursday, October 1, 6–9pm at FLATS, one night only

In Market, Jun Su An turns his lens toward Houston’s markets as places where food, culture, and community intersect.

Having moved to the U.S. during early adolescence, Jun’s experience of living between cultures has shaped his fascination with the ways we experience and share food—both within and beyond our own communities. After living in 11 cities, Houston is the place he has called home the longest.

Market is an homage to the textures, cultures, and variety of Houston, and a way for Jun to find comfort within the diaspora.

Shot entirely on black-and-white film with a Horizon mechanical swing-lens panoramic camera, the photographs pack each frame with the abundance and visual density of the spaces they document.

Join us October 1 from 6–9pm for the one night showing of Jun Su An: Market.

Funded in part by the Houston TX through Houston Arts Alliance.

INTRODUCING FLATS FORUM, a new conversation series inviting photographers, artists, and our wider community to engage critically with the ideas shaping contemporary photographic practice.

MEETING 1: FOUR PERSPECTIVES ON PHOTOGRAPHING PROTEST

As more photographers document recent ICE actions and protests across Houston, we’re creating space to consider the responsibilities that accompany that impulse: When does photography serve a movement, and when does it use one? What separates witnessing from spectacle? How do concepts like consent and accountability exist in a world run by the surveillance overlords? And how does this change the stakes and ethics of documenting trauma, grief, arrest and protest today?

Four speakers will approach these questions through distinct but intersecting perspectives:

THE INSIDER WITNESS, Joe Robles
Independent Documentary Photographer Joe Robles IV

THE WORKING PHOTOJOURNALIST, Raquel Natalicchio
Houston Chronicle Raquel Natalicchio

THE ORGANIZER’S PERSPECTIVE, Cesar Espinosa
Lead Organizer, FIEL Houston FIEL Houston

THE HISTORICAL RECORD, Cammie Tipton-Amini
Photo Historian, Writer, and Educator cammiejota

Each speaker will offer a short presentation drawn from their experience, followed by a loosely moderated group discussion. Photographers and non-photographers alike are invited to join us.

Tuesday, September 29 | 6–8 PM @ FLATS Community Classroom — Upstairs

RSVP through the link in bio so we can plan seating. Beverages will be provided.

🖼️: Andres Soler

We’re excited to have one of our newest film drop-off boxes at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Contemporary Arts Museum Houston ! Drop off your film while you’re there, and we’ll collect it weekly for processing at FLATS.

Making it easier to get your film to us, one Dropbox at a time. 📍🎞️

Rhonda’s Baby

A private screening and conversation with Bria Lauren
September 18th, 7 PM

We invite you to gather with us inside this multidimensional portal for a night of breathing, storytelling, vulnerability, and sacred connection with those whom this work resonates with.

Pack light and come as you are and where you are. We’ll break bread together, potluck style, and make comfortable palettes on the floor. You’re welcome to bring your favorite snacks, non-alcoholic beverages, scripting pen or pencil, journal, and comfy throw blankets. Pillows will be provided, but please bring anything additional you need to accommodate your body and settle into the space.

Guided breath and sound bath meditation by Raveen Alexis (Wellness Writer • Yogi • Guided Journaling) + Shay (Sha’Na “Shay” Smith (Poet +))

Rhonda’s Baby
A visual prayer dedicated to Black daughters, loving and healing from Black mamas that don’t know how to love them back.

“When our maternal portals transfer pain, may we remember the water was our mother, first. Her womb is the home of forgiveness, grace, spiritual redemption, everlasting love, rest, protection armored with gold, and the capacity to alchemize what is quiet as it’s kept. It is here where it is safe to trust the mother of all mothers to nurture our cries, uncensor our inner children’s truths, and heal what our mamas couldn’t.”
— Bria Lauren

🌹
Manifested collectively by the artist in conversation with curators Laura Earle, Ashley DeHoyos Sauder, and Jessi Bowman.

Rhonda’s Baby is on view through September 26th.

One month left to experience Rhonda’s Baby 🌹

Bria Lauren’s deeply personal exhibition remains on view at FLATS through September 26.

A visual prayer dedicated to Black daughters loving and healing from Black mamas who don’t know how to love them back, Rhonda’s Baby moves through motherhood, daughterhood, ancestral memory, forgiveness, and the complicated work of healing what has been passed down.

If you haven’t had a chance to spend time with the exhibition—or have been meaning to come back—there’s still time.

Rhonda’s Baby
Bria Lauren
On view through September 26, 2026

Gallery Hours
Tuesday–Thursday, 3–6pm
Friday, 12–7pm
Saturday, 11am–4pm