My drawing of a cat in high school was wrong, so the teacher said, “your drawing is wrong.” Well, my drawing of a cat is still wrong. So I don’t draw cats.
– Tony Feher

Tony Feher does not draw cats. Instead, he collects. He accumulates everyday objects that catch his eye but would normally be overlooked. The glint of light off a marble, the color of a milk crate, or liquid sloshing around in a plastic bottle can spawn sculptures shown around the world. These sculptures cannot be shuffled into neat, well-established categories; they defy our attempts to analyze and dissect.

His current retrospective (organized by the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston and currently open at the Des Moines Art Center until September 2) surveys sixty key works from the last twenty years. The show documents Feher’s search, his quest to understand the world. Along the way we encounter a celebration of fragility, ephemerality, and emotion, all expressed through works like half-filled bottles hanging from wires and marbles nestled in glass jars.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated, 272-page monograph, the first publication to fully document and interpret Feher’s artistic career. The monograph is designed by Takaaki Matsumoto Inc., New York and published by Gregory R. Miller & Co., New York.