Part of the Glassell School of Art’s 2026 Core Exhibition, "Logics of the Decoy" is a free, open-ended, experimental series that takes place from March to May. Designed to accommodate any level of participation, the program consists of an introductory lecture followed by a series of workshops. A rotating selection of supplementary reading material is on view within the exhibition and in the Hirsch Library.

In this lecture, Jana La Brasca, Core critic-in-residence, provides an overview of the program, discusses histories of the wildfowl decoy, and posits some ways they might inform a broader understanding of how the “reassuringly familiar” can guide perception toward unexpected horizons.

Related Events

• April 9: Workshop | Hidden in Plain Sight: Similarity and Subterfuge
• May 7: Workshop | Objects, Desire, and the Market

Plan Your Visit

• Admission is free.
• This event takes place in Favrot Auditorium on Level 1 of the Glassell School of Art. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map

About the Presenter
Jana La Brasca, PhD, is an art historian and curator focused on intersections of art, theory, and archives, especially in histories of Minimal, Conceptual, and Land Art. Her research explores how objects, sites, and their documentation shape art historical narratives, particularly in relation to questions of scale, permanence, and ephemerality. She has held curatorial and research fellowships at the Menil Drawing Institute, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Blanton Museum of Art, and Judd Foundation. La Brasca has contributed to exhibitions including Without Limits: Helen Frankenthaler, Abstraction, and the Language of Print at the Blanton Museum of Art; Groundswell: Women of Land Art at the Nasher Sculpture Center; and, with artist Teresa Hubbard, Experiments in Seeing: Russell Lee’s Pedagogical Legacy, opening at the Visual Arts Center in Austin in September 2026.