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October 3–November 15, 2025

Location

Silver Street Studios
2000 Edwards Street
Houston, TX 77007

nothing is precious, everything is game is a mid-career survey of the collaborative work of Houston-based artists Stephan Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen. This exhibition marks the first comprehensive exploration of the duo’s 25-year creative journey together. Hillerbrand+Magsamen are known for their innovative practice of blending objects from everyday life with household materials to explore themes of collaboration, creativity, and family. They embrace a playful and inclusive approach to artmaking, rejecting notions of exclusivity in the art world. The survey includes selections from their major series, a retrospective of their video works, and a series of interactive performances that invite public participation.

Stephan Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen are a collaborative husband-and-wife team based out of Houston, Texas. Their interdisciplinary practice spans video, photography, installation, sculpture, and performance. Blending elements of reality and imagination, their work investigates familial and societal relationships, often featuring members of their own family. They embrace humor, playfulness, and experimentation, reimagining their physical environments to critique daily life, consumerism, and domesticity.

Their work has been exhibited at prominent museums such as The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit; the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York; The Portland Museum of Art, Oregon; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. They have received awards and grants from distinguished organizations such as the Sustainable Arts Foundation, San Francisco, California; Austin Film Society, Texas; Houston Arts Alliance, Texas; and the Mid America Arts Alliance, Kansas City, Missouri. Residency programs include the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire; the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council residency at the Woolworth Building, New York; Wassaic Projects, New York; the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont; and the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico.

nothing is precious, everything is game is organized by FotoFest, Houston in collaboration with the artists. The exhibition will run concurrently with the George Bush Intercontinental Airport installation of Hillerbrand+Magsamen’s 147 Devices for Integrated Principles, on view from February 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026.

Opening Reception
Friday, October 3

For press information, interviews, or images, please contact Asaeda Badat, Manager of Communications and Engagement, at press@fotofest.org.