Fresco Building

Art museum · Museum District

Fresco Building

Art museum · Museum District

2

4011 Yupon St, Houston, TX 77006

2 Postcards

Photos

Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Google
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp
Fresco Building by Yelp

Highlights

The Byzantine Fresco Chapel at the Menil Collection offers a serene space for temporary art installations, housed in a beautifully designed building steeped in history.  

Placeholder
Placeholder

4011 Yupon St, Houston, TX 77006 Get directions

$

Information

Static Map

4011 Yupon St, Houston, TX 77006 Get directions

+1 713 525 9400

$

Features

Last updated

Oct 11, 2024

Powered By

You might also like

Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Cookie Policy
 © 2024 Postcard Technologies, Inc.
@onthegrid

"The history of the Byzantine Fresco Chapel began with thievery. Looters removed fragile frescoes from a small chapel outside the Cypriot village of Lysi, and a dealer tried to sell them under the guise of representing a private collector. Suspicious, Dominque de Menil and her colleagues rescued the frescoes and began a search for the true owners, The Church of Cyprus. The frescoes were restored and given a long-term loan agreement with the Menil Collection. A building was constructed with great care to honor and house them, and that's where they resided until they were returned. The chapel did not sit bare for long. It has been given new life with site specific installations. Currently on view: The Fabiola Project by Francis Alÿs" - Curiosity and Curiosities

On the Grid : Byzantine Fresco Chapel
test
@onthegrid

"Byzantine Fresco Chapel, Montrose. The history of the Byzantine Fresco Chapel began with thievery. Looters removed fragile frescoes from a small chapel outside the Cypriot village of Lysi, and a dealer tried to sell them under the guise of representing a private collector. Suspicious, Dominque de Menil and her colleagues rescued the frescoes and began a search for the true owners, The Church of Cyprus. The frescoes were restored and given a long-term loan agreement with the Menil Collection. A building was constructed with great care to honor and house them, and that's where they resided until they were returned. The chapel did not sit bare for long. It has been given new life with site specific installations. Currently on view: The Fabiola Project by Francis Alÿs"

Houston
test

Ben Mengden

Google
This has been a small, maleable museum or chapel. It use to hold Byzantine antiquities but has been either in transition or with other purposes the last few years. The building is nicely designed (I think by FdM /Francois de Menil). It's a gorgeous, simple building set nicely on the site. The real beauty is inside and has a chapel feel.

Christopher Lui

Google
Very beautiful building and exhibit, a calm and fantastic place for art. However, the staff made me feel uncomfortable the whole time in terms of intently watching me as if I am doing something wrong. This ruins the experience.

Arjumand Mubaarak

Google
The Francis Aly's Fabiola Project is very I interesting.

Matthew Cohen (MatTHEW)

Google
I really miss the Frescoes, but it isn't the foundation's fault. Infinity machine was cool, but it kinda creeped out my girlfriend. New exhibit now. Just opened May 2016.

Tom Peacock

Google
This was a beautiful and inspiring chapel but the namesake Byzantine frescoes have long since returned to Cyprus. The still beautiful and inspiring building is occasionally used for art installations.

Alex Garrido

Google
Very very knowledgeable staff! I was amazed by the amount of information they were able to provide to me. A very well conserved piece of medieval art, it is hard to believe it is so well conserved after all this fresco went through.

Jessica E

Google
Interesting exhibit when we came. It was quite nice. Very walkable from the Chapel to other buildings on the Menil campus.

Hannah Morrow

Google
Beautiful but your workers really make someone feel like they want to leave. I was the only one in this two room place and they made sure to stand there and make me feel like I'm Doing something wrong . Thanks

Ben Mengden

Google
This has been a small, maleable museum or chapel. It use to hold Byzantine antiquities but has been either in transition or with other purposes the last few years. The building is nicely designed (I think by FdM /Francois de Menil). It's a gorgeous, simple building set nicely on the site. The real beauty is inside and has a chapel feel.

Christopher Lui

Google
Very beautiful building and exhibit, a calm and fantastic place for art. However, the staff made me feel uncomfortable the whole time in terms of intently watching me as if I am doing something wrong. This ruins the experience.

Arjumand Mubaarak

Google
The Francis Aly's Fabiola Project is very I interesting.

Matthew Cohen (MatTHEW)

Google
I really miss the Frescoes, but it isn't the foundation's fault. Infinity machine was cool, but it kinda creeped out my girlfriend. New exhibit now. Just opened May 2016.

Tom Peacock

Google
This was a beautiful and inspiring chapel but the namesake Byzantine frescoes have long since returned to Cyprus. The still beautiful and inspiring building is occasionally used for art installations.

Alex Garrido

Google
Very very knowledgeable staff! I was amazed by the amount of information they were able to provide to me. A very well conserved piece of medieval art, it is hard to believe it is so well conserved after all this fresco went through.

Jessica E

Google
Interesting exhibit when we came. It was quite nice. Very walkable from the Chapel to other buildings on the Menil campus.

Hannah Morrow

Google
Beautiful but your workers really make someone feel like they want to leave. I was the only one in this two room place and they made sure to stand there and make me feel like I'm Doing something wrong . Thanks

Noe B.

Yelp
The original Byzantine Fresco chapel was always my favorite place in Houston. I miss it dearly because it was a space that elevated materials to a transcendent level. The dramatic lighting of the abstracted chapel space was unique. Brilliantly designed. Even the enclosing concrete structure with its indirect sunlight along the interior walls spoke of a more ethereal realm. I am not sure what to believe about its future reinstallation. I thought the fresco panels were returned to Cyprus.

Alexis B.

Yelp
Part of the Menil Collection, the Chapel was built to house two 13th century frescoes. The frescoes were returned to Cyprus in 2012. The current installation is the Infinity Machine, a project by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. Free, and worth a quick visit.

Maria J.

Yelp
Don't miss the current installation: Infinity Machine by Cardiff and Miller. It is both beautiful and haunting. Based on the theory of Pythagoras and his music of the spheres it's a mobile that will transport you right out of Houston into space... As one person noted in the tips section do read the pamphlet found when you first walk in the door. The soundtrack that plays is one you will never forget.

Elle S.

Yelp
"A-okay" I went to see the Infinity Machine. I found it very relaxing, then I'd randomly get blinded by the reflection of a mirror. Calm, calm, calm, SUN IS ATTACKING, sigh, calming, calm, calm... Bring sunglasses. I know that sounds crazy and the main room is a nice level of darkness, but it'll help take down those blinding moments. It's worth wandering over here if you're visiting Menil or Rothko.

Donna J.

Yelp
The most awesome exhibit-The Infinity Machine-very worth a visit. "Now the chapel has been dramatically resurrected as a space for year-long, site-specific art installations. The first is by renowned Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, whose multimedia environments can be both disorienting and transcendent." Houston Chronicle. This exhibit consists of approx 150 vintage mirrors suspended by cables from a large rotating truss. There are lights in various areas of the room at various times, that shine on or within the installation. The "soundtrack" that plays in the room is digitally translated recordings of electromagnetic fields taken by NASA's still out-there Voyager I and II probes as they passed Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. We sat on each of the four sides of the room to get the full experience. You see something different every time you look. You see a mirror you didn't see when you change perspective. Words don't do this justice, it really is something you just have to see.