Flowers of War In grad school I spent one winter break in Los Angeles, which of course required a trip to Malibu to visit, among other sites, the Adamson House, known in some circles as the "Taj Mahal of Tile." Since then, I've moved back to Dallas and fallen eyes over feet in love with the alluring world of Cassandra Emswiler Burd's ceramic art. She builds these stunning tile displays to encourage a reexamination of different areas of human life. For the exhibition at Erin Cluley Gallery (414 Fabrication St.) she has created breakfast tables to explore the similarities in garden planning and war strategy "derived from the work of landscape architect André Le Nôtre and military engineer Marquis de Vauban, both principal advisors to Louis XIV in 17th century France." I can only imagine the day when a house in Dallas becomes known for be filled with Burd tile. Opening reception 6 p.m. Saturday. More info at erincluley.com.
What's Done Cannot Be Undone Cydonia Gallery's next artist Michael Just is described in the press release as not just being being responsible for the art, but for designing "the spirit of the exhibition." Cue my Christmas Carol vision of Marley, or the like. OK, the only spirits at the gallery this weekend will come in the beverage form, which is in keeping with the idea that to truly experience Just's concepts of forgiveness you'll have to show up. The artist works in screen printing and laser-cut text pieces and sculptures that are meant to appear in conversation with each other. Basically, get your butt to the gallery from 6-8 p.m. Friday for the opening reception or through February 20. More information at cydoniagallery.com.
Robert Jessup & Chris Larson Robert Jessup's large-scale, dramatic gestural configurations will likely seem at home in Conduit Gallery and are certainly worth a sighting. I'm more excited about Chris Larson's video Heavy Rotation, which will give a 15 minute glimpse into the artist's studio to get an up close look at the physicality and process of creation. Check it out in the project room during the opening reception 6-8 p.m. Saturday, or through February 14. More information at conduitgallery.com.
PRTY PPL "Major clusterfuck" was the word Josh Reames, one of the curators of PRTY PPL, used to describe this show. Certainly the sheer number of local and national artists in the exhibition proves daunting (full disclosure: one of the 29 artists in the show happens to be my boyfriend). We don't have many clues as to any kind of theme for the show other than artists tearing shit up. But if you look closely at the long list of names, you'll recognize the likes of Francisco Moreno, Keith J Varadi, Brian Scott Campbell, and maybe a few others from blowing up in Dallas or throughout the continental US. Opening reception 6-10 p.m. Saturday. More information at circuit12.com.
Tales Neither True Nor False Everyone loves a good story; it's how we build our realities. This weekend, four artists (Sheryl Anaya, Jessica Fuentes, Laura Garcia and M. Kate Helmes) exhibit narrative work that explores "the ambiguous nature of identity, transformation, intuition, memories and intimacy." There will be autobiography and fabricated realities in both tangible and ephemeral art. See it in opening reception from 7-10 p.m. in conjunction with an exhibition in the upstairs space of I tried to follow Eleanor Antin. I only got halfway. in which Devyn Gaudet and Diane Durant document a journey, or half of one. More information at 500x.com.
