William Eggleston: The Los Alamos Project We live in a Technicolor world of cherry-red hot dog stands, pearly gray back-combed beehive hairdos and zapping-blue skies, or so William Eggleston's photographs tell us. The banal yet brash photographs of this Mississippi-born photographer capture a world that seemed to be turning slower than the rest of the country. You would never know that these shots of Mississippi, Memphis and Arkansas were made during 1964-1974, one of the most politically raucous decades in recent history. Perhaps by default, that's Eggleston's point--to show how, despite the gains in technology, regardless of bounding infrastructure and the consumer abundance found in an aerosol can of hairspray, the agricultural South will forever be mired in backwardness. Through close-crop snapshot color photography, Eggleston relays this topsy-turvy world in prettily absurd pictures. Named according to where they were taken, these 88 photos offer a cartography of the kitschy modern outback. "Memphis," a shot of several bug-eyed girly dolls glued to the hood of a boat-like blue Cadillac, makes for a glossy confection of proverbial Southern goth. "Arkansas" offers a lyrical landscape of the sun setting over an asphalt oasis--the parking lot of the "Southgate Shopping Center." After originating in Cologne, Germany, and making a stop at the San Francisco MOMA, Eggleston's Los Alamos Project makes its last stop here in Dallas at the DMA. Catch it while you can. Through May 15 at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., 214-922-1200. (Charissa N. Terranova)
Passive Moles: The works of Mike Giant and Dalek showing in Passive Moles promise to pimp your world. Dont let the literary play of a sexually suggestive spoonerism (passive moles = massive poles) scare you away. Just let what seems so counterintuitive, the street-smart big-city work of these two artists showing in sleepy Denton, wash over you. Sinewy and graphic, Giant makes small Sharpie-on-paper graffiti-like drawings. He transforms the otherwise place-bound act of tagging into something fluid, mobile and potentially international by publishing these graphic images in the underground zine worlds Skull Press. Dalek paints a pinky-purple roboticized Micky Mouse on vintage Krylon boxes. More Murakami than Disney, Daleks mouse tantalizes onlookers while drooling pink saliva-blood out his mouth. This show is revealing not just aesthetically but sociologically. Skate punks dont just grow old; they make art. Through May 2 at Art Prostitute, 210 E. Hickory St., Denton, 941-381-1526. (C.T.)
