In other words, it's the perfect time to shake off that existential dread and get thee into the environs of an artistic space. We've curated the best of the best exhibitions to brighten your outlook for the season and beyond.
Here are the best upcoming museum and gallery exhibitions this spring:
Aurora Video Art Night 2025
April 11Between its bigger biennial productions, the local organization Aurora mounts an amuse bouche exploring the moving image to hold over local fans of immersive art.
This year's Video Art Night, from 6 to 10 p.m., will highlight work from regional talent on a giant screen during the Dallas Art Fair week. Best of all? The event is totally free, and its location in a new TBD downtown location should reach the maximum number of viewers possible. Art for all!
Dallas Art Fair
April 11–April 13The Dallas Art Fair is a highlight of spring among the cognoscenti. The main event at the Fashion Industry Gallery (1807 Ross Ave.) also livens things up with an assortment of satellite exhibitions and parties popping up all over town.
For the Fair's 17th edition, newcomers including Tokyo's Koki Arts and London's LBF Contemporary will join international veteran Perrotin (among other starry blue-chip spaces) for an impressive total of 90 exhibitors.
While you're out and about, make sure to reserve an afternoon to pop by the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (2821 Turtle Creek Blvd.) for the Dallas Invitational, an indie fair on the hotel's first floor that complements the main event, which will be held from April 10–12.
"John, Washington, and Emily Roebling Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge for the First Time," from 1989, is on display at the DMA,
© Estate of Marisol, Artists Rights Society (ARS)
Dallas Museum of Art, Marisol: A Retrospective
Feb. 23–July 6It's always nice when a female artist gets their due, so we're extra excited by the DMA’s retrospective of one of the most enigmatic pop artists of the 20th century.
This comprehensive study of Marisol Escobar's work (the most extensive ever assembled!) examines the breadth of her oeuvre, including sculptural self-portraits and pieces examining issues such as environmental precarity, social justice, feminism and war. In other words, the same stuff we're continuing to deal with today.
Also on the must-see list at the DMA (at 1717 N. Harwood St.) is the highly anticipated return of Yayoi Kusama's made-for-social-media All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins infinity room, which hasn't been seen at the institution since 2018. Ready, set, selfie!
Dallas Contemporary,Velvet Faith: EJ Hill and Martin Gonzalez
Feb. 28–Aug. 31If there's anything the Dallas Contemporary (161 Glass St.) spring exhibitions have in common, it's their ability to hit the sweet spot between art and craft. First up is Velvet Faith, a collab between artists EJ Hill and Martin Gonzalez featuring a site-specific roller coaster of wood and metal, soft sculptures and new paintings. Visitors can't ride the thing, but they can bring the kiddos for a special public program, Art Sundae, on March 30 from 1–4 p.m., featuring a hands-on art-making experience led by contemporary artists in conjunction with the Art Production Fund.
At the Dallas Contemporary, you'll find exquisite works such as EJ Hill's "Brake Run Helix," 2022.
Kaelan Burkett
Dallas Contemporary, You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry
April 11–Oct. 12Next up is a contemporary examination of tapestry organized by guest curator Su Wu. You Stretched Diagonally Across It highlights the myriad of ways thread can be woven to explore imagery. This show should satisfy shopaholics as well — the Los Angeles-based vintage textile library Kneeland Co. will activate the Contemporary's shop with a collection of specially designed textiles, ceramics, jewelry and collectibles for sale.
Kimbell Art Museum, Modern Art and Politics in Germany 19101945: Masterworks from the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
March 30–June 22
If you’ve explored the city of Berlin, you’ve learned that you must dig a little beneath the surface to get a clear view of what led the country from the last years of the German Empire to the freewheeling, queer-positive Weimar Republic to the rise of National Socialism. There may not be a lot of institutions that examine this trajectory through ephemera or architecture, but the city’s Neue Nationalgalerie does a fantastic job of distilling political oppression via works of art.
And now the Kimbell (3333 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth) has culled the cream of the collection for its Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945 exhibition. Since most exhibitions are years in the making, this is a particularly timely show for America's current era of disinformation and rising fascist state. After all, art always is (or at least should be) political.
The Meadows Museum, The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce
Feb. 23–June 22The lush works gathered in The Sense of Beauty span the 16th to the 21st centuries and include paintings by El Greco, Goya and Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.
Organized by the institution's newish (she joined last June) curator, Patricia Manzano Rodriguez (a widely recognized expert on 17th-century Spanish painting), the show (at 5900 Bishop Blvd.) has the distinction of highlighting the supine, orange-clad figure of Flaming June by Frederic, Lord Leighton, who is, quite frankly, serving up the lack of energy we're all feeling at the moment.
The show will also feature a gallery devoted to the work of Puerto Rican artists, reflecting the island's rich and colorful culture.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Alex DeCorte: The Whale
March 2–Sept. 7For anyone lucky enough to view interdisciplinary artist Alex DeCorte's jaw-dropping neon and video Rubber Pencil Devil (on view at the DMA during the pandemic), you know you're in for a special treat with DeCorte’s upcoming show at the Modern, 3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth.
Curated by Alison Hearst, The Whale will feature more than 40 paintings, drawings and video that mine this surrealist talent's examination of consumerism, sex, taste, power and desire. What more could one want?
With a title that DaCorte describes as "analogous to the Jungian night sea journey," this show can be viewed as cerebrally or as surface level as one wishes. The best thing about his work is that it is just plain fun to look at.
Nasher Sculpture Center, Haegue Yang: Lost Lands and Sunken Fields
Feb. 1–April 27Light and dark, buoyant and heavy, inside and outside — the work of Berlin- and Seoul-based artist Haegue Yang revels in the in-between with sculptures crafted from birch, marbled paper and pinecones (among other disparate materials) at the Nasher (2001 Flora St.).
Yang’s installations can resemble friendly little creatures or surrealistic landscapes, and there's always a hint of humor underneath the craft. Immerse yourself in her hybrid forms to take a little vacation of the mind without leaving North Texas.
The Warehouse, Double Vision: The Rachofsky Collection and the Hartland & Mackie/Labora Collection
Feb. 15June 28The Warehouse has always been one of the (semi) hidden gems of Dallas. Nestled in an unobtrusive space at 14105 Inwood Road, the works gathered by Howard and Cindy Rachofsky feature thematic shows that distill some of the 1,000 objects in their collection. Last fall, collector and philanthropist Thomas Hartland-Mackie joined Rachofsky to form a nonprofit charitable foundation, and The Warehouse's latest show focuses on the fruit of that partnership.
Featuring over 80 pieces by 42 artists (including Carroll Dunham, Howardena Pindell and Dana Schutz), the monumental works on display beckon the serious art lover with a good excuse for an afternoon of artistic respite in North Dallas. Pop by the recently relocated James Cope Gallery (4885 Alpha Road) while you're there.
Zeke’s Projects, Chloe Scout Nix
March 15–April 26The opening of a new art space is always cause for celebration, especially when the proprietor is so beloved in the community. A local fave for both his willingness to operate the grill at events and his portrayal of Santa during the holidays, Zeke Williams is one of the most supportive talents in Dallas, a role he is solidifying with the opening of Zeke’s Projects this spring. After taking over the former Cluely Projects Space at 2123 Sylvan Ave. as his studio, Williams found the front room was the perfect size to highlight the work of friends and fellow artists ready for their first (or second) show.
First up is the photography of Waxahachie native Chloe Scout Nix, whose personal, intimate images will hang through April 26, followed by paintings and photography by Steven Gonzales in May, Lauren Flenekin's surrealistic canvases in September, and Daniela Flint's papier-mâché vases in October. Still operating a thriving art practice, Williams will make things easy on himself by only opening Projects on Saturdays.
"I've had my hand in many pots, and this is another crazy one," says the multi-media artist turned gallerist. "I already know how to hang art, make a checklist, handle inventory … I know all the art consultants in town. I'm probably one of the best-suited [local artists] to open a gallery, giving young artists a show and a chance to sell their work. We're not just going to throw the coolest parties in the world; we're going to sell good work."
