Psychic Fissures Unites International Artists Through Shared Vulnerability

ARC Gallery is the latest establishment in an ever-growing Dallas art landscape. Located in Deep Ellum, it’s owned by visual multihyphenate James Benjamin Maker.

The gallery opened April 26 with a debut installation curated by musician, writer and critic Scott Tucker.

Tucker’s exhibition is called Psychic Fissures. It features mostly international graduate students at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he is a full-time grad student himself. Each student is given the prompt of demonstrating vulnerability in a visual fashion.

“I’ve never been around such an amazingly diverse group of international people,” Tucker says. “I wanted to prove that if you get nine different artists from all sorts of backgrounds all working together on the same project within a single room, it’s human nature to find things in common and co-exist.”

The show features work from several Dallas artists, alongside artists from Nigeria, Vietnam, Russia, Iran and the South Asian diaspora.

“I’m happy to be able to tell stories through my art that speak to the history and current events of my background,” says Olaoluwa John Alake. “Being from Nigeria and given the opportunity to show my work alongside this smorgasbord of diverse artists from around the world is a testament of how unique the ARC Gallery is going to be among the increasingly crowded Dallas art scene.”

The pieces include massive rendered sculptures, paintings and an LED laser display created by Maker and local artist Pasha Mad. Maker and Tucker previously collaborated on a 2017 exhibition at Inner.space Projects, a now-closed art gallery that Tucker used to run. At ARC, he and Maker have flipped roles.

“There is such a soul in Psychic Fissures,” Maker says. “Such a coming together of different artists to make it all happen. It almost feels like it’s not my place to say that because it’s my gallery, but it’s really blowing my mind how every piece works so well together.”
Tucker reciprocated the same feelings.

“He’s dependable, passionate and committed to art in a real and inspiring way,” Tucker says of Maker. “I feel grateful to be one of the first people he called when he signed the lease on his gallery and invited me to curate this show.”

ARC Gallery opens the Psychic Fissures exhibition this Saturday from 7 - 11 p.m. It will be displayed through May 31.

“There’s nothing more meaningful and beautiful than working alongside friends, strangers who became acquaintances, and acquaintances who became companions, as we create a space together,” says Vietnamese artist Baotran Vo. “A space where people come to pause, to feel, and to see art through the hearts of its artists.”

Psychic Fissures features the works of Baotran Vo, Vajihe Zamaniderkani, Olaoluwa John Alake, Zachariah Qureshi, Kaylee Christine Hembey, Dima Pokinboroda, James Maker, Will Von Bolton and Scott Tucker.

ARC Gallery, 2602 Main St.