This weekend is packed with art to see in Dallas. It seems everyone on Dragon Street and beyond is opening an exhibition. Limiting this list to just five is impossible, so there are a few more than that here, plus additional shows to see when you're out and about this weekend.
Who Are Our Own People? The Black Lodge is a small, "underground" venue in Deep Ellum notorious for hosting off-center music shows, and the occasional art show. This weekend, the space hosts what, to my mind, is its most interesting art show yet. Who Are Our Own People? explores concepts of marginalization and identity in a post-Obama America through performance art, drawing, photography and poetry. Participating artists include Lauren Cross, Roy Martinez, Fatima-Ayan Malika Hirsi and Herbert Moore III. Be there from 6 -10 p.m. Saturday at 212 S. Walton St.
Diamond Seat For the next exhibition at Circuit 12 Contemporary, two artists cast a meditative eye on aspects of spirituality. Before creating their individual works for the dual exhibition Diamond Seat, Caris Reid and Amanda Valdez studied at length Robert Thurman's Mandala: The Architect of Enlightenment, a text that opens up the limits of how one can define the Sanskrit word, "mandala," translated as "center" or "essence." Thurman argues that anything circular could be considered a mandala, eventually leading to ideas of how human beings aren't just part of the environment, they are the environment. It's the kind of heady, philosophical thing we're coming to expect from Circuit 12, but here Reid and Valdez lead the gallery into a more sacred visual language. The work of Valdez manifests as constructions of fabric, embroidery, paint and canvas meant to explore "the embodied shapes stored and felt through her body." Reid's work incorporates her longtime interest in figurative painting with the concentric geometrical designs typical of mandala, the output of which she hopes invites the viewer into the meditative or self-hypnosis practices she employed before their creation. See this fascinating work in an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Saturday. It will also be the last show in the current Circuit 12 space at 1130 Dragon St. before the gallery moves to Levee Street. More at circuit12.com.
Olaniyi Rasheed Akindiya (AKIRASH)'s ADITTU (Puzzle) If visual art is the only art form without true linear structure, or a demanding relationship with the temporal world, it seems painters, photographers, or, in this case, a weaver, aren't just make colorful, or emotional objects, but they are freezing moments. Packing the temporary into the permanent. This is the focus of AKIRASH's exhibition at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary, for which he explores different methods of weaving to create tapestry paintings. See the work in opening reception from 6-8 p.m. Saturday.
Kevin Beasley at the DMA's Late Night In conjunction with the ongoing Soluna Festival, the Dallas Museum of Art commissioned a performance installation from New York-based artist Kevin Beasley. The new piece "Black Rocker" blends sound and interactive sculpture to explore the idea of "American-ness through a culture dependent upon notions of blackness." See it 6 p.m.-midnight Friday, alongside spontaneous poetry from Austin-based Typewriter Rodeo, an African Art Sketching Party from 7-10 p.m. and at 9 p.m. Montreal-based artist Jon Rafman hosts "Kool-Aid Man in Second Life Tours." Admission is free.
Luke Dowd's my shoes, my stove, my life The contemporary photograph of one's life is polished. A beautiful plate of culinary creativity on a white backdrop signifies domestic prowess; a well-manicured hand shows off the lastest finds on a vintage shopping trek as a symbol of frugal stylishness; or a colorful arrangement of flowers on a well-organized desk says, "This woman has time for beauty and hard work." Of course, these are fully fabricated moments and unlike anything you will find in Luke Dowd's imagery of everyday dwelling. His photographic arrangements for his upcoming exhibition at Zhulong Gallery (1302 Dragon St.), my shoes, my stove, my life are interested in clear-eyed observation of the artifacts of the life around him. His digital works on canvas employ minimal digital manipulation, only to subtly highlight aspects of the works. The work's simplicity becomes a reflection on the art that surrounds us. See it in opening reception from 5- 9 p.m. Friday. More at zhulonggallery.com.
Bronwen Sleigh: Northern Form Cydonia Gallery gives Glasgow-based artist Bronwen Sleigh her first solo exhibition in the United States with Northern Form, in which the artist examines disorienting architectural landscapes. Sleigh draws inspiration from new and unexplored landscapes, as well as ideas of utopia. See the exhibition in its opening reception from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Cydonia (167 Payne St.) or through June 19. More at cydoniagallery.com.
Michael Kenna: France This weekend, Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery celebrates 20 years of hosting some of the city's most interesting photography exhibitions. The space also opens a solo show of landscape photographer Michael Kenna, highlighting images of France from his most recognized book of his work, Le Nôtre's Gardens. See images from Kenna spanning more than two decades and celebrate the gallery's anniversary in a reception from 5-8 p.m. Saturday at 1202 Dragon St. More information at pdnbgallery.com.
Also opening this weekend: Friday Devon Nowlin: Casual Luxury Comfort at Artspace 111, in Fort Worth
Saturday Deja Vu at Galleri Urbane
Geometric Repetition at Mary Tomas Gallery
Ruben Nieto - Décollage at Cris Worley Fine Arts
Matt Clark, Jules Buck Jones & Scott Daniel Ellison at Conduit Gallery
