London was infiltrated by a host of new “phone boxes” this summer, and while none of them to our knowledge is equipped for time/space travel, there is one in particular that we love. 2010 MasterMinds nominee and Dallas-based Pakistani artist Simeen Farhat’s donation, Outside the Box, is a jigsaw tooled,…
I won’t claim to understand much about the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, though not because I have moral or personal objections to the subject matter. In fact, I’d posit that the key to world peace lies not in economic policy or cultural diplomacy so much as a few good…
“It’s okay, I don’t get art either,” Aralyn McGregor claims when asked about her line of work. After receiving her BFA in studio painting from UNT in 2009, McGregor worked for a while as a middle school and high school art teacher before “retir[ing] at the ripe old age of…
A couple of weeks ago, Dallas’ ranking as the 19th “Best Big City for Art” by AmericanStyle Magazine left us slightly underwhelmed. Sure, it didn’t suck that Dallas got recognized for something other than being the worst city for hipsters, and sometimes you got to let them haters have it,…
Somewhere off the coast of Malta, Oliver Francis takes a moment from caviar eating on his yacht and agrees to talk a call from us about a surprise pop-up exhibition set for Saturday night at his Dallas gallery. Mid-conversation, he cuts out for a moment and then returns, grumbling that…
Perennial envelope pushers, the artists/residents of CentralTrak are known for “climbing the walls” in acrobatic feats of cutting-edge art, but this time, they’re planning to tear ’em down. CentralTrak alumna Cassandra Emswiler and incoming resident Sally Glass bring you Sheet/Rock, a joint exhibition springing from the collision and convergence of…
Not unlike the infamous heroine of the 1982 Tommy Tutone earworm (we won’t even mention the name, it’s so relentlessly catchy), Dallas native Courtney Miles’ own telephonic ruminations focus on fame, though perhaps recognition of a different type. A self-professed “celebutant,” Miles has constructed an alter-ego for her exhibition, 214-808-5569,…
Big on the group exhibition format, Cohn Drennan Contemporary brings another collaborative show for your mixed-media enjoyment. An annual presentation of artists who have not yet shown at the gallery, the 2012 Summer Group Exhibition features Michelle Brandley, whose paintings reflect ideas of self-worth in a celebrity-driven culture; M. Kate…
Rolling off of last year’s success, the Uptown Players announced that, following popular demand, a previously unplanned Dallas Pride Performance Arts Festival has just been scheduled for September 9-15, coinciding with the 29th Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade on September 16. (Applications for which can be found here, with an…
Aside from having the Wild West’s most enviable surname, Catherine Horsey is a craft beer enthusiast, avid Red Dirt music listener and serious mandolin picker. And, despite the fact that she found her way to Dallas as an adult, she is as integral to the city’s cultural preservation as any…
One can fear and/or loathe technology all one wants, but that doesn’t change the fact that the world has shifted at lightning-speed over even the last few years. With smart phones permeating popular culture, trickling down to virtually every American’s palm, the fundamental basis of many careers has changed. Imagine…
Check your URL, because you haven’t inadvertently clicked over to The Onion. Dallas was ranked 19th in the Top 25 Big Cities for Art by AmericanStyle Magazine in its June 2012 Summer issue. (Up from 24th in 2011 and 2010). Granted, we didn’t get a fancy write-up like the big…
Next weekend, the Bath House at White Rock is going to be all drama. But, don’t worry – we’re not talking Ewing-Barnes style histrionics. The Festival of Independent Theatres (FIT) is holding its 14th annual spree, beginning oh-so-fortuitously on July 14. Correction: beginning on Friday, July 13…
Is that graphite? If you were to ask exhibitions manager Kevin Jacobs the most memorable line during the Adam McEwen opening back in April, he’d say without a doubt, “Is that graphite?” In other words, it’s a question he got to field. A lot. Folks were astonished and perplexed and…
The Lone Star State Classic Dog Shows, running Friday through Sunday at Dallas Market Hall, showcases three regional dog clubs, each a member of the American Kennel Club, and more than 150 different breeds from across the United States. Talk to award-winning owners and learn about the judging process and…
There’s no question as to whether we love our local artists and what they do here, but any community risks becoming insular and myopic without exposure to the movements and ideas cropping daily outside our own heads. For those of us who believe in Dallas – underground, grassroots, outsider Dallas…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 30 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Mark Graham. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. When Ben Fountain published his first book in 2006, a collection of short stories called Brief Encounters…
While it may seem unorthodox to use Kafka as a point of reference for an exhibition of Russian photographers, the newest show at Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, while subtle in its drama and dignified in its pathos, carries a palpable sense tasty, existential dread. And, while Russia is not…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 30 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Mark Graham. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. Think of her as a modern Artemis, Protector of Young Women. Though she is soft-spoken, measured and…
I had a brief run-in with a sorority initiation process back in 2003 that left me scarred. As you can imagine, being one of about five non-greek, scholarship students at SMU, navigating the turbulent social waters of Highland Park was quite the challenge for a young woman straight off the…
By now, we’d expect that you’re reasonably familiar with CentralTrak. The UT Dallas artists’ residency in Expo Park jam packs a lot of dynamic programming into this city, from educational panels to visual installations, performance art jam sessions and auditory revelations. Our only complaint is that there’s not something new…
We got word this week about an incredible project brewing out in Denton, headed by Blayre Stiller. You might remember that Stiller last lit things up back in April at Cohn Drennan Contemporary, during a Master’s thesis exhibition called Blair Blayre with fellow UNT artist, Michael Blair. As part of…
