It’s difficult to discuss President George W. Bush’s art show without first talking about the work’s context. To look at his portrait of Tony Blair and not consider the relationship between the two world leaders would be impossible. Just a few years after his presidency, Bush persists as a part…
“When I look at my schedule for the weekend, I get exhausted before I even start doing anything. If you really wanted to do everything art related in Dallas, you couldn’t.” That’s gallerist Cris Worley on her experience of a normal weekend in this city. Spend a few minutes on…
The week of Conan’s Dallas reign has come to end. I’m so fucking sick of his creepy face. Yeah, I said it. Don’t get me wrong, Conan’s great. But he’s taken over my life. I have people in my Facebook feed posting selfies with him or live Tweeting the whole…
Tonight marks the opening of the Dallas International Film Festival. In its eighth year, it is physically impossible to see all of the films at this year’s fest, which boasts more than 170 films over the course of 11 days all over the city. However unlikely their success, there will…
When Chris Dowling began writing his film Produce, he didn’t know he was writing a film about down syndrome. “I wanted to write a story about faith,” he says. “And then as I was working on the film’s narrative, I realized there had to be a character with this childlike…
In the last year, the shopping options for stylish Dallas dudes grew exponentially. If you want to drink while you shop, West Village’s Rye 51 liquors up its customers while they browse. If you want someone to help you choose your clothes, the business model of Henderson Ave.’s Trunk Club…
Before we continue, I should give you a few reasons to hate me: The only time I’ve been called into jury duty, it was iced out. I still have my tonsils. Oh, and this week my job includes writing about Conan O’Brien’s stop in Dallas. I’ve always been a Jimmy…
Any parent understands the overwhelming dread a mandatory parent-teacher conference can bring. Children know no bounds in embarrassing their parents, from eating glue to pulling the cute girl’s hair or talking back to the teacher. But even your family’s black sheep will look little more than high-spirited compared to the…
It is physically impossible to see all of the films at this year’s Dallas International Film Festival. In its eighth year, the 2014 fest boasts more than 170 films over the course of 11 days all over the city. However unlikely their success, there will surely be noble souls who…
Fredrik Vaerslev positions his work somewhere between place and non-place. His paintings in the new exhibition at Power Station bear resemblance to household features that he considers “ambivalent.” Think gardens, athletic fields, window panes. This purposeful ambiguity can be seen in the three collections of work, Canopy Paintings, Trolley Paintings…
To fully understand the life of a poet, you’ll need to imagine working tirelessly, baring your soul and locking yourself in your room for hours on end, only to find yourself broke and unappreciated. Now imagine you continue this for 20 years while everyone tells you to give up, to…
April 8 is an under-celebrated holiday. On this day alone, humans born before 1990 celebrate the day a washed-up rock star named Rex Manning was set to perform at the title store in the film Empire Records. I mean, it’s just a movie, right? Wrong. It’s a cult classic. And…
The Dallas Museum of Art currently hosts one of the most significant exhibitions to travel through Dallas. The only American stop of Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World will be at the DMA through June. This Monday, Arts & Letters Live presents a well-timed entry in…
When it comes to performance art, the only artist who springs to mind is Marina Abramovic. Oh, you know, the woman who plopped down for a few days in New York’s Modern Museum of Art. Visitors sat at a table across from her and stared into her eyes. People ate…
What if I told you that at 11 a.m. Saturday a selection of your fellow citizens plan to show up at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis to run with a herd of very alive bulls? They will place their bodies on the quarter-mile track to run in front of, behind,…
“I think the basic [cowboy] tradition is manliness, bravery, perseverance. You’ve got decades and decades of imagery that say that’s who it is. ” The opening lines of the film Queens & Cowboys are given by Western historian Michael Johnson. A few shots later, you meet Wade Earp, a 45-year-old…
Monday night Conan O’Brien played with guns; Tuesday night Conan put on lipstick. Clearly the man is taking a sincere interest in Dallas. He’s really doing some research. Last night he joked that during a visit to a strip club he met all of the Dallas Cowboys. I have quite…
Let me give you five excuses for why you didn’t watch Conan last night: You didn’t care. Your toddler finally let you get some sleep. You’re a bartender at one of the few local watering holes without a television. You hate funny gingers. Or maybe you didn’t know he’s filming…
The sound of artists at work can be heard in Trinity Groves. On Monday afternoon, at the intersection of Bataan Street and Singleton Blvd, the sound of drills, paper shuffling and loud conversation filled a bright green warehouse. Throughout the space visual artists install site-specific work; at the center, Prism…
Dear Mayor Rawlings, The first thing I’d like to say in this very public letter is a big thank you for Dallas Arts Week. From what I can gather, it’s your way to bring awareness to the arts, which is, in a sense, my job as well. Samesies! Even if…
Do you remember about a month ago when I first complained about being an underpaid journalist? You joined my father in the knowing chuckle of someone saying, “You could’ve been an accountant.” Let’s ignore the cliches about hindsight for a second, while I present to you homes that neither you…
We haven’t published an article about Conan’s visit to Dallas yet this week. It’s already Thursday. You probably assumed this meant that his visit to our city couldn’t get any better. You thought wrong. Next week, while Conan camps out at the Majestic Theatre, the “Cone Zone” will make various…
