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…
If you think spelling her last name is tough, try playing the music the hot young pianist Khatia Buniatishvili will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Winspear Opera House. Buniatishvili comes to Dallas as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s exciting new classical recital series. The young Georgian…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Did you know that the role of Rosina in Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville was originally written for contralto, but a general shortage of contraltos — who apparently are the operatic equivalent of rhythm and blues’ Big Mama Thornton — means the role is mostly performed by mezzo sopranos?…
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…
“Just so you know, the first act is an hour and a half long,” the attendant warned as she handed me a program for The Dallas Opera’s Sunday matinee performance of The Barber of Seville and directed me to my seat. While I’m sure her comment was meant as a…
“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…
Spring has arrived. With it, galleries across the city fling open their doors to present new work to curious souls fresh out of hibernation. In keeping with the season, here our freshly picked recommendations for your art-going pleasure…
If you see the world in visuals and aren’t afraid of interviewing, recording, cropping, color adjusting, and rendering, we have good news. The Dallas Observer is looking for multimedia interns for this summer. – Meat Fight 2013 – The Video – Greenville’s Truckyard – A Video Tour Above, you can…
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…
Get to know the people behind some of Dallas’ interesting, unique, art-inspired local businesses. Know any good ones? Drop us a tip in the comments. Matt McCrimmon makes mirrors. Not the big sheets of nothing you find on bathroom walls, but ones that are circular, inspired by astrology and wrapped…
It was just before the start of the Texas Pinball Festival, the annual gathering of pinball enthusiasts and collectors who brought their prized machines to Dallas/Fort Worth over the weekend for three days of quarter-less play, and an odd quiet filled the 30,000-square-foot play area. Machines from pinball’s heyday filled…
At the center of a crowd of colorfully clothed My Little Pony fans sit two teenage boys, eyes locked on the television screen in front of them, thumbs moving rapidly. They’re guiding the Nintendo iconic green dinosaur Yoshi, Mario’s friend/mode of transportation through Pickachu’s lightening bolt. This is happening because…
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…
We’ve told you plenty about Halt and Catch Fire. Now you can see it for yourself, at least 30 seconds of it, sliced up and laid under some sweet 80s dreams. It premieres June 1, and having seen the pilot I can assure you: It starts with a bang…
Wondering how the hell to navigate the more than 170 films gracing the screens of the Dallas International Film Festival? Well, how about some help from two DIFF-going veterans — Merritt Martin and Jennifer Medina — offering their best-intended, possibly challenging, but definitely enthusiastic assistance. Grab your hoodie (you’ll need…
Last night a tall, skinny teenager with an unruly mop of straw-blonde hair reminded Dallas Symphony audience members that not all millennials are created equal. Jan Lisiecki celebrated his 19th birthday last Sunday, and while I’m sure he knows his way around a smart-phone as well as any other kid…
