Arthur Pena and Francisco Moreno have been friends and known each other’s artwork for five years. They both approach painting with a focus on production and labor. Making use of limitations or defining a painting only as an attempt, both artists develop very specific ways of producing paintings. But with…
This weekend marks the true beginning of the fall museum schedule, with shows opening or entering the second week at nearly every major museum in Dallas and Fort Worth. Here, we outline the highlights. Being the River, Repeating the Forest Thoreau once said, “Nature will bear the closet inspection. She…
Welcome to 10 Brilliant Dallas Women, a pop-up online series about 10 awesome women making Dallas a better place to live. When she moved to North Texas to work on A Dallas Drinking Fountain Project in 2009, Lauren Woods had been living in San Francisco for 10 years and was…
With every stitch or every tear in the fabric, Diedrick Brackens is creating or, more aptly, unraveling a much larger cloth. In a new exhibition at Conduit Gallery, hearts, hands, and other members, of his latest textile works, Brackens continues his exploration of issues of race, tradition and gender, but…
Simon Bilodeau’s Story With No Ending In a sense, the museum is the sculpture housing a painting. Typically manipulated to be as unobtrusive as possible, it interacts, intentionally or otherwise, with the work on display. The two are inextriable. It follows that an artist would be hyper aware of the…
One of the first things anyone asked during Sunday afternoon’s inaugural Dallas Zine Party was, “Who are all of these people?” That same question was why the event’s founder, Randy Guthmiller, planned this afternoon in the first place. Who were the people in and around Dallas making zines? What did…
Every artist struggles to reach certain milestones, but viewers aren’t always offered a glimpse of the journey. Neither of the two upcoming solo exhibitions at Kirk Hopper Fine Art have a unified or cohesive look. With a sample of drawings and paintings from two different projects, one focuses on the…
For much of her career, Lucia Simek’s work revolved around what she describes as, “the grand adventure of domesticity.” Her exhibition at the Dallas Contemporary (a collaboration with Kristen Cochran) was made from marble, which she describes as an aspirational stone, a material that represents or projects a certain image…
North Texas Masters of Light The American Society of Media Photographers is home to some pretty talented storytellers. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Especially if the media outlet is paying pennies per word. This weekend the wide array of talent in the ASMP’s Dallas branch…
Violence affects people in different ways. Some become shut-ins, others are drawn to work with people and create social change. Fifteen years after a stranger was shot and killed in front of her home, artist and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Karen Blessen is still spreading peace through art with her…
Professior R. Mutt and his Duchampaphones It’s impossible to pinpoint where an idea comes from. What compels one person to creatively rethink something that’s come before? Why would a guy masquerading as” Professor R. Mutt” would look at the bicycle wheel sculpture by Duchamp – in homage to whom he…
Joe M. Nanez’s family found out he died in World War II when they saw him killed on a Dallas movie theater screen. His brother-in-law, Regulo Vasquez, saw i t on a newsreel after a film as a teenager. He stayed for the next showing and watched the film again,…
Frank Artsmarter isn’t here to judge you. He wants the general public to judge you. Which is why he has partnered with Glasstire to create the ArtSmarterPrize, an open call contest that has been described by some as “an artist invitational in which every artist, no matter his or her…
We are just a few weeks from summer ending, school starting and the return of the arts in Dallas. Enjoy these final quiet days before your calendar again fills up with events you cannot miss and art you want to see. In the meantime, here are three things to fill…
I don’t know why there are so many juried shows opening on the same weekend, and I’m not sure that I like the looks of them any more than any other summer group show. But I suppose if we can build a justice system on twelve impartial men, why not…
Kate Firth is one of the few artists in Dallas working in steel, not to mention one of the only women. And her art is getting bigger and better all the time. Last week, she completed her biggest project to date, a public sculpture called “I Feel You Feel Me,”…
You’re running out of time to see a few of my favorite exhibitions so far this year, so I’ve made you a list that combines those and a few new openings. Closing this weekend: Concentrations 58: Chosil Kil This is the little show that can’t be ignored. London-based artist Chosil…
Now in his thirties, Arturo Donjuan recently ran into someone at a grocery store he hadn’t seen since he was a teen. The obvious mutual question was, What are you doing these days? His old friend is now working as a manager. But Donjuan is still doing what he was…
Nature in Our Backyard & Vida Cubana Currently on display at Sun to Moon Gallery (1515 Levee St.) is a photographic exploration of the Trinity River and the Great Trinity Forest called Nature in our Backyard. One of the only galleries in Dallas to specialize in photography, specifically that of…
Circuit 12 Contemporary keeps it fresh. That could be their motto. Since opening the doors in 2012, owners Gina and Dustin Orlando have experimented with the standard gallery motto, challenging tastes, adding fashion elements, and throwing bombass parties. This weekend, the gallery moves off Dragon Street onto Levee St., adding…
Dallas Gallery Day is an art fanatic’s dream. Organized by The Public Trust’s Brian Gibb in 2012, Gallery Day is a sort of organized welcome mat that encourages the public to visit an impressive assortment of the city’s best art galleries. If you’re not really dedicated to the art scene,…
Dallas Gallery Day It’s not often enough that you can be assured nearly every gallery in town will have doors open and art on the walls. That’s exactly what Dallas Gallery Day is for. Previously split into East and West, this year will be the first all-city version. If you’ve…
