Embracing THE Change to Arts and Culture DFW

When Dallas' branch of THE Magazine closed it's doors the people that made it happen locally decided to continue without the involvement of the Santa Fe head office. Last week the first issue debuted under the new Arts and Culture DFW masthead. The web site is still under construction, but a list of locations where the magazine is available can be found at the link below. Magazines like this one keep an art scene vital and accountable. Please support the Dallas art scene.

Also, don't miss my review of the Susan Rothenberg exhibition at The Ft. Worth Modern in the November issue.

Arts and Culture DFW
Art & Seek post about the Arts & Culture DFW launch

DADA Fall Art Walk Roundup

DADA Panel Discussion

The day started for me with the panel discussion Art and Economics 101: Pricing and Protection of Art in Today’s Economy. I was pleased to be among mostly artists in the audience so that the conversation was skewed in my direction. Below are a few of the highlights from that discussion with images and observations from some of the galleries Saturday night.

One of the first topics of discussion was the importance of insurance. Charles Lipscomb of Lipscomb Insurance Group noted that 80% of the damage that happens to artwork takes place in transit so that is the most important time to purchase insurance.

Some galleries have artists sign contracts such as Craighead Green where others like Valley House Gallery have a gentleman's agreement. It was recommended that artists who are presented with a contract take it to a contract lawyer to have it looked over before signing. Additionally, in both cases it was suggested that if someone was considering joining a gallery that they contact artists currently represented before making a final decision.

DADA acts as an oversight committee making sure that member galleries act in ethical ways in dealing with artists, collectors, et al. If an artist were to have a problem with a member gallery they could contact someone on the board and get help.

Art Walk Roundup-

Conduit Gallery: Steven Miller 's Fukurama, Jill Foley's The Mountain, Dan McPharlin in the Project Room and Matthew Whitenack's installation

Dan McPharlin's miniature analog synths and works on paper were on display in the project room. McPharlin recently created artwork for a Prefuse 73 album cover. The work has a retro-futuristic feel.











Dan McPharlin

Jill Foley's installation The Mountain is a reworking of her MFA thesis review show at SMU. She earned her graduate degree this past spring. In the three weeks leading up to the opening she worked to make her installation into something grander than she had had the opportunity for in her thesis show. In the large space at Conduit the space that she has created is part cave, part lodge. The construction is hot glued cardboard with a coat of amber shellac. There is a homemade quality to the installation which combines a child's fantasy and Kurt Schwitters' Merzbau.





























Jill Foley installation shots The Mountain

Also in the show Steven Miller 's Fukurama
Matthew Whitenack's installation of a miniature gallery with video and personal artifacts becomes like a nesting gallery within the larger gallery space.


Craighead Green Gallery
Ursula O'Farrell, Arturo Mallmann, Shawn Smith

Shawn Smith's sculptures take the idea of moving something from the digital to the analog world. It looks as if the forms have been pixelated. Smith said that He doesn't use a computer to make sketches for the works, but does draw out designs with pencil and paper. There were also works on paper in show.

Paintings by Ursuls O'Farrell and Arturo Mallmann also on exhibit.












Shawn Smith Quiet Breath and Ewe


Pan American Gallery opened Howard Sherman's Bloodthirsty Animal on Two Legs. The paintings had an eighties feel with their oil, acrylic and marker gestures. The majority of the paintings were in the 50" x 60" range with a monolithic painting that must have been about six times larger. At that scale the layering and brushwork have an almost overwhelming impact.












Howard Sherman Soft Target


Marty Walker Gallery hosted Sarah Williams' Night Vision in the new smaller gallery space. The paintings were well painted night scenes that had a small town feel. When I first saw her work online I expected them to be large paintings, but they are actually quite modest in scale. She has a slightly loose approach that lends itself well to the imagery, making it feel hazy and romanticized.

The smaller size of the gallery wouldn't be important if you didn't know what you were missing. Seeing the space was another reminder of the effects of the economics of the gallery scene. It is good to see a gallery go smaller and weather the economic storm than close it's doors. I wish Marty Walker and all of Dallas' galleries good luck.

DADA Fall Art Walk

Dallas Art Dealers Association's annual fall art walk takes place this Saturday. As previously mentioned there will be two panel discussions, one focused on artist's careers and the second on pricing artwork. There are some 33 galleries/art spaces involved in the art walk this year. A list of those I'm most looking forward to below.

Not strictly DADA Saturday fall art walk highlights:
Steven Miller, Jill Foley and Dan McPharlin at Conduit Gallery 530-830
Night Vision, paintings by Sarah Williams at Marty Walker Gallery
As If Our Lives Depended On It, group show at HCG Gallery
Marc Quinn at Goss-Michaels Foundation
Shawn Smith at Craighead Green Gallery 5-8
Blueprint at The MAC 11-9

Shuttering the Art Lab

After a year in operation CADD (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas) Art Lab is closing it's doors. Director Anne Lawrence has worked with CADD gallery owners to bring exhibitions that showcase the some great contemporary art from some of the most exciting galleries in Dallas. Programing at the Art Lab has included a host of exhibits and Art Socials, where two artists sit down and discuss each others artwork and take questions form the audience in an informal exchange.

Funding has been cited as the culprit for the close, but it was a good run. The gallery may have had odds stacked against it, as the location and timing surely played a part in it's fate. Galleries are closing so often that one can't help but be concerned for the seemingly immovable local institutions like The MAC, the DMA and contemporary galleries that give strength to the local art scene. The hope is that they will all weather the storm and get creative which is really at the heart of all art making, and I believe that now is the time for Dallas to prove itself. Thanks to Anne Lawrence and the CADD group, and good luck with the forthcoming projects in the works.

CADD Art Lab will close with the current exhibition Launch on September 3. There is an Artist talk scheduled for September 3rd, tomorrow night at 7 pm with Julie Barnofsky, Angel Cabrales, Gabriel Dawe, Tim Harding, and Kyle Kondas.

Weekend Wish List

September 12 is the date for next round of openings to coincide with DADA's (Dallas Art Dealers Association) annual fall gallery walk. DADA is hosting a couple of panel discussions again this year, "Career Choices 101: Being Smart about Your Career as an Artist", 10:30 a.m. to Noon with speakers Benito Huerta, Vicki Meek, and Pamela Nelson, and "Art and Economics 101: Pricing and Protection of Art in Today’s Economy", 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m with Bob Banks, Steve Green, Charles Lipscomb, and Cheryl Vogel. The panels will be held at the South Dallas Cultural Center located at 3400 S. Fitzhugh at Robert B. Cullum. Tickets are $15 a piece and can be purchased through a link on their web site. The galleries associated with DADA will be open on September 12th from 2-8 PM.

Weekend Wish List

By way of a reminder, Gail Sachson will be giving a gallery talk about 15 works of art at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary's Annual Member Show. The show's theme this year is the number fifteen which commemorates the number of years that The MAC has been in operation. It should be fun to hear the talk next Wednesday night at 6:30 PM.

With Honors

Launch at CADD Art Lab through September 3

The works in this show were hand selected by Anne Lawrence and the CADD (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas) board from MFA candidates and recent graduates. A cross-section of different mediums, styles and concepts abound. The level of the work was high overall, but there were a handful of artists of particular interest.

Clearly inspired by Donald Judd’s wall-mounted boxes, the minimalist Nate Glaspie builds on that inspiration with his sculpture “Overton Plaza”. A mirror and perorated metal plate sit on a shelf of layered corrugated cardboard. The group of wall-mounted boxes reflects light in stripes of circles back onto the wall in curiously alternating circles and ovals. The reflected light is where the payoff really came with this series.

Kelly Flynn’s photograph “War 1” pits a firework made to look like a military tank against a firework made to look like a chicken. There is humor and sadness in the chicken that never crossed the road. The image is one of four photos in a cluster of firework related images.

The following artists are included in the exhibition, Adrian Aguirre, Julie Barnofski, Angel Cabrales, Todd Camplin, Gabriel Dawe, Kelly Flynn, Nate Glaspie, Timothy Harding, Elizabeth Higgins, Mona Kasra, Kyle Kondas, Jung Eun Lee, Tom Leininger, Mike Mazurek, and Sarah Williams.

Of additional interest, the Art Lab is hosting two events, a panel discussion and an art talk. There are often two “Art Socials” during the run of an exhibit in the space, which consists of a couple of artists discussing their work and that of the other artist that they are paired with. There have been lively discussions, including among others Tracy Hicks and David H. Gibson (my uncle and employer). It is an educational and often fun way to get another perspective on the show. Details from the website to follow.

Graduate Student Panel Discussion, Thurs., Aug. 13, 7 p.m. Featuring Victoria DeCuir, Nate Glaspie, Mona Kasra, Tom Leininger, John Pomara, and Anne Lawrence Artists’ Talk, Thurs., Sept. 3, 7 p.m. Featuring artists in the exhibition on the closing day of the show.












Nate Glaspie "Overton Plaza"









Kelly Flynn "War 1"

Locks of Love

New Texas Talent at Craighead Green Gallery

Dr. Charissa N. Terranova curated this year’s New Texas Talent exhibition at Craighead Green Gallery. The distinction between a juried and curated show should be noted. A juried show would likely pull the best of the work that was submitted, whereas a curated show might seek to convey a concept set forth by the curator. In the press release for the show Terranova says, “…this work is in no way metaphysical” and, “…the works in this exhibition collectively make a statement on materiality and materialism”. The full press release can be found on the Craighead Green Gallery website.

There were some elegant works in the show this year that deserve the spotlight. Luis Nieto Dickens’ "City Development Project", a yellow on black woodcut of an aerial city view was a standout. It was direct and restrained. Another work that demonstrated beauty through simplicity was the Jeff Whatley’s sculpture entitled, "The Healer". The work was a vertical slab and a fragment of concrete lashed together and based with steel. It was a compelling example of minimalist sculpture. Finally, the Plexiglas box that contained cascading blond hair by artist Gabe Hochmuth was beautiful and unnerving simultaneously. In Hochmuth’s piece, "Tracy", it is assumed that the work is indebted in more than name alone, but that a piece Tracy’s is in the piece.

There were many fun, colorful and light works in addition to the pieces mentioned here. Actually, whimsy was the broader focus of the show. Having heard a gallery talk at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Terranova expressed an affinity for mundane everyday objects and spaces. This show reiterates her mission from a broader perspective.

Full disclosure: I entered and was rejected from this show. Every effort to steer the topic toward works that I feel truly deserve recognition were made, hopefully in an honest and unprejudiced manner.

Weekend Wish List

The McKinney Avenue Contemporary celebrates it's fifteenth year anniversary with a member's show inspired by the number fifteen. The MAC asked members to submit work that incorporated the number fifteen in the work by any means the artist might choose. There is a lot of work in the show this year, and it is always well attended. Also of note, Gail Sachson will be giving an art talk about the membership show on Wednesday, August 12 from 6:30-7:30 PM. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the Dallas art community and beyond.

The opening is this Saturday from 5:30 - 7:30 PM at The MAC.

Symbolism and Turducken

Heyd Fontenot artist talk at Conduit Gallery, Saturday, July 11, 2009


After a brief introduction by Nancy Whitenack, owner of Conduit Gallery, Heyd Fontenot (pronounced hide font-in-o) began taking questions from the audience. The artist’s easy-going attitude kept the conversation light, even when discussing serious subjects. His muttonchops and blue southwestern shirt with white embroidery was an appropriate compliment to his casual delivery. Many aspects of the artist’s life and art were revealed in the dialogue, beginning with his childhood on a farm in Louisiana.

Heyd Fonenot talked about his early rural lifestyle, part of which meant taking care of livestock. Early on Fontenot developed an affinity for the farm animals, especially goats. His bond with goats remains intact today, though in Austin he is far from the rural setting of his youth. The artist pointed to the tarnished reputation of the goat that he had once bonded with, citing the transformation of the god Pan in the pagan world into a demon in the Christian world as an example of how perceptions shift in time. Fontenot discussed the shift as symbolized in his exhibition with a shoulder mounted silver leafed gazelle, transformed with a beard made from a flokoti (Greek rug) into a goat.

Gluttony was pointed to as another aspect of rural Louisiana life, particularly when it came to food. The marvels of the Turducken were discussed at length. For the uninitiated, a Turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. I have been told that it originates from royal renaissance cuisine. Today it has a more down-home quality. As Fontenot remarked, “If anything is against nature, it has to be stuffing animals one inside another until you can’t fit anymore.”

Ribbons and plaques mounted on the walls with stars, feather plumes, and mounted animal heads point to a commemoration of rituals past. The artist discussed his devotion to the Roman Catholic Church growing up. Eventually he broke from the church at the age of 22 because of the conflict he felt between Catholicism and his sexual persuasion. The importance of symbolism in the religious relics of his formative years resurfaces in his current work. Portraits on wood panels are assembled as though they are altarpieces and point to the artist’s religious conflict through use of pagan symbols.

There is a lot of figurative work in the show, both painted and drawn. The figures are contra-mannerist with child-like proportions; yet, they maintain the feel of an adult body. Working with friends as models, Fontenot takes photos that he uses later for the finished work. The artist said that the abstracted figures were born of an opposition to portraits of a more academic appearance.

Fontenot began outlining the high points of his artistic career by talking about an early installation at Lawndale Art Center in Houston, Texas, that was important. That show helped him find gallery representation in Houston. A move to Austin, Texas, in the 1980s was also an important step in the artist’s development. Today, Fontenot exhibits across the country, including Art Palace in his adopted home of Austin and Conduit Gallery in Dallas, Texas. Heyd Fontenot’s current installation at Conduit, titled “Get Your Wood On,” consists of work completed within the last 14 months. “Get Your Wood On” closes Saturday, July 18, 2009.

Weekend Wish List

This Thursday the Dallas Museum of Art is hosting an artist talk with Mark Bradford. Featured in the fourth season of Art:21, Bradford creates his work from found posters and found street ephemera in Los Angeles. When complete, his works often look like topographical maps.

Please note that Conduit Gallery's 25th Anniversary celebration is this Saturday from 6-8 PM. Congratulations to Conduit owner and director Nancy Whitenack and assistant director Danette Dufilho on this accomplishment.

Weekend Wish List

Conduit Gallery is hosting an artist talk with Heyd Fontenot on Saturday, July 11 at 3 pm. His show at the gallery titled "Get Your Wood On" is heavy with symbolism and allusions. Hopefully some of his references will be illuminated.

Weekend Wish List

Lots of first Thursday shows tonight on Dragon Street and Bishop Arts in Oak Cliff to kick off this independence weekend. The galleries are deep into poppy summer shows at the moment, so get out there and see some of the great work at Conduit, Holly Johnson Gallery and Barry Whistler to name but a few. Also, the Dallas Museum of Art is open until 9 tonight.

Sleep to Dream

Polly Lanning Sparrow's Sleeper at Barry Whistler Gallery

Polly Lanning Sparrow's works in Sleeper are graphically painted panels. Had she hung the works on the wall they would be paintings, but leaning against the wall and sprawled out on the floor they fall into minimalist sculpture territory. There are similarities that can be drawn between these works and those of Ellsworth Kelly or Donald Judd's rhythmic sculptures. They share bright colors, precision and a similar use of space. There is a shared refinement of craft that links these artists.

Painting on panels has rich art historical roots, especially when it comes to religious iconography. Ms. Sparrow's works don't share much visually with icon panel paintings, but like Dan Flavin's spiritual bent using light tube configurations, simplicity lends itself to reverence. The artist's work appears focused on formal concerns, but the title Sleeper is so evocative when placed in a context with icon painting. If this is sleep, are we on the cusp of an awakening?

















Blue Configuration, 2009

















Red & Blue (diptych), 2009

















Red Configuration #2, 2009

Ladies First

Femme Fatale with Virginia Fleck, Sharon Louden, Kim Cadmus Owens, Kim Squaglia, and Sarah Walker at Holly Johnson Gallery

This exhibition is the work of five women, all with their own particular approach and vision for art making. Despite the fact that the show is solely women, it's first a group of artists that fit nicely in the oeuvre of work shown at Holly Johnson Gallery.

Dallas' Kim Cadmus Owens is the only local in the show, and the most exciting with paintings that make roadside scenes look as though they have been digitally unraveled. Breaking apart signage into a streak of colors overlapped with something like yellow channel artifacts from Photoshop, the work was at once traditional painting and contemporary with technological flair.

The plastic bags that were the basis for Viginia Fleck's art didn't transcend their origins, but have an intrinsic value in re-use of materials. The mandala is used for it's meditative and healing properties in the east, and the argument could be made that art from one person's promotional products (that would end up in a landfill) has a healing effect on the environment.

The definition of a femme fatale is an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her. Significantly less ominous than that, this is definitely a group of women artists with a plan.


















Kim Cadmus Owens


















Virginia Fleck

Weekend Wish List

It's time for the summer group shows again. Modeled after the precedent long ago established in New York, Dallas has some potential highlights this Saturday. A constantly rotating group at The Public Trust and Barry Whistler Gallery are catching my eye today.

Cash & Carry: An Ever Rotating Summer Show at The Public Trust

Polly Lanning Sparrow: Sleeper and Leslie Wilkes: Sequel at Barry Whistler Gallery

Decorative Rituals

Rex Ray New Works, Heyd Fontenot, Get Your Woods On and Alejandro Diaz at Conduit Gallery

Danette Dufilho from Conduit mentioned this Rex Ray show during a conversation back in January, and it has been on the calendar since then. His work is highly decorative, using custom printed papers for collage on panel and canvas. The paintings have a great impact at the larger scale and the coating has just the slightest sheen which compliments the work. Out from the decorative springs images that appear botanical on some occasions, as still-lives and other times like something out the book Cabinet of Natural Curiosities.



















Heyd Fontenot's installation of drawings, sculptural work and assorted ornaments had the feel of a secret society lodge with a twist. The installation appears to be in some part inspired by the work of Matthew Barney. It feels too easy to make the reference, but with pagan symbolism and ritualistic artifacts it's hard to get around it. This is not a bad thing. The works on paper are often unflattering portraits of people wrestling, riding or sitting with their doppelgangers. The fetishistic feel of the work could have easily been off putting, but there was something about the show which was undeniably fun to walk through.

Weekend Wish List

A whirlwind trip through part the new exhibit at The DMA was not enough. After the Willie Doherty artist talk there was time to see his exhibit and film and the adjacent rooms, but not the rest of the show in the barrel vault. The show appears to be focused on new and important contemporary art. Friday is the monthly late night at the museum, so it seems like the perfect time to check it out.

Private Universes at The Dallas Museum of Art

To Dream in Digital

Ayman Ali Alamoudi Bio-Digital at Centraltrak

Unlike the popular culture approach to the merging of analog and digital where there is so often a human versus machine motif or a forced integration of the two, this installation had a meditative feel. The use of digital artifacts was the connecting thread that linked a series of paintings, digital reproductions on stretched canvas and two projections.

The projections consisted of moving images projected from slowly spinning turntables onto layers of scrim that had been hung in spiral pathways from the ceiling. I had the feeling of anticipation while I walked through the spiral. That feeling was the the most compelling part of the projections for me. The images themselves had a retro look and did interact with the body as they spun, hence the Bio-digital title of the show.

The group of paintings that referenced those same digital artifacts were hung along a corridor and were well crafted graphic works. As self contained pieces they were the most aesthetically pleasing part of the show. In contrast the projections were attempting to achieve something more conceptual, a peaceful merging of analog and digital.

Weekend Wish List

It looks like there may be some good gallery openings this Saturday. I'm happy that I'm on the e-mail list for Conduit and Holly Johnson, because neither was listed on Glasstire, and only Holly Johnson was listed on THE Mag. Rex Ray will be at Conduit, and it's been on the list since January.

Virginia Fleck, Sharon Louden, Kim Cadmus Owens, Kim Squaglia, Sarah Walker in Femme Fatale at Holly Johnson

Rex Ray, Heyd Fontenot, Project Room: Alejandro Diaz at Conduit Gallery