skip to main |
skip to sidebar
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
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
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
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
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. 
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
Posts
