This weekend in Dallas art scene

Me and Croft Gallery in Waco

Thank you Croft Gallery for a great opening and I hope to see many more people through this month at the gallery.  "A Fine Art Gallery in downtown Waco, TX" They are open from 8:30am - 8pm Monday-Friday and by appointment. My show comes down the 24th.

Mayo Clinic Art Collection

While I was at the Mayo Clinic in 2000, I got to see a great art collection. Here is a list of some of the works I saw and I thought was interesting.

Endangered Species prints by Andy Warhol
A print by Alexander Calder
a George Barque piece
a print by Dant Carlson, Barbara Helpworth, Romare Beardon, Rausnanberg, Marind
a piece titled Fusion Plastique by Yaacon Agam
a fiber piece by Saysten
a mural on the 5th floor by Fred Conway
an oil painting titled "Genesis," Leonardo Nierman
a piece by Tir A L'Arc
Joan Miro's etching
J Hopkins painting
painting by Solomon
JP Vielfaure
print by Kaushen S.

Plenty of other artists were at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. They also had a cute Fine Art Center within walking distance of the hospital.

Econ painting test

Here is a something I tried out in grad school which really didn't go anywhere, but I still enjoy the work.

Croft Art Gallery features Todd Camplin

The Croft Art Gallery features Todd Camplin in a show titled "Words." The reception is Friday, May 3rd at 6pm to 9pm. The reception will also feature jazz music by the Josh Porter Trio. The show will run until May 25th.

At Dallas University gallery today

Moving towards Daniel Zeller

Well I have been working on claybord of late and I seem to be making work that relates to Daniel Zeller's ink work. I got this image from another blog. I love the expansive biological structures that seem to grow out to form repeating lines. His work is very fractal and very classically beautiful. His work is extremely attractive and I keep returning to these wonderfully inspired drawings. I take a different approach in some ways, because I am primarily base off of text where his is more organic and less structured. I look forward to seeing more of his work. I saw a few pieces at some art fair recently, but I am always seeking more opportunities to see his work live, because you see so much more than an image on the web or a book. The Pierogi Gallery has a nice collection of his work.

The State of the Art: Contemporary Artists in Texas, Second Edition

Thanks to art critic June Mattingly, I have been included in The State of the Art: Contemporary Artists in Texas, Second Edition. A nice E-book of artists currently working in Texas. I enjoy Mattingly's writings about art and I am honored to be included in her artists to watch category. I hope I can live up to her expectations. Most of the artists I was familiar with and some I have even written about myself, so it was nice to see I am on the same page with an important critic like June Mattingly.

Maxim #34

The only way you can get past reading text is make it an object which returns the letters to its base form as a picture.

Irby Pace

Some interesting images by a photographer at 500x,

Maxim #11

We are taught to appricate the word as meaning and not as an object. The letter A is a triangle on stilts, but our brains only sees "A" as a word or letter.

Maxim #24

When you veiw words, you automaticly read it. You just read this.

Michelson Museum of Art

Nice little museum in Marshall which I enjoyed visiting over spring break. Here is some of the work by Leo Michelson, Carrick, and Michelson.

WELLS MASON GALLERY

Jennifer Chenoweth - Fringes

ModAustin.net repost

A few weeks ago, I made the rounds on the Austin Studio Tour. I was in a show across the way from Wells Mason Gallery, so I had the pleasure of visiting the space a few times. I was able to take my time with each art work and really consider each piece. The current show has art by Jennifer Chenoweth, Larry Graeber, Jim Huntington, and Wells Mason.

Jennifer Chenoweth's paintings first caught my attention. The patterns and colors seemed familiar like an old friend and I connected to them because of the balance of imagery along with boldness of colors. The gestures seemed quick, but well trained in execution. The flat sculptures on the wall are cut rusted metal, but almost look naturally rusted as if they had fallen off of some old farm equipment. The drawings hinted to some of the elements in the sculpture and paintings. Clearly these drawings are a foundation of all her work.

Jim Huntington had several stone pieces that looked to be from an unknown ancient civilization. The piece, “A Leg to Stand On,” had precarious imbalance that made you want to come in close and see part of the stone hover. The counter balance part of the stone contrasted in size and texture. This part of the rock looked un-carved and rough, while the other smaller side was smooth. Although these works are somewhat small, filling a table space, I see them as having the same quality as that of monuments, because their presence implies the commemoration of something great.

Larry Graeber’s off kilter geometric paintings were loose and free. The paint was thick and Graeber was uninterested in creating a hard edge, but rather he wanted to show a more process and paint piece. Graeber’s sculptures were mimicking functionality through a quirky weird aesthetic that fits Austin persona.

Wells Mason also shows his work in the gallery space. He produces unique functional objects that maintain a lot of sculptural properties. His furniture is expressive and well crafted, but his purely sculptural objects really caught my attention. In the tradition of minimalists like Donald Judd, Mason keeps the work simple, but Mason steps away for the past through painting the surface and adding geometric space, hidden between his forms. His sculptures only allow for a side view of his painted shapes, so naturally occurring perspective always obscures the shapes.

Wells Mason is not only an intellectual craftsman and artist; he is also concerned about other artists and their pursuits. He promotes artists though his gallery, but also through photographing artists and their works. The gallery is open to the public by appointment.

ModAustin.net for more images

Oliver Rafferty Gallery

I feel like I fell back in time to And Or Gallery. But here I was 2013, and I was witnessing a gallery space that meet a real cool factor, without try hard at all. Unlike the trashy Dallas Contemporary which tries to be cool, but fails epicly; this small space speaks far better to a youthful crowd than any DC party. You don't feel your being talk down to, but rather you are there for an experience. I can see why they made the top 10 coolest galleries in Dallas.

Official Launch of http://camplinte.com/home.html

This is the official launch of my new and improved website featuring my art. This new site is clearer, the images are easier to see and the navigation is better. Here is the link to the page at Camplinte.com
Enjoy and I look for any feedback on what would make the site better. I have more images and links to add, but I think it is finished enough to be open for viewing.

Paul Booker from my phone

I took a few pictures of Booker's work. His work is amazing and I am so glad he is with Cris Worley Gallery.

ANGELA KALLUS

Angela Kallus, Black Relief, 2012, acrylic on canvas over panel, 42 x 42 x 4 in.

ModernDallas.net repost

Few artists have the power to completely floor me on my first encounter, but back in the day when Angstrom Gallery was buzzing, Oh6 Collective was showing, and Dragon Street wasn't much of a gallery destination; I saw a wild painting by Angela Kallus. It was a painting that used cake tool applications to create a colorful and richly textured work. I nearly fell over, wishing I could meet this person that had managed to make something so close to the edge of kitsch, but then envelopes you into a feeling of sublime bliss.

But nothing can compare to that moment in front of her work. Then, bam, I walked up the stairs of Marty Walker Gallery and there I stood again, with work that seems similar in style to the paintings I saw before, but these were mostly solid color paintings with some subtle variances. Kallus’ choice of color reflects a color palette that is a little richer than you might get from cake frosting, but the idea of frosting comes across loud and clear. Kallus’ flowers were once again applied by cake tools. The flowers vary in size and appear to create patterns of circles and slash marks.

I just got lost in all those endless pressed out roses. I keep feeling that this should be campy, but somehow Kallus transcends the silly with her carefully obsessive placement of flowers. Kallus is taking imposto style painting to a kind of absorbed end; a kind of Eugen Ionescu’s play on panel.

Back in 2005, I was told she lived in Las Vegas. All kinds of preconceptions have swirled in my head about that town, and due to this cloud of negativity, I completely discounted any kind of art community. However, if Angela Kallus is any indication of the art scene over there, I need to book a flight and see works that just might make me long for more with their unforgettable quality. For me, the wait was much too long to see more of Kallus’ paintings.

You have till February 16th to see these New Works by Angela Kallus, but I hope Marty Walker keeps one or two in back stock so I can peek in now and then to get my Kallus fix. Take a look at Dion Johnson’s and Sarah Williams’ paintings in the back room. You will not want to miss your desert after your eyes have had Kallus for the main course.

 ModernDallas.net for more images.

GAIL PETER BORDEN

Installation View

ModernDallas.net repost

Galleri Urbane in Dallas has stretched into a recently vacated space and added a back stock room. This shifting and adding space is a perfect segue to the open implied space created in Gail Peter Borden’s paintings. Much like the tiny labyrinth space of Galleri Urbane, you feel as if you could peek around the corners of each architecturally inspired art work. You don’t have to know that this is Director of the Master of Architecture Program at University of Southern California to see Peter Borden is obsessed with building and design.

choices. I would even say he has a kind of Ellsworth Kelly understanding of color combinations, only Peter Borden adds dimensionality to his work. You could imagine each work being a sketch for a 14th century composition. Peter Borden allows the elegance of simplicity to capture and hold your attention. I can’t tell you how many times I went back to different works just for the experience of getting lost in them. Though the lines and shape harken back to the distant past, they also reminded me of the recent past video game era, with simple walls that allowed you to navigate another world. Very bright minimal VGA colors populated the maze games with which I happily wasted hours of playtime.

The walls of drawings were tiny renderings of monumental structures. Almost like each structure was in the far distance. And every piece of paper is held up with those rare earth magnets which complement rather than distract from the work. I can’t tell you how much fun I had flipping through his book and discovering little gems of paintings and drawings. The entry way has five shelves of jars with painted architectural ideas. I dismissed them at first, but after see the rest of the show filled with glossy paintings, I came back for a second look. The glass shimmered in the light and what I thought was a silly installation piece; help me to appreciate the rest of work even more. The bottles remind us that these works are also products. The paintings and drawings could be the beginning of products in the real world or they could be enjoyed in and of themselves.

The show was so clean and quiet that it was a little jolting to walk toward the back and see the variety of other artists’ work. I resisted petting the sheep and the blue and white fish installation, although the surfaces were calling to me. Gail Peter Borden’s show titled “Surface Structures,” will be up through February 16th.

ModernDallas.net for more images

TREY EGAN

 

Migration

ModernDallas.net repost

When I first saw Trey Egan’s paintings, I had made a visit to the University of North Texas to see an artist. I really didn’t think much of his art. I thought the work was too muddy, too random and I didn’t spend a great deal of time looking at the piece. The next time I encountered his painting was at Cris Worley Fine Art, but this time I took a little more time and began the see the variety of marks and the composition which I had not fully appreciated before, but I was still left a little unsure of my opinion. Was this noise, or was there flow and method to his abstraction?

I felt like some sort of narrative was involved but I couldn’t quite place it. Were the colors too understated or was his subtle stroke of colors balancing to the composition? Well, last weekend ended my internal debate and I began to kick myself for being so dismissive earlier.

Trey Egan’s solo show at Cris Worley Fine Art was a game changer. I suddenly realized his work was not about each individual mark randomly applied, but rather an intuitive stroke by stroke story of paint applied in time to create a truly all over effect of abstraction. This is not your AbEx rehash, but rather Egan has returned to the heart of abstract art. Egan goes back to Kandinsky to draw from his ever shifting and moving composition.

Just point to a random spot on Egan’s canvas, follow that paint mark to another, then move your eyes across the surface and allow Egan to guide you around the surface; you will find yourself lost in these shapes and brush strokes. You are experiencing the unfolding story of paint and the painting process. No attempt to fool you with something representational; Egan wants you to journey with him to a space and time that his process played out.

For me, what were muddy paintings has become further application for paint as mark making. And now, what was random is now more like musical improvising. I am glad it took me a while to come around to his work, because I was able to reconsider my own approach to viewing art. I find artists work I initially dislike and grow to love, tend to sustain my interest over the years; more so than those that I instantly fall in love with. Maybe it is an intellectual hurdle to a new understanding of aesthetic, or the familiarity of the works breeds riskier leaps of personal taste. Whatever reason, I have arrived at a place where Trey Egan’s paintings speak to me.

According to Egan, his only real career passion is making art, so I look forward to seeing more paintings from him in the near future. Right now you can see his work at Cris Worley Fine Art until February 16th.

ModernDallas.net for more images.

Andy Warhol: Supervillian

Andy Warhol and actor Tom McCamus (aka Mason Eckhart) from the really bad series Mutant X back in 2001 had some common traits which made the show watchable, if only to throw insults and make Pop art references. I remember watching it every week with a friend or two, where we would attack the show with a barrage of MST3K style verbal quips. The Mason Eckhart character was particularly amusing with wig and Andy Warhol look which spurred me on to re-read The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and I spent hours at the book store reading their copy of Andy Warhol's Diary - until is sold, just so I could get more obscure references to throw out during the show. Personally, I think Warhol might have liked someone portraying him as a Supervillian, at least his likeness. I just hope Tom McCamus was aware of this likeness, because he sure hammed it up on the screen.
IMDB has a list of posthumous appearances as a character.

ArtStack

I discovered ArtStack. This site is a poor person's way of collecting art. Really it is a way to build a visual language that exemplifies a person's taste. I highly recommend this site to anyone that wants to expand their passion for art and art images. I learned a great deal about artists' just for the visual information this site provides. Of course this is a social site, so do a little research before you add some work to your stack to make sure your artist really made the work. Like Wikipedia, the site is policed by users. I have stacked a few of my own works, plus I am starting to stack some of my friends and people I have reviewed. You will also learn about new artists out there just by seeing the images and stacking them in your own stack.

CASEY WILLIAMS + RANDY TWADDLE at Holly Johnson Gallery

Casey Williams - Untitled D - 2012 - 48X48 inches

ModernDallas.net repost

Last weekend was incredibly fun with lots of stops around the Dallas area. But there were only a few places I wanted to linger and really absorb the art. One such stop was Holly Johnson Gallery with the photos of Casey Williams (Casey passed January 1st of West Nile virus, our thought and prayers are with his family) and drawings by Randy Twaddle.

Casey Williams’ photographs were a real shift from his images of the sea and ships. I have always thought that Williams was attempting to allude to the language of painting, particularly abstract artists such as Rothko or Louis Morris. These sea works were atmospheric and used strong minimalist lines, but in this show it would seem that Williams has fully embraced photography for its own sake. It seems to point to painting or any mode of art production other than the photo as its own process and language.

This embrace of the form makes for a major shift in Williams’ work. One “Untitled” piece shows rusted pipes and metal structures, and in this image is a depth of field effect where images blur and distort bases of the function of the camera. In older works I have seen, it seems Williams hid this effect of the camera, but in this body of work he embraces it.

Randy Twaddle is showing his coffee and ink drawings in the front gallery. These works on paper are informally hung with tacks, but instead of detracting from the aesthetic, somehow it made the work more approachable. After all, many of the drawing were massive or had the presence of monuments. Twaddle took them down a peg, and reassured us that these drawings are open and free, not stuffy and formal. Look at how he uses dark and light coffee spills across the paper so effortlessly. These organic forms mirror the darkest of black ink drawn power lines in the foreground.

Randy Twaddle is another artist that has made an interesting transition. His highly well rendered word drawing on ribbon seems strongly rooted in conceptual art, but Twaddle has poured out some of the heaviness in favor of spontaneity and high contrast. The conceptual art is still there, only more subversive and subtle. One could see this work through the lens of geopolitical politics. What is Twaddle saying about the industry of coffee and power companies? Another lens could be social. What is Twaddle saying about power lines polluting our visual experience of the sky? Just all kinds of questions began to pop in my head, which tells me Twaddle is doing something very interesting and thought provoking.

Holly Johnson has two artists that have developed some new directions in their works. My heart goes out to Cssey Willimas' family and I want them to know that his current show was a wonderful experience. Casey Williams’ work will be up until February 16th and Randy Twaddle will have his drawings up until March 16th.

ModernDallas.net for more images.

DU CHAU + LETITIA HUCKABY at Kirk Hopper Fine Art

Letitia Huckaby - Sarena, 2012, pigment print on watercolor
paper, 20" x 30," Edition of 7

ModernDallas.net repost

I was out Thursday of last week, visiting art galleries and most everyone was gearing up for this weekend. Even the MADI museum is opening with a Victor Varsarely show that will be a must see. Kirk Hopper Fine Art was installing their show and I briefly met their featured artist Du Chau. His politically charged photographs were prominently featured in the large space, but for me Letitia Huckaby's combined work titled "Bygone" stole the show.

Letitia Huckaby is a hybrid form artist, who uses photography with textile crafts, creates images rooted in her family narrative. Though this show references only quilted material as part of her subject matter; I can still feel a real continuity with her older work. Her central figure is a ghostly powerful shadow showing through the decorative quilted sheet. Huckaby is not depicting a tragic history as Kara Walker's silhouettes, but shadows of a more recent past filled with hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future. I felt lifted up by Huckaby's work. A history of family was implied in the figure and the quilted sheet only bolsters that idea.

I recall briefly visiting her studio in grad school. Huckaby was printing photos on quilts then and a few of her photo colleagues grumbled about her process. They didn’t understand that all material is open to being printed upon and photography isn’t limited to the purely traditional material of paper. Most photography tells a story and Huckaby weaves in a stronger narrative by using or depicting her textiles.

Though Du Chau silkscreen prints his images; the work looked like your basic Photoshop messing collage. Chau generally created two juxtaposed images to create a narrative, which made for a quick read of his idea. In the work, We Live, We Die, I felt the present image was an interesting picture of people tending rice fields, but his use of the past image felt too iconic and familiar to have strong effects. I did like Point of View, for its obscured image of a rice farm with simple patterned fruit like shapes, but even this image felt a bit clumsily applied.

Sometimes I see a show again, and I find that I am dead wrong about my first impressions, so show, but I’ve got a feeling I will once again find myself lingering long, and feeling the amazing presence radiating from Huckaby’s pieces.

ModernDallas.net for more images.

RICARDO PANIAGUA at RE Gallery + studio

"AL-113" - Media Poly Chromed Cast Resin
7.5"x10"x1.5"

ModernDallas.net repost.

The Cedars neighborhood has a history of visual art outposts that have cropped up and made south of I30 an interesting place to visit. RE gallery + studio has converted an old shotgun style house into a rustic and intimate space that is inviting, and tonight they open with new works of the prolific, colorful artist Ricardo Paniagua.

When I came to the gallery Thursday, Paniagua was installing the show. Each work was still packed up and lying on the floor. As he unpacked each piece, I felt like I was having a second Christmas. Though this was a series of work, each was like a little experiment. The premise to each piece was that he used resin that was pressed with various types of tin foil to create patterns and textures. Most of the art work was mounted on thick particle wood material. Some were painted, others were just pure color resin, and I recall one wasn’t even mounted. The treatment of the surface ranged from pieces with caked on paint to art works using smooth transition of colors. When Paniagua hung the pieces on the wall, a few of them glowed around the edges from the flamboyant paint he used.

I say these are experiments, because any number of Paniagua’s 34, 7 inch by 10 inch pieces could be a new direction for the next few years. If you are familiar with his past work, he is known for splashy large paintings that use hard edge monumental and minimal images that accompany a kind of action painting background. His cube sculptures have been popping up in different group shows too. These works are also hard edge and are musings on cube forms and geometric relationships. A little HJ Bott, a little MADI and plenty of Paniagua, these works were really quite formal. But those ideas seem to have only crept into some of these small works at RE gallery. The surface has become Paniagua’s muse, and geometry is incidental. Hills and valleys of texture are created through his process, and his painting is a reaction to the process. He is attempting to create an object/painting that looks like it is wrapped in an animal skin or a topographical map surface. One piece reminds me of the tin foil wrapper over a frozen food dinner. I think his method of mounting the resin to another material makes these works more related to paintings. Maybe a more seamless transition from mount to resin would strengthen his objective to expand the conversation on the object/painting subject.

Ricardo Paniagua has taken all kinds of risks in these works. Some, I imagine, will not lead very far in his future work, but many will become his transitional pieces that will inform all new bodies of work. RE gallery will be the place to be Friday night and I believe Paniague will continue to surprise us with these new artistic developments. Ricardo Paniagua’s show “Champ” opens tonight and goes through February 1st.

ModernDallas.net for more images

Detail of Art Work

One of my friends has always got on to me about needing detail shots of my work. So here are some detail shots of a piece I am working to finish. It drawing is 70 inches x 138 inches. I will share the complete drawing when I get it all completed. Title "...Was..Tool...Time.." from a Fred Turner Poem.

 

Close up detail

 

1/3 of the drawing

 

 

2 more details



JOHN HOLT SMITH at William Campbell Contemporary Art

Hubble Oculus #1, 2011
Acrylic Enamel on aluminum
48 x 48 in

ModernDallas.net repost.

Fort Worth is known for its great art museums. The Fort Worth Modern, the Kimbell, and the Amon Carter make for a full day of art emersion; however, if you’re like me, the museums leave you hungry for more. William Campbell Contemporary Art often feeds that need to see up and coming/established artists. I find sometimes William Campbell’s exhibitions out shine the shows at the museums. The gallery’s current show of John Holt Smith has long been anticipated, at least by me.

I have seen John Holt Smith in several group shows, but this is the first solo show I have seen with his large circle pieces along with his ‘Infinite Blooms’ series. For those not familiar with his work, Holt Smith uses photographs and then he digitally stretches the image to create the lines, which he then paints this sequence of lines on aluminum panels. With this process, he also creates unique prints face-mounted on acrylic.

Holt Smith is getting at the essence or as he says, ‘the signature’ of the photograph, through abstraction. The source photograph still retains the color information reflected like groves of a record in the round works. In the ‘Infinite Blooms’ show the information appears more like I imagine FM radio waves might appear visually. With the series of work titled ‘Infinite Blooms,’ I can assume Holt Smith is referencing more floral illusions, however, his process implies a more digital/machine made aesthetic. Like the urban plans of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, Holt Smith strips out all the organic and irregular details of the landscapes and leaves a purely mathematical, logically organized world.

His aluminum panel paintings appear to float off the walls. Every part of Holt Smith’s art seems completely machine made. The lines and colors are perfect. I’m reminded of Ian Davenport’s line paintings that begin to bleed and shift, but Holt Smith leaves nothing to chance. Each line curves in what appears to be a purely deterministic algorithm.

John Holt Smith’s earlier line paintings mirrored a whole host of other artists doing similar work, but he has managed to take his concept of digital manipulation and keep the essential element of abstract, while breaking away from the pack of other artists. He is now stretching and shaping his information into flows of colorful lines that curve to capture your attention. William Campbell Contemporary Art will display John Holt Smith’s work until January 5th.

ModernDallas.net for more images.

WILLIAM CANNINGS at Cris Worley Fine Arts

Ascend/Descend, 2012
inflated steel, powder coat nylon
59 x 42 x 60 inches

A Repost from ModernDallas.net

One art movement I love a great deal is minimalism. It took until my last year as an undergraduate to even begin to appreciate this kind of art, but by the time I started writing about art, I was continually singing its praises. Now a great deal of art created today uses minimalism either as a further conversation with the ideas of quiet spaces, or deal with minimalism as a subversive agent. I have no doubt that William Cannings appreciates the minimalist aesthetics; however, he also doesn’t seek to take it too seriously.

It would seem that Cannings is mix matching the very Pop sensibility with the minimal approach. He uses a sleek single color finish on each piece, some are a car finish and other pieces are powder coat nylon. The sculptures come from everyday inflatable objects, which he tends to do in multiples. “Cairn,” is made up of 12 shiny purple inflated steel pillows. Each pillow is attached by the intake valve and the work can take different shapes each time it is displayed. Half the fun of seeing a multiple piece work by Cannings, is to see how he chooses to arrange the work from show to show.

I can’t help but think of Andy Warhol’s mylar helium balloons, or Jeff Koons’ inflated metal lobster or balloon animals. Several of Cannings works take the shape of Wahol’s famous installation pieces. I think this has as much to do with Cannings being influenced by Warhol as to the fact that Cannings is using similar available shapes. I think Cannings has managed to avoid falling into total kitsch like Koons, because Cannings keeps it simple, while allowing the interplay of multiple objects within one piece. Thus, a sense of amazement enters in, transcending the ordinariness of his subject matter. Cannings is right there on the edge of kitsch, which is a dangerous cliff to play near, but he clearly has a good handle on balancing his work.

Cannings recently took down a show in Houston of his massive inflated metal sculptures, which are slated to be up at Cris Worley Fine Arts. Cannings is showing some new works in this show, so I can’t wait to go to the opening this Saturday from 6 pm to 8pm. “Soft Cell,” is a great title for the show because this metal work only suggests softness, but if you ask Cris Worley or Cannings, I bet they might let you feel the piece for yourself.

ModernDallas.net for more images.

2012 IN REVIEW

Installation View - John Pomara at Barry Whistler Gallery

ModernDallas.net repost

This time of year, you are bound to read list upon list of top 10’s, best of 2012, and other types of yearlong reflections that attempt to distill some highlights the writer observed over the year. Well, I would like to say I am different, but this is my first full year writing for moderndallas.net and we all have a lot to reflect upon. Like the show that just came down at Tully and Dunn Gallery, David Bates captivates me still with his deceptively complex paintings. My two year old loved the owl sculptures, and who wouldn’t. These Picasso like structures were informal, playful objects that played the role of something creepy and foreboding.

500X maybe an old art collective, but with their constant rotation of active member artists keep the place fresh with happenings. I admire their handling of the curated and juried shows. 500X seems to be Dallas’ laboratory for artists to experiment and take risks. I might have mentioned Benjamin Terry once or twice this year. Well, he has his MFA show upstairs, and in my opinion it is a great place to have your thesis show. Back in 2010 my work looked great up there too. Artists like Bernardo Cantu, Timothy Harding, Nate Glaspie, and Laura Doughtie; among others, make the place a joy to visit on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Cris Worley’s new space must be a dream come true for her, and with so much more space, comes bigger shows for her artists. Don’t get me wrong, the old space was nice an intimate, but Worley and her artists were bound to outgrow it. I enjoyed the works by William Cannings, but I am truly looking forward to her 2013 shows. Barry Whistler Gallery’s expansion a while back, allowed for an epic show of John Pomara’s digital disintegration artworks.

The MAC has a great deal of variety in their exhibitions, but I was quite taken by the home-less- bound group show, lead by the works of Robert Mateo Diago. The show was strong on social commentary, without being preachy or arbitrarily confrontational. But you have to travel to Fort Worth to see Brand 10 Art Space, for consistently blockbuster type shows. The mix of artists in each show I have seen is inspired. A real dialog occurs between the artworks that not all curators can accomplish. The Tim, Titus, Tom, and Cameron show was one where you would kick yourself if you missed it.

Traveling around to the colleges and community colleges to see shows has been a worthwhile experience. The Gallery at UTA had a great show on painting, titled “The Medium is the Message.” Richland College has stretched their exhibition space outside the gallery, complementing their shows in the traditional space.

Looking at art for ModernDallas.net this year has been a great opportunity. I have traveled to places and seen more work in 2012 than I thought one person could possibly manage, but with careful planning and a few suggestions from the community; it has been a really positive experience. One I hope to repeat next year.

ModernDallas.net for more images

More of my work took from my phone

Ink on paper from poems I collected from friends.