image: Heath West. Villa Goldstein (2018), acrylic and oil on linen, 52×48 in. Galleri Urbane
September began last Saturday, but many of the galleries are waiting until this weekend to launch their openings. Both the Dallas and Fort Worth areas have some worthy shows launching. I have made my list of must-sees for this season’s gallery openings.
First on my list of must-visits is the EMERITA: A retrospective of Debora Hunter and Mary Vernon. This photography and painting show will be held at the Southern Methodist University Pollock Gallery. It is not often you get a retrospective that is a paring of artists. Retrospectives are almost always solo affairs, so I am extremely intrigued by this unusual idea of showing two artists’ body of work over their careers. I am sure there are a series of works in Hunter and Vernon’s past I would like to further explore.
Next, I would head over to the Dallas Design District. Liliana Bloch Gallery would be the first gallery I would want to visit because of Simón Vega’s space fantasies. His blueprint like paintings of cold war era spacecraft and crew flood the mind with the spirit and optimism of space race. You might not think about it from outside the United States, but much of the developing world was watching and having their own dreams about space. I hope to talk to the artist about the Central American experience in the age of the space rocket.
Near Liliana Bloch Gallery is Galleri Urbane, and I will happily pop over to see the Heath West show. I know these are simple paintings of windows, but I feel West’s paintings will be much more when I am standing in front of them. I am a sucker for simple, quiet pieces. I think the minimalism mixed with representation will be a winning combination.
Beaudry Gallery again has created another group show that looks very promising. The show comprises of four artists. The show includes Brian Ryden abstract paintings, Tom Costa’s dense black and white ink on paper, Jacob Feige assemblage paintings, and Kate Colin’s bold abstract works. Costa and Colin will be the first works I gravitate towards, but I am willing to give Ryden and Feige a fair shake when I see the work.
One must see of the season is the return of Plush Gallery after a six-year missing in action. They are opening up with a group show of ten artists. Plush is a gallery that has pushed the envelope when it came to controversial or odd art. They didn’t shy away from a few standard fair works as well, but even those were often emerging artists, which is always a risk for a gallery to take.
Lastly, I have to know what is in The Reading Room this month. The show features Thomas Feulmer’s yellow plaster tablets with text. I mean, who doesn’t want to read quotes from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Especially if the quotes come from the episode four through six. You will find The Reading Room full of surprises.
All these shows open on September 8th. Check out the Dallas Art Dealers Association website for other show openings. It is DADA’s annual gallery walk night.
