Kiki Smith Artists Lecture at University of North Texas, Eagle Student Services Center, Room 255 — January 29, 7 p.m. 1147 Union Circle, Denton, TX 76201.
Kiki Smith Opening Reception at UNT on the Square — January 30, 7-9 p.m. 109 N. Elm St., Denton, TX 76201.
Kiki Smith is this year’s big name get at UNT (last year saw Nick Cave), and while the artist will be working with students at the university, the public will benefit from a lecture and an exhibition. For an introduction to Smith’s work, here’s an Art 21 feature followed by a conversation between Smith and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago director Madeleine Grynsztejn from 2011.
DB14 at The Goss Michael Foundation — February 1, 6-8 p.m. 1405 Turtle Creek Blvd. Dallas ,TX 75207.
Two years ago this spring, Dallas was hit with biennial fever. At the center of it was the Dallas Contemporary, which staged a biennial exhibition in conjunction with the Dallas Art Fair as a tongue-in-cheek way of questioning the curatorial conceit behind the biennial form. Concurrently, Dallas Biennial, a artist-run collaborative made up of Michael Mazurek and Jesse Morgan Barnett (and at one point C.J. Davis, though the artist is no longer listed as a DB “principal”), quietly staged its first installment. That event seemingly took the idea of a biennial at face value, as an opportunity to gather a cross section of artists together and take stock of the art and curatorial methods seemingly relevant in a given moment. In-the-flesh exhibitions were complemented by an online component which continued to role out digital contributions in the two years since the inaugural event. DB also lacked the opportunistic hoopla that makes the Texas Biennial, which took place last year, feel like a little cousin to the biennials anyone in the art world actually pays attention to. In that way, the Dallas Biennial, adopting a tone that combined high-minded concept with a scrappy, below-the-radar approach, offered its own reflection on the value and purpose of using the arbitrary excuse of an even-numbered year to launch an art fest.
For their second edition, DB14 has expanded, roping in a greater number of local venues and broadening their artist list. This weekend’s particularly dense opening event at the Goss-Michael Foundation features, naturally, some artists from the UK (Conrad Atkinson, Derk Boshier), alongside a lineup of American conceptual artists, including Martha Rosler, Stephen Lapthisophon, Jospeh Grigely, and Adrian Piper. Thomas Lawson will be given a 20-plus work retrospective, spanning a 27-year period in his career. The rest of the month will include the following exhibitions:
The Goss Michael Foundation: Saturday, February 1, 6-8 p.m.
Eastfield College: Friday, February 7, 5-7 p.m.
Beefhaus Gallery: Saturday, February 8, 7-9 p.m.
8500 N. Stemmons Fwy, Suite 3025 & 3020-G: Saturday, February 8, 5-7 p.m.
Oliver Francis Gallery: Saturday, February 15, 6-8 p.m.
Here are all of this weekend’s openings:
WEDNESDAY
Kiki Smith Artists Lecture at University of North Texas, Eagle Student Services Center, Room 255 — January 29, 7 p.m. 1147 Union Circle, Denton, TX 76201.
CADD BUSS TOUR: Cohn Drennan, Kiki Smith Exhibition and Lecture at UNT , departs Cohn Drennan Contemporary — January 29, 2-9 p.m. 1107 Dragon St, Dallas, TX 75207.
Lecture: Jose Selgas at the Dallas Architecture Forum at The Magnolia Theatre — January 30, 7 p.m. 3699 Mckinney Ave #100, Dallas, TX 75204.
THURSDAY
Kiki Smith Opening Reception at UNT on the Square — January 30, 7-9 p.m. 109 N. Elm St., Denton, TX 76201.
FRIDAY
Faculty Biennial XIV at the University of Texas at Arlington — January 31, 5:30-8 p.m. 502 S. Cooper St. Room #169, Arlington, TX 76019
SATURDAY
DB14 at The Goss Michael Foundation — February 1, 6-8 p.m. 1405 Turtle Creek Blvd. Dallas ,TX 75207.
Chinese New Year Festival — The Year of the Horse at the Crow Collection of Asian Art — February 1, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. 2010 Flora St., Dallas, TX 75201.
Crass: reflections on the necessities of commodification, closing and lecture at The Reading Room — February 1, 5 p.m. 3715 Parry Ave., Dallas, TX 75226.
Ultra/Sensory at (wo)manorial — February 1-April 19 Online Exhibition at womanorial.com
Image: Thomas Lawson, Figures, 1977 (detail) oilstick, 22×30 inches
