After the typically quiet summer for galleries and museums throughout Dallas and Fort Worth, September marks the beginning of the art calendar. The line up of exhibitions across the city for the fall season features nationally important museum exhibitions rewriting long standing histories, homegrown talent making it big internationally, and a rogue takeover of a historic home.
Here are the 10 you need to make time for.
Chateau Show, Aldredge House
Last year, Dallas artists Joel Murray and Clint Bargers assembled a collection of regional artists to participate in a group show with a unique twist. Murray invited those artists to scope out the various nooks and crannies of the historic Aldredge House on Swiss Avenue, where he works as the caretaker, and choose a room to exhibit a work, or three, of art. During the limited visiting hours, guests to the show explored the property, discovering sculptures and paintings everywhere from the library to the conservatory. Now, in its second year, Chateau Show, is the fall’s can’t miss exhibition.
This year’s stacked roster of roughly 20 artists includes Zeke Williams, Lucia Simek, River Shell, and Keer Tanchak. Stop by this weekend’s opening reception for a chance to explore this 105-year old, Georgian style home and see these artists in an entirely new environment.
Public open hours for Chateau Show are 5 – 8 pm Saturday, September 23 at the Aldredge House, 5500 Swiss Ave.
Groundswell: Women of Land Art
If you can name a land artist, it’s probably one of three men who were making work in the 1960s. This exhibit isn’t about them. Nasher Sculpture Center curator Leigh Arnold is writing a new draft of the history of land art with Groundswell: Women of Land Art, an exhibition that has already been named one of the exhibitions to see this fall by the New York Times. Exhibiting artists include Maren Hassinger, Lita Albuquerque, Nancy Holt, and the only new work in the show—a site specific commission by Mary Miss.
Groundswell: Women of Land Art runs September 23 – January 7, 2024. Hours and information here.
Jammie Holmes: Make the Revolution Irresistible
If you’re up on your contemporary artists, Jammie Holmes is likely a name you’ve already come across. If not, this exhibition at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth proves to be a good introduction. (Eve Hill-Agnus profiled the artist and the exhibition for us here.)
We’ve been writing about him for years, but the Dallas painter came to public attention in 2020. He created an art project for which he hired planes to pull George Floyd’s final words through the sky above five American cities. Since then, his career as a serious painter has kept him in the spotlight. The work on display in Fort Worth explores contemporary Black histories through the lens of Holmes and his family and loved ones.
Make the Revolution Irresistible runs through November 26 at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Hours and information here.
Beya Gille Gacha: Hide and Seek
It’s no secret we’re big fans of what’s happening at Keijsers Koning. The current show is an excellent example of what we like about the gallery’s program. This exhibit by Cameroonian artist Beya Gille Gacha is unlike anything you’ll see in commercial spaces; it’s delightfully interesting to spend time with, a little strange, and draws on deep meaningful inspirations. Like many of the exhibits prior, Hide and Seek contains both sculpture and painting, creating an immersive experience.
Hide and Seek remains on display at Keijsers Koning through October 7. Hours and information here.
Ja’Tovia Gary: I Know It Was Blood
Another artist with Dallas ties making a splash in contemporary art right now is Ja’Tovia Gary, who was profiled by Hill-Agnus in our September issue. Some of her video work is on display at the MoMa in New York City right now, but the Dallas Museum of Art’s exhibit is likely an easier trip.
I Know It Was Blood remains on display at Dallas Museum of Art through November 5. Hours and information here.
Ryan Hawk: A Long Leash
One of the gems of the Dallas art scene is Sweet Pass Sculpture Park, an unassuming plot of land in West Dallas that hosts some of the most intelligent programming in the city. At the end of this month, there will be open hours for the current exhibit by artists Ryan Hawk. He uses a variety of materials, including architectural glass and artist-manufactured bricks, to reimagine pockets of the landscape.
Public open hours for A Long Leash at Sweet Pass Sculpture Park will be 12-5 p.m. September 30. More information here.
Masamitsu Shigeta: Reflections
For the new exhibition at 12.26 gallery, Japanese-born, New York-based painter Masamitsu Shigeta wandered the streets of Dallas looking for inspiration. He presents the results in this new body of work that looks at the city through fresh eyes. The works are charming and quaint reminders that there is beauty to be found in these familiar places.
Reflections remains on display at 12.26 Gallery through October 14. Hours and information here.
Sonya Kelliher-Combs: Mark
The newest addition to the gallery scene is Tureen, a project-driven space in Oak Cliff run by art consultant Cody Fitzsimmons and his partner Chris Scott. The gallery just opened its second exhibition in its Jefferson Blvd space featuring the work of Anchorage-based artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs. Throughout her career, she draws on the symbolism and materials from her Indigenous culture, whether that be her longtime interest in the walrus tusk form—customarily worn on parkas—or the subject of this exhibit: found objects on nearby beaches. She’s interested in the metaphoric power of the way these objects, which include materials like rope or wood, are reshaped by natural, outside forces and then reshaped again by her hands.
Sonya Kelliher-Combs: Mark remains on display through October 14. Hours and information here.
Paul Winker & Jan van der Ploeg
The current exhibition at Cris Worley Fine Arts puts Dallas-based painter Paul Winker in conversation with Amsterdam-based Jan van der Ploeg. The two met at the Dallas Art Fair last year and began a cross-Atlantic artistic conversation. The works, which take on abstract and sometimes geometric forms, are delightfully lively paintings.
Paul Winker & Jan van der Ploeg runs through September 30 at Cris Worley Fine Arts. Hours and information here.
Kathy Lovas: Indexicality, the Archive, and the Frame
Liliana Bloch Gallery hosts a retrospective of the intellectually-minded career of Kathy Lovas. Throughout the past four decades, Lovas has used her art to attempt to answer the question “What is photography?” She employs sculpture, installation, and, of course, photographs, to create room-sized installations. This exhibit looks at Lovas’ unending investigation into the evolution of the image environment.
Indexicality, the Archive, and the Frame runs through November 11 at Liliana Bloch Gallery through November 11. Hours and information here.
Author
