4 Dallas Art Gallery Exhibits to Catch This Winter — An Imaginative Group Show and a Deep Dive Into Deep Ellum’s History
Great Gallery Hopping
BY Catherine D. Anspon // 01.26.24
Robert Minervini’s Distant Horizons, 2023, at Galleri Urbane.
Fab Five: Also addressing nature — specifically, the centuries-old trope of still-life painting — is the group show “I Cast to Earth A Seed” at Galleri Urbane. Included are national and international artists Bertrand Fournier (Paris), Robert Minervini (Florence), Lori Larusso (Louisville, Kentucky), and Michelle Wasson (Chicago), along with Puerto Rican-born Juan Alberto Negroni, who wields an MFA from SMU and is now based in Dallas. From the abstract to the surreal to the hyperreal, this lush roundup proves that while there are no new subjects in art history, artists continue to forge fresh ways to approach natura morta (January 6 – February 10).
Photo Focus: For denizens of classical photography, it doesn’t get any better than Photographs Do No Bend Gallery‘s double-header, which pairs images by Michael Kenna with those of Beaumont’s own Keith Carter. Both nationally revered artists have new books (Trees and Ghostlight, respectively) that reverberate with the power of nature (through February 10).
Painter’s Progress: A decades-spanning retrospective at Conduit Gallery showcases the work of Vincent Falsetta, a painter whose half-century career has produced some very now takes on abstraction. Falsetta, a University of North Texas professor emeritus, remains at the top of his game, as proven by recent works such as FP 23-3, a canvas that recalls sonic vibrations emitted by Mother Earth (January 13 – February 10).
Digging Deep into Deep Ellum: At African American Museum, Dallas, delve into the history of one of the city’s most historic commercial and residential neighborhoods, the first purposely integrated community in Dallas. “Central Track: Crossroads of Deep Ellum” takes us back to the 1920s and 1930s via ephemera and archival photographs, paired with recordings of the era’s iconic blues, jazz, and popular music. A pendant exhibition, “Seeing a World Blind Lemon Never Saw,” mounts Alan Govenar’s recent photographs spun around musician and Deep Ellum headliner Blind Lemon Jefferson. The exhibition poetically and metaphorically explores the maestro’s birthplace region in rural East Texas and hermetic, often forgotten places in Dallas that the blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter visited or alluded to in his songs. Jefferson achieved national renown with a 1926 recording contract with Paramount, and while there’s scanty evidence he ever lived in Dallas, he reportedly performed at one time almost daily at the corner of Elm Street and Central Avenue (through May 31).
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