Arts

After Six Years, Aurora Returns to Dallas With An Open-Air Art Gallery Across Downtown

The 2024 Biennial, FuturePresentPast, Will Transform The City for One Night Only

BY Catherine D. Anspon with Peter Augustus Owen // 11.06.24

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Steve Parker, Sonic Meditation for Solo Performer, 2023. (Courtesy of Brian Fitzsimmons)

Melanie Clemmons & Zak Loyd's "Light Carriers," 2024. (Courtesy of the artists)

Julie Liberstat's "Golden Hour," 2020, at Aurora Biennial. (Courtesy of the artist)

Daniel Rozin's "Mirror No. 12," 2013, at Aurora Biennial. (Courtesy of the artist)

Diana Rojas' "Still from Ophanim," 2023. (Courtesy of the artist)

Curators Kendal Henry and Leslie Moody Castro (Courtesy of Aurora)

Steve Parker, Sonic Meditation for Solo Performer, 2023. (Courtesy of Brian Fitzsimmons)

One of America’s most unique takes on the marriage of art and technology goes down this month in Dallas when the Aurora Biennial returns.

A one-day only spectacle of light, sound, and video, the Dallas-founded festival’s 2024 edition marks its first in-person staging since 2018. Titled “FuturePresentPast,” the free public-art exhibition — founded in 2010 by artists Shane Pennington and Joshua King, along with patron Veletta Forsythe Lill — opens Saturday, November 16, 7 pm to 1 am.

The immersive al fresco experience begins at Dallas City Hall and fans out to sites across downtown. See light and video works by talents from North Texas and beyond — including Ciara Elle Bryant, Jess Garland, Doug Land, Julie Libersat, Steve Parker, Hector Ramirez, Diana Rojas, Daniel Rozin, Tramaine Townsend, duo Marina Zurkow and James Schmitz, and, just in, collaborators Melanie Clemmons and Zak Loyd.

02_Rojas_Ophanim_2023_HDvideo Aurora Dallas — Diana Rojas’ *Still from Ophanim*, 2023. (Courtesy of the artist)

Sound activations celebrate the aural diversity of Dallas, conveyed via gospel choirs, mariachi groups, and marching bands. Students from Booker T. Washington High School also participate.

What’s new: The Midnight Moment, first created for Times Square, unveils its first presentation outside NYC; hourly digital projections upon the skyline of Dallas by nine artists will transform Dallas City Hall, Dallas Public Library, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, and other sites into mammoth flickering light sculptures.

With a pair of respected curators organizing Aurora 2024, this biennial comes with serious art chops. Tapped are New York-based NYU adjunct professor/artist Kendal Henry, who also serves as assistant commissioner of public art for NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs and past curator-at-large for Brooklyn’s Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art. He is joined by indie curator, writer, and Glasstire guest editor Leslie Moody Castro, based in Austin and Mexico City; her CV includes curating the Texas Biennial 2016 and exhibitions at Austin’s Mexic-Arte Museum and Women & Their Work.

Elizabeth Anthony

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Aurora co-founder Joshua King presides as Aurora executive director, while co-founder Shane Pennington acts as creative adviser on this sixth edition of Aurora.

Aurora Biennial, Saturday, November 16, 7 pm to 1 am. Admission free, registration requested. Learn more here.