5 Must-See New Dallas Art Exhibits This Fall — Iván Argote, Pablo Piccaso, Bruce Nauman, and More

Our PaperCity series, Dallas Art Watch, returns with the most anticipated new art exhibits around the city. This fall, there are several can’t-miss museum shows to look forward to, including Iván Argote’s solo show at Dallas Contemporary, Pablo Piccaso at Meadows Museum, and more exciting local exhibitions.

Iván Argote: How to Move a Monument on a Tuesday Morning

Dallas Contemporary

October 3, 2026 through January 31, 2027

Earlier this year, the Dallas Contemporary revealed that its 2026 gala would showcase work by Colombian artist Iván Argote. Now, we know that the museum’s upcoming fall exhibit will be centered on the contemporary artist who works in sculpture, public installation, film, painting, and performance. How to Move a Monument on a Tuesday Morning “brings sculpture and moving images to explore how monuments shape history, memory, and public space.” At the center of the show, “Levitate” is a three-channel video installation that follows the removal of colonial-era monuments in Rome, Madrid, and Paris. “Through these scenes, Argote reflects on migration, identity, and the ways historical symbols are questioned and transformed over time.” The exhibit will also introduce new works by Argote, including a series of sculptures reproducing different parts of historic public figures, “Wild Flowers.”

Picasso Beyond the Canvas

Meadows Museum

August 23, 2026 through January 24, 2027

This new art exhibition at Meadows Museum will feature 18 ceramic objects by Pablo Picasso. All gifts to the museum, the exhibited objects were all created at the height of Picasso’s ceramic production and many of the works are being displayed together for the first time. Highlights include “Face with Pinched Nose,” “a vividly decorated ceramic plate that demonstrates Picasso’s playful manipulation of the human face,” and “Woman Lamp,” “a sculptural vessel that transforms a utilitarian object into an expressive female figure.”

Meadows is also simultaneously presenting Spectacles of Power and Faith: Colonial South American Art from the Thoma Foundation.

Rhythms on Repeat

Dallas Museum of Art

Bruce Nauman: Identical

Nasher Sculpture Center

September 19, 2026 through March 21, 2027

In Bruce Nauman’s first exhibition organized by a Texas museum, the artist presents recent sculptures and drawings depicting animal forms “that build upon his long-term investigation of his own role as an artist and his daily practice in the studio.” Identical will feature a group of polyurethane, silicone rubber, and plaster-cast animal forms fabricated from elements the artist had in his New Mexico studio. There will also be related silverpoint and goldpoint still life drawings. “Within the Nasher gallery, the animal forms are grotesquely twisted and contorted while paradoxically orchestrated in neatly geometric compositions.”

Twisted, Plaited, Sculpted: Collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation

Crow Museum of Asian Art (Dallas Arts District)

November 7, 2026 through October 31, 2027

At its downtown Dallas location, the Crow Museum of Asian Art is highlighting one of the four major collecting areas of the Thoma Foundation this fall. “Twisted, Plaited, Sculpted illustrates the vast breadth and expressive possibilities of woven bamboo as an artistic medium.” This exhibition features 22 bamboo artworks by 17 artists, including Living National Treasures Fujinuma Noboru and Fujitsuka Shosei. Pieces range from human figures to more abstract forms. A contemporary companion installation by Mumbai-based artist Shakuntala Kulkarni (known for her life-sized, armor-like sculptures woven from cane) will also be on view, along with a video and three photographic works.

This fall, Crow Museum of Asian Art’s UT Dallas outpost is also presenting three new exhibits: Unseen Worlds: Southeast Asian Textiles from the Spancake Collection, The Hedge of Halomancy, and New Deal Texas and the West.