Debris, Sneezing and Paintings at the Dallas Contemporary

BY Jane Rozelle // 07.03.15

photography Zac Cobos, Helen Ray

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Debris, Sneezing and Paintings at the Dallas Contemporary, 04.08.15

Inflatable characters and a light cave by FriendsWithYou usually aren’t on the agenda in this city. However, when it comes to the Dallas Contemporary and its executive director, Peter Doroshenko, all bets are off. When enthusiastic members assembled at the museum for the VIP opening celebration of exhibitions by artists Nate Lowman and David Salle, they were met by the giant multicolored Light Cave, a 55-foot-tall freestanding inflatable installation channeling a pachyderm. Guests on sensory overload explored every cranny of the Contemporary’s space — Salle’s edgy “Debris” combined diptych paintings and ceramics made over the past five years, while Lowman’s “America Sneezes” compiled paintings and sculptures from five bodies of work to showcase the iconography of found objects. The side gallery was transformed into an ethereal space of spirituality by 2014 ArtPrize winner Anila Quayyum Agha for her installation “Intersections,” a nondenominational laser-cut square wooden cube with a single light bulb casting a geometric shadow throughout the room. Talk about an inspiring way to kick off Dallas Arts Week … Fellow friends: Mark Giambrone James Cope, Armond Schwartz, Chivas Clem, Tim O’Heir, Jessica Craig-Martin, Dan Colen, Debby Mullen, Lisa Shardon, and Angelo DeFilippo.