PaperCity Magazine

June 2013 - Dallas

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ART WITH YOUR RED DRAGON ROLL Hypnotic Sushi, 3211 Oak Lawn Ave., 214.520.6248; JAMES BLAND hypnoticsushi.com.tumblr.com PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES BLAND. ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY DANIEL DRIENSKY. ABORIGINAL [RE] PURPOSEFUL 972.803.1184; readcontemporary.com AND ORIGINAL Read Contemporary, 1507 Dragon St., CONVERSATION A surprising, recently minted arrival in the Design District opens a window on the spiritually suffused collecting field of Aboriginal art. Owner Saher Saman melds a passion for painting by the indigenous people Down Under with a degree from the Art Institute of Chicago and decades in the ad and film business, plus a stint as a gallerist in Santa Fe. Searching Minnie Pwerle's Aweyle, 2005 for a metropolis where "curiosity" and engagement about art was intense, Saman landed in Dallas, where his Dragon Street digs promise to present heavily collected aboriginal talents, including the late Minnie Pwerle alongside contemporary voices such as photographer Nathalie Daoust, whose series spans from Tokyo's seamy love hotels to dreamy nudes frolicking in the Alps. RE Gallery, 1717 Gould St., 972.974.3004; regallerystudio.com A STRAIGHT ARROW WITH A SIDE OF110, 214.335.9556; EDGE Red Arrow Contemporary, 1130 Dragon St, Ste. redarrowcontemporary.com JAMES BLAND JAMES BLAND Owner, director, curator Wanda Dye gets our vote for the most unique new arrival: She went into a rough-andtumble neighborhood in The Cedars, then transformed her live/work space — a 1920s-era shotgun house around the block from Lee Harvey's Bar — into a gallery devoted to statements about recycling, repurposing, reuse and DIY design. Her inaugural show last November, "Illuminations," set a bar with its display of innovative ways that industrial designers, architects and artists resolve the lighting dilemma. The resulting chandeliers, sconces and wall outlets were surprising and often as captivating as a Noguchi lantern. This month's RE offering is Austin-based Jack Sanders, whose very hands-on architectural practice, Design Build Adventure, says it all. Included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial for his work done while an Auburn student at Samuel Mockbee's Rural Studio, Sanders was recently the subject of a New York Times profile for his design-build workshops fueled by both down-home food and home-spun music. Check out his inhabitable tetrahedron sculpture sited in a field outside the gallery (closing reception Friday, June 7, 7 to 10 pm). Wanda Dye with works by Topocast JAMES BLAND ONE ROOM CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE The Reading Room, 3715 Parry Ave., 214.952.4109; thereadingroom-dallas.blogspot.com S JAMES BLAND ometimes the most modest space emits the biggest statement. Witness Karen Weiner's The Reading Room, with its hidden-in-plain-sight vine-enveloped Fair Grounds address. Inside, the proprietor is obsessed with text-based works — those bearing messages of social import —plus readings, often on the hour, by the likes of authoritative types Dee Mitchell and Sally Glass. Not surprisingly, Cynthia Mulcahy and Robert Hamilton's Seventeen Hundred Seeds even made a PA during one of the early shows, "Y'Utopias," curated by Janeil Engelstad of Make Art With Purpose. Next: Jesse Morgan Barnett's weirdly cool amalgamation of fishing, weather and food (June 1 - 29; reception Saturday, June 1, noon to 8 pm). Kevin Rubén Jacobs with paintings by Keith Allyn Spencer Karen Weiner with Brandon Kennedy's Est Modus in Rebus, 2012 BABY-FACED GALLERIST PACKS 'EM IN Oliver Francis Gallery, 209 S. Peak St., 817.879.8231; oliverfrancisgallery.com Another Dragon Street newcomer, Red Arrow features a family contingent: Ad man Ed Stafford is joined in his co-curatorial endeavors by BFAwielding daughters Erin and Elissa. We're smitten with the inclusive, democratic vibe of the open-concept floor plan, while its exterior is hard to miss, topped by its namesake, distinctive roadside sign from Ed's personal collection. Past shows promulgated San Antonio talents including wry wordsmith Gary Sweeney, Ken Little of the masterful bronze animals often formed from casts of discarded clothing and last month's group view of seven DFW-area MFA grads. Up now, French sculptress of billowy inflatables Anne Ferrer, making her Dallas debut (through June 22). TREND-SPOTTING: WYNWOODSt., Ste. 150, 214.760.1212; IN TEXAS Circuit12 Contemporary, 1130 Dragon circuit12.com A round the corner from Red Arrow, Gina and Dustin Orlando hold court at Circuit12 Contemporary, which mirrors the pair's time in Miami when he was an up-and-coming gallerist. Now they've returned to her hometown, Dallas, with their roster that was shown last December to great acclaim at Scope Miami — Patrick Martinez's hiphop statement Thug Fountain stole the show at the VH1 Outdoor Lounge, and a work by Graham Caldwell graced Scope's catalog cover. Stay tuned: The intriguingly titled "Domestic Dissonance" by German-born Sandra Erbacher and Milwaukee-raised Eddie Villanueva opens June 22 Dustin and Gina Orlando (through August 5). JUNE | PAGE 16 | 2013 DANIEL DRIENSKY Ever since it opened in July 2011, Kevin Rubén Jacobs' Oliver Francis Gallery has been both a media darling and the torchbearer of the avant-garde. With a day job as assistant curator at Goss-Michael Foundation and an unwavering eye and decided non-aversion to risk taking, Jacobs turned a once derelict industrial space in the old East side into Dallas' coolest venue for talents you'd likely see in a Berlin strasse. Scholars such as SMU's Dr. Michael Corris are fans of this destination (once home to a '70s radical political activist), which is situated between used car lots near a well-trafficked Tex-Mex bakery. On the day of our photo shoot, OFG was showcasing the micro-abstractions of Keith Allyn Spencer, which remind us of '80s-era Elizabeth Murray squeezed into 14-by-14-inch canvases. Now on view: It-gent Jeff Gibbons serves up four solos with enigmatic, albeit memorable titles such as "Chee$e = Milk's Fourth State of Matter," (through June 29). COURTESY READ CONTEMPORARY The past 24 months have hummed with a hive of art activity as new gallery spaces, not mere pop-ups, have changed the art game in Dallas. Catherine D. Anspon canvasses Deep Ellum to Fair Park, encounters aboriginal works along Dragon, then savors sushi and a new mural on Oak Lawn. We've never understood why the arts of cooking and painting aren't more closely aligned. Leave it to hometown creative Brian Gibb to remedy that. Gibb, you see, collaborated recently with Hypnotic Sushi owner Harlan Hill and chef Tony Gonzalez to whip up some white-cube magic for Oak Lawn's recently opened sushi Tony Gonzalez, Harlan Hill and Brian Gibb stop. Now alongside spicy salmon rolls, Gibb has curated pop-inflected scenes by Brent Ozaeta for the front dining nook. But dominating the interior is a show-stopping mural, a droll take on anime and the cult of the cute, which was crafted by Taro-Kun in tandem with Gibb, whose day job is owner and director of famous Deep Ellum gallery stop The Public Trust.

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