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From top: Sarah Sze's Times Zero (detail), 2023, at Nasher Sculpture Center. Southwest Review Volume 108.1, Spring 2023. FAIR W h e n G r e g Brownderville took over SMU's prestigious literary magazine, Southwest Review, and revamped it for the digital age, he and deputy editor Robert Rea conceived of the magazine as a party where musicians, filmmakers, comics artists, and writers could all be in conversation. This month, during Dallas Arts Month, that party becomes literal. Frontera is a brand-new Dallas arts festival from the Southwest Review — two days of literature, music, comics, and film in the Bishop Arts District, all gratis and open to the public. "The SMU English department has been wonderfully supportive," Brownderville says. "A lot of English d e p a r t m e n t s probably wouldn't want to support something like this — something suspiciously too fun out there in Bishop Arts. But they saw the vision and how cool it could be." Leading the lineup is author and screenwriter Barry Gifford, whose rare appearance includes a screening of Wild at Heart (the 1990 David Lynch film inspired by Gifford's novel of the same name) and a conversation with the Review's film columnist, William Boyle. Also earning top Frontera billing: Mexico City band Belafonte Sensacional, punk band Bass Drum of Death, and Los Bros Hernandez, the trio behind the beloved indie comic series Love and Rockets. Much like the Southwest Review, which regularly translates Latin-American literature, Frontera will highlight writers including Sylvia Georgina Estrada, Julián Herbert, and Luis Jorge Boone. Complete schedule announced soon. Frontera, Friday – Saturday, April 12 – 13, at The Kessler Theater, The Texas Theatre, and The Wild Detectives, southwestreview.com. Caitlin Clark THE SOUTHWEST REVIEW IS A PARTY — LITERALLY. MUSEUM MUST-SEES ON THE ART HUNT? AFTER BASKING IN THE BOOTHS OF THE DALLAS ART FAIR, HERE'S WHERE TO BE AND WHO TO SEE DURING DALLAS ARTS MONTH. C ome fair time, Dallas' four eminent museums shine as the city rolls out its most elevated art fare for international, national, and Texas visual seekers. At the Nasher Sculpture Center, don't miss "Sarah Sze." We last covered Sze's pandemic-era turn at Fondation Cartier; now this Venice Biennale- exhibited American artist — who's acclaimed for her installations, with a MacArthur Fellowship to prove it — investigates memory and time via a barrage of deconstructed imagery. Praised by artist/critic Peter Plagens in The Wall Street Journal for its "almost breathtaking" craftsmanship, Sze's take on modern sculpture at the Nasher mirrors our dizzying 24/7 news and social-media cycles, breaking them down into quiet moments to contemplate and savor (through August 18) … While you're in the Arts District, check out the Dallas Museum of Art's "Impressionist Revolution: From Monet to Matisse" (through November 3). The DMA's Dr. Nicole R. Myers digs into the museum's expansive trove of Impressionist treasures to curate a fresh take on the revolutionary movement that continues to enthrall the public, positing that Monet, Cassatt, Degas, and Renoir laid the foundation for the 20th century's radical innovators that followed. Bask in light- and nature-suffused canvases including Monet's The Water Lily Pond (Clouds), Renoir's Blonde Braiding Her Hair, and Caillebotte's The Path in the Garden, all in the DMA's permanent collection thanks to the largesse of Dallas' grand patroness, the late Margaret McDermott … At SMU's Meadows Museum, decorative art is the focus. In a museum first, the au courant field of contemporary tapestries receives its due in an avant-garde look at a Spanish talent of warp and woof in "Meadows/ARCO Artist Spotlight: Teresa Lanceta" (through June 16). A recipient of the 2023 Spanish National Prize for Fine Arts, Lanceta questions notions of domesticity while bridging craft and high art with her large-scale fiber and textile work … Wrap your art banquet at Dallas Contemporary, where three engaging shows explore planetary systems at the eve of a total solar eclipse ("Brian Freeze: View Finder," through May 5); Los Angeles' Latinx, Filipinx, and BIPOC scenes told through luscious neon, paint, and vinyl ("Patrick Martinez: Histories," April 3 – September 1); and a quartet of diverse figurative artists boldly confronting gender politics and fraught social issues, all making their Texas museum debut at the DC ("Who's Afraid of Cartoony Figuration" featuring Karolina Jabłonska, Sally Saul, Tabboo!, and Umar Rashid, April 3 – September 22). dallascontemporary. org, dma.org, meadowsmuseumdallas.org, nashersculpturecenter.org. Catherine D. Anspon with Caitlin Clark © SARAH SZE 54