Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1534560
R emembering a Titan: Beloved Texas talent Mac Whitney (1936-2025), whose abstract sculptures often tested the limits of logic and construction, died this spring. Throughout his career, Whitney forged beautiful, complex works of art at his 22-acre ranch in Ovilla, Texas, south of Dallas. He originally hailed from Lawrence, Kansas, and his first solo show in Texas occurred in 1969, at the One Main Place gallery, Dallas. Earlier in his career, Whitney constructed cast-acrylic works, later switching back to welded steel sculptures, which were his calling card, often of monumental scale. Speaking with PaperCity last December on the occasion of his one-man shows at Gallery Sonja Roesch and Andrew Durham Gallery, Whitney singled out two artists who inspired him over the years: "Julio González, who worked with Picasso, made those great figurative pieces. And David Smith, who did all the great Agricola pieces. Smith was a great influence." Gallerist Kirk Hopper, owner of Kirk Hopper Fine Art says, "I love Mac's sculptures. It was the best of times when I would visit him. I would discover pieces that I hadn't noticed on the last trip and marvel at what he was presently working on." For this art historian, it's hard to believe the artist could go from intimate, robust but lyrical abstractions in steel (on view now in Kirk Hopper Fine Art's tribute exhibition "Mac Whitney — Sculptures from the 1970s" through May 17) to the 25-ton, 50- foot Houston that remains one of that city's definitive public sculptures. The most fitting Whitney epitaph comes from Texas art historian Susie Kalil, in the essay that accompanies Kirk Hopper Fine Art's '70s survey. Kalil writes: "Working without assistants or fabricators, his hands- on approach to metal makes poetry out of industry. Few sculptors have imbued raw steel with new life as magically as Whitney." Terrific Trifecta: Another gallery showcase that stands out is Liliana Bloch Gallery's trio of solos for Canadian painter Laurent Le Bel-Roux, who wields a newly minted MFA from University of Texas; Dallas/NYC grand dame conceptualist Ann Glazer; and Dallas new-media/sculpture talent Kasey Short, whose environmental Cry Is the Land sculpture investigating land use along the Trinity River makes a profound statement outside the gallery, part of its ongoing Urbano public art project (May 17 – August 8). Why you need to go: Le Bel-Roux's limpid abstractions transport the viewer to a mystic destination via deep pools of color that invoke watery depths or the Aurora Borealis. In a counterpoint to the Canadian's aluminum panels, Glazer continues her foray into textiles, a media of the moment in the contemporary art world. (Case in point: Dallas Contemporary presents its roundup of 30-some contemporary textile artists, "You Stretched Diagonally Across It," through October 12.) At Liliana Bloch, Glazer reprises her recent exhibition "A Hero's Journey," shown at the cult-fave Old Jail Art Center in Albany, Texas. On her loom, digital pixels are paired with ancient iconography; the resulting compositions on rich velvet and other opulent woven fabrics literally interweave our distant past and high-tech future. Finally, place Short on your Texans- to-collect list. Seen last spring in Site131's ambitious "3 in 3D" curated by John Pomara, the artist excels at scale and usage of odd, unexpected material. His work, billed as Architectural Excavations, redefine contemporary sculpture with a powerful and original voice. Catherine D. Anspon with Ericka Schiche Art Notes DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART ARCHIVES, EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION [PC-002] NORTH TEXAS PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, 1976 86 Ann Glazer's A Hero's Journey, 2025, at Liliana Bloch Gallery Mac Whitney, 1976