Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1536610
Dallas Contemporary's Deep Dive into Hip-Hop Land T wo years ago this summer, hip-hop marked its 50th anniversary. Despite being a half-century o l d , t h e g e n re remains the soundtrack of our times. A year earlier at the Dallas Contemporary — which upholds Texas' banner of the avant-garde, important, and edgy — one of the originators of the movement, Chuck D of Public Enemy, headlined as DJ at the Contemporary's annual gala, which also honored artists/activists Shepard Fairey and Gabrielle Goliath. Flash forward, and the Dallas Contemporary returns to hip-hop investigations via a cool dive into one of its stylistic tropes — grillz — with "Masahiro LaMarsh: Anticlastic." The museum is following terrain blazed in New York last year by the American Museum of Natural History's "Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip Hop Jewelry," which took its cue from Taschen's monumental 2022 volume of the same name. But at the Dallas Contemporary, exhibition organizer Alexandra Hulsey (making her curatorial debut) focuses on a more intimate presentation showcasing a rising artist in the subculture of hip- hop jewelry: NYC-based LaMarsh, whose unique CV includes marble-carving studies in Carrara, Italy, and Iceland, as well as an improbable exhibition at the Iceland Whale Museum. A biracial Asian-American, the sculptor turned jeweler was raised in Northern California and Dallas-Fort Worth. The Gen Z talent has been supported by stars of the hip-hop scene and beyond. Iconoclastic clients include avant-gardist Michèle Lamy of Lamyland; Kendrick Lamar and SZA's Grand National Tour, which commissioned custom grillz for the dance team; and, highlighted here, Erykah Badu's intricate grillz. Dallas' queen of neo soul and hip-hop, Badu is LaMarsh's mentor and a meaningful presence in his creative life. The five-time Grammy winner has worn his grillz to statement-making events such as the 2024 Met Gala, paired with Comme des Garçons. The exhibition title, "Anticlastic," is a jewelry-making term that relates to the transformation of a flat piece of metal into a free-flowing form. Of all the grillz on display, Seven Gates — a custom creation for Badu — steals the show. Lacy, Moorish-inspired, Erykah Badu wearing Comme Des Garçons SS24 and grillz by Masahiro LaMarsh at Met Gala 2024 Fabulouz Grillz INSTAGRAM, @HIROLAMARSH By Catherine D. Anspon