Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/488938
L eave it to Shakespeare to lend buoyancy to a phrase: His description of England as a "precious stone set in a silver sea" still carries seismic heft. And, as a floating bauble, the country's seductive charm has gone exponential when it comes to offering outré spoils for contemporary art aficionados. Thus, the Dallas Art Fair is slated to offer enough goodies and wallop to fill our endless craving for British art. After all, current London galleries are to art collectors what Mick Jagger's tightly packed crotch was to teenagers in the '60s. Year seven of the Fair (now branded as one of the best boutique fairs in America) welcomes a new, artistic version of the original British Invasion that triggers hot anticipation regarding one of the biggest events on the Texas arts calendar. The list of galleries hailing from London is lengthy; however, it's noteworthy that Ibid Projects is coming to North Texas for the first time after already establishing a beachhead in Los Angeles. As Magnus Edensvard, director, explains, "Ibid recently opened a gallery in L.A., alongside our HQ in London, and we felt it would be an apt opportunity to extend our program by showcasing some of our artists' work in Dallas." This year, Ibid exhibits offerings by Alex Ruthner, Rallou Panagioto, Jack McConville and David Adamo. The latter has created a stunning and totemic work, Untitled (bust), 2012, crafted from cedar, which exerts substantial emotional pull regarding openness and vulnerability by virtue of a slender "neck" and concave visage. It's a rough-hewn sculpture that becomes as smooth as an afternoon of spooning if you give it time to work its magic. Jonathan Viner is another gallery in the Brit lineup that first participated in the Fair in 2012. The dealer remembers well his first Dallas Art Fair booth, which was devoted to a monographic solo for Dan Rees, the widely hailed Welsh painter, photographer and sculptor whose presentation at DAF garnered a waiting list. (Even Fair co-founder John Sughrue barely got there in time to nab an abstract canvas, made from the ubiquitous Brit building material Artex.) Viner recalls, "It was amazingly well received — and launched us at the Fair. Our early Dan Rees presentation led to a very successful solo show at The Goss-Michael Foundation the following year. We have stayed involved with the Foundation and are gifting a work of Nic Deshayes to their forthcoming MTV Re:Define event." Because of the Fair, the gallery has also become involved with the TWO X TWO for AIDS and Art fund-raiser, which he calls "a truly extraordinary annual bash." This year, the Jonathan Viner booth stocks works by Kika Karadi, Pentti Monkkonen, Stefan Bruggemann, Amir Nikravan and the aforementioned Nic Deshayes. Of particular note are Monkkonen's iterations of Box Truck Paintings with metaphorical tires, a cab replete with scarily venomous critters and, of course, a façade (truck panel) that sometimes swirls with abstract and smudged, looping strokes. Meanwhile, Hales Gallery's booth will highlight the work of Frank Bowling. The artist's acrylic on canvas Middle Passage, painted in 1970, arrives as a veritable firestorm. Primarily red, orange and yellow, it drips and flairs with high-tensile capacity to ignite both gallery walls and the area residing behind our (perhaps overly cosseted) sternums. This is serendipitous, because Bowling's work will also be rolled out at the Dallas Museum of Art in an exhibition that coincides with the Fair. Thus, for those finding the Guyana-born artist's canvases alluring, there's plenty more to be seen only a block away. Bowling's show, "Map Paintings," was curated by Brit transplant Gavin Delahunty, the DMA's senior curator of contemporary art. Delahunty, of course, is "excited to welcome both Paul Hedge and Hales Gallery, which works with highly influential artists such as Frank Bowling and Carolee Schneemann. Both artists have spent their lives pushing the boundaries and challenging perceptions of art." Other presentations Delahunty finds compelling include those by Massimo De Carlo, Workplace Gallery and Josh Lilley. When questioned about the perception of the Dallas Art Fair in the UK, Delahunty says, "It is viewed as an essential part of the cultural ecosystem in Dallas — the growing community of artists, writers, curators and collectors are given another significant moment in their calendar to see some great art right on their doorstep." G reat art is right on our doorstep this month, and we are fortunate, indeed. Exhibitors are arriving from London, New York and L.A., as well as other cultural capitals in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, making this the most international Dallas Art Fair to date. Paralleling the growth of the Fair, our metropolis has morphed into a city known as a sophisticated arts center when it comes to contemporary collecting and exhibitions, especially in the arena of 20th- and 21st- century British art. Oops. We've been colonized — again. BIGGER THAN LIFE: MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN Painter, sculptor and professor to the YBAs Michael Craig-Martin is the ultimate UK art diplomat. PaperCity ran an exclusive profile on him last October — read all about it at papercitymag.com. Now Craig- Martin returns to Texas to curate MTV Re:Define (details, page 38). But there's more: Timed with Dallas Arts Week, the mighty MCM unfurls nearly a dozen brightly hued panels of utterly common objects rendered in his signature flat acrylic painted on aluminum and/or canvas, at 10 venues around town. Scaled at up to 118 x 118 inches, the epic paintings command attention at high-profile venues including NorthPark Center, where shoppers will be confronted with the artist's larger-than-life headphones and umbrella; Nasher Sculpture Center, destination for a really big long- life light bulb; and the Dallas Contemporary, home to handcuffs. The entire showing unveils this month (on view through August). Catherine D. Anspon © MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN. COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY, PHOTO MIKE BRUCE. THE BRITISH Clockwise from top left: Michael Craig-Martin's Untitled (headphones), 2014, at NorthPark Center Frank Bowling's Middle Passage, 1970, at Hales Gallery, Dallas Art Fair Alex Ruthner's Fountain of Youth, 2014, at Ibid Projects, Dallas Art Fair Damien Hirst's 3-Methylthymidine, 2014, at Paul Stolper Gallery, Dallas Art Fair Joana Vasconcelos' Azalée, 2013, at Paul Stolper Gallery, Dallas Art Fair Pentti Monkkonen's Box Truck Painting, 2015, at Jonathan Viner Gallery, Dallas Art Fair Sarah Dwyer's Paducah, 2015, at Josh Lilley Gallery, Dallas Art Fair Noemie Goudal's In Search of the First Line II, 2014, at Edel Assanti, Dallas Art Fair CATHERINE ANSPON ARE COMING — TO DALLAS FORGET THE FAB FOUR. THESE DAYS, IT'S BRITISH VISUAL ART THAT HAS ADORING FANS SCREAMING FOR MORE. PATRICIA MORA PROFILES THE BAND OF UNITED KINGDOM DEALERS THAT DEFINES THE DALLAS ART FAIR, YEAR SEVEN. FROM ACROSS THE POND TO DALLAS ART FAIR: A ROSTER OF UK EXHIBITING GALLERIES EDEL ASSANTI, HALES GALLERY, HUS GALLERY, IBID PROJECTS, JONATHAN VINER GALLERY, JOSH LILLEY GALLERY, MASSIMO DE CARLO, PAUL STOLPER GALLERY, TRISTAN HOARE GALLERY, WORKPLACE GALLERY © FRANK BOWLING. COURTESY HALES GALLERY, LONDON. PHOTO CHARLES ROBINSON. © NOEMIE GOUDAL. COURTESY EDEL ASSANTI, LONDON. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND JOSH LILLEY GALLERY, LONDON COURTESY THE ARTIST AND IBID PROJECTS, LONDON AND L.A. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND JONATHAN VINER GALLERY, LONDON COURTESY THE ARTIST AND PAUL STOLPER GALLERY, LONDON DAMIEN HIRST AND SCIENCE LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2015. COURTESY PAUL STOLPER GALLERY, LONDON. PHOTO PRUDENCE CUMING ASSOCIATES.