Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/921419
27 M&M FOR DINNER By Filippo Tattoni-Marcozzi. Photography Bruno. O n a late-summer evening, we gathered on the outdoor patio of the stunning Copper Bar of Forty Five Ten on Main to toast Peter McGough, one-half of artist collaborators McDermott & McGough, who had just arrived in Dallas to install his comprehensive survey exhibition at the Dallas Contemporary. I flew in to co-host this small dinner party with dear friend and Dallas Contemporary board president Max Trowbridge and the museum's executive director, Peter Doroshenko — who, in such a short time, has catapulted our local kunsthalle into a major venue for poignant exhibitions joining the global contemporary-art discourse. I first met McGough 20 years ago at one of his after- opening dinners at Cheim & Reid Gallery in New York; his legendary sense of humor was just as I remembered. Sitting next to him surely made my evening. His outrageously encyclopedic knowledge and first-hand experience of New York's underground cultures, legendary historic and pop-culture figures, literature references, and colorful anecdotes made for an extremely entertaining time for all my dinner companions, which included fellow artist Richard Phillips; Washington, D.C. collector Al Collins; and some of the Dallas Contemporary's most loyal friends and supporters. McDermott & McGough's exhibition title declares: "I've Seen the Future and I'm Not Going." Curated by Alison Gingeras, it offers a comprehensive exploration of the artists' "time experiment," encompassing photography, painting, sculpture, film, and installation environments from over three decades of their oeuvre. As Gingeras stated, "In light of current struggles for LGBTQ rights in the United States and around the world, McDermott & McGough emerge as critical, prescient figures in the address of queer liberation through radical art practice." Post-party, life imitated art, as each guest left with a private appointment set for the following days, to sit for a unique portrait session with McGough. Soon they'll have their one-off prints, specially created to celebrate their support and this memorable encounter. Peter McGough, Taylor Tomasi Hill Maxine Trowbridge Filippo Tattoni-Marcozzi Justine Ludwig Ariella Wolens, Lilia Kudlida Gowri Sharma, Shelly Rosenberg Richard Phillips Jeny Bania Peter McGough, Peter Doroshenko Logan Waller Hannah Fagadau Ashley Tatum, Leigh Rinearson