modciti.dallas edition.02 // february 2021

e.2 ‘21

// robyn menter design associates // photo: dave shafer photography

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1019 Dragon Street | Dallas | Design District | 214.350.0542 | www.sminkinc.com

// photo scredit: dave shafer photography

d esign FO R LI V I N G

by Kendall Morgan

// jack ryan jewelry

Interior master Robyn Menter makes creating gorgeous spaces look easy.

Strong lines, intelligent accents, and the proverbial pop of color have helped the interior designer develop a thriving 27-year-old business. Though she fell into the industry through serendipity, her deep library of influences and passion for innovation has made her a fan favorite both locally and internationally.

Named one of the best designers in Dallas for nearly 14 years running by D Home, Menter is (perhaps surprisingly) self-taught.

“The weirdest thing is I do NOT have a design degree,” says the South African native. “When I went to school, they didn’t have interior design school. When I graduated college, people were hiring professionals, and there were a few more around. I was married and did my own house, and I bought my window treatments from this

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woman. When she came to my house to install them, she said, ‘You should come work for me,’ and I said yes, sign me up!”

That woman just happened to be interior designer Meryl Hare, who went on to become a principal of the renowned Sydney based-firm Hare + Klyne. Through working with Meryl at her antique gallery, Menter honed her aesthetic. By the time her family decided to

immigrate to Texas, she was positioned to take flight as an interior expert in her own right.

As her husband established his psychiatric practice, Menter was haunting the Design Center, perusing showrooms and meeting reps. She was importing colorful South African textiles to Dallas and shortly afterward landed a job with Paul Draper creating hospitality spaces, including the now-defunct Italian hotspot Sfuzzi.

“He’s got a wonderful minimalist aesthetic, and it was a great continuation of my education,” the designer recalls. “I learned a lot about lighting in particular. Then in 1994, I decided I was tired. We did mainly restaurants and a bit of residential, and I decided I needed to do something for myself. I met one person who was doing a big remodel (of their home), and after that, I never looked back.”

Her established relationship with local showrooms served her well, as did her Rolodex of fabricators. Menter designed innovative pieces for her clients, creating custom items that solved multiple needs at once, such as a creative table filled with hidden plugs and USB outlets for unsightly computer and lamp cords.

But perhaps her most important skill set was her ability to align with what her clients needed. The designer still has relationships with families she started working with at the beginning of her journey and often creates beautiful homes for multiple generations. The key is always transparent communication.

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“An important quality to have is to have the humility to listen to the client because their input allows you to create a subjectively beautiful space. If you don’t have that, I’m not sure how successful you may be. You may get a beautiful space you love, but if they don’t love it, it’s not rewarding. I don’t let my clients settle for something; I want them to be excited about what I’m creating for them.”

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Meet Bernbaum/Magadini Architects

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Her first step on any new project is to draw on her intensive in-office library at the Robyn Menter Design Associates headquarters in the Design Center. Menter is inspired by everything from a frame in a movie to a detail in a painting—a simple handrail in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth ended up making its way into a client’s home off Travis Street.

“I keep images on my computer and phone and encourage everyone in the office to do that, and we share. We’ll see something that’s really cool in a film

and try to incorporate it into a fireplace or a mantel. It’s random things that suddenly come back to you when you’re working.”

Having curated a “huge palette” to choose from, perhaps her biggest challenge is to edit down the choices in a way that’s easy for her clients to understand. By the time her initial presentation rolls around, she finds she’s spot on “about 99 percent of the time.” “(It’s because) you talked to them a lot, you visited with

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them, and you get a feel for how they want to live, what they like and don’t and developed it from there. I want a client who knows what they like, but they trust me to surprise them. Because if they could do it themselves, what would the point be of hiring me?”

Menter says her vision may change with the seasons, but you’ll never find her hewing to the latest trends.

Instead, her aesthetic is warm but clean, minimal yet

never cold. Shape is vital to her, as is making sure each room has a “quirky edge” that draws the eye. Each project has a few hero pieces that are one-of-a-kind, like her computer table or a grouping of big resin balls perched on glowing pedestals devised as a sculptural element to surprise and delight under a stairway.

Vintage, modern, and contemporary all make it into the mix. The designer hews to a neutral palette with minimal

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rugs and no draperies so that her statement pieces and unique groupings have room to shine. “I like to do things that are interesting, but they aren’t everywhere, so you don’t feel like you’re walking in a showhouse. I’ve mixed a ceramic lamp we found online for 125 dollars with more expensive pieces, and you didn’t even know it wasn’t the same caliber as the rest of the pieces in the room. It’s how you put it together, and you have to do it that way because otherwise it becomes boring and looks like a showroom.”

A personal collector of work by the likes of Chuck Close, Lucien Freud, Louise Bourgeois, and Richard Serra, Menter knows the value of a well-placed piece of art—a skill set she’s happy to share with her clients. As a longtime devotee of fairs such as Miami’s Art Basel, she’s thrilled to turn them on to new and emerging work that may help define their future space.

Yet for Menter, less is definitely more, and her wellhoned bedside manner helps clients let go of the

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clutter and embrace a more relaxed approach to their living spaces. Having studied psychology back in her Johannesburg university days, it’s not difficult for her to convince someone that editing a beloved collection into a rotating display is the way to go.

With unique homes by blue-chip architects such as Becker Henson Niksto, Graham Greene, and Bernbaum Magadini on her upcoming roster, Menter isn’t slowing down any time soon. Mid-stride in projects across the

globe from The Bahamas to Santa Barbara to Palestine, the future is bright, yet she doesn’t have time to stop and ponder what it may hold.

“I’ve got too many interesting things to talk about,” she laughs. “I’m really lucky and work with so many terrific architects. That’s why I don’t want to think about what’s coming next because we’ve got so many fun and exciting things going on. It’s all good—absolutely better than the alternative!” robynmenter.com

James Surls, Dark Bone, Eyes, Thorns and the Stone, 2020, gum wood, petrified wood, stone and stainless steel, 102” x 79” x 28”

CHAOS AND MAYHEM JAMES SURLS AND CHARMAINE LOCKE JANUARY 15-APRIL 3, 2021 KIRK HOPPER FINE ART 1426 N. RIVERFRONT BLVD DALLAS

// ariel rene jackson

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

by Kendall Morgan

// liu xiaodong

// paolo roversi

// photo credit: kevin todora, courtesy of dallas dontemporary

AMERICAN ALIENS – Liu Xiaodong

Famed for his enormous neo-realistic canvases that capture his subjects’ everyday life, his new exhibition “Borders” at the Dallas Contemporary delves into the world of immigrants along the United States/Mexico fault line.

A tireless documentarian of sociological settings for over 30 years, contemporary Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong makes the most of his fish-out-of-water status wherever he goes, exploring economic hardships, environmental crises, and migration across the globe.

The 59-year-old Xiaodong, who came of age with the “New Generation” of Chinese realists in the ‘80s and ‘90s, has made his mark capturing places where social upheaval is par for the course, such as Cuba, Pakistan, and Kashmir.

Initially considering an exploration of what it means to

The Dallas Contemporary reopens its doors with three very different shows that aim to engage every audience.

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// liu xiaodong boundary river, 2019 oil on canvas 98 1/2 x118 1/8 inches courtesy the artist and massimo de carlo, milan/london/hong kong

// liu xiaodong girl at the border, 2019 oil on canvas 23 3/4 x27 1/2 inches courtesy the artist and massimo de carlo, milan/london/hong kong

be Chinese in Richardson, Texas, as his subject for the Contemporary, Xiadong ultimately turned his eye to the Border. Unveiling an unexplored richness in immigrants’ daily lives, his canvases capture residents, refugees, and border guards as they search for a way to find a place of home in an ever-changing landscape.

“I think he wanted to explore what it meant to be Chinese on the border, but that became too small of a starting point,” says Contemporary executive director Peter Doroshenko, who co-curated the exhibition alongside independent curator Dennis Freedman. “It really escalated to bigger issues in terms of everybody living and trying to exist. The Border is not what we see on TV or anything we could remotely imagine, and what he’s trying to do is convey what it is like in the best way he could.”

// origins 1 and 2 photo credit: elizabeth lavin

// liu xiaodong mountains and river, 2019.oill on canvas 118 1/8 x98 1/2 inches courtesy the artist and massimo de carlo, milan/london/hong kong

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DALLAS 2034 Irving Blvd.

Dallas, TX 75207

NEW YORK 200 Lexington Ave. #1058 New York, NY 10016

MORTEN LØBNER ESPERSEN Morten Løbner Espersen “Horror Vacui #1688, 2013

// liu xiaodong juarez at the casa del migrante in juárez, 2019, ex. unique oil on canvas 118 1/8 x197 inches | courtesy the artist and massimo de carlo, milan/london/hong kong

During two lengthy research trips, Xiaodong embedded himself within the region’s communities of Eagle Pass, Piedras Negras, El Paso, Laredo, Nueva Laredo, and Marfa alongside his studio manager, a filmmaker, and a studio assistant. Perhaps surprisingly, he found the residents to be as curious about him as he was about them.

He developed relationships so deep that the local sheriff will help continue the conversation by participating in an educational activity at the museum via Zoom later in the spring.

Perhaps the most successful work is the epic 118.12 x 197-inch oil-on-canvas “At the Casa del Migrante in Juarez,” which shows young gay, lesbian and transgender Mexicans in a halfway house. The residents crowd on couches and pile on floors, surrounded by their meager belongings and treasured pets, including a bunny, dog, and iguana. Portraying a small moment of camaraderie and safety in their lives, the painter illustrates the hopes and dreams of a new generation in a much more engaging than any newsreel or article about the plight of immigrants in America ever could.

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// photo credit: kevin todora, courtesy of dallas dontemporary

The show also features a 40-minute documentary shot

by Yang Bo exploring Xiaodong’s process and journey of integration into these fractious communities. For once, the view of an outsider truly captures the feeling of what it is to belong.

crowd-pleasing fashion exhibitions alongside more traditional installations. In the past, the museum has celebrated photographers Mario Sorrenti, Mario Testino, Juergen Teller, and Bruce Weber, and fashion designers Walter van Beirendonck and Jeremy Scott.

FREE LIKE A BIRD - Paolo Roversi

Paolo Roversi’s current exhibition “Birds” follows in that tradition, highlighting the photographer’s work for the Japanese couturier Rei Kawakubo. Spanning over four decades of collaboration, this first U.S. solo exhibition

The Dallas Contemporary has always managed to walk the line between high art and pop culture, exhibiting // upcoming show jozsef csato january 2021

// paolo roversi - audrey, paris 1996

// paolo roversi - yelena and sharon, paris 1996

from the Italian talent is inspired by mobility—an ironic subject as Roversi could not attend the opening due to Covid-19.

Moody and ethereal, the work is balanced between minimal black-and-white studio shots with colorful close-ups that blur into a kaleidoscope of color. Keeping the details of the garments in focus isn’t the important thing here. Instead, Roversi captures the mood and passion of the woman who wears Kawakubo’s work, and if that means the subject should be a model’s wide-open visage instead of a detail of a sleeve, well, then so be it.

Capturing a feeling of movement by joggling the camera, adjusting the lighting, or manipulating the negative, the images recall a bird in flight (thus the title). By making what some photographers might consider a “mistake,” Roversi comes up with something new that perfectly embodies the ambitious, sculptural, and avant-garde work of his longtime collaborator in art.

HOW WE SEE by Ariel René Jackson History is often not a straight line, which is why emerging artist Ariel René Jackson’s short video “Doubt and Imagination” lyrical film essay is a must-see during any Contemporary visit. Screened in the Contemporary’s black box theater, the short (less than five minutes) film shot in San Marcos, Texas, blends poetry and imagery to explore a past erased by colonialism.

// paolo roversi - norton, paris 2018

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// photo credit: kevin todora, courtesy of dallas dontemporary

While attending an artist’s residency in Sowhegan, Maine, the Louisana-raised Austin-based Jackson found herself intrigued by a discussion between archaeologists Leland Ferguson and Christopher Espenshade regarding Black American pottery called colonoware discovered off the coasts of South and North Carolina.

“Leland Ferguson really said something that inspired me to create this montage and homage of a story,” says the artist. “He was proposing which was these fragments found in near-complete condition were being used for

rituals and prophesies, while Espenshade refuted that, saying they were merely trash. Leland said, in architecture, we’re searching for the truth, and where there is doubt, there is imagination, and that really stuck in my mind.”

For Jackson, the argument reminded her of the loss of familial stories through industrial progress. Something as seemingly insignificant as a pottery shard could have a greater significance as a totem of culture in danger of disappearance.

Like the poem that inspired the video states, “The archeologist will ask, ‘Will we see forced trauma?’ Time will suggest perhaps; it is the impression of hope.”

Liu Xiaodong “Borders” is on view through May 30, Paolo Roversi “Birds” is on view through August 22, and Ariel René Jackson’s “Doubt and Imagination” is on view through August 22, 2021, at the Dallas Contemporary.

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The Pittman Hotel, Reflecting History

Reflecting History

with a Modern Lens.

by Hardy Haberman

// photo credit: kurt griesbach

As a lifetime Dallas resident, I was familiar with the building at the corner of Good-Latimer Expressway and Elm Street. I remember it as the Union Bankers Life offices.

The architectural details of the building were hidden under a coat of dull white paint, and most of the character of the structure was obscured.

Still, it fascinated me and after some research, I found it was actually a Dallas historical gem. Built originally in

1916 as the Knights of Pythias Temple it was the first major structure in Dallas designed by an African American Architect, William Sidney Pittman. The Pythian Temple became known as the social, professional, and cultural center of the city’s African-American community.

According to the City of Dallas Office of Historic Preservation, “The temple hosted lectures, meetings, conventions, and dances, as well as housed the offices of African-American professionals in the area.”

mod.artists gallery

judith seay | colorado campfire, oil on canvas 36x48 inches

It languished for years after Union Bankers moved out and I had worried it might give way to the wrecking ball like so many other historic Dallas buildings. Luckily the city declared it a Historic Landmark in 1989, and several proposals to restore the building came and went. All that changed when Westdale Real Estate Investment teamed with developers KDC, StreetLights Residential and Vine Street Ventures on the 8-acre Epic project which included the historic Pythian Temple building.

Architects Perkins&Will oversaw the repurposing of the building and the addition of a multi-story modern structure that compliments the vintage Beaux-Arts style. The paired buildings are a reflection of old and new in a 165 room boutique hotel by Kimpton Hotels and is aptly named The Pittman, after the original architect.

From the sheltered driveway entrance to the lobby, guests are welcomed into a modern space that exposes much

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of the bare bones of the building yet softens them with custom designed furnishings. Artwork and photographs adorn the walls and much of it reflects the history of the building and the Deep Elum neighborhood.

private dining rooms for special occasions and meetings as well as catering for all the hotel venues including the rooftop Parker Ballroom with its arching windows and views of the Deep Elum Entertainment District.

The original entrance on Elm Street now serves as the door to Elm & Good, the hotel restaurant that features seasonal, American tavern-inspired cooking overseen by Executive Chef Graham Dodds. The restaurant includes

Guest rooms are spacious and feel more like modern loft apartments than a hotel. Room furnishings mirror the style of the hotel lobby and public areas with colorful and comfortable modern designs. The bathrooms are adorned

withgleaming white tile wall treatments and lots of glass and some feature freestanding bathtubs.

town guests it makes a great base for tourism and for an in-town getaway it makes a great romantic weekend spot,

The proximity of the Kimpton Pittman Hotel to Deep Elum cannot be understated. It is at the gateway to an entertainment district with dozens of restaurants, clubs and music venues, all within walking distance. For out-of-

Overall, the project is a stunning success at bringing one of Dallas’ historic treasures back into use as a vibrant and attractive landmark. pittmanhoteldallas.com

CADDALLAS.ORG 2020 MEMBERS 500X Gallery Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art Conduit Gallery Craighead Green Gallery Cris Worley Fine Arts Erin Cluley Gallery Ex Ovo Gallery Galleri Urbane Marfa+Dallas Holly Johnson Gallery Kirk Hopper Fine Art PDNB Gallery RO2 Art Talley Dunn Gallery Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden

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your modern

calendar

Modern events and activities make for fall fun around the Metroplex.

Liu Xiaodong + Paolo Roversi + Ariel René Jackson Dallas Contemporary

Fair Park Tram Tour Ad Ex // mar17

Walking Tours Discover the Arts District + Explore the Main Street District Ad Ex

Virtual Tour - The Fight for Civil Rights in the South Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum

Nasher Mixtape Nasher Sculpture Center

Dalí’s Divine Comedy Dallas Museum Of Art

Shirin Neshat: I Will Greet the Sun Again Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, please confirm availability of viewing these exhibits.

modern

art galleries

Modern art, exhibits, around the Metroplex.

Charmaine Locke and James Surls Kirk Hopper Fine Art

Jeremiah Onifadé SITE 131

Paul Manes Cris Worley Fine Arts

Jihye Han & Yuni Lee Ro2 Art

Eric Cruikshank Holly Johnson Gallery

Margaret Meehan + Jeff Gibbons + Matthew Whitenack Conduit Gallery

Arely Morales Talley Dunn Gallery

Stephen D’Onofrio + Joseph Montgomery Galleri Urbane

David A. Dreyer + Emily LaCour Valley House Gallery // view current shows online or appointments maybe available