DAVID CADWALLADER & SCOTT MAREK TEAM UP THOMA FOUNDATION INSPIRES
FRIDA FEVER AT THE DMA
HUGH HAYDEN AT THE NASHER
HUMA BHABHA
JONATHAN BOROFSKY
ANTHONY CARO
TONY CRAGG
MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN
MARK DI SUVERO
JIM DINE
LEONARDO DREW
BARRY FLANAGAN
TOM FRIEDMAN
LIAM GILLICK
ANTONY GORMLEY
KATHARINA GROSSE
SIOBHÁN HAPASKA
THOMAS HOUSEAGO
KAWS
ALAIN KIRILI
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
HENRY MOORE
IVÁN NAVARRO
PAMELA NELSON AND
ROBERT A. WILSON
MIMMO PALADINO
JOEL SHAPIRO
FRANK STELLA
LEO VILLAREAL
HE XIANGYU
A MUSEUM UNLIKE ANY OTHER. THE ART OF SHOPPING.
ERIN MATHEWS
PLUG IN TO ONE AGENT. LIGHT A NETWORK OF 24. They bring this city to life like no other group. In a spirit of collaboration that has propelled some of Dallas’ most legendary real estate transactions, this premier networking group continues to do what it does best—connect people and properties. What does that mean for you? A more expertly facilitated sale of your prized property. A more perfectly matched home for your next move. Twenty-four of the most admired and knowledgeable real estate professionals in Dallas come together to put their resources and their vast experience to work for you. Insider information, off-market properties, Dallas’ most exquisite estates—all leveraged for your benefit. Thinking of a change? Put the Masters of Residential Real Estate to work for you.
SEATED : DORIS JACOBS , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. EMILY RAY-PORTER , Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate RALPH RANDALL , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s ERIN MATHEWS , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. AMY DETWILER , Compass FAISAL HALUM , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s JOAN ELEAZER , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s SUSAN MARCUS , Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s STANDING : BURTON RHODES , Compass BECKY FREY, Compass KYLE CREWS , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. TOM HUGHES , Compass MICHELLE WOOD , Compass EMILY PRICE CARRIGAN , Emily Price Carrigan Properties CHAD BARRETT, Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. MADELINE JOBST, Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s RYAN STREIFF, Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate SUSAN BALDWIN , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. FRANK PURCELL , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc. JONATHAN ROSEN , Compass
PENNY RIVENBARK PATTON , Ebby Halliday Realtors MARK CAIN , Compass STEWART LEE , Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate JACKIE MCGUIRE , Allie Beth Allman and Assoc.
EDITOR’S NOTE
August / September 2024
TERRI PROVENCAL Publisher / Editor in Chief terri@patronmagazine.com Instagram terri_provencal and patronmag
Midway through July, I attended Conduit Gallery’s 40th anniversary exhibition and took note of the entwined art and design community there to celebrate. Bumping into a kindred spirit, I chatted with Anthony Sonnenberg, an artist known for his kitsch-layered ceramic sculptures that animate the drippings of candle wax. That evening he challenged the established designations between fine art, the decorative arts, and craft. Do they need to be defined as individual genres or should they all be mixed up in a blender and flourish in noncategorical wholeness? To that end, the Art & Design issue blends those persistent shared foundations.
On the cover, a home designed by the late modernist Frank Welch is reconceived through Stacy Jacobsen’s considerate design that leaves the footprint untouched. Rob Brinkley writes, “All over, she has contrasted the house’s clean, crisp lines with tiny bursts of worldliness and wow.” Complemented by art through Talley Dunn Gallery, the house invites the deep dive offered in Sensitively Chic
Interior designer David Cadwallader and architect Scott Marek joined forces to conceive a home for Carol and Peter York that pays homage to their extensive collection, rooted in the work of Texas artists. Nancy Cohen Israel peeks inside in Palais de Texas
About a year ago, Marilynn and Carl Thoma relocated their foundation and much of their art holdings to Dallas. Spanning centuries and genres, the intermingled riches of digital and media art, postwar painting and sculpture, viceregal paintings of the Spanish Americas, and Japanese bamboo baskets combine to make a blended tapestry of interest. Enriching Foundation sees collection highlights and imparts the Thomas’ shared mission of art and education.
Frida: Beyond the Myth opens this month at the Dallas Museum of Art. In Frida’s In-Between Space, Danielle Avram explores the complexities of the fabled Mexican artist—these days simply known by the mononym Frida—with Dr. Agustín Arteaga, the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art and co-curator of the exhibition.
Artist Hugh Hayden, whose primary medium is wood, also defies classification. Hayden flexes his carving and carpentry skills, architectural training, and engagement with organic materials to create thorny and branched dining tables and chairs and other everyday objects. For Homecoming, opening at the Nasher Sculpture Center in September, Hayden has drawn from his childhood memories in Dallas to create a thorn-covered children’s playground. Eve Hill-Agnus investigates in Lost Dreams and Homecoming Found
In Space, Rob reports on the goings-on of acclaimed Dallas-based interior designers Doniphan Moore, who unveiled his new studio on a summer day; and John Bobbitt, who introduced Frog & Camel at Joseph Minton Antiques. Moore’s new studio and Frog & Camel show off their signature design ethos. Next, he checks in with Mallory Culbert on Marburger’s upcoming installment this October; Andrés Anza, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winner; and Costa Christ on his newfangled photographic Rimowa luggage editions.
In Fair Trade , interior designer Joshua Rice catches up with friend and collaborator Chris Thurman, the founder of Sputnik Modern, on 20th-century design. Contemporaries finds Chris Byrne, owner of the Elaine de Kooning House and Studio, visiting with Matthew Ward, the new director of the PollockKrasner House and Study Center, on a joint artist residency they launched in July in East Hampton.
Treasures found at Studio Van den Akker and JD Staron in the Dallas Design Center take the spotlight in Trysting Place. Photographs by Luis Martinez find unity in today’s fashion, fine furnishings, and handcrafted rugs.
Our art and design focus ends with a spotlight on a set of handsome horn loudspeakers crafted by Semrad Audio, in Speak Easy. Their heft and beauty paired with a distinctive clarity of sound invite us to look closer, listen deeper, and speak out.
–Terri Provencal
Portrait
Tim Boole, Styling Jeanna Doyle, Stanley Korshak
FEATURES
50 PALAIS DE TEXAS
A Bluffview home features architecture by Scott Marek, interiors by David Cadwallader, and a pantheon of artists from across the state.
By Nancy Cohen Israel
58 SENSITIVELY CHIC
Designer Stacy Jacobsen renovates her 1980s Frank Welch–designed family home with uncommon finesse.
By Rob Brinkley
66 ENRICHING FOUNDATION
Marilynn and Carl Thoma believe that community access is as essential as stewardship of their extraordinary art collection.
By Nancy Cohen Israel
74 FRIDA’S IN-BETWEEN SPACE
Dallas Museum of Art peels back the layers of Kahlo’s legendary mythology.
By Danielle Avram
80 LOST DREAMS AND HOMECOMING FOUND
At the Nasher, objects full of meaning resound in Dallas-born artist’s
Fashion and design’s enduring love affair rendezvous at Studio Van den
Photography by Luis Martinez; Creative Direction by Terri Provencal;
58
On the cover: Sam Reveles, Gullfoss 1, 2021, oil and pencil on linen, from Talley Dunn Gallery, is installed above the custom sofa covered in Thomas Lavin fabric; stools by SJ Studio covered in Dedar fabric; 18th-century chest with Dorothy Thorpe Lucite candlesticks; Farrow & Ball Schoolhouse White paint; The Hudson Company, New York, oak floors are installed throughout the home. Photograph by Patrick Flores.
DEPARTMENTS
06 Editor’s Note
12 Contributors
24 Noted
Fair Trade
38 EXPLORING THE WORLD OF 20TH-CENTURY DESIGN
A conversation on collectibles and collaboration with Chris Thurman.
Interview by Joshua Rice.
Contemporaries
40 DUAL RESIDENCE
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center collaborates with sister studio, the Elaine de Kooning House, on a new artist residency.
Interview by Chris Byrne
Space
42 RESTLESS CREATIVITY
Doniphan Moore’s new studio is a swoon-worthy design laboratory.
By Rob Brinkley
44 JOHN BOBBITT’S MARVELOUS MUSINGS
Frog & Camel enters the antiques picture at Joseph Minton Antiques.
By Rob Brinkley
46 AMORPHOUS METAPHORS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Andrés Anza receives the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize for his ceramic “beings.”
By Rob Brinkley
48 THE MYTHICAL MARBURGER
Within the pastoral acres of Round Top, for five days in October, 300-plus dealers display furniture, art, antiques, accessories, and the novel.
By Rob Brinkley
49 THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
Photographs by Costa Christ stick to the ribs of Rimowa luggage, bringing adventures home.
By Rob Brinkley
There
93 CAMERAS COVERING CULTURAL EVENTS.
Furthermore 96 SPEAK EASY
Meet John Semrad’s stunning horn loudspeakers, designed to soothe the ear and the eye.
By Steve Carter
BufordHawthorne is honored to receive the 2024 AIA Dallas Contractor Award.
is assistant professor of contemporary galleries and exhibitions at UT Dallas and the director of SP/N Gallery. She is also a writer, curator, and project manager who has held positions at Texas Woman’s University; Southern Methodist University; The Power Station; and The Pinnell Collection, among others. She has an MFA from the School of The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, and a BA from UT Dallas. In Frida’s In-Between Space Danielle shares some discoveries you won’t want to miss at the upcoming exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art.
ROB BRINKLEY
is a writer, editor, and creative director in the worlds of magazines, social media, short films, and books. He writes for national shelter publications and is the co-author of the Assouline book Domestic Art: Curated Interiors. He is the director of communications for Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s. In Space, Rob writes of Doniphan Moore’s new studio, John Bobbit’s Frog & Camel, Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winner Andrés Anza, Marburger’s fall edition, and Costa Christ’s limited-edition suitcase. In Sensitively Chic, Rob takes readers inside the home of designer Stacy Jacobsen.
STEVE CARTER
EVE HILL-AGNUS
is a writer, editor, and translator with roots in France and California. She has been a teacher of literature and journalism; a dining critic who also covered art and dance; and a freelance writer/editor of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Her recent joy has been translation, whether the translation of one language to another or of art into words. In this issue, Eve tells of Hugh Hayden’s upcoming exhibition at Nasher Sculpture Center in Lost Dreams And Homecoming Found
CHRIS BYRNE
is the founder of the Elaine de Kooning House in East Hampton, NY, host to exhibitions and residencies for Laurie Anderson, Katherine Bernhardt, Joe Bradley, Lonnie Holley, Keith Mayerson, Mary Weatherford, and others. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the US Department of the Interior in 2022, the residence is also an affiliate member of Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This summer, the Elaine de Kooning and Pollock-Krasner Houses coproduced a joint initiative artist-in-residence program.
LAUREN CHRISTENSEN has over two decades of experience in advertising and marketing. As a principal with L+S Creative Group, she consults with nonprofit organizations and businesses in many sectors, including retail, real estate, and hospitality. Lauren is a Dallas native and a graduate of SMU with a BA in advertising. Her clean, contemporary aesthetic and generous spirit make Lauren the perfect choice to art direct Patron
NANCY COHEN ISRAEL is a Dallas-based writer, art historian, and educator at the Meadows Museum, and an ongoing contributor to Patron. In Palais de Texas, Nancy explores a home that takes shape through a collaborative process, with interiors by David Cadwallader, architecture by Scott Marek, and homeowners deeply vested in the art of Texans. In Enriching Foundation, she takes readers inside the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation, which brims with a significant art collection spanning eras and genres from new media to viceregal paintings of South America.
has been a Denton-based freelance arts writer for over 25 years, and a musician, bandleader, songwriter, painter, and factotum for even longer. Taking advantage of Steve’s extensive musical expertise, Patron asked him to hit pause for a moment to listen. In this issue, he explores the aural and visual wonders of Semrad Audio’s horn loudspeakers, a worldclass design marvel for world-class audiophiles and hi-fi cognoscenti. “You just won’t believe these things,” Carter enthuses. “John Semrad is creating works of musical art.”
LUIS MARTINEZ
is a Kim Dawson model and actor discovery from San Antonio currently based in Dallas who is equally adept as a fashion/beauty/portrait photographer and videographer. To coincide with Patron’s Design Issue, find the product of his artistically trained eye in Trysting Place. Here, he photographed on location with a team of creatives at Studio Van den Akker and JD Staron in the Dallas Design Center to capture the intersection of fine furnishings and fashion, with both taking center stage.
WENDY MULAS
was born and raised in Spain and made her way to Dallas as an au pair. She seized the opportunity to work with renowned fashion brands like Chanel, Fendi, and Dolce & Gabbana. Transitioning her passion into a career as a stylist, Wendy is dedicated to empowering women, helping them shine and believe in themselves through the cultivation of their personal style. In Trysting Place, Wendy combines the textures and hues of the season with showroom finds at Studio Van den Akker and JD Staron.
JOHN SMITH is a photographer who flexes his degree in architecture to photograph homes and projects of distinction. Decades of experience provide him with a unique appreciation for his clients’ vision, including architects, interior designers, and artists. For Patron, John photographed the vast collection of the Thoma Foundation, and Agustín Arteaga, the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art, in anticipation of the opening of Frida: Beyond the Myth And flexing his design instincts, he photographed John Bobbitt’s Frog & Camel.
On view through November 3, 2024
Marking the 150-year anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution reframes one of art history’s best-known movements by highlighting its rebellious origin story and the revolutionary course it charted for modern art. Get to know Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Piet Mondrian, and Henri Matisse like you never have before. Get tickets at impressionistrevolution.dma.org.
The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. This exhibition is co-presented by Texas Instruments and PNC Bank. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by generous DMA Members and donors, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
Image: The Water Lily Pond (Clouds), 1903. Claude Monet. Oil on canvas. Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., bequest of Mrs. Eugene McDermott in honor of Nancy Hamon, 2019.67.13.McD.
PUBLISHER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Terri Provencal terri@patronmagazine.com
ART DIRECTION
Lauren Christensen
DIGITAL MANAGER/PUBLISHING COORDINATOR
Anthony Falcon
COPY EDITOR
Sophia Dembling
PRODUCTION
Michele Rodriguez
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Danielle Avram
Rob Brinkley
Chris Byrne
Steve Carter
Nancy Cohen Israel
Eve Hill-Agnus
Joshua Rice
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Giorgio Albano
Karen Almond
Michael Avedon
Carlos Aveñdano
Dawn Blackman
John Cain Sargent
Tamytha Cameron
Celeste Cass
Kristopher Ellis
Exploredinary
Douglas Friedman
Patrick Flores
Jenny Gorman
Hieu Li
Joan Marcus
Luis Martinez
Peyton Mixon
Yasuinori Matsui
Nikolas Muray
Stephen Pisano
Chadwick Redmon
John Smith
Kevin Todora
Mark Waldhauser
CONTRIBUTING STYLISTS
Pablo Arellano
Carl Daniels
Bélene Garza
Wendy Mulas
Russ Saour
ADVERTISING info@patronmagazine.com or by calling (214) 642-1124
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This exhibition has been organized by the Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas, and the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas and is funded by a generous gift from The Meadows Foundation, with additional support provided by the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History.
“PATTERNS” SEPTEMBER 5-28, NEW YORK | OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 6-8 P.M.
Experience noted glass artist Simon Waranch’s exciting new works at his New York debut. Bonner David Galleries will kick off an entire season of Simon Waranch’s works which will then continue at the Pollock-Krasner House beginning November 8, running through the spring.
“Wiggle Grouping 3” blown and mirrored glass
NOW ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS FOR FALL
for: $68,750
Urban Art | August 7
Prints & Multiples | August 21
Southwest Visions II: the Collection of Jack B.
Harrod, Jr. | September 17
Visit HA.com/Auctions for a Complete Calendar
Inquiries: 877-HERITAGE (437-4824)
Fine Art | Frank Hettig | ext. 1157 | FrankH@HA.com
Contemporary Art Within Reach | September 20 Asian Art | September 24 American Art Within Reach | September 27
Decorative Arts | Karen Rigdon | ext. 1723 | KarenR@HA.com 2801 W. Airport Freeway, Dallas, Texas 75261
David Bates (American, b. 1952) Specks, 1990 Sold
NOTED
01 AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
Facing the Rising Sun contains photographs, found objects, and historical documents that provide an insight into a community called Freedman’s Town, now known as Uptown. Reintroducing the Sam & Ruth Bussey Art Gallery | Imagination and Materiality: The Power of Memory and Storytelling in Black Art showcases more than 500 objects in the museum’s main gallery. Both exhibitions are ongoing through Sep. aamdallas.org
02 AMON CARTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
Moving Pictures: Karl Struss and the Rise of Hollywood highlights Struss’ innovations in image-making and his contributions to the film industry in the early 20th century, through Aug. 25. Dario Robleto: The Signal highlights the artist’s exploration of the Golden Record, a gold-plated phonograph recording containing sounds and images selected in the late 1970s by a team at NASA to portray life on Earth to extraterrestrials. On view through Oct. 27. Drawn to Nature highlights the Carter’s works on paper through Sep. 29. Through Jun. 20, 2025, Jean Shin: The Museum Body showcases a textile-based portrait of the museum through clothing items donated by the Carter’s employees. Cowboy reexamines the mythologies surrounding the concept of the cowboy. Through the work of more than 25 artists representing Asian American, Latino, and Indigenous perspectives, the exhibition explores a wide array of themes, including the cowboy’s role in shaping our perception of masculinity and gender; Sep. 28–Mar. 16. Image: Ana Segovia (b. 1991), Aunque me espine la mano, 2018, video (5:34). Courtesy the artist. cartermuseum.org
03 CROW MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
Through Apr. 14, 2025, Japan, Form & Function: The Montgomery Collection remains on view. This exhibition showcases over 240 works, thoughtfully organized into themes and categories that highlight the form and function of various materials. Image: Sake bottle (tokkuri), Meiji period, ca. 1900, Shigaraki ware, Shiga prefecture, stoneware with “snakeskin” glaze (jakatsu). Courtesy of the collector. Photograph by Chadwick Redmon. crowmuseum.org
04 DALLAS CONTEMPORARY
Who’s afraid of cartoony figuration? is a group exhibition examining an artistic language to engage identity politics, feminism, and social histories in the 21st century; on view through Sep. 22. Patrick Martinez: Histories draws attention to ephemeral city scenes embedded with elements reflective of intergenerational cultural exchange. Featuring sculpture, installations, large-scale
THE LATEST CULTURAL NEWS COVERING ALL ASPECTS OF THE ARTS IN NORTH TEXAS: NEW EXHIBITS, NEW PERFORMANCES, GALLERY OPENINGS, AND MORE.
multimedia paintings, and the artist’s iconic neon works, the exhibition transports the collective artifacts, sentiments, memories, and energies of Los Angeles and comparable Latinx, Filipinx, and BIPOC communities into the Dallas Contemporary space; on view through Jan. 5, 2025. Brian Fridge’s short film View Finder closes Aug. 4. The 2024 Dallas Contemporary Gala, chaired by Leigh Anne Clark and Kasey Lemkin, merges the worlds of art, fashion, and philanthropy, on Sep. 20 at the museum. Image: Who’s afraid of cartoony figuration? Dallas Contemporary installation view. Photograph by Kevin Todora. dallascontemporary.org
05 DALLAS HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM
Opening Aug. 8, Hidden History explores the multifaceted history of desperation, loss, and asylum through artifacts, survivor stories, and the photographic lens of prominent American photojournalist Arthur Rothstein, who documented the Shanghai Jewish community in 1946 for the United Nations. dhhrm.org
06 DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART
Looking Forward: A New DMA presents an inside look into the DMA’s redesign through Dec. 29. Continuing through Aug. 3, 2025, Backs in Fashion: Mangbetu Women’s Egbe delves into the artistry of the egbe, a back apron garment fashioned by upperclass Mangbetu women. The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse showcases the story of impressionism and its influence on modern European art, through Nov. 3. From Munch to Kirchner: The Heins Collection of Modern and Expressionist Art celebrates the legacy of Marie “Elinor” Heins through Jan. 5, 2025. When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History aims to broaden and complicate official histories and their corresponding visual strategies to allow for richer representations of those who have been traditionally excluded or erased. On view through Apr. 15, 2025. Frida: Beyond the Myth sees over 60 works across media that explore the life of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists, who continues to elude our understanding of her as an individual; Aug. 18–Nov. 17. Image: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Still Life with Lilies, 1917, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Cornelia and Ralph Heins in memory of Elinor Heins. dma.org
07 GEORGE W. BUSH
PRESIDENTAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Freedom Matters uses artifacts and historical documents, interactive activities, and personal perspectives to examine the concept of freedom: where it comes from, what it means, what free societies look like, and the role of the individual in protecting and spreading
freedom around the world, through Dec. 31. bushcenter.org
08 KIMBELL ART MUSEUM
On view through Sep. 15, Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries marks the first time that the entire cycle of seven large-scale tapestries—some of the most awe-inspiring examples of this often-overlooked art form—have been on view in the United States. Each about 27 feet wide and 14 feet high, they commemorate Emperor Charles V’s decisive victory over French King Francis I that ended the 16th-century Italian Wars. kimbellart.org
09 LATINO CULTURAL CENTER
Bajo la sombra de un muro delves into the profound human experiences surrounding immigration to America, through Aug. 16. La Peña, an intimate experience of music and poetry, is slated for Sep. 27. Fair Assembly Presents: King Lear takes the stage Aug. 8–17. Sonic Quilt of Metroplex, an enchanting evening of chamber music featuring works by esteemed local composers such as Joseph Klein, Sungji Hong, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Jonathan Cziner, and Hee Yun Kim takes place Aug. 24. Shared Stories explores life and a common journey of change, growth, and a search for happiness through migration, Aug. 31–Oct. 11. Concurrently, Antonio Lechuga’s Flowers for the Living takes cobijas (fleece blankets) and uses them to offer a space for comfort, grief, and care. lcc.dallasculture.org
10 THE MAC
The 26th Annual Membership Exhibition continues through Sep. 16. the-mac.org
11 MEADOWS MUSEUM
Barnaby Fitzgerald: An Eye for Ballast sees a monographic exhibition of key paintings by the Dallas-based artist, on loan from prominent local collections, that honors Fitzgerald’s prolific career and celebrates his election to professor of art emeritus at SMU. On view through Sep. 22. During the reigns of the Bourbon kings— Charles III of Spain (who ruled as Charles VII of Naples from 1734 until 1759) and his son Ferdinand IV (1759 until 1799)—the Mediterranean city of Naples established itself as a major European capital and key destination on the Grand Tour, even as Mount Vesuvius continued to smolder, threatening its environs. The Legacy of Vesuvius: Bourbon Discoveries on the Bay of Naples will reveal the slippage between the ancient and modern during the reigns of these royal tastemakers; Sep. 15–Jan. 5. Image: Villa Arianna, Flora, Stabiae, early first century CE., pigment on plaster, 15 x 12.60 in. Museo Archeologico Nazionale de Napoli. Photograph by Giorgio Albano. meadowsmuseumdallas.org
12 MODERN ART MUSEUM OF FORT WORTH
Rebecca Manson: Barbecue defies viewers’ expectations of what clay
can do by pushing the material to its most fragile and muscular places. Comprised of thousands of individually crafted ceramic leaves, flowers, a barbecue grill, and assorted detritus that swell into piles, this site-responsive installation creates moments for self-reflection. The immersive work is displayed in the ellipse, the Modern’s oval first-floor gallery, and marks Manson’s first solo presentation in a museum; through Aug. 25. themodern.org
13 MUSEUM OF BIBLICAL ART
Trust by Johannes Boekhoudt continues through Sep. 30. biblicalarts.org
14 NASHER SCULPTURE CENTER
Through Aug. 13, Sarah Sze’s site-specific installations integrate painting, sculpture, images, sound, and video with the surrounding architecture to create intimate systems that reference the rapidly changing world. Haas Brothers: Moonlight sees brothers Nikolai and Simon Haas install a series of dreamlike works highlighting the fusion of art, design, and technology in their practice, inside and outside the museum and on Flora Street, through Aug. 25. Hugh Hayden: Homecoming , from Sep. 14–Jan. 5, 2025, presents the work of the Dallas-born, New York–based artist who utilizes wood carving and carpentry to construct sculptures and installations that critique the American dream, transforming familiar items like church pews, dinner tables, and football helmets into surreal expressions of potential harm and discomfort. Samara Golden, from Sep. 28–Jan. 12, features installations that use architecture and mirrors to create disorienting spaces reflecting themes of violence, class disparity, and recovery. Image: Samara Golden, Upstairs at Steve’s, 2020, installation view, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Mixed media. 80 x 17 x 16 feet. Photograph by Carlos Avendaño. Courtesy of Night Gallery. nashersculpturecenter.org
15 PEROT MUSEUM
T. rex: The Ultimate Predator explores the features that allowed T. rex to dominate its competition, examines the sensory abilities and social behaviors of this powerful hunter, and reveals how the world’s most iconic dinosaur evolved from a superfamily that included more than two dozen species and spanned 100 million years. On view through Sep. 22. perotmuseum.org
16 SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM
The museum examines the life, legacy, and assassination of JFK within the events of November 22, 1963, and the aftermath. jfk.org
17 TYLER MUSEUM OF ART
Tongue in Chic, continuing through Sep. 15, showcases the work of Texan designer Todd Oldham, who blends high fashion with everyday elements. tylermuseum.org
highland park village
01 AMPHIBIAN
Set during the Assyrian Empire, The Handless King follows two government employees tasked with tallying the dead in the wake of a recent battle; through Aug. 18. National Theatre Live hosts a screening of Present Laughter at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth on Sep. 25 and 28. amphibianstage.com
02 AT&T PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Folk singer Aditya Gadhvi performs on Aug. 4. Chris D’Elia is up next on Aug. 16, and PJ Morton, known for his soulful voice, performs on Aug. 17. Classic Albums Live presents Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours on Aug. 23 and Led Zeppelin’s II on Aug. 24. Tonya Baker offers an evening of songs and stories on Aug. 24.
An Evening With Omari Dillard: Soul Violinist caps off the month on Aug. 31. An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Friends explores scientific breakthroughs on Sep. 4, followed by How Sweet the Sound, a gospel music competition on Sep. 5. Yesterday & Today, showcasing innovative Beatles renditions, is set for Sep. 6. Company, a Sondheim masterpiece, runs Sep. 25–29 alongside the concert Forgotten Space + Stu Allen, a Grateful Dead tribute, on Sep. 27. Image: Richard Dawkins. Courtesy of Richard Dawkins. attpac.org
03 BASS PERFORMANCE HALL
Sister Act , presented by Jubilee Theatre in partnership with Performing Arts Fort Worth, mounts Aug. 15–18. On Aug. 27, enjoy the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Company takes the stage from Sep. 1–Sep. 5. Pianist Joyce Yang will perform on Sep. 19, presented by The Cliburn. basshall.com
04 BROADWAY DALLAS
See RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars LIVE on Aug. 23, and Donny Osmond: Direct from Vegas on Aug. 2. Funny Girl , part of the Germania Insurance Broadway Series, will run from Aug. 6–18. The 2024 ARTMS World Tour Moonshot makes a stop on Aug. 27. Ray LaMontagne brings his Long Way Home Tour on Sep. 20. The historical epic Mughal-E-Azam plays Sep. 13–15. Cirque du Soleil brings Songblazers to the stage from Sep. 25–Oct. 20, promising a blend of spectacular performances and visual artistry. broadwaydallas.org
05 CASA MAÑANA
In Pippin, from Aug. 2-4, Prince Pippin’s quest for true happiness lies beyond the grand adventures, exploring more everyday joys. From Sep. 7–15, Million Dollar Quartet brings to life the historic jam session between rock ‘n’ roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. From Sep. 17–Oct. 5, Live at the Apollo features performances of songs by legendary artists who launched their careers at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. casamanana.org
06 DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE
DBDT will return with programming later this fall. dbdt.com
07 THE DALLAS OPERA
Louisa Muller makes her Dallas Opera debut in La traviata, Oct. 18–27. dallasopera.org
08 DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
DSO dazzles with a vibrant concert lineup beginning with NYO2 on Aug. 6. Rock enthusiasts will appreciate Rock 101 on Aug. 9, and classical music lovers can explore The Mind and Music of Beethoven on Aug. 25. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire in Concert runs from Aug. 29–Sep. 1, blending cinema with live orchestral music. Sep. highlights include Ben Rector and Cody Fry on Sep. 6 and 7, followed by classical evenings on Sep. 12 and 14 with works by Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. Alcée Chriss III offers an organ recital on Sep. 15, and Twist and Shout: The Music of The Beatle s delivers nostalgic sounds on Sep. 20–22. Lang Lang will perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto on Sep. 28. Image: Ben Rector and Cody Fry. Photograph courtesy of Ben Rector, Cody Fry, and the DSO. mydso.com
09 DALLAS THEATER CENTER
Join DTC under the sea for Disney’s The Little Mermaid through Aug. 4. dallastheatercenter.org
10 EISEMANN
CENTER
Ishwara by Rukmini Vijayakumar takes place Aug. 16. Discover the Texas Gospel Music Festival Aug. 30–Sep. 1. Sixtiesmania is up next on Sep. 7. Comedian Amit Tandon brings the laughs on Sep. 8, and Rasa by RaGa unfolds on Sep. 14. The Brit Pack delivers classic British hits on Sep. 21. Sep. 22 is bustling with Mame Khan and Purbayan Chatterjee in the afternoon, Aarya Ambekar late afternoon, and Zeeshan Ali live in the evening, completing a musically diverse month. eisemanncenter.com
11
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour on Aug. 23 and 24 immerses audiences in a symphonic blend of video game scores. The Stars of the Symphony follows on Aug. 31. The season continues with Opening Weekend: Tchaikovsky’s Sixth and Sibelius’ Violin Concerto from Sep. 6–8. Pat Green performs live with the FWSO on Sep. 14, blending country tunes with orchestral accompaniment. The month concludes with Mozart and Strauss from Sep. 27–29. Image: Pat Green. Photograph by Karen Almond. fwsymphony.org
12 MAJESTIC THEATRE
Catch 10cc’s Ultimate Greatest Hits tour on Aug. 9. That Girl Lay
THE DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
Wagner’s rarely-performed Ring Cycle is coming to Dallas. Experience all four of his world-famous operas, led by GRAMMY® Award-winning Music Director Fabio Luisi and performed by over 100 internationally renowned musicians, exclusively at the Meyerson.
Secure your seats for this monumental event at ringcycle.dallassymphony.org
JUNE
16 SEPT 15
Lay: Growing Pains Tour hits the stage on Aug. 14, while Tim Minchin offers an evening of music and humor on Aug. 16. Christopher Cross performs on Aug. 18, with comedy from Luenell on Aug. 23 and Joss Stone’s Ellipsis tour on Aug. 24. Lalah Hathaway is onstage Aug. 28, followed by Whitney Cummings on Sep. 5. The Mavericks will perform on Sep. 7, followed by Keane on Sep. 11, and Chris Botti on Sep. 12. A 20th anniversary celebration of Napoleon Dynamite with key cast members takes place on Sep. 14, followed by Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert on Sep. 15, The Basement Yard Experience on Sep. 18, Ancient Aliens Live on Sep. 19, and Kathleen Madigan keep the laughs coming on Sep. 21, followed by the musical ensemble Beat on Sep. 22, David Cross on Sep. 25, MrBallen’s live tour on Sep. 26, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark on Sep. 27, Corey Holcomb on Sep. 28, and Johnny Marr and Jameson Sep. 30. majestic.dallasculture.org
13 TACA
The Arts Community Alliance supports excellence and impact in the arts through grant-making, capacity building, and thought leadership. Stay tuned for dates for the 2024 Fall Arts Crawl. taca–arts.org
14
TEXAS BALLET THEATER
Enter a magical realm of fairy dust, glass slippers, and hilarious stepsisters with Cinderella Sep. 13–15 and Sep. 20–22. texasballettheater.org
15
THEATRE THREE
Lizzie: The Rock Musical, Sep. 28–Oct. 29, explores the mind of Lizzie Borden and speculates on the motivations she may have had, such as overwhelming oppression, abuse, and madness. theatre3dallas.com
16
TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND
Twyla Tharp returns to TITAS to celebrate her 60th anniversary on Sep. 20 with Ocean’s Motion, set to music by Chuck Berry, highlighting Tharp’s ability to blend rock ‘n’ roll with dance. The evening also features a tribute to Jacques Brel and a new work, The Ballet Master, which combines Simeon ten Holt’s minimalist music with Vivaldi’s baroque compositions. Image: Twyla Tharp dancers John Selya, Cassandra Trenary, and Daniel Ulbright. Photograph by Stephen Pisano. titas.org
17
TURTLE CREEK CHORALE
TCC’s Bach to the ’90s takes the stage on Sep. 26 and 27 with pieces from the 1790s and 1890s alongside hits from the 1990s. From the compositions of Bach to the anthems of Alanis Morissette, take a nostalgic journey through music. turtlecreekchorale.com
A Next-Level Real Estate Experience
5
01 12.26
New paintings by Sean Cairns remain on view in Wearing Away
The Mountain through Aug. 3. Next, the gallery will feature new works by Greg Carideo, Milano Chow, and Will Rogan from Sep. 7–Oct. 12. Image: Sean Cairns, Wearing Away The Mountain, 2024, oil, distemper, gypsum, and marble dust on canvas, 78 x 58 in. gallery1226.com
02 500X GALLERY
500X is an artist-run gallery established in 1978 to promote emerging and established artists in Dallas. 500x.org
03 ALAN BARNES FINE ART
Specializing in 19th- and 20th- century American and European paintings, the gallery presents John Modesitt: An American Impressionist through Aug. 3. alanbarnesfineart.com
04 AND NOW
Khutso Edgar closes out the summer through Aug. 3. The next show will feature a solo exhibition by Leslie Martinez from Sep. 7–Oct. 19. andnow.biz
05 ARTSPACE111
11th Annual Texas Juried Exhibition continues through Aug. 24. For Fall Gallery Night, on Sep. 7, AS111 will highlight Dennis Blagg in the main gallery and a showcase of 35 artists in their Grella Gallery. The featured work remains on view throughout the month. artspace111.com
06 BARRY WHISTLER GALLERY
Reed Anderson’s Flags will be on display alongside Matt Kleberg’s Works on Paper through Aug. 3. Fran Colpitt Legacy, Aug. 31–Sep. 28, an exhibition honoring Frances Colpitt (1952-2022), TCU professor, scholar, critic, and published author, features a group show of nine artists including Michael Miller, John Pomara, Allison V. Smith, and John Wilcox, whose work she included in her curatorial practice. barrywhistlergallery.com
07 BEATRICE M. HAGGERTY GALLERY
Life and Death on the Border 1910–1920 continues through Oct. 15. This exhibit, a collaboration between the Mexican American Museum of Texas and the University of Dallas’ Latin American Studies, explores the decade of violence on the Texas-Mexico border, focusing on state-sanctioned racial violence against ethnic Mexicans and their fight for civil rights. udallas.edu/gallery
08 CADD
On Sep. 21, the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD) present the Fall Gallery Walk from noon to 5 p.m. caddallas.org
09 CHRISTOPHER
MARTIN GALLERY
The gallery showcases Christopher Martin’s signature reverse acrylic paintings and the works of more than 25 artists working in painting, photography, mixed media, and sculpture. Represented artists include Rodeo photographer Steve Wrubel; abstract painter Jeff Muhs; mixed-media artist Toni Martin; geometric painter JeanPaul Khabbaz; and marble sculptor Paul Bloch, among others. christophermartingallery.com
10 CONDUIT GALLERY
Conduit at 40: Forte! is a special exhibition featuring works by 27 guest artists. The exhibition remains on view through Aug. 24. Next, Annette Lawrence, Margaret Meehan , and Yana Payusova will fill the gallery from Sep. 7–Oct. 19. Image: Janet Chaffee, Involute, 2022, ink, charcoal and pastel on mylar and paper, 42 x 42 in. conduitgallery.com
11 CRAIGHEAD GREEN GALLERY
Through Aug. 24, CGG’s annual New Texas Talent remains on view. From Aug. 31–Oct. 5, Danna Ruth Harvey, Kendall Stallings, and Jeff Wenzel fill the gallery. craigheadgreen.com
12 CRIS WORLEY FINE ARTS
Joshua Hagler: Nihil II: Nor the Moon in its Water, Anne Allen: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, and the Summer Group Show: Anchor Point all remain on view through Aug. 17. New work by Lubbock-based sculptor William Cannings will be shown Aug. 24–Sep. 28. Image: Johnny DeFeo, The Large and Sprawling Estate of Sir Francis Macomber, 2024, acrylic on panel, 40 x 30 in. crisworley.com
13 CVAD, UNT COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN GALLERIES
Labor of Luxury: The Art of Embroidery from India to the World opens on Oct. 1. cvad.unt.edu
14 DAISHA BOARD GALLERY
Jeremy Biggers will highlight the gallery in an exhibition titled you good ? from Aug. 3–Sep. 14. Image: Jeremy Biggers, Nickolas, 2023, oil on stretched canvas, 75 x 75 in. daishaboardgallery.com
15 DAVID DIKE FINE ART
DDFA gallery specializes in late 19th - and 20th - century American and European paintings with an emphasis on the Texas
regionalists, Texas landscape, and mid-century modern painters. daviddike.com
16 ERIN CLULEY GALLERY
Petite Moments closes Aug. 3. Next, Erin Cluley Gallery: Ten Years marks the gallery’s 10th anniversary featuring rostered artists and programming, with an opening celebration on Aug. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. Through Sep. 28. Image: René Treviño, Turquoise, 2024, acrylic on DuraLar, 36 x 36 in. Courtesy of the artist and Erin Cluley Gallery. erincluley.com
17 FERRARI FINE ART GALLERY
Cecil Touchon will lead an art discussion on Visual Poetry & Color with special guest, art historian, and collections specialist Cheryl Mitchell, on Aug. 15 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Biophilic Installations features sculptures by Julie Maren opening on Sep. 6 and continuing through the month. ferrarigallery.net
18 FWADA
Fort Worth Art Dealers Association presents fall gallery night on Sep. 7 at member galleries. fwada.com
19 GALLERI URBANE
The Annual Summer Group Show continues through Aug. 4. In Gallery 1, Liss LaFleur presents her solo show Future Kin, showcasing works that explore contemporary themes. Concurrently, Gallery 2 will present a pop-up exhibition featuring new pieces by Paho Mann, Aug. 24–Sep. 28. galleriurbane.com
20 GREEN FAMILY ART FOUNDATION
Rupture & Connection, curated by Christopher Y. Lew, runs through Sep. 22 and showcases an intergenerational group of artists exploring themes of place, emigration, and legacy. Inspired by the philosophies of Édouard Glissant, the show examines the aesthetics of rupture and connection beyond geopolitical boundaries. Image: Simone Leigh, Stretch (Green), 2020, Noborigama fired stoneware, 32.87 x 8.25 x 10.37 in. greenfamilyartfoundation.org
21 HOLLY JOHNSON GALLERY
Jackie Tileston: Just This and In the Viewing Room–Tommy Fitzpatrick remain on view in the gallery through Sep. 28. hollyjohnsongallery.com
From Aug. 24–Oct. 19, James Harris Gallery will present a solo show with Molly Vaughan. Vaughan is a multidisciplinary artist who works in performance, sculpture, and painting to address the representation of transgender individuals and those who do not fall into the binary gender spectrum. jamesharrisgallery.com
23 KEIJSERS KONING
Eileen Maxson’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, Parent Trap, will be on view Aug. 24–Sep. 28. The title comes from the three-channel video work and hovers between experimental documentary, familial relationships, American zeitgeist, and a polygraph exam. keijserskoning.com
24 KIRK HOPPER FINE ART
Matthew Bourbon and Lee Baxter Davis exhibit their works Aug. 3–Sep. 7. Gil Rocha follows with his own showcase, Sep. 14–Oct. 19. kirkhopperfineart.com
25 KITTRELL/RIFFKIND ART GLASS
Seth Fairweather: A Solo Exhibition, opens on Aug. 3 and continues through Sep. 4. The 34th Annual Anniversary Gala , featuring one-of-a-kind work from over 50 artists, commences Sep. 28–Nov. 9. kittrellriffkind.com
26 LAURA RATHE FINE ART
LRFA’s summer group show, Eye Candy , closes Aug. 17. Next, Paul Rousso and Stallman Studio (Stephen Stum and Jason Hallman) exhibit in Interference Aug. 24–Sep. 28. laurarathe.com
27 LILIANA BLOCH GALLERY
Sally Warren’s exhibition The Press of My Hands remains on view through Aug. 3 Nomin Bold and Baatarzorig Batjargal will highlight the gallery in the fall. lilianablochgallery.com
28 LONE GALLERY
Lone Gallery presents two exhibitions: Hole in the Swamp and Further Out by Em Randall and Danny Joe Rose III, on view through Aug. 31. lonegallery.com
29 MELIKSETIAN | BRIGGS
Cody Trepte, a conceptual artist of note, will mount a solo show on Sep. 7 through Oct. meliksetianbriggs.com
30 PENCIL ON PAPER
Marryam Moma’s solo show Wunderland Noir displays Aug. 31–Sep. 28 pencilonpapergallery.com
31 PHOTOGRAPHS DO NOT BEND
Through Aug. 17, PDNB Gallery presents Oceanhead Mediation by Ron Cowie and Portraits of Frida by Lucienne Bloch and Nickolas Muray.. From Aug. 24–Nov. 9, Al Satterwhite’s prolific career in photography, personal and editorial , will be exhibited and include portraits of notable athletes, musicians, authors, and actors. pdnbgallery.com
32 THE POWER STATION
The Power Station is a nonprofit exhibition space and home to Picnic Curatorial Projects within a historical Dallas Power and Light building. powerstationdallas.com
33 RO2 ART
Ro2 Art presents exhibitions from Aug. 10–Sep. 14 featuring works by Cheryl Finfrock, Midge Lynn, and Hanna Kratsman Robles. Cheryl Finfrock’s The Light Beneath Our Skin showcases her vibrant figurative paintings. Midge Lynn will display her paintings alongside a new series of hand-painted globes. Hanna Kratsman Robles exhibits her close-up, intimate paintings. Image: Cheryl Finfrock, A Small Victory Renewed His Light, 2024, acrylic on Clayboard, 20 x 40 x 2 in. ro2art.com
34 SAMUEL LYNNE GALLERIES
Samuel Lynne Galleries hosts a solo exhibition for Tyler Shields Sep. 13–Oct. 31. samuellynne.com
35 SITE131
Site131’s summer exhibition, Foreign Affairs, closes Aug. 14. For fall, the gallery opens with a solo exhibition by SV Randall titled Reply all. The exhibition, guest-curated by artist/professor John Pomara, includes oversized wall works and sculptures from Sep. 14–Dec. 14. site131.com
36 SMINK
A showcase of fine design and furniture, SMINK is a purveyor of quality products for living. The showroom also hosts exhibitions featuring Robert Szot, Gary Faye, Richard Hogan, Dara Mark, and Paula Roland. sminkinc.com
37 SOUTHWEST GALLERY
The Summer Art Festival featuring 15 gallery artists takes place Aug. 24–25 along with a jewelry trunk show featuring the work of
Inga Borgia and Martha Boles. For over 50 years, the gallery has exhibited hundreds of artists who work in a broad range of styles, all displayed in their 16,000-square-foot showroom. swgallery.com
38 SWEET PASS SCULPTURE PARK
The Sculpture School exhibition on concrete featuring Ariel Wood, Dalila Sanabria, Valentina Jager Lopezllera, and Tatiana Sky opens Sep. 7 and will remain on view through the fall. sweetpasssculpturepark.com
39 TALLEY DUNN GALLERY
Poetic Diversions features five artists: David Bates, Leonardo Drew, Sedrick Huckaby, Linda Ridgway, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Xiaoze Xie. This group exhibition includes major works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, wall relief, and works on paper; through Aug. 31. Sam Reveles will showcase new work in the project gallery from Sep. 7 through the end of the month. Image: David Bates, Cottonwood Branches, 2013, oil on canvas, 76 x 48 x 4 in. talleydunn.com
Off Script, a solo show for Allison Gildersleeve, closes on Aug. 3. Botanical, an invitational group show, will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden from Aug. 17–Sep. 21. valleyhouse.com
42 VARIOUS SMALL FIRES
A solo exhibition for Antonio Lechuga continues through Aug. 31. Opening Sep. 21, the gallery will exhibit a solo show for Diedrick Brackens through Oct. 26. vsf.la
43 THE WAREHOUSE
The Warehouse presents two exhibitions from Sep. 7–Nov. 30: Ewe in the Field by Nicolas Party showcases his unique artistic vision. Concurrently, Making Our Mark: 25 Years of TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art, curated by Katherine Brodbeck, Vivian Li, and Ade Omotosho, celebrates the significant impact of the TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art benefit auction. thewarehousedallas.org
44 WEBB GALLERY
New work by Pancea Theriac, Heather Sundquist Hall, Martha Rich, and Esther Pearl Watson at Webb Gallery will exhibit in Oct. webbartgallery.com
45 WILLIAM CAMPBELL CONTEMPORARY ART
WCCA’s galleries on Byers Ave. and Foch St. will display Fuego Frío until Aug. 24. Opening Sep. 7, the Byers location will feature John Fraser’s Finding Serenity and the Foch St. location will showcase Desmond Mason Blurred Lines: The Intersection of Street and Abstract Art williamcampbellgallery.com
AUCTIONS AND EVENTS
01
DALLAS AUCTION GALLERY
Recently acquired by Reyne Hirsch, DAG will host a Gentleman’s Sale on Aug. 21 with a whiskey tasting and event prior to the sale. dallasauctiongallery.com
02 HERITAGE AUCTIONS
HA’s upcoming auctions feature a range of art and collectibles: The Urban Art Showcase Auction begins on Aug. 7. This is followed by both the Illustration Art Signature Auction and the Fine & Decorative Arts Showcase Auction on Aug. 8. The month continues with the Depth of Field: Photographs Showcase Auction on Aug. 14 and the Prints & Multiples Showcase Auction on Aug. 21. September’s offerings start with the In Focus: Peter Beard Photographs Showcase Auction on Sep. 10, the Fine & Decorative Arts Showcase Auction on Sep. 12, and the Alberto Vargas Illustration Art Showcase Auction on Sep. 13. Additionally, the Asian Art Signature Auction on Sep. 24, the Fine & Decorative Arts from The Nelkin Collection Showcase Auction on Sep. 26, and the American Art Within Reach Showcase Auction on Sep. 27 round out the month. ha.com
03 LONE STAR ART AUCTION
Taking place on Oct. 12 in Dallas, the Lone Star Art Auction offers the best American, Western, wildlife, sporting , and Texas fine art. Presented by Great American West and Phil Berkebile, Jr., the LSAA will bring buyers, collectors, and sellers of historic and contemporary fine art together for an enjoyable and entertaining event. Consignments are now being accepted for original paintings and sculpture, with LSAA offering complimentary appraisals. lonestarartauction.com
EXPLORING THE WORLD OF 20TH -CENTURY DESIGN
A conversation on collectibles and collaboration with Chris Thurman.
INTERVIEW BY JOSHUA RICE
Dallas-based interior designer Joshua Rice, renowned for his expertise in luxury interiors and 20th- to 21st-century design, sits down with his longtime collaborator and friend, Chris Thurman, the owner of the distinguished gallery Sputnik Modern. Together, they delve into the allure of 20th-century design, their shared journey, and the vibrant Dallas art scene.
Joshua Rice (JR): Chris, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with you. Could you tell us a bit about Sputnik Modern and how it has evolved over the years?
Chris Thurman (CT): Sputnik Modern has a curated collection of 20th-century art and design focusing on pieces that have a unique history and/or exceptional craftsmanship. The gallery’s evolution has been organic, driven by a deep love for design and a commitment to sharing these treasures with collectors who appreciate their value. Over the years, we’ve built a reputation in Dallas and beyond for sourcing rare and significant works.
JR: Can you elaborate on how we collaborate and how that is similar to how you work with other designers?
CT: Often you and other designers and collectors will come to me
with a specific vision or a particular piece in mind, and I use my network and expertise to source those items. Sometimes I come across unique pieces that I think would fit perfectly in one of your/ their projects, and I’ll reach out to you. It’s a two-way street where both of our inputs are invaluable.
JR: There has been a resurgence in the popularity of 20th-century design. What do you think drives this continued fascination with the era?
CT: Good design is always good, and 20th-century design has a timeless appeal. The clean lines, functional forms, and innovative use of materials resonate with contemporary aesthetics. There’s a sense of nostalgia and a connection to a period of great design experimentation. People are drawn to the authenticity and craftsmanship of these pieces. They tell a story and bring character to today’s interiors, which is something many collectors and designers, like yourself, value deeply.
JR: What is the best way to educate our clients about design and art?
CT: At Sputnik Modern, we take the time to inform our clients about the history, importance, and craftsmanship of the pieces they are interested in. We host exhibitions, give talks, and provide detailed information on each item. I think it is important that we explain the value of each piece and how it fits into the broader design narrative of the intended space. It’s about creating an enriching experience that goes beyond mere aesthetics. I know you have said multiple times that you don’t just select something because it’s “pretty”; it needs to have significance.
JR: The Dallas Art Fair has become a major event in the art world. What makes it a special platform for your gallery?
CT: The Dallas Art Fair brings together a vibrant mix of galleries, artists, and collectors. It celebrates both emerging talents and established names. For Sputnik Modern it’s an opportunity to showcase our finest pieces to a discerning audience. The fair has a welcoming atmosphere, and the Dallas community is incredibly supportive of the arts. It’s a chance to connect with new clients and engage with fellow enthusiasts who share a deep appreciation for art and design.
JR: Can you share any exciting projects you have planned for the upcoming year?
CT: We’re very excited about our move this fall to a new space. We’ve purchased a building on Monitor Street in the Design District, and I am excited that [you and I] are working together again on the process of renovating it. The new gallery will be much larger than our current space. which you also helped us design, allowing us to showcase more of our collection and to run a program of design exhibitions.
JR: Lastly, what advice would you give to someone looking to start their own collection of design?
CT: Start with pieces that resonate with you personally. Look for quality, craftsmanship, and authenticity. It’s important to educate yourself—visit galleries, attend auctions, and talk to experts. Building a collection is a journey, and it’s as much about the process as it is about the pieces themselves. Don’t rush; take your time to find items that you truly love and that fit well within your space. And of course, always be on the lookout for that one special piece that speaks to you. P
A Fiona Weedon 1993 painting hangs above a dining table with 1950s chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar through Sputnik Modern. Courtesy of Joshua Rice. Photograph by Robert Tsai.
Dual Residence
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center collaborates with sister studio, the Elaine de Kooning House, on a new artist residency.
INTERVIEW BY CHRIS BYRNE
In July the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center and the Elaine de Kooning House and Studio in East Hampton joined forces to co-produce an artist-in-residence program. The two historic sites, former homes and studios to three of the most influential painters in American history, welcomed Quebecois painter MarieClaire Chabauty to complete a portfolio of architectural portraits of each property. “We are incredibly excited to partner with the Elaine de Kooning House,” says Pollock-Krasner House director Matthew K. Ward. “Marie-Claire is the perfect artist to sensitively capture the character of our sister studios.” Their first joint initiative will culminate in a 2025 exhibition of Chabauty’s work at the PollockKrasner House as well as a corresponding publication produced by both sites. Chris Byrne visits with his colleague Matthew Ward here:
CHRIS BYRNE (CB): I understand you’re originally from Long Island, now returning as the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center…
MATTHEW WARD (MW): Returning to Long Island, where I’m from, to assume this role at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center is, in many ways, a dream come true. The PK House is owned and operated by my alma mater Stony Brook University and operates within the art department there. That is a relationship which I am really excited to build upon. It’s a connection that lends the PK House an academic edge and a rigor to the scholarship behind our exhibitions and programs, which is so valuable. At the same time, it provides that experiential, real-world element that sometimes gets forgotten in the abstraction of academia.
CB: You also just completed your doctorate, focusing on early American modernism and the early work of Willem de Kooning—and spent time as a researcher at the Willem de Kooning Foundation…
MW: I myself completed my doctorate at Stony Brook, where I wrote my dissertation about Willem de Kooning’s first five years in the United States. This was an interesting period of which little was previously known. De Kooning was then an undocumented immigrant just trying to find his way in a strange new country. I have always been interested in that part of art history: the human element, the human struggle.
CB: As the senior director of curatorial affairs at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, Texas, from 2021 to 2023, your exhibitions included Frida Kahlo: Her Photos as well as Warhol x Scholder: Cowboys & Indians
MW: My work in Texas was very formative for me. As noted, I was able to do some great shows, like an Andy Warhol and Fritz Scholder two-person show, which I curated. But I think it was my work with living artists, especially early career artists, that I found most impactful—both for myself and for the community. There is just something magical about collaborating with artists who are so tapped into the pursuit, who really care about their work and their truth above all else.
One of the artists I worked with in Texas was Simon Waranch, who is based in Dallas. I think he’s really special, on so many levels. As an artist and as a person. His dedication is impressive, but I think it was his ability to connect with people that really drew me to him. I firmly believe in art as a way for us to connect with one another on a deeper level, and Simon is very, very good at that.
CB: Can you tell us about his upcoming exhibition Patterns: Simon Waranch at the Pollock-Krasner House?
MW: This November Simon will install a special activation at the PK House. While he is primarily known for his glass work, this installation will include different types of sculpture as well as 2D work. I’m excited for viewers to see that side of Simon. Sometimes the market presents a one-dimensional view of an artist. I understand why, but none of us are one dimensional, and in presenting the fullest portrait of an artist as possible, I think that we maximize the viewer’s ability to form a meaningful connection with what they are looking at. I am very excited for Simon to be a “house guest” with us this fall.
CB: This summer, the Pollock-Krasner and Elaine de Kooning Houses coproduced a joint initiative artist-in-residence program which began with MarieClaire Chabauty…
MW: The humanity of our site is really important to me as well. This was, after all, a home. And it still very much maintains that feeling. In all of our exhibitions we will look to lean into that side of our site, emphasizing the personal stories of our artists and their unique journeys towards self-discovery through their work . P
Marie-Claire Chabauty, Pollock-Krasner House, 2024, acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Marie-Claire Chabauty, Elaine de Kooning’s Studio, 2024, acrylic on wood, 8 x 10 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Past Particles: Simon Waranch’s Life in Glass at the Museum of the Southwest, installation view.
RESTLESS CREATIVITY
Doniphan Moore’s new studio is a swoon-worthy design laboratory.
BY ROB BRINKLEY
Doniphan Moore’s new HQ is a showplace. Table designed by Doniphan Moore with stone top through Materials Marketing; Paul Matter Tryst Three chandelier; Portella steel partitions; Paris Ceramics Driftwood Bora Bora from the Newport collection; Casci Plaster. Photograph by Douglas Friedman.
“My clients maybe can’t put their finger on an exact style but appreciate a lot of different styles of design, as I do.”
—Doniphan Moore
Being in Doniphan Moore’s closet was all anyone could talk about.
It was 2020, and the young Dallas interior designer had been awarded three spaces to transform in that year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House, in Old Preston Hollow: the octagonal primary bathroom and the two dressing closets off of it. Moore concocted a dreamy, shimmery suite decorated in silvers, grays, and golds that involved 15 slabs of gleaming marble, a 10-foot domed plaster ceiling, highly polished walnut, and hand-painted metallic wallpapers inspired by Gustav Klimt and Japanese textiles. The furniture in the two closets channeled drop-dead art deco. The whole thing was glamorous. It was showstopping. And it put Moore firmly on the map. Fast-forward to summer 2024 and Moore has just cut the ribbon on his own showhouse: a 1940s brickand-glass-block building he has dramatically renovated into his world headquarters, event space, and design laboratory.
Moore’s business is booming, with design projects underway in Dallas, Houston, Florida, and Kentucky, and he was more than ready to move his HQ out of his house. “I was drawn to the sort of Bauhaus nature of the building,” he says of 3610 Fairmount Street, the former offices of a blindness-prevention organization. Out came “about 20 individual rooms and a tiny bathroom” and in came Moore’s vision of an experiential place where his clients can see and touch elements of design—everything from a paneled wall to different types of cabinets, moldings, metal details, and even plaster. (Moore loves a plaster moment.) Here Moore and his small team not only offer design services but also the chance to collaborate on everything from remodels to new builds.
“People come to me because they want someone who has a great deal of range,” says the man inspired by everyone from the late, great furniture designers Edward Wormley and Eileen Gray to contemporary interior-design superstars India Mahdavi and Pierre Yovanovitch. Moore relishes designing his own furniture pieces—especially chairs, which he finds the most challenging—and he loves art, which he will show in the new studio in collaboration with galleries, recently with Erin Cluley Gallery. “It’s about partnerships,” Moore says of his handsome new headquarters, “and promoting high design in Dallas.” P
From above: original glass block windows from the 1940s; Rocky Mountain door handle; Doniphan Moore landscape design; Troika, Harvey watched over by Machines, 2020, acrylic on canvas; Collier Webb Shiitake lamp; custom desk; USM Heller custom console; Herman Miller Eames MGMT chair; Photographs by Douglas Friedman; Doniphan Moore. Photograph by Kristopher Ellis.
JOHN BOBBITT’S MARVELOUS MUSINGS
Frog & Camel enters the antiques picture at Joseph Minton Antiques.
BY ROB BRINKLEY
“Ican feel it in my bones.” That’s when Dallas interior designer John Bobbitt knows an antique piece — a Directoire table, a crystal chandelier, an 1800s dog collar — is right for his new shop, Frog & Camel, in the Design District. One of the top classicist decorators in the country, Bobbitt has recently slipped his one-of-a-kind finds into the showroom of another of the nation’s most gifted decorators, Joseph Minton, whose eponymous shop at 1411 Slocum Street is a longtime destination for worldly design types. Bobbitt’s eye tends toward fine French, Middle Eastern, and Asian pieces, whereas Minton is “the master of shabby chic,” Bobbitt says, “focused mainly on period English furniture, paintings, mirrors, tables, and chairs.”
Stirred together—they don’t segregate the pieces in the store— the results are decorating dynamite, a master class in mixing shapes, periods, and materials. (It’s rather like visiting the highly collected home of a highly erudite aunt or duke.) Like Minton, Bobbitt has
always relished the storefront side of things as much as designing rooms for clients. “It gives one the opportunity to have a distinctive voice and aesthetic point of view in a real-time, three-dimensional space.”
Bobbitt hunts for his wares all over the world, both online and in person, from a network of other designers and dealers he has built over 40 years. That means that at any given moment, the Dallas shop will be jammed with soulful, singular furniture, lamps, paintings, sculpture, objects, “some damn fine antique chandeliers” and, yes, centuries-old dog collars, arguably the largest collection in the US. (“Dog lovers are good people and great collectors,” says Bobbitt.)
The time was right to combine forces, Bobbitt says, because “antiques have come back into fashion as strong as ever,” and the two friends have eyes trained over time, travels, and rich living. Besides, Bobbitt muses, if you add up their ages, “Joe and I have combined experience of about 150 years.” P
Frog & Camel at Joseph Minton, Inc., 1411 Slocum Street in the Dallas Design District.
AMORPHOUS METAPHORS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Andrés
Anza
receives
the Loewe
Foundation Craft Prize for his ceramic “beings.”
BY ROB BRINKLEY
Artist Andrés Anza doesn’t mind that you can’t quite understand his work. The Monterrey, Mexico, native likes to create amorphous ceramic “beings,” he calls them, that seem somewhat familiar but that are impossible to place. Extracted from his imagination, they can be spiky, slinky, twisty, knotty, and bulbous—but not from anywhere or anything you could put a finger on. (You wouldn’t want to—those spikes would hurt.) Anza has a deep knowledge of his medium and impressive skills as an artisan, and he blends the then and the now, often spraying his terra-cotta with acrylic paint rather than glazing it, as is traditional. His applied colors swing from beiges, ivories, and browns to fluorescent fuchsias or electric blues—but always used monochromatically, not mixed. Abstraction is the destination.
Curator Donatella Mezzotero describes Anza’s work thusly: “To stimulate the spectator’s interest, the artist creates forms that conceal folds, corners, nooks and, in some cases, barely perceptible openings that allow one to observe the interior. However, at the same time, Anza covers his sculptures entirely with spikes, means of either defense or attack, that prick observers and keep them at a distance… Metaphorically, the artist is here referring to the equilibria on which we base the dynamics of our interpersonal relationships, and to the concepts of interiority and exteriority as they are perceived in our society.”
It’s heady stuff—and Anza has just received some heady validation. He is the winner of the 2024 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, awarded by the Spanish fashion house and selected from 30 finalists from 3,900 submissions by artisans in 16 countries. The Loewe Foundation was founded in 1988 to promote creativity, educational programs, and to safeguard heritage in the fields of poetry, dance, photography, art, and craft. The Craft Prize is its annual honor that celebrates modern craftsmanship and highlights the essential contribution of craft to the culture of our time. Anza was presented the prestigious award in May by Loewe’s Irish creative director, Jonathan Anderson, and the American actress Aubrey Plaza. “An imposing totemic creation,” Loewe calls Anza’s winning piece, “the work resonates with both the vegetal and marine worlds.”
Here, Anza tells Patron what it was like when he heard his name called — and what’s next, now.
Patron (P): Congratulations on winning the 2024 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize. Tell us more about your winning piece, I only know what I have seen
Andrés Anza (AA): Thank you very much. It’s been [since May 2024] since the award ceremony, but I’m still processing that moment when they called my name. I couldn’t believe it. All the works at the exhibition were worthy winners, so it felt like a true honor to receive the prize. Since that moment, everything has gone really fast, and it has been really fun to be part of many new projects. I’m very happy!
This sculpture is made of ceramic. It is 150 centimeters tall, so it’s about human-size. It is all covered in my characteristic texture of spikes, and it is an amorphous shape. I like to see it as a living organism that does not belong to any ecosystem. I use the texture and the shape to make it look like it is almost moving. This characteristic is essential to generate curiosity in the spectator.
P: What was the inspiration behind it, and what does it represent to you?
AA: For me, something very important is curiosity. This is something I try to make the spectator feel—curious about what it is they have in front of them. Do I know this animal or plant? Where does it come from? But not being able to answer any of those initial questions, they are drawn to generate a new relationship with this living being. They have to discover everything about it—look from all angles, take a look inside—and, little by little, get to know it. This is where the name I only know what I have seen comes from.
P: What initially drew you to ceramics, and how has your practice evolved over the years?
AA: I started working with ceramics about 10 years ago, while I was an art student. My uncle, Mauricio Cortes, a ceramic sculptor, invited me to work as his assistant in his studio. There I learned about this
beautiful practice and also discovered different techniques that I still practice to this day.
P: What inspires your amorphous organic shapes and how do you develop these ideas into sculptures?
AA: When I first started doing ceramics, I was learning from humanfigures masters, but I didn’t feel comfortable using what we can see on human bodies. I wanted to make portraits of what we couldn’t see. It was a difficult process to start using organic or abstract shapes in my artwork, but I discovered in the clay an alliance to make it happen. I get told a lot that my work looks like something from the ocean, or maybe a cactus, and I know it does, but I like to take inspiration from any elements or organic shapes of any ecosystem.
P: Your sculptures seem to blur the lines between natural and abstract forms. How do you see your work fitting into or challenging traditional notions of ceramics and sculpture?
AA: I believe that ceramic is such a noble material that allows you to come and go—suddenly making something very organic without defining a particular form. But at the same time, the material is composed of so much natural material that it almost automatically invites you to make very natural shapes. My work is always on that precise line, grabbing elements from all fields.
P: How do you incorporate elements of your cultural heritage into your art?
AA: I use a lot of elements from the Mexican craft world: the saturations of texture, the organic shapes, and some colors. For me it is very important to see art and craft as one. That is why I take elements from Mexican artisanal regions, like the piña [pineapple] of Michoacán or the tree of life from Ecatepec, and use them in a contemporary art way. Art needs craft to survive, and craft needs art to develop. They both feed each other. I see my work as an eraser of the divisory line of both fields. P
Andrés Anza, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize winner. Courtesy of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and the artist.
Andrés Anza, I only know what I have seen, 2023, ceramic, 17.71 x 15.70 x 60 in. Courtesy of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and the artist.
The Mythical Marburger
Within the pastoral acres of Round Top, for five days in October, 300-plus dealers display furniture, art, antiques, accessories, and the novel.
BY ROB BRINKLEY
One of the internet’s most charming “About” pages is the one for the Marburger Farm Antique Show. The five-day, twice-yearly sale is described as “an alternate universe,” where “exhibitors replenish their shoppable microcosms with new finds, displays, and, in the process, endless design ideas.” (That’s why Kelly Wearstler, Jenna Lyons, Matthew McConaughey, and other cool cats have roamed its barns and tents.) There is a certain magic to Marburger—called just the one name by insiders—where the offerings range from the ancient to the avantgarde.
Mallory Culbert, the show’s dealer coordinator, knows precisely what makes Marburger mythical: “The remote locale, the rolling grounds, the preserved buildings—it all sets a scene.” Talk about an immersive experience: The typically citified decorators and design fanatics who flock to the tiny town of Round Top, Texas, are “out of their element,” Culbert says, for five blissful days, “in this earthgrounded setting—but seeing things amassed from all over the world .” Indeed, trucks rumble in and containers are shipped from hither and yon, packed with furnishings, art, and accessories that cannot be seen anywhere else in one swoop like this. Marburger’s dealers run the gamut too, from veterans who have been selling there since its 1990s beginnings to newcomers who may have only done
a show or two. One thing bonds them, Culbert says of this creative lot known as much for the treasures they peddle as for the way they display them: “Our dealers are artists as much as they are sellers.”
THE MARBURGER MUST-KNOWS
Next Show: October 15 through 19, 2024 The Numbers: 5 days, 5 football-field-size tents, 10 century-old historic buildings, 300-plus dealers Who Comes: Decorators, celebrities, design lovers, buyers from big-name furnishings brands looking for inspiration Dallas/ Fort Worth Dealers: Trish Headley of Nufangle Fine Antiques & Whimsy; Shannon Poppino of Clutter; Michael Arreaga and Julie McCullough of Harkensback; and June Howard of Antique Row; along with Fort Worth dealer Jan Orr-Harter. Others To Shop: Ed Gage, one of the cofounders of the show, and his Native American jewelry and concho belts in Tent A; Holler & Squall from upstate New York and their vintage and antique lamps wired for today; Patternmill’s important 20th-century modernist furniture; longtime Marburger dealers Mitch Weisz and Marcia Weisz and their Ameritiques Ltd. How To Do It: Insider tip from Marburger’s Mallory Culbert: Stay in Austin, where accommodations are much more plentiful than near Round Top, then drive to Marburger each day. Marburger Farm is about 80 miles from Austin. roundtop-marburger.com. P
a small oil painting in a 19th-century water-gilded
c.1960, on Aldo Tura lacquered goatskin table with a hidden ice bucket compartment in the center, and 1920 bronze bench reupholstered in blue
in Seattle-based dealer Susan Wheeler’s booth at Marburger Farm. Photograph by Mallory Culbert; A 1960s Swiss de Sede DS-47 reupholstered in Luxxe Aqua leather and
from Los Angeles-based dealer
shares the spotlight with a 1970s orb-and-rattan floor lamp from Chicago-based Circa Modern and 1960s American chairs restored with ebonized frames and Holly Hunt fabric. The 1992 photograph by Arnold Crane, featured in 1993 at the MCA Chicago, from Chicago-based Dial M for
An 18th-century French boiserie frames a portrait of Mademoiselle de Charolais by the Circle of Pierre Gobert (Fontainebleau, 1662-1744, Paris) in Spanish dealer and interior designer Marta Gualda’s booth at Marburger Farm. Photograph by Jack Thompson; A massive, late 18th-century Italian starburst packs a powerful punch as the backdrop to
frame,
mohair
1970s SoCal signed tapestry
Doodad
Modern, at the entrance to Marburger Farm’s historic Legler Dance Hall. Photograph by Jack Thompson.
The Accidental Tourist
Photographs by Costa Christ stick to the ribs of Rimowa luggage, bringing adventures home.
BY ROB BRINKLEY
Costa Christ is going places. In a quest for unusual ways to present his work, the Dallasbased photographer has applied some of his imagery—heavy on sexy sports cars, sultry travel scenes, and building façades—to parts of machines that move, including the aluminum skin of a B-52 bomber and the hood of a vintage Porsche. (He’s a bit obsessed with metal as a medium.) His newest canvas, as it were, is ribbed aluminum, specifically the sides of Rimowa suitcases. Christ likes that the distinctive ribbing of the famous roll-aboards not only recalls the world’s first all-metal airplane—the 1915 Junkers J1, made of both smooth and corrugated steel—but also has become “a symbol for the international jet set,” he says.
Christ lets the color of each suitcase inform him as to which of his images he puts on it via a wrapping process of multilayered acrylic vinyl. “Rimowa is constantly coming out with limited-edition color variants,” he says, “many of which inspire me to be creative as I complement their messaging with my own.” Make no mistake: These aren’t suitcases you’d want to bang around Berlin or drag through DFW. These are presented inside their own custom shadowboxes as the escapist works of art they are. P
Costa Christ, One Fire, edition of 30, Metalo Form, shadow-boxed Rimowa
Check-In L suitcase (front), 25 x 35 x 6 in. Photograph by and courtesy of Costa Christ. costachristart.com/metalo
Palais de Texas
BLUFFVIEW HOME FEATURES ARCHITECTURE BY SCOTT MAREK, INTERIORS BY DAVID CADWALLADER, AND A PANTHEON OF ARTISTS FROM ACROSS THE STATE.
BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL PHOTOGRAPHS BY HIEU LI
In the living room from left: Julie Speed, Anchovy Eaters, 2009-2010; John Wilcox, Please Don’t Worry About It!, 1981; Bill Komodore, Sun be silent and stand still, 2003; and Joseph Havel’s Sinking Prayer Book, 2013 sits on the table. Works by John Torreano, Gregory Halili, Janet Tyson, Linda Ridgway, Julie Speed, and Gregory Horndeski embellish the bookshelves.
To walk into this Bluffview home is to enter a parallel universe. The serene space, rooted in Texas modernist architecture, is punctuated with work by the pantheon of leading contemporary Texas artists.
Originally built in the 1930s, the home has undergone a few renovations. The most recent, completed in 2021, was designed by Scott Marek of Marek Architecture. A protégé of the late Frank Welch, Marek worked with “the dean of Texas architecture” during the early planning phase of this project. “Throughout the project, I remember just one phrase Frank used. He said he wanted the house to sparkle,” Marek reminisces. Through close attention to light, native stone, and wood, hallmarks of Welch-inspired structures, Marek created balance and harmony on the home’s exterior and interior. He worked with builder Jim Nisbet of Pedernales Development Company to realize his plans.
The creative team also included Mark Fasang of Solid Details for his meticulous millwork, and Steven Byrd of byrdwaters DESIGN, whose lighting provides ideal illumination. As Marek shares, “He did not make everything one consistent shade of light. It’s very much alive. Moving through the spaces there are different qualities of light.”
Drawn to his forte for symbiotic spaces, homeowners Carol and Peter York looked to David Cadwallader of Cadwallader Design,
who employed a neutral palette for the furnishings, most of which he had custom made in order to ensure that the art remained the primary focus. “The overall plan was to keep the whole background calm and uniform to allow for the placement of the large and varied collection,” notes Cadwallader. In fact, he says, “There is only one carefully selected tone of white, and all of the woodwork is a slightly warmer enamel.”
Accommodating the York’s collection was a core concern during the planning phase. “Their art is so much a part of who they are,” Marek notes. And, as they are related to Dan Rizzie, who was one of the leading contemporary artists in 1980s Dallas, they have an affinity for the local art community. While Rizzie moved to New York decades ago, the friendships the Yorks forged with most of the artists in their collection continues, as does their ongoing patronage. Their roster of venerable artists includes John Alexander, David Bates, Leonardo Drew, Erick Swenson, the late Vernon Fisher and Sam Gummelt, Linnea Glatt, Joe Guy, Joseph Havel, Bill Haveron, James Magee, Tom Orr, Linda Ridgway, Julie Speed, James Surls, John Torreano, John Wilcox, and others. Having acquired some of the finest of the artists’ works, the Yorks regularly provide loans for museum exhibitions around the country. Several objects are promised gifts to area institutions.
The collection is beautifully installed throughout the home,
Dan Rizzie’s Promised Land J.R.R., 2018, hangs above John Torreano’s French Diamonds , 2013, wood and acrylic.
Bill Haveron’s Mr. Dale, 2005, mixed media on wood.
as well as on its exterior. An elegant granite pillar by Jesús Moroles provides a welcoming beacon on the circular drive. Its vertical angularity sets up a visual conversation with the strong horizontals of the home. From the front steps, visitors can peek at Alexander’s provocatively titled painting, Death of Importance. It stretches across a dining room wall, facing a bank of windows. Inside the home, this space branches off the entry hall. From this axis point, the room is dominated by Drew’s construction, Number 173T Its black monochromatism balances the bold crimson of Alexander’s painting. Chromatically, Drew’s work provides an anchor for prints by Donald Sultan and a sculpture by Surls. The dining table, a family heirloom, offers a playful balance of antique and contemporary.
A l iving room on the other side of the entry hall features equally significant work. Softly illuminated shelves flanking the white marble fireplace offer a curio cabinet of smaller 3D works. “We selected materials for the new fireplace mantels to complement the architecture, though they do make a statement in the living room with the full wall of white marble,” Cadwallader explains. An acrylic on canvas work by John Wilcox, Please Don't Worry About It!, 1981, adds drama against the white marble from Aria Stone Gallery. Within the curio cabinet, an early geometric construction by Ridgway reflects her early interest in architecture. A lower shelf holds one of Gregory Horndeski’s sample boxes. Formerly of Dallas, his signature expressionist style, embellished with handwritten text, is immediately recognizable. Gregory Halili’s meticulously painted eyes look like a fragment from a Renaissance painting, while Torreano’s small gems offer a colorful sparkle. Havel’s resin-cast Sinking Prayer Book sits on the coffee table in
From left: James Magee, Peace; above the breakfast table; David Bates, Artist Studio, 1983; Sam Gummelt, Rokko, 2003; and Vernon Fisher, Mickey Mouse, Scenes from the American West, 1990.
In the media room with custom furnishings by Cadwallader hang Donald Sultan, Building Canyon, 1981; James Magee, Mind Shaft, 1995-1998; Vernon Fisher, Bang Bang, 2019; behind the sofa. Linda Ridgway’s Cunneform, 1981, perches.
Above: The dining table and chairs, a family heirloom, are surrounded by John Alexander’s Death of Importance; Leonardo Drew’s Number 173T, 2015; a wood column with bronze-cast figs by an unknown artist from the private collection of Ted Pillsbury; along with Joe Guy, Volume, 2004; and a James Surls sculpture. Below: In the customdesigned kitchen roosts Erick Swenson, Muncie Head, 2000; Donald Sultan, Black Lantern flower, 2013; and Gregory Halili, Time, 2011, watercolor on vintage ivory.
front of the fireplace. The most recent addition to the collection, it features a stack of Bibles that belonged to Havel’s parents.
Beh ind this sitting area, a long corridor provides a perfect gallery to accommodate larger works, including those by Dan Rizzie. In some ways it is a hall of tribute. Rizzie’s mixed-media collage, Promised Land J.R.R. is an homage to a deceased friend, John Rector. January 27, 2010 depicts a bouquet of flowers, in memory of his departed dog, Vex. An installation of Torreano’s larger gemstones accents the space. The hall is bracketed on one end with a large geometric work by Gummelt and on the other by Haveron’s sculpture Mr. Dale, crafted in memory of his deceased pet monkey. The adjacent media room is dominated by Magee’s muscular Mind Shaft, which provides a strong focal point in a space that also has works by Sultan, Fisher, Ridgway, and Glatt.
The white kitchen, custom designed by Cadwallader, who worked with local cabinetmaker Solid Details, is complemented by similarly hued three-dimensional works, including Erick Swenson’s Mun cie Head and a small suite of eyes by Halili. Blum European metal drawer boxes and Hafele accessory fittings add to the efficiency. The adjoining dining area contrasts with the coolness of the kitchen. Here, an early painting by Bates, Art ist’s Studio, creates an almost illusionistic wall.
As w ith most renovations, the primary bedroom and bathroom received special attention. In the light-filled primary bath, ample wall space and a high ceiling accommodate Andrea Rosenberg’s Untitled 18.18. Though monumental in scale, this abstracted floral provides a note of delicacy to the space.
Marek overhauled the bedroom, creating an airy, spacious room for rejuvenation. Cadwallader designed the furniture, including the freestanding bed and the John Saladino–inspired chaise. The calming palette reflected in works by Rizzie, Sultan, and a
commissioned work by Leonardo Drew above the bed contrasts with an eye-catching golden puzzle work by Gabriel Dawe.
Elsewhere on the upper floor, works by Pamela Nelson, Hung Liu, Robert McAn, and Allison V. Smith bring dynamic energy into the spaces in which they are installed.
“We needed a quiet, pretty palate to begin with. It’s like having the basic black dress and then putting diamonds on—the art is the diamonds,” Carol concludes. Through coordinated efforts, the art and the space realize Welch’s original vision to make the home sparkle. P
The home embraces the verdant surroundings.
Jesús Bautista Moroles, Untitled, stone sculpture of Texas pink granite.
Above: Overlooking the backyard hangs Dan Rizzie, Black and White Landscape, 2006, alongside a chaise lounge custom designed by David Cadwallader with a cashmere throw over Carol’s mother’s handwoven Indian shawl; Cedric Hartman chrome-plated steel and granite side table; Jonathan Cox, The Discovery V, 2017, birch leaf sculpture with variegated marble base; and Will Stone’s 1990, hand-forged plant stand. Below: In the primary bath Andrea Rosenberg’s Untitled 18.18, 2018, reflects in the mirror.
A commissioned work by Leonardo Drew hangs above the custom-designed bed and side tables. On the left, Donald Sultan, Morning Glories , 1991, prints on Somerset paper.
Hung Liu, Portrait of a Chinese Self #4, oil on canvas; Gregory Horndeski, Sampler #7, 2013, acrylic on Masonite
James Surls, Cut Hand Hurt Eyes, 1990, original print woodcut; Linnea Glatt, Random Accumulation, 2013, thread on sized mulberry paper.
SENSITIVELY CHIC
DESIGNER STACY JACOBSEN RENOVATES HER 1980S FRANK WELCH–DESIGNED FAMILY HOME WITH UNCOMMON FINESSE.
BY ROB BRINKLEY PHOTOGRAPHS BY PATRICK FLORES AND KEVIN TODORA
The house has met its match.
Behind a wall along one of Dallas’ busiest boulevards and ringed by skyscraping trees on a lot that tumbles to a creek, there exists a serene and stately house that, ironically, sees a lot of action.
It’s the home of designer Stacy Jacobsen, one husband, two teens, two cats, 36 koi fish, and a 100-pound Great Pyrenees mix named Topher. The globe-trotting Jacobsens are a busy bunch — Mexico, Montana, Switzerland, Scotland, Spain, London, Paris — and the koi get around, too, darting about in their two lush ponds that flank the slim colonnade that connects the home’s freestanding porte cochere to its glassy front door.
For that particularly pleasant journey, from car to “Come on in,” the late, great architect Frank Welch gets all the credit. In the late 1980s, the modernist Welch devised the two-story house to take full advantage of its lot—something he always did—while also breaking down its 6,300-square-foot sprawl into what seems like a village of separate structures. U-shaped in plan, the house feels more like an orderly arrangement of treehouses rather than a Big Dallas House.
That airy feeling and the woodsy views from virtually every room are what attracted Stacy Jacobsen to the house, which she found online while living in Los Angeles. (The lead picture on the listing was of the kitchen, which had had “a horrendous remodel,” Jacobsen says. She is convinced that no one but her clicked past that first photo.) The family loved their canyon-clinging midcentury house in California, but they’d had to flee it four times in 10 years because of fires. That and the Covid pandemic made them reevaluate things—so Dallas it would be, lured by some cousins already living here. The Jacobsens came with nothing but high hopes—not even their furniture and art: The canyon house’s new owner bought it all.
That gave Jacobsen, the principal of the design firm SJ Studio, where she designs interiors and furniture, the proverbial blank slate. “The house needed work everywhere,” she says, “but we didn’t touch
This page: Custom oak banquette covered in Métaphores fabric from Paris; custom oak table made in collaboration with Elias Guillermo; vintage Poul Henningsen lamp; Tage Andersen copper vase. Opposite: A thoughtfully renovated Frank Welch home showcases the extraordinary setting as seen from the rear of the home. The patio pieces are original aluminum 1950s Gazelle chairs by Dan Johnson.
Sam Reveles, Gullfoss 1, 2021, oil and pencil on linen, from Talley Dunn Gallery, is installed above the custom sofa covered in Thomas Lavin fabric; stools by SJ Studio covered in Dedar fabric; 18th-century chest with Dorothy Thorpe Lucite candlesticks; Farrow & Ball Schoolhouse White paint; The Hudson Company, New York, oak floors are installed throughout the home. Photograph by Patrick Flores.
Hannah Woodhouse plaster sconces; original 1940 Otto Shulz chair reupholstered in Dedar mohair; Leonardo Drew, Number 196T, 2019, paint and plaster from Talley Dunn Gallery hangs above a Dienst + Dotter Swedish 18th-century bench; Poul Kjaerholm PK61 vintage table; on the table: Joseph Havel’s Sinking Prayer Book, 2013.
Pia Fries, palimpsest surinam 3, 2005, oil and silkscreen on wood, through Talley Dunn Gallery, hangs above a custom sofa by SJ Studio; Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti French vintage resin-and-glass coffee table. Natasha Bowdoin, Waxing Gibbous Moon, 2023, gouache and ink on cut mulberry paper, through Talley Dunn Gallery, hangs above a custom oak dining table with marble base in collaboration with Elias Guillermo; bronze De La Vega dining room chairs in green mohair; wall sconces vintage Italian Fontana Arte.
Gersht, Floating Tree, 2016, archival pigment print. Courtesy of Talley Dunn Gallery.
Gabriel Dawe, Plexus No. 20, 2014, carabiners and thread from site-specific installation, Miami, November 2012– September 2014. Courtesy of Talley Dunn Gallery.
the footprint.” Working with her design associate Calvin Ma, in came new marble slabs for reimagined bathrooms and a sleek new bulthaup kitchen, from Germany. Down went new white-oak floors throughout. New steel-framed glass doors were put in across the back, chosen because their slim frames matched those of a pair of original bay windows on the house. Every wall and ceiling is painted in a sophisticated, soothing shade; nothing more exotic than taupe. A single-car garage structure was turned into a workout room rather than adding on a new gym.
So sensitive was the Jacobsens’ renovation that it caught the eye of Preservation Dallas, which gave it a 2024 Preservation Achievement Award in a new category: Legacy Architect Restoration Projects. The house, the nonprofit notes, “retains many of its original features, including two koi ponds at the front entry; a stunning creek-side patio and pool deck; a verdant riparian landscape; large arched passageways between rooms; walls of windows facing the creek; and expansive gallery walls that can display an extensive art collection.” And that they did: For a tour of the house this spring, Dallas gallerist Talley Dunn installed about 80 contemporary works from her esteemed artist roster, and Los Angeles antiquarian Joel Chen sent rare 20th- and 21st-century furnishings from JF Chen, his showroom of high-design stunners. (These whole-house popups, where private homes are fully stocked with art and furnishings
Sedrick Huckaby, A Living Sacrifice, 2021, newspaper pulp and base, through Talley Dunn Gallery; wall and ceiling paint Farrow + Ball Schoolhouse White and Red Earth; wall sconce vintage Swedish from PRB Collection; antique marble basin from Pittet Architecturals; Clé tile.
for sale, “are trending in LA,” Jacobsen says.)
But it’s in her own furnishings now—collected or designed since moving to Dallas—where Jacobsen has infused this otherwise rational home with pops of glamor and gleam. Where many might dangle George Nelson Bubble Lamps everywhere and call it a day, Jacobsen has hoisted a crystal chandelier and pendant lights made of glass, plaster, rattan, and paper. In the living room, where one might expect chairs by Eames, Saarinen, and Le Corbusier, Jacobsen has mixed a well-worn wooden Swedish settee; plush mohair 1940s slipper chairs by Otto Schulz; and a long, sleek banquette of her own design. All over, she has contrasted the house’s clean, crisp lines with tiny bursts of worldliness and wow—vintage finds designed in Denmark, Italy, France. “I appreciate all periods and all styles,” she says, scanning one room, “but pared down.” It’s a fresh feel, where light and space surround every object, giving it its due. It’s not about the layers here: It’s about each piece’s baked-in beauty. It is also very much about comfort, where those globe-trotting Jacobsens have a place to land, to curl up, to chill. One of the cats feels it, too. In some dappled, late-afternoon light, it circles the dining room’s opulent, organic table, designed by Jacobsen, of marble topped with thick wood. In a flash, the cat leaps up onto the table, then plops down in a sunbeam. Everyone, it seems, is happy to be here.
Ori Gersht, White City 03, 2021, archival pigment print from Talley Dunn Gallery, hangs above the SJ Studio custom upholstered headboard in Rogers & Goffigon fabric; custom wood and stone round side tables by SJ Studio in collaboration with local carpenter Elias Guillermo; alabaster Pierre Chareau–style sconces from Urban Archaeology; Armadillo rug; On left walls: Julie Bozzi, Baled Hay in a Field of Alfalfa, 2012, gouache on paper, and Julie Bozzi, Parking Lot Near The Ocea n, 2013, gouache on paper, all through Talley Dunn Gallery.
left: Austrian 1940 cubist chair and Giacometti-inspired bronze coffee table from JF Chen antiques; Leonardo Drew, Number 232TD, 2022, plaster and paint on paper; Ori Gersht, Lilium candidum D04, 2018, archival pigment print; Gabriel Dawe, Plexus No. 10 (Relic), 2012, thread from site-specific installation at the National Centre for Craft & Design, 2011, Sleaford, UK, all through Talley Dunn Gallery.
Left: Designer Stacy Jacobsen. Courtesy of SJ Studio.
Far
PATRON Insider
Stacy Jacobsen lives and breathes design—her dreamy Instagram account, @_____sjstudio______, proves it—and travel, culture, and beauty, too. Here, the principal of interiors-and-furniture firm SJ Studio plays favorites, from some must-do destinations to her preferred mode of transport.
Rob Brinkley (RB): What is your design process for a piece of furniture?
Stacy Jacobsen (SJ): I began creating furniture as a sideline, starting with special one-off pieces for myself, pieces I envisioned but couldn’t source. I then found it easier to create pieces for clients, too—bespoke furniture that fits their spaces and stories. The process starts with a CAD rendering. Once it’s carefully measured and analyzed, the drawing is sent to my carpenter in Los Angeles. From that point, we collaborate on the little details and finishes. As a team, we are committed to exceptional craftsmanship and oneof-a kind designs.
RB: What is your design process for a room?
SJ: Design should never be easy. The end result should look easy, but I am never satisfied unless I’ve been struggling at some part in the process. We initially draw inspiration from the space itself. We let the light and structure guide us. Following that inspiration, we
start with a focus piece. Once that’s identified, everything serves that focus. After endless research and countless drawings, the space starts to take shape. We don’t follow rules. We blend materials, periods, and styles, creating a unique yet functional space.
RB: Who is a current interior designer whose work you love, and why?
SJ: Jacques Grange is my all-time favorite designer. His taste is unique. He avoids decorating clichés so his designs are timeless.
RB: Who is an interior designer from the past whose work you love, and why?
SJ: Madeleine Castaing. She had a whimsical uniqueness to her designs.
RB: Who is a favorite architect, now or in the past, and why?
SJ: Carlo Scarpa from Venice, Italy. His architecture reflects a deep awareness of history and an attention to detail, marrying craftsmanship with a modern aesthetic. He didn’t follow rules. He created timeless masterpieces that are appreciated today. He was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and Japanese architecture. Both influences are reflected in his Olivetti showroom in Venice. It is a must-see!
RB: Who is a favorite artist from any time?
SJ: Hard to pick one! Cy Twombly, Alberto Giacometti, and Vincenzo De Cotiis. P
Lina Bo Bardi chair covered in Métaphores fabric; custom upholstery headboard; vintage ceiling pendant Crystal Glass Uplight by Emil Stejnar for Rupert Nikoll; vintage Isamu Noguchi lamp; window treatments by AE Design.
This page: Carl and Marilynn Thoma next to Morris Louis, Number 2-07, 1961, Magna acrylic on canvas; this page and opposite: Yinka Shonibare CBE, Air Kid (Boy), 2020, fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax, printed cotton textile, globe, brass, steel base plate, umbrella.
ENRICHING FOUNDATION
MARILYNN AND CARL THOMA BELIEVE THAT COMMUNITY ACCESS IS AS ESSENTIAL AS STEWARDSHIP OF THEIR EXTRAORDINARY ART COLLECTION.
BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN SMITH
The industrial elevator doors open onto Yinka Shonibare CBE’s life-sized sculpture, Air Kid (Boy), which seemingly staggers against rain and wind. The open umbrella points directly to Morris Louis’ quiet canvas, Number 2-07 Welcome to the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation headquarters and exhibition space. Opened in 2023 and spanning 9,300 square feet, the space brims with a portion of the Thomas’ collection of over 1,700 objects that spans four diverse collections including postwar, art of the Spanish Americas, digital and electronic media, and contemporary Japanese bamboo, which coexist beautifully.
Through the Thomas’ twined commitments to art and education, the foundation maintains a robust loan program to exhibitions around the world. They are particularly keen to loan to regional institutions that may not otherwise have the opportunity to present audiences with this caliber of work. “Buying art brings with it a responsibility. You have an obligation to respect the artist, the work, and the community. Hoarding is not a positive virtue for any of us,” Carl offers. Beyond the objects, the foundation is committed to providing grants for continuing scholarship.
The foundation is equally dedicated to expanding opportunities for individual students. The Thoma Scholarship Program specifically targets students from rural communities in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. “We’re trying to find communities that are undersupported. The rural environment is about seven percent of the population of the United States yet they only receive three percent of the philanthropic dollars, so we’re trying to move that needle
Above: Unidentified artist, The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, late 17th-century, oil and gold on canvas; unidentified artist, Our Lady of Remedies of La Paz, 18th century, oil and gold on canvas; unidentified artist, Coronation of the Virgin by the Holy Trinity, 18th century, oil and gold on canvas; unidentified artist, The Nursing Madonna, 18th century, possibly c. 1700-1730, oil and gold on canvas. Below: unidentified artist, Mater Dolorosa, 18th century, oil and gold on canvas; Juan Francisco de Rosa (active c. 1735-1771), Saint Toribius of Mogrovejo, Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Rose of Lima, after 1749, tempera and gold on parchment; unidentified artist, Saint Francis of Assisi Interceding for Mankind, 18th century, oil on panel; Joseph Antonio Jiménez, The Divine Shepherdess, c. 1780, oil on canvas.
Clockwise from above left: Yinka Shonibare CBE, Abstract Spiritual III, 2023, patchwork, appliqué, embroidery, and Dutch wax printed cotton textile quilt work; Higashi Kiyokazu, Awakening, 2002, madake and rattan; Hideaki Honma, Flowing Pattern, 2016, madake, nemagari, rattan; Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, Falling Star, 2012, madake, rattan; Carlos Rojas, Untitled, (from the series Horizontes), 1976, mixed media on canvas; Honma Koichi, Spirale, 2021, lacquer, bamboo branches; Thomas Downing, Untitled, 1958-59, acrylic on canvas; Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: Gobelin, 1962, oil on Masonite; Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, Connection-Life, 2012, torachikul.
slightly,” Carl explains. The foundation also works with students on reservations to provide computers with internet access as well as secondary training, enabling students to continue their education through college.
While the Thomas are hands-on collectors, they are aided in their work by a cross-country team that includes New York–based senior advisor and curator at large Kathleen Forde, and locally by collections manager Meagan Robson and associate curator of art of the Spanish Americas, Verónica Muñoz-Nájar, among others.
Carl, a New Mexico native, focused the couple’s earliest collecting forays in the 1970s on the Taos Society of Artists and the California impressionists. An interest in Indigenous artists continues, with works by Cara Romero, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Jeffrey Gibson, who is representing the US at this year’s Venice Biennale.
By the 1980s, their interest expanded to include modern and contemporary painting, particularly by the Washington Color School. As Carl notes, at the time their work had fallen out of favor, making it easier to collect. In addition to the painting by Louis, the collection includes artists such as Gene Davis, Kenneth Noland, and the founder of the movement, Helen Frankenthaler. As Robson explains, “She is the reason why this group of men decided to do what they do. The Thomas didn’t want to tell the story of the Washington Color School without telling the story of the woman who started it.”
In the 1990s, a gallery encounter with viceregal paintings inspired Marilynn to begin collecting art of the Spanish Americas. Since her friends Jan and Fred Mayer focused their viceregal collecting on Mexico, she opted to concentrate on objects from South America. Having traveled extensively with the Mayers, she
Leo Villareal, Double Scramble, 2013, generative custom software (color, silent), LEDs, computer, circuitry, painted wood, Plexiglas; McArthur Binion, Modern:Ancient:Brown, 2021, ink, oil paint stick, paper on board.
Top: Spencer Finch, Optical Study (red/blue/violet), 2022, alkyd paint on PET discs mounted on plastic panels on Sintra; Anne Truitt, Sun Flower, 1971/84, acrylic on wood; Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Thermal Drift, 2022, generative custom software (color, silent), thermal camera, computer, monitor. Below, left: Ragnar Kjartansson, Burning House, 2015, single-channel digital video (color, sound), monitor; right: Ragnar Kjartansson, Dog and Clock, 2015, single-channel digital video (color, sound), monitor.
says, “These fascinating expeditions presented not only a unique opportunity to discover extraordinary artworks, but also allowed us to immerse ourselves in the richness of the region’s history, which was shaped by a fusion of Indigenous heritage, European culture, and the Catholic Church.”
This collection of 230 objects is noteworthy, according to Muñoz-Nájar, considering the difficulty of finding artworks with a clean provenance. Largely religiously focused, they also reflect the transfer of skills between cultures. “The Inca didn’t paint much, but they were really good in metallurgy, so they were transferring the technique and capacities from the art of metallurgy and working with gold, copper, and silver in painting,” Muñoz-Nájar explains, adding, “Their art was really abstract and focused on weaving and creating metal pieces. But it wasn’t realistic or naturalistic, so when the Spanish arrived, they trained them to paint in this capacity.”
In 2009, Carl’s interest in innovation led him to digital and electronic media. Leo Villareal’s Big Bang was the first acquisition in this continuously growing collection of over 500 objects, including several by Villareal. As Robson notes of his Double Scramble, “Villareal is creating this homage to Frank Stella and adding in contemporary techniques with LEDs, which was something that struck Carl.” Contemporary makers such as Villareal, she adds, honor the ideas conjured by these earlier artists and use them as a springboard to make something completely new.
The collection is seamlessly integrated into the Thomas’ Uptown office spaces. In a conference room, for example, Ragnar Kjartansson’s Dog and Clock and Burning House, two video sequences from Scenes from Western Culture, are projected onto screens that do double duty for videoconferencing.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Thermal Drift and studio DRIFT’s Coded
Nature 1-3.3 are among several interactive works. Both incorporate trackers that capture the movement of the viewer. Lozano-Hemmer’s work, Robson explains, deals with ideas of surveillance and safety. Conversely, Coded Nature “brings a sense of play back into the art,” she says, adding that its joyful nature is particularly appealing to the Thomas. Daniel Canogar’s Billow I is another responsive work. Drawing images from news feeds, it then translates them into a new kind of color field exploration, with the intensity of hues changing according to the relevance of headlines.
In 2011, the Thomas began collecting contemporary, Japanese, nonfunctional bamboo art. They have a unique pipeline, as their daughter, Margo Thoma, owns TAI Modern, a Santa Fe gallery dedicated to promoting this art form throughout the United States. Elegant works, such as Honma Koichi’s Spirale, defy conventional ideas of bamboo weaving. “We’re seeing the most contemporary versions of these really old techniques,” Robson says.
Finally, Carl concludes, “As we say, we have an obligation to share this art. We don’t really even own it; we’re just caregivers of it for our period of time. The reason you buy art is because you’re passionate about it and you want to share it with others. That has become a foundation of what we do.” P
Helen Frankenthaler, White Makes Four, 1966, acrylic on canvas.
Jason Salavon, Emblem (Apocalypse Now), 2004, digital chromogenic print on paper; Shono Tokuzo, Tailin (detail), 2014, madake, rattan. - -
Jennifer Steinkamp, Mike Kelley 10, 2007, generative custom software animation (color, silent), computer, projector.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Paper Dolls for a Post-Columbian World, 2021, acrylic, amber shellac, aluminum, and paper on wood; Ken'ichi Nagakura, (1952-2018), Woman, 2015 Madake, rattan, urushi, powdered polishing stone, clay; DRIFT (formed 2007) Lonneke Gordijn (1980–), and Ralph Nauta (1978–), Coded Nature 1-3.3, 2022, three monitors, depth sensor, computer.
DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART PEELS BACK THE LAYERS OF KAHLO’S LEGENDARY MYTHOLOGY.
BY DANIELLE AVRAM
The blessing and curse of the artist is the ability to convey myriad ideas through imagery while never needing to truly divulge their meaning or inspiration. The blessing is communication, the curse is misrepresentation. When the two overlap, you have an artist caught between mythology and reality–stuck in a Venn diagram of the imagined and the actual, subject to being repeatedly placed upon and knocked off the pedestal of revolutionary genius. Mythic status may allow an artist to live forever, but it certainly doesn’t allow for the nuances and complexities of being human.
Frida Kahlo is an artist who has long occupied this in-between space, her life seemingly ripped from a telenovela: a Mexican woman married, divorced, and remarried to a powerful male artist; caught up in revolutionary politics; denied or rebuffing biological children; riddled with health complications; and a not fully realized visionary
who tragically died at a young age. All that we know about Kahlo and her image, both self-imagined and celebrity-fueled, continues to subvert the desires and intentions of the actual person. We celebrate Kahlo for her genius, we venerate her for her otherworldly presence, but we do not have, and may never truly achieve, a widely accepted holistic vision of the person behind the paintings.
Frida: Beyond the Myth, opening August 18 at the Dallas Museum of Art, brings together a number of prints, drawings, and paintings by the artist, and a selection of photographs taken by Kahlo’s family and friends throughout the course of her life. Co-curated by Dr. Agustín Arteaga, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director, and Sue Canterbury, the Pauline Gill Sullivan Curator of American Art, Frida focuses on how key biographical moments, health issues, politics, pride in Mexican history, and Kahlo’s own self-generated persona coalesced into the mythic pop culture icon we know today.
“The myth of Frida is a powerful one,” states Arteaga. “She has become an icon for so many people to look up to and aspire to, representing resilience, the strength of women, and cultural pride. However, it is important for us to peel back the veil in order to humanize the artist and understand the true genius that was her ability to build herself into such a legendary figure. Myth and reality are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Rather, they both illuminate Kahlo’s power as a person, an artist, and an icon.”
Split into five sections, Frida walks the audience through the totality of Kahlo’s short life: Early Life ; Marriage & the United States ; New York & Paris ; Professional Success & Physical Decline ; and Final Years
Early Life spans 1907 to 1928, which includes two of the most defining incidents of Kahlo’s youth: contracting polio as a child and a near-fatal bus accident at the age of 19. Polio permanently crippled her right leg, leaving it shorter and smaller than the left, while the accident—during which the artist was impaled by a metal rod—resulted in a host of injuries, including further damage to her right leg and a broken spine. Researchers have posited that Kahlo also suffered from spina bifida, a congenital disease that leaves the spinal cord and nerves vulnerable and would have worsened damage caused by polio and the accident. The only artwork in this section that mentions any of these conditions is a single drawing of the bus accident, done in the dreamlike style of ex-voto, a genre of religious Mexican folk painting, showcasing early inklings of Kahlo’s association with surrealism and spiritual iconography.
Also in this section are a number of photographs taken by the artist’s father Guillermo, a professional photographer. In these we see Frida go from young child to young adult, her signature
unwavering gaze already in full effect. Kahlo’s early interest in androgyny and gender fluidity is on display through photographs that depict the artist in men’s suits, a far cry from the more elaborate and overtly feminine style for which she is famously known but equally important to the development of her identity, particularly as it concerned her social and gender politics.
By 1929 Kahlo was married to painter Diego Rivera, famed for bringing Mexican muralism into the international spotlight. Marriage & the United States and New York & Paris highlight the role Rivera played in Kahlo’s life and career as well as her continued personal and professional development. During this period, she adopted her signature aesthetic of full skirts, embroidered blouses, and rebozos (shawls) inspired by traditional Tehuana dress of the matriarchal society from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico. Hair became a powerful symbol of both Kahlo’s ancestry and nonconformity: thick braids piled atop her head, often adorned with flowers or ribbons, her unibrow and light moustache defying conventional feminine beauty standards. However, Kahlo’s clothes were more than an homage to her roots: They were an armor that fortified her battered body and concealed it from public view, shifting the focus away from her disabilities—the broken artist wrapped in magical clothes.
During the 1930s, Kahlo traveled extensively between Mexico and the United States, eventually going abroad towards the end of the decade. Although much of the early travel was related to Rivera’s mural commissions in San Francisco, Detroit, and New York, it broadened Kahlo’s network of artists, gallerists, and patrons, her fashion sense lending a distinct air of exoticism amongst
Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Americans, as did her and Rivera’s devout communist beliefs. Photographs in this section show Kahlo’s relationships with major artists and art dealers of the time: Imogen Cunningham, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Julien Levy, and several portraits by Nickolas Muray, a commercial photographer with whom Kahlo had a decade-long affair. Not only did the photographer provide an antidote to her explosive relationship with Rivera, but his images are also among the most iconic of the artist, her typically hardened gaze softened ever so slightly by Muray’s presence behind the camera.
Kahlo and Rivera’s marriage was famously complex and volatile, the union of two troubled and passionate souls in a time of great political upheaval. Beyond the self-created mythos, Kahlo’s relationship with Rivera is the entity most responsible for the mystery that continues to surround her legacy. It is well known that Rivera had many affairs throughout their marriage, including one with Kahlo’s younger sister, Cristina. She, in return, had her own ongoing series of relationships outside their marriage, yet the two remained intrinsically connected enough that although they divorced in 1940, they remarried the same year. Kahlo also had at least one miscarriage and three abortions during their time together. While it is well-known that Rivera wanted no children with Kahlo, it remains unclear as to the degree of ambivalence she had regarding children and the exact status of her ability to bear them, particularly given that her relationship to fertility was the subject of many of her works.
Professional Success & Physical Decline and Final Years cover the last decade and a half of Kahlo’s life. As her career blossomed, her health continued to wither. During the 1940s she received
numerous grants and awards, and she participated in several international exhibitions. But she also underwent countless surgeries and eventual amputation of her troublesome right leg, which resulted in an increasing amount of time spent immobilized in bed, her pain and depression numbed by narcotics and alcohol. Photographs during this time frequently feature Kahlo painting in bed or in a wheelchair. Her painting style shifted towards still life and away from any direct representation of herself, as if she was using her earlier self-portraits in the same way she used her clothing—as armor to shield her true visage from the public that had come to know her as an otherworldly creature, a mix of the old world and the new.
In the decades since her death, disentangling the Frida presented to the public from the “real” Frida remains an elusive goal because, like a nesting doll, she created and carried so many different personas. An exhibition such as Frida: Beyond the Myth, which seeks to unpack Frida Kahlo the myth to find Frida Kahlo the person, begs the questions: What do we stand to gain and what do we stand to lose when the person at the heart of the matter played such a critical role in crafting her own mythology?
Explains Arteaga, “It is understandable why there may be a fear of peeling back the layers of an idol. You run the risk of exposing their imperfections, shortcomings, and weaknesses— their humanity. But it is this humanity that makes them real, that makes them tangible, and helps us understand them and their art. It is what brings us closer to them, ultimately. Going beyond the myth of Frida Kahlo only reinforces the genius in her abilities to control the narrative and create a larger-than-life icon of herself.”
At the Nasher, objects full of meaning resound in Dallas-born artist’s solo exhibition.
BY EVE HILL-AGNUS
Delicate petals of cherry bark bristle the surface of a Burberry coat. They create their own cipher, wearable and yet subversive, confounding all the usual associations.
A collection of hand-carved school desks dissolves into a thicket of branches. An equally masterful dining room table and set of chairs sprout thorns. This last is a piece Nasher Sculpture Center curator Leigh Arnold saw at Hugh Hayden’s solo exhibition at Princeton University’s art museum in 2018, the first she witnessed of the now New York– based artist’s work, which thoughtfully interrogates and reframes American culture by means of painstakingly executed objects. The work questions and investigates themes of belonging, exclusion, and desire, of society and its persistent perversities. “Issues,” Arnold says, “we’re still grappling with: identity, what we’re aspiring to, an American dream [and] is that even achievable?”
She continues: “The work was so timely, and also at the same time the material—working in wood, which is this very traditional material. But doing things with it that reveal this intense craftsmanship. He could be an incredible carpenter, but he chooses to make these objects that are incredibly poignant, very seductive, but at the same time could be kind of harmful to you if you were to really try to interact with them.”
Hugh Hayden, October 2020. Photograph by Michael Avedon for 65CPW.
To see his work is to enter a world created by an artist who graduated with a degree in architecture before earning his MFA. In the past, site-specific installations have included framework constructions, as in his recent, related shows at Lisson Gallery (which represents the artist, as does the Belgian gallery CLEARING in Los Angeles and New York), in which bathroom stalls opened onto potent objects, decor full of metaphor and allegory commenting on power, intimacy, and desire, public space, and private identity-crafting.
At the Nasher, in the solo exhibition Hugh Hayden: Homecoming , September 14 through January 5, 2025, Hayden—who has also staged happenings, including a dinner party in his New York living room in which a custom table with holes in the center allowed guests to swivel and face different angles, engaging in various conversations—has similarly thought about how to create individualized moments to experience his sculptures. A page torn from Hayden’s notebook, with a bird’s-eye installation view, sparked the discussions that led to the current floor plan. In a labyrinthine arrangement that builds on itself palimpsestically, floating walls and minimal gallery furniture gesture to the domestic spaces of a front yard or a bedroom. Hayden’s childhood in Dallas finds expression in the locker room or school cafeteria elements that recall his high school experiences, and one piece among the dozen or so on display evokes Kidsville, a nowdestroyed playground in Duncanville imagined, financed, and built by volunteer residents and frequented by Hayden’s family when he was a child. “The fact that we get to give him a solo show in his hometown is really meaningful,” Arnold says. Extraordinary and virtuosic verisimilitude always (and only) exists in service of a greater message. As Arnold says of the Burberry coat, “It’s so exquisitely done, and it’s so wonderfully loaded. In this case, as a Black, gay artist, he’s trying to code switch between all these different identities.” She continues, “What does a Burberry jacket symbolize? What does it offer you? Cachet? Or privileges into certain social groups? Certain economic levels? And how can that serve as your camouflage, something you can use to camouflage your way into [other] spaces?” This, along with the deliberate subversion of the objects’ functionality, makes them hover in the rich, liminal space between art and design objects.
At the center of the exhibition, a version of the carved table and chairs Arnold saw at the Princeton show sits, sporting pencil erasers instead of thorns. Exclusion from the American dream modulates to erasure of the nuclear family: a literal reading rewards the viewer. (Just as a bristle-covered Kidsville replica speaks of childhood—who, in fact, gets to have one?—and access to play.) Such is the nature of a symbol, potent and ambiguous, powerful and underdetermined. It beautifully imbricates what it is with what it can mean. Hayden is a new symbol-maker as much as a craftsman.
In his work, objects speak with an immediacy. As objects, they design and redesign a world. The ordinary and ubiquitous yoked to skill become extraordinary. The playground drawbridge and the iron skillet, the bark-covered clothing and the basketball nets that cascade with woven artificial hair: they all signify. Like obsessions, they all take up residence in the mind. P
FASHION AND DESIGN’S ENDURING LOVE AFFAIR RENDEZVOUS AT STUDIO VAN DEN AKKER AND JD STARON.
Photography by Luis Martinez
Creative Direction by Terri Provencal
Styling by Wendy Mulas
Hair and Makeup by Beléne Garza, Kim Dawson Agency
Floral by Concepto
Model Ellie Pickett, Kim Dawson Agency
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Photography by Love List Digital
ELLIE'S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE IN HALL ARTS HOTEL
BY
PHOTOGRAPHS
PEYTON MIXON
Deva Gilder, Barry Waranch, Simon Waranch
Lucia Simek
Daniel Driensky, Sarah Reyes
Victoria Brill, Blake Bathman
Brandon Kennedy
Vivian Li
Linda Ridgway
Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Ade Omotosho, Aschelle Morgan, Ellee McMeans
Du Chau, Daniel Driensky
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PEYTON MIXON
Deva Gilder, Barry Waranch, Simon Waranch
Lucia Simek
Daniel Driensky, Sarah Reyes
Victoria Brill, Blake Bathman
Brandon Kennedy
Vivian Li
Linda Ridgway
Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Ade Omotosho, Aschelle Morgan, Ellee McMeans
Du Chau, Daniel Driensky
NORTHPARK CENTER AMBASSADOR DINNER AT ROSEWOOD MANSION ON TURTLE CREEK
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN CAIN SARGENT
Patrick Means, Laura Harris-Means
Lee Michaels, Hamilton A Sneed, Dawn Mellon
Justin Whitman, Kimberly Whitman, Madison Isner, John Isner
Stacie Adams, Jill VanGorden
Allison Brodnax, Dr. Dina Madni
Nancy Nasher, David Haemisegger Jennifer Arthur
Angela Boots, Kristen Gibbins, Sarah Haemisegger, Meredith Hays, Izzy Haemisegger, Shelby Foster, Kristin Williams
Marjon Henderson, Chris Kimbrough
2024 REUNIGHT FOR THE FAMI LY PLAC E AT HÔTEL SWEXAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TAMYTHA CAMERON AN D CELESTE CASS
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER
Mary and Joel Reese
Stacy Girard Rasansky, Lindsay Jacaman
Leslie Cook Ramirez, Michelle Goolsby, Amy Desler
Todd and Kasey Lemkin, Madelaine and Russell Lam
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SPEAK EASY
Meet John Semrad’s stunning horn loudspeakers, designed to soothe the ear and the eye.
BY STEVE CARTER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN SMITH
Wow ! Prepare to have your breath taken away on first encountering Semrad Audio’s signature loudspeaker, making waves throughout the high-end audiophile community. The aural and visual realization of Dallas hi-fi visionary John Semrad, the very presence of the loudspeakers issues an invitation to a listening experience —they’re a tantalizing treat for the discerning, a union of nonpareil sound and masterful woodworking, ear candy and eye candy, a sensory bacchanalia. Semrad and his partner, Jared Pogoloff, formally launched the Semrad Audio project in January of 2021, and they’ve been turning heads, ears, and eyes ever since.
Semrad’s been a renowned fine furniture maker for more than four decades, but he’s always been an audio buff as well, and he got an early start. “I’ve been building since I was a kid,” he recalls. “I built my first big pair of speakers when I was 17—they were Klipschorns—and I’ve just been doing it ever since…” A few years ago, when Pogoloff found Semrad’s own pioneering designs on the internet, it was love at first sight, (and sound). “I was looking for something,” he explains, “because I’ve always been a music lover, and a lover of fine furniture. I finally discovered these big, beautiful horn speakers, and lo and behold the maker was from Dallas.” A friendship quickly developed, with Pogoloff ultimately offering to finance the launch of Semrad Audio as a business. To begin the campaign, Semrad built a prototype pair which they exhibited at the Capital Audio Fest in Washington, DC. The audiophile press took
notice, and glowing reviews tumbled in. “That was a good start,” Semrad says, “but we wanted to make them more marketable, so we came up with the design you see here today.”
And what a design it is: an ultra-high-efficiency two-way system featuring German-made Rullit Super Aero eight-inch field coil drivers, coned with Korean mulberry-bark paper, housed in a Jean-Michel Le Cleac’h profiled horn flare, atop a Great Plains Audio 12-inch bass driver. They’re truly a work of audio art. Most Semrads are finished in American walnut veneer over a core of solid basswood and poplar cross-ply, and a pair takes about 300 hours to complete; visually, the end-result is a museum-worthy sculptural statement. And the sound? Spectacular clarity, depth, projection, and uncolored realism. The Semrad loudspeaker reproduces music at its purest, with sublime smoothness, incredible warmth, and unerring accuracy—nothing short of revelatory.
For Semrad, the project is a dream come true, a marriage of his fine-furniture artistry and his lifelong quest for hi-fi excellence. “There’s nothing out there on the market that’s ever really looked like this,” he says. “I’ve never seen speakers made like this.” And Pogoloff, who now has the prototype Semrads at home, enthuses, “I can’t express how much joy these speakers have brought me, both as objects and to be able to listen to high-quality music in my household. It’s a real quality-of-life improver. It’s like a two-channel system that somehow makes a three-dimensional art. It’s a magical thing.” Hear, hear! P
Semrad Audio horn loudspeakers finished in American walnut veneer.
