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Richard Brettell, a prominent art historian and educator, transformed the Dallas art scene during his lifetime. His brief tenure as the director of the Dallas Museum of Art earned him the affectionate title of “Art’s Bad Boy,” and his passing in 2020 left a significant void in the local and international art scene.

“Brettell: An Artist’s Homage to the Dynamic Influence of Rick Brettell,” opened at the SP/N Gallery on Sept. 10 to a full house. Among the crowd were Brettell’s family, friends, former students and casual devotees. The exhibition includes works from Brettell’s personal collection, alongside works made by artists he formed relationships with during his lifetime. Greg Metz, director of the SP/N Gallery, spoke of his friendship with Brettell

“Rick and I became close personal friends … he would come pick me up from my studio and take me to fancy restaurants, and he would tell me fantastic stories.”

After moving from Chicago to Dallas, Brettell became the director of the DMA in 1988. There, he headed community outreach programs dedicated to engaging with the local Dallas art scene. Outside of the DMA, Brettell played a formative role in the creation of the McKinney Avenue Contemporary, known as the MAC. The MAC has transformed Dallas art in the decades

A powerful slice-of-life

Despite being called “A Little Life,” Hanya Yanagihara’s bestselling novel brings more than just a little heartache to readers by using beautiful language to combat the emotional and physical trauma she unleashes on her characters.

The novel follows the lives of four men as they navigate the joys and trials of adulthood, but this is not your average coming-of-age story. Yanagihara combines decades of heartache and suffering within twisted storylines that make readers wonder “what did these characters ever do to her?” But she somehow creates figures that remain likable despite their vanity and selfish ambition.

The characters are strangely close yet all have the potential to love and hurt one another in extreme ways, which made me want to read the entire novel in one sitting. The story starts with a simple lightheartedness but soon progresses into relationships that are more complex and dark. At times I wished I could hug these characters and at other times I wanted to slap them, which in my opinion, is a sign of successfully creating three-dimensional characters.