It’s that time again, time for another round of art openings. For more info about the galleries and the exhibitions visit their respective websites.

PDNB: Bill Owens: New Suburbia
Artist Reception and Book Signing (5-8PM)
1202 Dragon Street, Suite 103, Dallas, TX 75207
214.969.1852 // pdnbgallery.com
image: Sunday afternoon we get it together. I cook the steaks and my wife makes the salad. 1971
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Conduit Gallery: Kenneth Holder, Mary Emma Hawthorne and Small Works Group Show
Opening Reception (5-8PM)
1626-C Hi Line Dr, Dallas, TX
214.939.0064 // conduitgallery.com
image: Kenneth Holder
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Holly Johnson Gallery: David Aylsworth: Is It the Real Turtle Soup?
Opening Reception (5-8PM)
1411 Dragon Street, Dallas, Texas 75207
214.369.0169 // hollyjohnsongallery.com
image: David Aylsworth, See the Sail as it Swiftly Swells, 2008
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PanAmerican ArtProjects: Elisa D’Arrigo and McKay Otto
Opening Reception (5-8PM)
1615 Dragon St, Dallas, TX 75207
214.522.3303 // panamericanart.com
image: Elisa D’Arrigo, Blue Glimpse, 2007
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Marty Walker Gallery: Pard Morrison and Douglas Leon Cartmel
Opening Reception (5-8PM)
2135 Farrington St, Dallas, TX 75207
214.749.0066 // martywalkergallery.com
image: Pard Morrison, The Center of My Heart, 2008
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Craighead-Green Gallery: Susan Sales and Raymond Saa
Opening Reception (5-8PM)
1011 Dragon St, Dallas, Texas 75207
214.855.0779 // craigheadgreen.com
image: Susan Sales, Lipstick and High Heels, 2008
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Brent Ozaeta will give an artist talk this Saturday at The Public Trust at 4PM.

Brent Ozaeta is a Dallas-based artist who is currently featured in New American Paintings no. 78. He is a very promising young artist, so don’t miss the opportunity to meet him and hear him talk about his first major solo exhibition.

The Public Trust is located at 2919-C Commerce St in Dallas, TX.

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My good friend James Cope of The Goss-Michael Foundation will be giving a talk about at The MAC about the YBA (Young British Artist) movement of the late 80’s and early 90’s, and the impact those artists have had on the up and coming artists of today, as well as the art world at large.

The MAC // Wed. Nov. 19th at 6:30
The MAC is located at 3120 McKinney Ave. Dallas, TX 75204 // 214.953.1212

Image: Damien Hirst with his sculpture “For the Love of God.” For more on this artist and the making of this piece visit Supertouch.

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Infant Sleepers by RheaCycled

Ok, for those of you who are not familiar with ETSY, it is a massive online community where you can buy handmade goods directly from artists, designers and crafty people all over the world. There are far too many things that are sold on that site for me to list, so you’ll just have to check it.

As for this event, ETSY Dallas crew is posting up for one day at The Sons of Hermann Hall for their Jingle Bash. As the name indicates this will be a fantastic place for you to do some serious holiday shopping. The best part of hitting this up is that you are assured that 5,000 other people won’t be giving that same gift to their BFF as well.

But wait there’s more…
In addition to shopping for handmade goodness, there will also be live music, a full bar (which is well priced, thus leaving you more room for spending) and everyone’s favorite…KARAOKE!

It is all going down Saturday, November 22 from 3-10PM at The Sons of Hermann Hall
3414 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75226
214.747.4422

So let’s boycott the mall that day and hit switches on the indie tip.

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I will be exhibiting new prints at this event, so please come out and support Dallas talent, its a good chance to get some holiday shopping done early.

TEXAS’ NEXT TOP DESIGNER AND LA REUNION TX COLLABORATE TO PRESENT “HATCH”
Hatch is a pop-up retail experience featuring approximately 20 Texas designers and artists who for one night will present and sell their work at the new La Reunion gallery located in Dallas’ Design District. There will be music, drinks and a silent auction as well.

Thursday, November 13, 2008 (7-10PM) :: $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
2129 Farrington St. :: Dallas, TX

About the Organizers
Texas’ Next Top Designer, Inc, a non-profit organization committed to nurturing diverse entrepreneurs by supporting business development for the fashion and aligned industries. La Reunion TX, is a non-profit established to create an artist residency program in Dallas.

For more information visit…
texasnexttopdesigner.org
lareuniontx.org

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Cowboy Chow opened up during my metblogs hiatus, and since I have recommended it to so many people that haven’t heard of it, it’s time to give it a proper review

First thing to mention is the restaurant’s pedigree. Cowboy Chow is the kid brother of the much lauded Twisted Root, which has the best burgers in Dallas, bar none. However, you won’t find any burgers at Cowboy Chow. What you will find is a really diverse menu for your open range dining experience.

The first thing that I tried was the Dr. Pepper braised short ribs. They were completely amazing, but are no longer on the menu; I only mention them to give you a feel for the creativity of the menu. The focus of their menu is the tacos. They have 4 different types of brisket tacos, my favorite being their standard brisket taco with sharp cheddar, pico and an avocado-lime cream, all of which is served over a bed of rice. The rest of the taco menu is given over to several chicken tacos and their veggie “cowgirl” taco.

The rest of the menu is filled out with brisket sloppy joes, a cast iron chicken pot pie and other range inspired eats. The appetizers are limited to 3 items. I recommend the Cowboy Nachos, homemade potato chips with queso fresco, pico and a southwestern ranch drizzle over the top. The fried green tomato lollipops are fun and the sloppy joe sliders can be a meal in themselves.

For as rich as the food sounds, you don’t leave the place feeling overstuffed or light in the wallet. The portions are perfect and the price is right, with the entrées priced between 7-9 bucks. The service is ridiculously fast, I have never waited more than 5 minutes for anything there, so you can really get in and out if you have to do a short lunch. The staff is really friendly and attentive, keeping your carafes of sweet watermelon tea filled to the brim or the pure cane sugar mexican cokes comin’.

So next time your out in Deep Ellum saddle up at Cowboy Chow.

Cowboy Chow
2801 Commerce St
Dallas, TX 7522
214.742.2469
Hours Mon-Sat 11-2:30 PM

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So I have been off the blogging wagon for awhile, but I am back on with a mission to keep this blog updated and to add a consistent group of diverse bloggers to finally represent Dallas properly here at Metblogs.

First Things First…

Hell Yes!
Image by: Shepard Fairey

On the art front..
Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson opens this Sunday at 3PM at the Dallas Museum of Art. I cannot express how amazing this man’s work is. If you can’t make the opening, there will be a talk with the artist on November 12 at 7PM in the Horchow Auditorium. If you can’t make either of these, just don’t miss this exhibition.

CADD Art Lab Opens
The Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas also known as CADD, have opened an amazing exhibition space in Downtown Dallas, called Art Lab. Anne Lawrence, former associate director of Road Agent (gallery), is now the director of CADD and curator of Art Lab.

Their inaugural exhibition Indexing the Moment, is a group exhibition featuring 11 of the 14 CADD galleries, as the organization has added 3 new members since its inception, which include: Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Mighty Fine Arts and Light and Sie. The next exhibition will open next week on Thursday, November 13, from 5-8 PM.

CADD Art Lab is located at 1608-C Main St in Downtown Dallas, in between Neiman Marcus and The Joule Hotel. For more information visit caddallas.net

Dallas Represents in the latest edition of New American Paintings no. 78
The latest edition of New American Paintings is out, and DFW is solidly represented by Steven Hopwood-Lewis, Brent Ozaeta, Margaret Meehan, Elliot Johnson, Vincent Falsetta and Paul Booker, just to name a few. You can pick up a copy at your local Barnes and Noble and other major bookstores, or you can order a copy at newamericanpaintings.com

The Public Trust and Barry Whistler given the nod in the Observer’s Best of Dallas 2008
This is an older news item, but worth mentioning. The Observer’s Best of Dallas recently came out and awarded The Public Trust with Best Reason to Visit Deep EllumM, and Barry Whistler Gallery was awarded Best Art Gallery. On another awards note, The Public Trust was also awarded Best Place to Meet an Artist in D Magazine’s, Best of Big D

THE Magazine launches in Dallas
I personally have been waiting a long time for this, a free distribution publication focused solely on the arts, and now it is here. THE has been holding it down in Santa Fe for a minute and then expanded to cover Los Angeles and now it is here in DFW, covering all aspects of the arts. It is a quality publication, with reviews, interviews and editorials on everything art in DFW. So if you are out and about pick up a copy, they can be found throughout the city in stands as well as galleries, museums and other cultural spots. For more info visit themagdfw.com

Dallas Represents in Miami during Art Basel
Art Basel is an international art fair that takes place twice a year, once in Switzerland and once in Miami Beach. Basically it is an event that draws the world superpower galleries and top tier collectors, for a 4 day art buying/viewing frenzy. You can read more about it here.

As the notoriety of this fair grew, so did the need to represent the other 99% of art galleries in the world, thus came the “satellite” fair. These were fairs that took place concurrently with Basel, and now play just as important a role as Basel in the art fair world. Three Dallas galleries (that I know of) are going to be exhibiting at Aqua Art Miami. The Public Trust will be at The Aqua Hotel, while Light and Sie and Conduit Gallery will both be at Aqua Wynwood. So if my post has got you amped on a trip to Miami, don’t be a stranger while you’re there.

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As summer is winding down, I thought I would take the opportunity to make a suggestion.  There is less than a month left in the Ranger’s season, and I think everyone should try and make it to one of the last home games.

I’ve been going to Rangers games since I was a little kid.  I remember the days of Nolan Ryan and Pudge Rodriguez.  This summer has really taken me back- watching players like Josh Hamilton and Michael Young who obviously love this game.

No, the Rangers are certainly not the best team in the league… they’re not even above 500 right now.  But this team is more fun to watch than it has been in a long time.

Now that the heat is starting to go down just a little bit, it’s a great time to go and relax at Rangers Ballpark.  And one benefit this has over Cowboys or Mavericks games?  You can get tickets CHEAP- as low as $10 (though those may not be the best ones to choose).  Sure, the beer costs $7, but they taste so good when you’re sitting at the ballpark.

So, everyone should try and head out to Arlington sometime in September.  The Rangers may win, they may lose, but it will definitely be fun.

www.texasrangers.com

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I’m new to this site, so I thought I would make my first post about something pretty simple - food.

If you’re looking for a hole-in-the-wall type of place with pretty fantastic food, you should head down to Main Street to the AllGood Cafe.  I imagine that anyone who lives in the area already knows all about it.  If you don’t though, it’s worth a little bit of a drive to have brunch on the weekends.

The place is unbelievably laid-back and has a serious Austin vibe.  I recommend trying the mimosa.

One tip - if you go on Saturday or Sunday, early is always better.  They get pretty crowded later in the morning.

Enjoy!

http://www.allgoodcafe.com/

2934 Main Street

Deep Ellum

(214) 742-5362

Hours:

9am - 2pm Sun - Mon

9am - 9pm Tues - Sat

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Writing for Metblogs has the potential to be the most rewarding experience in your entire life. It’ll make you rich, famous, good looking, will help you lose weight, make your clothes fit better, and get you a super good deal on a new car. It will make you the most well known person on the entire planet. Yes, each and every one of you. Really.

OK maybe not. Actually those are all lies, but it’s fun at least. The truth is Metblogs is the largest network of locally focused blogs on the web, covering almost 60 cities around the world and we’re looking to add a few new bloggers/writters/authors to this fine site. If you wanna know more about us check out this wikipedia entry but it’s kinda boring so I won’t waste time repeating it all here again. If you wanna write for us, here’s the scoop:

• All author positions are volunteer. That means you don’t get paid.
• You must live in (or very near) the city you plan to write about.
• Anything you post must relate to the city somehow. That means you shouldn’t post a movie review, but talking about going to see a movie at a local theater is fine.
• There’s no requirement for how much you can or should write, but we ask that if we set you up as an author you make about 3 posts a week.
• You can post about things you love, you can post about things you hate. It’s entirely up to you

Additionally, because of our global network, there’s plenty of options for things you write to be read by people all over the world. Interested? Want more details? Post a comment and we’ll be in touch!

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Friday, June 13, 2008

Barry Whistler Gallery: Robert Wilhite: The Bomb and Kirsten Macy: New Paintings, Opening Reception: 6-8PM
2909-B Canton St. Dallas TX 75226 // 214.939.0242 //

Road Agent: Party at the Moontower, Opening Reception: 6-8PM
2909-A Canton St. Dallas TX 75226 // 214.749.4049 //

Kettle Art: Prepared Americans: New Paintings by Cathey Miller: Opening Reception: 7-10PM
2714 Elm Street Dallas, Texas 75226 // 214 573-7622 //

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Nothing Moments is the newest project of Steven Hull, who has teamed up with Tami Demaree, Annie Buckley, and Jon Sueda for this most ambitious of Hull’s projects to date. With nearly one hundred participating writers, artists, and designers, Nothing Moments embraces the disparate fields of visual art, literature, and design.

Nothing Moments consists of twenty-three limited edition books and more than four hundred original drawings. The project expands on the relay-inspired process Hull has explored in previous projects, whereby the work of one artist is responded to and expanded on by another. In Nothing Moments, each book begins with a fiction text authored by a contributing writer. This text is then passed to a contributing artist who makes drawings in response to the story. Finally, the text and art are given to a designer who creates a unique design. The resulting books emphasize a fusion of writing, visual art, and design, inverting the traditional foregrounding of text over art in the book format.

Nothing Moments offers an intriguing cross-pollination of the populist sensibility of a book fair with the rarified atmosphere of contemporary art. In celebrating the blurring of boundaries between disciplines, the project brings an exciting, collaborative energy to the gallery and offers thought-provoking questions to contemporary critical discourse.

Opening Reception: Sat. May 17, 2008 (7-9PM)
2919-C Commerce St // Dallas, TX 75226 // 214.760.7170 //

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It is commonly known within the art world that the summer is always your leanest time, making May the last big bang before the annual hibernation. This May, Dallas’ Design District will be kicking us off.

Here are the openings of note this Saturday May 10, 2008…

PDNB Gallery, 5-8 PM: Home Sweet Home
1202 Dragon Street, Suite 103, Dallas, TX 75207 // 214.969.1852 // www.pdnbgallery.com
above image: Misty Keasler (left) and Chris Verene

Conduit Gallery, 5-8 PM: Roberto Munguia, Ellen Berman & Briar Bonifacio
1626 C Hi Line Dr. // Dallas, TX 75207 // 214.939.0064 // www.conduitgallery.com
above image: Roberto Munguia

Holly Johnson Gallery, 5-8 PM: Joan Winter: Counterpoint
1411 Dragon Street // Dallas, Texas 75207 // 214.369.0169 // www.hollyjohnsongallery.com
above image: Joan Winter

Marty Walker Gallery, 5-8 PM: Archie Gobber: In Loving Memory of You
2135 Farrington // Dallas, Texas 75207 // 214.749.0066 // www.martywalkergallery.com
above image: Archie Gobber

PanAmerican ArtProjects, 5-8 PM: Isabelle Du Toit
1615 Dragon St. // Dallas, TX 75207 // 214.522.3303 // www.panamericanart.com
above image: Isabelle Du Toit

Gerald Peters Gallery, 6-8 PM: Richard Haas
1019 Dragon Street Dallas, TX 75207 // 214.969.9410 // www.gpgallerydallas.com

Craighead-Green Gallery, 5-8 PM: Miroslav Antic, Carole Pierce and sculptor, Bill Weaver
1011 Dragon Street // Dallas, TX 75207 // 214.855.0779 // www.craigheadgreen.com

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Thursday, April 24 at The Palladium Ballroom could be the best local live music night in awhile. Ghosthustler, Record Hop and The Party are getting me there and with Polyphonic Spree as the headliner to this FREE show, this has got to be a lock for how you should spend your evening this Thursday. Visit quickdfw.com for more details.

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In an article I was interviewed for regarding the state of Deep Ellum, the word gentrification was used by the writer to describe my views on what is happening, or needs to happen to revitalize the neighborhood where my gallery is located. Since this article I have noticed this word being used more and more in conversations I have had pertaining to the area. Having minored in cultural anthropology I am very familiar with the word and its meaning, but today I looked it up on Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, so that the official definition can help to illustrate my point. And here is the definition they gave for the word:

gen·tri·fi·ca·tion • jen-trə-fə-ˈkā-shən • noun
the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

What is happening in Deep Ellum is hardly gentrification. There is no displacing of a lower economic class by affluent people who are capitalizing on low property values for their own financial gain. In fact if you were to shop around the neighborhood you would find that a lot of the property in Deep Ellum is quite expensive. The property owners of Deep Ellum are doing what any good capitalist does, and that is simply getting a return on their investment. There really isn’t a lot that anyone can do to stop someone from selling something that is theirs.

Organizations like the Deep Ellum Association, Deep Ellum Foundation and the Deep Ellum Enrichment Project serve a key purpose of trying to keep the culture of Deep Ellum intact as we move into this new era promising big change. I think the spirit of Deep Ellum is more vital than the physical complexion of the area.

If a few large retailers end up moving into the neighborhood I think that will be really great for the independent businesses that are already here. Large retail, residential communities and restaurants generally come with budgets to advertise. This will ultimately draw new people to the area that might not have come here otherwise. Once they are here they can walk around and discover the O.G. businesses who are foundation of the neighborhood.

This isn’t an after school special where the big developer’s soft spot is touched when he sees the neighborhood kids playing on the playground he is about to tear down for his latest mixed use development, and the climax occurs when he tears up the contract while his investors stand their shaking their heads.

This is commerce not gentrification, and the above scenario will almost certainly never happen. So since this is inevitable at this point, playing ball sounds like a good idea. It is better than the alternative of being confrontational and resistant to change, you’ll get less referrals from your gigantic new neighbors.

If you want to see what gentrification looks like, Oak Cliff is a 10 minute drive from Deep Ellum.

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