The 13th annual Dallas Art Fair opens today — after it was forced to skip a year due to COVID. Once again, you can see galleries and artists from London, Paris, New York and Berlin. But the fair also offers the chance to see the works of dozens of North Texas artists.
Having been delayed for 18 months and after the disagreements with some gallerists when it canceled after entrance fees had been paid, the Dallas Art Fair returns in seriously smaller shape. Even so, this fair presents 59 exhibitors from 9 countries — with works by artists like Sol Lewitt and a sizable installation in Klyde Warren Park by the former street artist known as Swoon.
Zeke Williams at the Erin Cluley Gallery booth in the Dallas Art Fair with his work, “Aspen (Gondola View).” Photo: Jerome Weeks
This fair also offers a chance for North Texans to view a larger number of local galleries, more than ever — showing some three dozen area artists, all in one place. Zeke Williams is represented by Erin Cluely Gallery, which is showing 8 Dallas artists. Selling a work at the fair would be welcome, Williams said. But it’s more than that.
“The Dallas Art Fair is one of the times of year when people come to Dallas from all over the world to access the collectors that are here but also to look at art,” he said. “So it’s a point of pride to have a piece in the show.”
In addition to the area artists’ works on display at the Fair, another connection with the North Texas art scene is the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program. It raises money each year for the DMA to buy artworks showing at the Fair for the museum’s contemporary collection. In five years, the Foundation has raised $550,000 to purchase works — with a $100,000 grant this year for six artworks from Sarah Cain, Johnny Floyd, Danielle Mckinney, Jordan Nasser, Susan Weil and Carrie Yamaoka (none of them is a North Texan, although Johnny Floyd is represented by Conduit Gallery).
“Upon reflection, I am Aphrodite’s pearls strung across the firmament,’ Johnny Floyd, 2021, oil, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas. Acquired for the Dallas Museum of Art
Perhaps the North Texas artist with the most prominent display is Alicia Eggert. Her 10-foot tall neon sign flashes “It Is My Time” then “It Is Your Time.” It stands right at the entrance to the Fashion Industry Gallery in the Arts District, where the fair is held.
Can’t miss it.
A list of the many galleries and artists from North Texas at the Dallas Art Fair includes (in no particular order):
Marjorie Norman Schwarz – Dallas
Celia Eberle – Dallas
“City of Bones,” Celia Eberle, carved bone, 2020
Alicia Eggert – Denton
Xxavier Edward Carter – Dallas
Ryan Goolsby – Dallas
Riley Holloway – Dallas
Catherine MacMahon – Dallas
Anna Membrino – Dallas
Will Murchison – Dallas
Nic Nicosia – Dallas
Zeke Williams – Dallas
“Aspen (Gondola View),” oil based paint on carved plywood, Zeke Williams
Benjamin Terry – Dallas
The estate of the late Toni LaSelle – Denton (she died in 2002 at age 100)
KEIJSERS KONING — which relocated to Dallas from New York in February
William Burton Binnie – born in Dallas, living in Brooklyn
William Burton Binnie (born in Dallas), black gesso and acrylic on canvas
Shane Tolbert – Corsicana
Francisco Moreno – Dallas
VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY and SCULPTURE GARDEN
Deborah Ballard – Dallas
Kathy Boortz – Dallas
Sean Cairns – Dallas
Carol A. Cook – Dallas
Mike Cunningham – Denton
David A. Dreyer – Dallas
Barnaby Fitzgerald – Dallas
“Enronius,” Barnaby Fitzgerald, oil on canvas, 2003
Bart Forbes – Plano
David H. Gibson – Dallas
Emily LaCour – Dallas
Gail Norfleet – Dallas
RIGHT: “Pages from a Glass Book: Bettie’s Dream,” Gail Norfleet, acrylic on glass, 2021. LEFT: “Pages from a Glass Book: Double Portrait of Claire in the Studio,” Gail Norfleet acrylic on glass, 2020
Michael O’Keefe – Dallas
Luke Sides – Oakpoint (teaches in Collin County)
Chaco Terada – Dallas
Mary Vernon – Dallas
Anne C. Weary – Italy
Amy Werntz – Dallas
FORT WORTH AREA:
Vera Barnett – Grandview
Bob Stuth-Wade – Dublin
Jim Woodson – divides time between Fort Worth and New Mexico
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