What’s getting us hot and bothered this month? Beyond the return of the Design District’s Gallery Day this Saturday, July features a local artist’s first retrospective, a comedic installation, the return of a prodigal painter and a collective of collectible talent.
Ricardo Paniagua—Retrospective: 2004-2014 at Latino Cultural Center
Reception: July 11, 6-8 pm
Exhibition dates: July 11-August 30
When Ricardo Paniagua stood next to Julian Schnabel for a photo op after the latter’s Dallas Contemporary lecture, it was clear he shared the legendary painter’s larger-than-life persona — a rarity in the local art scene.
With the unique physicality and visual viewpoint that defined the more colorful figures of the New York art world, it’s not surprising Paniagua has garnered a retrospective so early into his career, even if he describes himself as “the ugly duckling of the Dallas arts scene.”
Opening this Friday at the Latino Cultural Center, the show illustrates his metamorphosis into a master of “hyper-colorized, geometric and precise” canvases and objects.
Says Paniagua, “A retrospective probably happens after the artist is dead, but I’m seeing this as a self-stylized retrospective. A lot of people don’t know about my work because I’m self-taught, and it’s a very academic scene here. I got into a few juried shows, and now people are starting to look at my work seriously.”
Having shown in the past year in Mexico City’s Material Art Fair and Box 43 Art Space in Zurich, it’s time they do so. Some of the featured pieces in the retrospective are still available for prescient collectors, and Paniagua will follow up the exhibition with a solo show at the Safe Room in November.
Terrell Moore atThe Kessler
Reception: July 11, 6-8 pm
Exhibition dates: July 11-September 1
Back when Deep Ellum and Fair Park were still being colonized as artistic destinations, there were a handful of pioneer talents who took over empty storefronts and warehouses as studios and exhibition spaces. Terrell Moore was one of them, and the painter has returned to exhibit his work in Dallas for the first time since 1991.
After several successful decades working in Los Angeles, Moore’s vibrant abstracts are collected by the likes of Sandra Bullock, Quincy Jones, Rob Lowe and Olivia Wilde. His Kessler pop-up — part of an event celebrating the reunion of the music venue Trees — is a rare opportunity for Dallasites to view his latest pieces live and in person.
If You Really Want to Know, Shawn Mayer,
at CentralTrak
Reception: July 12, 8 pm
Exhibition dates: July 12-26
The best local venue to discover the next generation of local talent? CentralTrak, hand’s down. Included among its series of MFA exhibitions, the UTD nonprofit artist residency is highlighting the video and installation work of recent graduate Shawn Mayer.
The perfect pieces for the YOLO, Instagram-loving Millennial generation, Mayer’s videos in particular owe more than a little debt to the world of stand-up comedy. As he wanders through fields, freaks out in a grocery store or replays curated collections of his mom’s well-meaning voicemails, he harnesses the immediacy of viral videos and Facebook statuses into a stream of what the artist calls “unsolicited verbal diarrhea.”
“It was this idea of commenting on people online and the information they give about themselves so freely,” Mayer says. “It’s private sometimes, it’s amateur, it’s bizarre and weird and often funny. The little slice-of-life moments.”
Chaos, various artists,
at Ro2 Art
Reception: July 12, 7-10 pm
Exhibition dates: July 11-August 12
In July, Ro2 Art is taking a “the more, the merrier” approach, curating a collective of small works from more than 100 local artists, including Gary Farrelly, Brian K. Jones, Art Pena and Brian Scott — basically “artists we always work with, artists we admire and artists that support the gallery,” according to co-owner Jordan Roth.
The second anniversary of this free-for-all event, appropriately named “Chaos,” the show is a little bigger, bolder and crazier this year. But it is still affordable, with works ranging from under $100 to just over $1,000. Says Roth, “It’s a pretty diverse group. There’s no two you can mistake for one another.”
For a little added value, Ro2 will host a series of parties throughout the exhibition’s run, including a performance by the noise rock band Throbbert at the grand opening reception; a personalized painting event with Tom Sale, aka Pinky Diablo, on July 25; and a performance by Art Conspiracy executive director Erica Felicella on August 1.
Ricardo Paniagua, Spinning Memory Glitch of a Soccer Player, at Latino Cultural Center.
