Maximalism is the new minimalism, charity is the new chic, and everyone loves getting a piece of mail. Or so one can surmise from this round-up of the last essential shows of the summer.
SATURATION POINTS and SOUTHERN OBSESSIONS, Lilian Garcia-Roig and Mark Messersmith, at Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
Opening reception: August 24, 6-8:30 pm
Art talk with Lilian Garcia-Roig: September 14, 11 am
Exhibition dates: August 24-September 21
Minimalism is easily defined, but maximalism is a little harder to put one’s finger on. Tallahassee, Florida-based artists Lilian Garcia-Roig and Mark Messersmith both subscribe to a “more is more” philosophy that makes their upcoming dual show at Valley House a treat for the senses.
Responding to the natural world with a narrative and dialogue not often present in your typical painting of a pretty vista, Garcia-Roig’s layered landscapes and Messersmith’s “aesthetic overdose” of floral and fauna may take the viewer more than a second look to fully absorb.
“Lilian works very intensely with landscapes; she loves the edges and transition areas,” says Valley House director Laura Green. “And Mark makes his paintings like sculptures. They have diorama elements and pediments, which plays into maximalism.
“They both have this desire to have more in their work, and even though it’s very different, that’s a common thread.”
Garcia-Roig — who is also unveiling a September show at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary and prepping for an October visiting artist stint at SMU — is a longtime exhibitor at Valley House who brought Messersmith into the fold. Together, their show has a lusciousness reflected in their unique techniques and the verdant scenery they portray.
PICKING UP THE PIECES, various artists, at Gallery at Midtown
Exhibition and auction date: August 17, 6 pm
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The devastation of the recent Cleburne, Texas and Shawnee, Oklahoma tornadoes resulted in a plethora of debris — raw materials that led to inspiration for more than 100 Dallas-based artists.
This local talent spent six weeks transforming repurposed items — everything from Christmas ornaments to a fur stole — into original artwork to be auctioned off to benefit those affected by these disasters.
GOING POSTAL, work by Michael Corris, Gary Farrelly, John Pomara and Sam Schonzeit, at RE Gallery
Opening reception: August 16, 7-10 pm
Art talk: August 18, 7-9 pm
Exhibition dates: August 16-September 14
With the disappearance of the well-written letter and the decline of the thank you note, getting a tangible object via the U.S. mail that isn’t a Pottery Barn catalog has never been more desirable.
Imagine if that tangible object was a piece of art? That is the premise behind curator and gallery owner Wanda Dye’s upcoming show “Going Postal.” Featuring painters living in locales as far-flung as Pickering Forest, Ireland, and Marfa, Texas, the exhibit explores a diverse collective of art production, processes and materials all linked by the act of mailing.
“Gary Farrelly approached me last summer wanting to do a mail art show and started sending me art from January up until now,” Dye says. “I opened the show up to practices that engage through material or the process of mailing artwork using the postal system as a curatorial system.”
Pieces are as diverse as Sam Schonzeit’s colorful postcards or John Pomara’s Pantone-ized subscription cards, and some have changed or evolved as they moved through the postal system — a surprisingly mutable journey for these original, accessible works.
Work by Gary Farelly from "Going Postal" at RE Gallery.
