Art to see now

10 must-see DFW art exhibitions in August have lessons to teach us all

Antonio Lechuga's show at Oak Cliff Cultural Center has opened a year later than planned.

With school now in session for the kiddos, learning new things is front and center for teachers, students, and parents. Art lovers can find some lessons too in eye-opening August art shows and exhibitions. In shows this month, artists bring history to life, change our perspective on history as accepted fact, and open our eyes to new lessons from life and art.

Last month’s Barbie in a Blender show at Daum gallery has been extended, and free tickets for gallery viewings every Saturday in August are available on Eventbrite. If you missed it, you’ll want to add that to this list of 10 must-see art exhibitions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this month.

Texas Artists Coalition (TAC) 17th Annual Juried Exhibition
Marlene and Spencer Hays Gallery at Arts Fort Worth, through August 26
Juror (and co-founder of Tayf Collective) Saria Almidani says she found references to “home, memory, intimacy, and our post-pandemic state” in the works of the 27 Texas artists selected for this show. “What’s incredible about this exhibition is that there is a unified theme among a variety of mediums; figurative, realism, abstract, textile, photography, sculpture, video installations, and more,” Almidani says.

Antonio Lechuga: "Structures of Softness"
Oak Cliff Cultural Center, through September 2
For much of his art career, East Dallas resident and artist Antonio Lechuga has been exploring borders, walls, and fences, creating representations that invite deeper thought about separations and the intentions behind them. Lechuga assembles foam structures covered in cojibas - fleece-like blankets made in Mexico - for Structures in Softness, his largest work to-date. Originally scheduled for August 2022, the show was postponed when Lechuga was shot while jogging on the Santa Fe Trail. His experiences while recovering from a life-threatening injury further inform an already stirring perspective.

Jammie Holmes: “Make the Revolution Irresistible”
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, through November 26
In his first solo museum exhibition, Jammie Holmes brings to life stories of Black families and communities in tableau and portrait paintings. Fifteen paintings - a survey from his earliest to his most recent work - explore themes of masculinity, mourning, childhood, and race. With a style that’s neither traditionally realistic nor pure abstraction, Holmes provides a new vision while addressing long-time social structures such as poverty and racism. Adult admission, which includes entrance to permanent collection exhibitions and all special and traveling exhibitions, is $16 Tuesdays through Thursdays, $8 on Sundays, and free on Fridays.

Haley Cook: Ain’t a Daddy’s Girl
500X Gallery, through August 27
Mixed media artist Haley Cook illustrates their perspective on gender confusion through an art piece constructed of fabrics that once might have been used for a baby girl's clothing and layette. Cook explores their own queer identity in a playful way as a balm to the tumult and conflict often experienced in understanding and living gender nonconformity.

Chocolate And Art Show Dallas
Lofty Spaces, August 17-18
This annual feast for the senses brings together emerging artists, photographers, and creators with live face painting and body painting, live music, and a very live vibe. Complimentary chocolate treats are also part of the festive event. Tickets are available for Thursday and Friday night, starting at $15 if purchased early.

David Collins: “Beyond These Days”
Valley House Gallery, through September 23
David Collins shares his personal history and his personal iconography on canvas. Collins uses acrylic paint, charcoal, ink, and graphite to illustrate shifting geometric planes that incorporate architectural elements and aviation motifs. This show, his fourth solo show at Dallas’ hidden gem art gallery Valley House, opens Saturday, August 19. Before the show opening, join Collins for an artist talk at 5:30 pm and a reception from 6-8 pm. Both events and the gallery exhibit are free to the public.

Mônica Lóss: “Offerings”
Cluley Projects, August 26 - September 30
The textile constructions of artist Mônica Loss incorporate repurposed fabric and clothing as well as found items to imbue a sense of permanence to things that may have once been treasures. Her exploration of the relationships between feminine and the domestic things created a sensory canvas for all to discover.

Madelyn Sneed-Grays: "BLACK JOY"
Erin Cluley Gallery, August 26-September 30
Denton-based painter Madelyn Sneed-Grays seeks to bring awareness to the beauty of the Black community through her representational style. Her work has been shown in juried shows and solo exhibitions in Texas and throughout the United States since her graduation from University of North Texas in 2014 with a B.F.A in Studio Art.

Paul Winker & Jan van der Ploeg
Cris Worley Fine Arts, August 26-September 30
Dallas artist Paul Winker first collaborated with Dutch painter at last year’s Dallas Art Fair. The two explore a vision for renewal and discovery in this show, which seems destined to spark conversation about the link between the everyday and the extraordinary. Visit the gallery for a conversation between the artists on Saturday, August 26 at 4pm with a reception following from 5 to 8 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

"Come to Colorado"
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, August 27-January 7, 2024
In this exhibit, rarely-shown 19th-century photographs document Colorado’s settlement, mining industry, and promotion as a place for outdoors enthusiasts. Photographs by W. J. Carpenter, Joseph M. Collier, and William Henry Jackson are featured in the collection. Admission to the museum is free. Member preview days are Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26.

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Lawsuit news

Artist sues FIFA for $25 million over painted-over Dallas whale mural

Facebook/Wyland

Artist Wyland's Whaling Wall mural being painted over for a FIFA World Cup-related mural in Dallas.

The artist who painted a giant mural on a building in downtown Dallas of life-sized swimming whales has filed a $25 million lawsuit against soccer's international governing body and others, saying they illegally painted over his work to promote the city's upcoming World Cup matches.

The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) across two of the building's walls.

The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural's grand scale and message of ocean conservation.

The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland's mural, new artwork is planned "that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.” It said a portion of Wyland's mural would be preserved.

Wyland filed suit Monday, June 1 in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building's owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.

Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer's governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.

“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist's lawsuit says.

A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament's local organizing committee.

A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”

“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company's spokesperson said in an email.

Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Wyland's Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.

An online petition protesting the mural's destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.

Wyland's lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.

A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

fifa world cup fifa world cup 2026 lawsuit wyland whaling mural murals downtown dallas