As our thoughts turn to love and Valentines Day, Texas artists get to show some real heart this February. Several exciting group exhibitions bring to life themes both familiar and novel. Meet the artists or simply view their work to warm your spirit as we wait for the arrival of spring. Here are nine must-see exhibitions to visit in February, in order of opening date.
28th Annual "El Corazón"
Bath House Cultural Center, through March 4
This longstanding tradition brings the work of local and regional visual artists to the Bath House Cultural Center each year in collaboration with Jose Vargas, who has been curating the exhibit for decades. Each work showcases an artist's individual interpretation of the human heart, and the show as a whole encompasses an eclectic collection of ideas, styles, and concepts.
"Out of the Fire"
Love Texas Art, through March 19
This group exhibition in the art lounge, gallery, and shop in Sundance Square brings the work of 17 ceramics artists into view. Each woman whose work is on display is based in Texas. With both traditional and modern references, works range from conceptual to utilitarian, demonstrating the varying perspectives of women's roles in life and art.
Grand Opening Event, "Roll up to The Rollup"
The Rollup, February 9 and February 11
The Rollup is a Texas-based artist incubator and art event producer, and its first show and sale is coming to Deep Ellum on Saturday, February 11. The exhibition will present painted skate board decks created by DFW artists. A pre-event VIP party will be held on Thursday, February 9 at 7 pm. Proceeds from both events will benefit 4DWN, a volunteer-fueled and skateboarding-centered Dallas area charitable organization.
"MVMTLS: Movement of Lone Stars"
South Dallas Cultural Center, February 10-March 24
South Dallas became a supporting character in this multimedia exploration of Black collective memory. Filmmaker Adriane McCray assembled a collection of interviews with South Dallas residents conducted during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. Each subject addresses childhood memories, with the assembled product a collage of home videos, aged photographs, collected archival footage, and present-day photography. The opening reception for the exhibit is Friday, February 10 at 6 pm.
"I'll Be Your Mirror: Art and the Digital Screen"
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, February 12-April 30
One of the most anticipated exhibits of the season, "I'll Be Your Mirror" surveys the impact of the digital screen on art from 1969 to present day. The works of more than 50 artists explore themes of liminal space, connectivity, surveillance, the repository, digital abstraction, the posthuman body, automation and the loneliness epidemic, ecology, and turning a mirror on ourselves. Curator Alison Hearst brings together a show that's described as one of very few "presentations exploring art and digital technology in the past decade at this scale."
"Joaquin Soto: Mestizo"
Gallery 2960 at The Epic Grand Prairie, February 13-24
Joaquin Soto explores his deep connection to native and European traits, and how they have blended to be part of his Mexican background, in this exhibit of sculptural and wall-mounted art. The display will run through March 3 with an artist's reception on Thursday, February 16 at 5 pm.
JD Miller’s annual Valentine’s Day LIVE painting
Samuel Lynne Galleries, February 14
A favorite Valentine's Day event returns to Samuel Lynn Galleries, with Dallas artist J. D. Miller painting live in the gallery. Miller, the founder of Reflectionism, will bring together color texture and shape to create his perspective of a floral arrangement provided by McShan Florists while incorporating the energy of those assembled in the gallery. The gallery will raffle off a signed copy of JD Miller’s new artist book, JD Miller: Reflections from Dragon Street, and Miller will sign copies after the live painting. The event takes place from 6-9 pm, Tuesday, February 14 with Miller's live painting to begin at 6:45 pm.
Samuel Lynne Galleries presents JD Miller’s Annual Valentine’s Day Live Painting.
"Deep in the Art of Texas"
Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, February 18-March 25
Photographs from 29 diverse Texas artists make this show revelatory and undoubtedly eclectic. The photographs were taken as early as the 1940s to present day, and include landscape, documentary, portraiture, and abstract concepts. The opening reception for the exhibit is Saturday, February 18 at 5 pm.
"In the Shadow of Dictatorship: Creating the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art”
Meadows Museum, February 26-June 18
In 1966, artist and collector Fernando Zóbel opened The Museum of Spanish Abstract Art as the first museum in Spain exclusively for abstract art. Highlights from the museum's collection are making their way to the United States, many for the first time. Works in the collection represent a broad spectrum of abstract works created during Franco's dictatorship, 1930 to 1975.
Cliburn Junior 2023 winner Seokyoung Hong (center) with second-place Yifan Wu (left), and third-place Jan Schulmeister. Photo by Ralph Lauer 
Clayton Stephenson competed in the 2015 Cliburn Junior Competition and returned for the 2022 Cliburn International Competition, where he was a finalist. Photo courtesy of The Cliburn 
Italian pianist and Cliburn alum Alessandro Deljavan will serve on the jury. Photo courtesy of Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth