Many of the today’s contemporary artists are inspired by the same masters. You’ll see the work of master painters emulated in young artists as they develop their own careers that often take wildly different paths. The same is true for students who study under the same teacher, which is the…
The basis of a good family drama is the unified hatred of the patriarch. Well, hatred might be a strong word. Indifference? If there’s one thing most of America can agree upon, it’s that our parents fucked us up and we’re not to blame for our deteriorating lives. The combustibility…
Halloween is about more than trick-or-treaters and revealing costumes. It’s the one time of year when society encourages the type of frightening behavior normally reserved for gatherings of juggalos and cough syrup connoisseurs. Nothing says Halloween quite like being accosted by strangers dressed up as killer clowns, and the Strangling…
While we’re on the subject of the weather, which our weather gods tell us is changing from hot to slightly less hot, let’s discuss one of the best places in Dallas to enjoy the great outdoors. It must be nice to be the Arboretum, which celebrates the four seasons like…
A great museum exhibition can serve as a time capsule. When The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth opens its newest exhibit, Urban Theater: New York Art in the 1980s, visitors will be sent back to one of the most exciting decades in contemporary art history. Think Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff…
You can’t go out in Dallas without the threat of valets. Somehow, in one of the most sprawling cities in America, we’ve managed to mess up parking to the extent where valets are legally required, and to get to them you have to drive past the parking spaces they will…
In downtown Portland, Powell’s Books stretches the length of a city block. Inside, hundreds of wooden bookshelves stuffed to the brim with everything from classic literature to engineering manuals keep crowds of regulars and tourists engrossed. When you go to Portland, you have to go to Powell’s. Even readers who…
In early 2013, news broke that New Mexico high schools were banning Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. But this was not the only book on the list. Titles like Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter, and a Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary – because it defines obscene words. In Arizona, bans have only…
When Mario Lopez walks into a room, you stand, stick out your hand, and try to focus your eyes on him and not his sculpted forearms. On Monday afternoon, a room full of local journalists did just that when we got the chance to interview the former teen star about…
This news should strike fear in the fried hearts of many: American Idol will hold auditions for the new season at our great State Fair of Texas on September 26th and 27th– the first two days of the fair. There is no prior registration required. You just have to be…
By Monica Hinman I have a friend who has cornered the market on stories. Stuff just happens to her. When we get together, I can count on being regaled with all the details from her latest adventure. She finds a briefcase lying in the street or runs into someone from…
This weekend, the gallery scene expanded in two divergent directions with the opening of both Erin Cluley Gallery and Cydonia. Over the big, white bridge Erin Cluley Gallery became the first commercial art space in Trinity Groves – although not in the area’s conventional strip mall of restaurants. Tucked into…
On Friday, The Safe Room at the Texas Theatre will celebrate the opening of a short film entitled Two Story, and also the reunion of the childhood friends who co-directed it. Frank Mosley had grown accustomed to directing solo, when he reconnected with his high school buddy, Lee Luna. The…
By Sarah Wyatt Aziz Ansari is a man built for an arena act, a master of crowd control. The night’s opening act was a Michael Jackson impersonator with his own backing applause soundtrack. It seemed fitting with the ego and presence that Ansari puts out to the public as a…
This last weekend marked the opening of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 2014-2015 classical season. Saturday evening kicked off with an honorary video commemorating musical director Miguel Harth-Bedoya’s 15th season with the FWSO, followed by a short talk with new composer-in-residence Anna Clyne (on her composition Rewind) and the National…
“I don’t know if I’ve made any significant contributions other than following the advice of an early mentor to ‘keep making art’,” says Val Curry, sculptor and installation artist about making art in Dallas. But he’s probably wrong about that. This guy is one of the most interesting people you…
By Justin Hunt The storybook nostalgia of South Dallas’ RE Gallery is the perfect milieu for the exhibition of Benjamin Terry’s latest works, the unconscious mind. While Terry’s previous ventures focused principally on large, technically adept, two-dimensional works, the current series is a breakthrough of shape and color in much…
Most critics of comedians who love to take their audiences to dark places usually have a single criticism in mind when they prepare to launch their arsenal of self-righteous indignation. “The dark, sad things you’re trying to make people laugh about wouldn’t seem so funny if they happened to you,”…
By Monica Hinman Last night at the Dallas Museum of Art, KERA’s Art and Seek kicked off their sixth season of State of the Arts, which brings together leaders in the local art world to engage in a dialogue about developments and trends in art and culture. Last night’s panel…
Many people wondered what would happen to the Bruce Wood Dance Project (BWDP) after the untimely passing of their artistic director and choreographer. Would the company fold once again? Or would they continue to pursue the mission set forth by their founder? It seems as if fate, this city, the…
One of the first shows that comedian Chris Tellez organized sounds like the nightmare scenario of any aspiring comic. He started a regular monthly stand-up show called “Pillow Talk” at a dive bar in Oak Cliff that didn’t have working air conditioning. The place was packed with sweaty people trying…
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order. Know an artistic mind who deserves a little bit of blog love? Email lauren.smart@dallasobserver.com with the whos and whys. Edward Ruiz. Confetti Eddie. The man with the giant dinosaur outside of his studio. You might…
