CADD Art Fair, now with more Hat Guy

by Titus OBrien June 8, 2008

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I caught the tail end of the second annual CADD art fair last Sunday. It looked sharp. Unsurprisingly, out-of-towners I spoke with left convinced that Dallas is a vital hub of contemporary art
activity. And in its way, it is. It certainly has a number of things going for
it that a lot of cities would kill for. It’s kind of nuts how many world class museums we
have around here, just sort of lying about the place. And now all these
galleries, and art programs on the move. If this much has happened in the last three years, what will it look
like another in another five? The hole remains the missing big grad school draws,
but the news ain’t bad.

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One of my favorite pieces at the fair was actually by a grad
student at SMU (a program that keeps doing a pretty good job despite itself) – pal Kevin
Todora
, at Road Agent, channeling Blinky Palermo and Cady Noland. Other highlights included little needlepoint
abstractions by Takashi Iwasaki in the Conduit booth, a
preview of his upcoming project room show. And/Or was most authentically
forward-looking, as befits their role on the Dallas stage. Marty Walker and Public Trust
booths looked very pro, and I always enjoy seeing work by fellow Yalie and UTA
adjunct prof Sedrick Huckaby. He also has an upcoming exhibition, at Valley
House
– no offense, but I think his work deserves a different context. I don’t
necessarily associate it with the “magical realism”, regional modernism, and cowboy landscapes of Dallas’ oldest gallery,
but I am glad they are part of CADD, reflecting the depth and breadth of the
scene here. It basically all looked good, and I saw plenty of red dots. 

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(And/Or) 

I wasn’t able to attend, but I heard the
numbers of panels and such were interesting and successful. It’s a very
promising start, after only two years.
A good foundation to expand upon.

Speaking of which, CADD has secured a place downtown to act as a non-profit exhibition space and I presume headquarters, to be directed by lately Road Agent co-pilot Anne Lawrence. It’s set to open in fall; sounds like a weird idea. Weird is good.

To borrow a phrase from an old best friend: Dallas, you are tee-d up, baby, you’re tee-d up! 

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(Barry Whistler Gallery)

I’ve heard some rumor going around that a certain local art consultant is threatening to start another art fair in Dallas. If it’s true, all I gotta say is – please, don’t. Give it all some time – everybody with some cash and half a
notion is rushing to the trough, and there’s just not enough corn for all the
little piggies. I’m hearing that dozens of exhibitors are threatening to sue
the Chicago
fairs for overbooking and failing to provide the collectors. Nobody sold nothin’.
Let the new plantings develop some roots in the
clay-y North Texas soil; let things settle in a bit more…give Hat Guy a chance to find some more of those shirts…

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 photos of the CADD reception courtesy of Kevin Todora

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