The Dallas Art Fair is upon us for the ninth year running, and just like last year, this year the Dallas Museum of Art has dropped some cash on artworks showing at the fair. Last year the budget was $50K but this year was doubled to $100K, and yesterday the DMA’s Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Gavin Delahunty, spent hours walking through the fair with the funders and picking out the pieces that will be the newest in the DMA’s permanent collection. They bought seven works. Spread the love.
The true upshot of the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program is that the international galleries bring their best, most sophisticated game. (In earlier years of the DAF, this wasn’t always the case.) This is one reason the DAF is the strongest fair in the state, and pound-for-pound, a fair that shows really good work overall.
The works selected are generally marked with DMA signs, but to help out the DAF people have made a list.
Here’s what the DMA purchased.

Justin Adian, Levelland, 201, oil enamel on canvas and ester foam 12 3/4 x 61 1/2 x 5 inches, 32.4 x 156.2 x 12.7 cm. Courtesy the artist and Skarstedt.

Summer Wheat, Bread Winners, 2017. Acrylic on aluminum mesh, 144 x 68 in. Courtesy of the artist and Fridman Gallery.

Derek Fordjour, What will you do to help us Win?, 2017. Oil pastel, charcoal, acrylic, glitter, cardboard and carved newspaper mounted on canvas, 147.3 x 96.5 cm (58 x 38 inches).
Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery

Derek Fordjour, No. 73, 2017. Oil pastel, charcoal, acrylic, cardboard and carved newspaper mounted on canvas, 76.2 x 60.9 cm (30 x 24 inches). Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery.

Andrea Galvani, Llevando una pepita de oro a la velocidad del sonido #10, 2015. C-Print mounted on aluminum, white wood frame, UV glass, 188 x 208 x 7 cm. Courtesy of the artist Eduardo Secci Gallery.

Katherine Bradford, Prom Swim, Green, 2016. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy the artist and CANADA.