Dallas Contemporary (DC), a non-collecting art museum in Dallas’ Design District, has announced a new series called DC EMPTY that features time-based works by regional artists.
In its initial iteration, the series will occupy the museum’s west gallery between exhibitions from December 2022 through early March 2023. In the future, the series will be a staple program of the institution and will continue to operate in a pop-up style, activating unused gallery spaces between exhibitions. According to a press release, DC EMPTY is part of a larger initiative by the museum “that frame[s] public programs as an extension of its curatorial work, enriching and expanding discourse around the display of contemporary art…”
DC Executive Director Carolina Alvarez-Mathies, who joined the organization earlier this year, stated, “We are thrilled to launch this new series of performance and film programs with our area’s artists and filmmakers. Giving creative space to our community is one of the most essential parts of fostering a more vibrant city, and we are privileged to have a building that can provide the opportunity to do so. We look forward to witnessing the ways this series encourages collaboration, creative enterprise, and how it might broaden the definition of contemporary art here in Dallas.”
Kasey Short, “The Nomanuat, Still 01.” Courtesy of the artist.
The inaugural event, Kitchen Sink Performa, is a multimedia happening co-curated by Kasey Short, a Denton-based artist and professor at the University of North Texas, and Seth Tarango, the DC’s Louis L. Borick Foundation Renaissance Intern. The event will feature established, emerging, and student artists working in performance and time-based mediums, including Brandy Michele Adams, Gren Bee, Melanie Clemmons, Diana Gonzalez, Zak Loyd, Connor Mizell, Erick Ortiz, Teresita Pantoja, Kamyrn Robins, Kasey Short and Colin Stokes. Kitchen Sink Performa will include performance art, performative computing, experimental cinema, and video art works that explore narrative, abstraction, artificial intelligence, identity, and gender.
The one-day event will take place on Saturday, December 3, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. Though admission is free, registration is suggested. Learn more and reserve your spot through the DC website.
Additional events for this initial iteration will be include They Love Me, They Love Me Not, by Colton James White on Sunday, January 8; Anti-Avant Garde on Saturday, February 4; a performance by Kasey Short on Saturday, February 18; and The Eldert Lofts by Agora Artists on Thursday and Friday, March 3 and 4. More information for these and other events will be available soon on the DC website.
