September 24 - December 10, 2022
From SITE 131:
“SITE131, encouraged and supported by its artist, gallery, and teacher community, re-opens its Fall 2022 schedule with a newly conceived series, TEXAS COLLECTS, presenting highly motivated collectors generously sharing their private holdings with a curious crowd eager to learn about new art. The initial exhibition in the new series, TEXAS COLLECTS: Carter/Wynne Family Collection, presents the holdings of 30-year Dallas collector Michael Wynne and his quietly participating wife, Betsy Carter. The exhibition opens Saturday, September 24 and shows through December 10, 2022.
With 2500 ~ 3,000 artworks in “a lived-in house that’s always churning,” the idiosyncratic collector Wynne “hopes people enjoy seeing the art as much as we’ve enjoyed collecting it.” A majority of the 40 artworks on view feature Texas artists. Key statewide artists include Rachel Hecker’s Ache, whom Wynne sees as the most overlooked artist in Texas. An early important Untitled 1994 piece by Scott Barber, recalling the tragedy of his untimely early death, is matched by a current drum piece by Jake Elliott & River Shell made this year. Appreciating her sense of humor, Celia Eberle’s fake ceramics, Mark Flood’s beautifully made skateboards, and Jeff Elrod’s hand-drawn computer squiggles feature key works in the collection.
As a boy, Michael Wynne grew up “on a ranch on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.” On a trip to Waco, 14-year-old Wynne saw Lawrence Alloway’s art book American Pop Art and started painting soup cans. He began buying art while in college in Chicago; then attended Southern Methodist University for a year before returning to the ranch to build fences, work the cattle, and engage in physical labor while making his own paintings. In the early 1980s, his expressionistic red-and-black paintings showed at Foster Goldstrom Gallery in Dallas. He soon married attorney Betsy Carter, whose art involvement was “trusting me,” Wynne claims. Wynne continued to purchase emerging artists’ works in the $1,000 ~ $4,000 range with only one purchase, Jeff Elrod at $8,000, which amounted to a year’s worth of collecting!
To Wynne, art can be about anything. “I love artists, meeting them, hearing their story, sorting out the good from the bad artworks.” He became the homebound parent when daughter Kate was born, who’s now a biologist with an imminent doctorate degree. Wynne’s collection fills their North Texas home, the house in the country, and two garage-size lockers; and artist Wynne continues to create art himself.
“I like funky, expressionistic art,” Wynne claims in describing the eccentric collection. “I live in Texas; there are young, active Texas artists. I think Texas is so overlooked; that’s why the talented artists move away. The Metroplex is the fourth largest community in the U S: it’s time to celebrate our own, and we need to educate a younger collecting class.” In opening his collection to the North Texas audience, Michael Wynne shares, “I hope people enjoy seeing the art as much as I’ve enjoyed collecting it.”
Following guidance and encouragement from fellow contemporary arts professional John Pomara, SITE131’s co-founder/director Joan Davidow along with son and founder Seth Davidow spent the summer meeting with fellow gallerists, artists, and teachers to analyze the art world’s new reality: Today’s art world must now appeal to an audience that no longer enters the public arena easily, and/or often, to view and enjoy art.
Now addressing the current art scene’s actuality, SITE131 returns to the North Texas art community initiating a new direction ~ presenting cherished private art collections to a public audience. Texas has a healthy community of collectors who have been exceptionally private with their holdings. Potentially, by sharing their resources with a larger audience, Texas may initiate a widening gathering of potential collectors.
SITE131 thanks the Carter/Wynne Family Collection for sharing its inventive art holdings with the North Texas community. During the exhibition, Michael Wynne will appear in a special program to discuss his approach to collecting contemporary art. Special thanks go to the SITE131 Foundation for its pivotal support of adventurous exhibitions of new art.
SATURDAY HOURS: With a renewed approach to its audience and schedule, SITE131 will have SATURDAY HOURS opening from 1 ~ 3 pm on Saturdays. SITE131 located at 131 Payne Street, Dallas, TX 75207 in Dallas’ Design District, is free and open to the public Fridays, noon to 5pm, Saturdays, 1 to 3pm, and by appointment. Contact [email protected] for special tours and arrangements.”
Reception: September 24, 2022 | 12–5 pm
131 Payne St.
Dallas, 75207 Texas
Get directions