Dallas Contemporary is offering a wide variety of art exhibitions and special events this spring, including Velvet Faith, a site-specific installation by EJ Hill and Martin Gonzales. The exhibit opened at Dallas Contemporary Feb. 28. Curated by Dallas Contemporary’s Associate Curator Emily Edwards, the exhibition showcases sculptures, paintings, and large-scale works created during the artists’ month-long residency at the museum.
Velvet Faith invites viewers to come home—whatever or wherever that might be. Together, Hill and Gonzales celebrate the hard work of being soft, the power of living one’s truth, and the journey towards self-determination. Through Velvet Faith, Hill and Gonzales embrace the freedom of returning to themselves, embody an example of expansiveness, and ask viewers to take part in witnessing the value of their shared experience.
EJ Hill + Martin Gonzales: Velvet Faith is generously supported by the Dallas Art Fair Foundation, with programming in partnership with the Art Production Fund and support from Leatherology.
Open University at Dallas Contemporary
The Open University exhibition is also still on view at Dallas Contemporary through March 9. The inaugural DC NTX Graduate Student Program exhibition is curated by Matthew Higgs, Director and Chief Curator of White Columns in New York. The annual initiative, launched in August 2024, invites North Texas MFA students in their final year of graduate work to exhibit at Dallas Contemporary, after being selected by a visiting national curator. The program is aimed at advancing the early careers of emerging artists schooled in the region and fosters healthy interactions and connections between students and renowned curators. The DC NTX Graduate Student Program is funded with foundational five-year support from Ann and John McReynolds.
Exhibiting artists include: Courtney Broussard, Christina Childress, Lisa Clayton, Taylor Cleveland, Pablo Cruz, Veronica Ibargüengoitia Tena, Austin Lewis, Katherine Pinkham, Sarah Rainey, Elijah Ruhala, Narong Tintamusik, Sharmeen Uqaili, and Vajihe Zamaniderkani.
Dallas Art Book Fair (DABF)
The highly anticipated Dallas Art Book Fair (DABF) returns to Dallas Contemporary, reaffirming its status as the museum’s highest-attended program. This annual two-day event unites regional, national, and international artists, presses, publishers, galleries, and bookstores in an immersive celebration of print culture.
This year’s fair features an exciting lineup of vendors, artists, and publishers, as well as a robust schedule of engaging conversations, readings, workshops, live music, and family-friendly activities. Additionally, the newly introduced DABF Satellite Programming extends the fair’s reach across the city, fostering collaboration and creative exchange within the Dallas arts community.
This year’s vendors include: Publishers: Alliance Française de Dallas, BLACKLIT, Can Can Press, Corsicana Artist & Writer Residency, Dallas Public Library, Deep Vellum, Impresos México/Miau Ediciones, K.Co Press, Southwest Review, and Spectacle Box & Pryor Press. Artists & Creators: Arcadian Editions, Chelsea Akpan, CICR Studio & Press, Creative Baddies, Delaney Allen, Kid Ray B, Mara Gervais, Mystic Multiples, National Monument Press, T.C. Oliver.
DABF Satellite Programming
Expanding beyond Dallas Contemporary, the fair introduces DABF Satellite Programming, a citywide initiative highlighting the innovation and community spirit of art book publishing through unique collaborations. Partners include Spacy, a 35-seat microcinema inside Tyler Station that fosters interdisciplinary artistic connections through moving images. Apprentice Creative Space is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to literary and digital arts. Soft Spots is a Dallas-based Risograph press that supports creative collaboration through accessible print and publication resources.
Apprentice Creative Space will be Friday, March 7, with the Dallas Art Book Fair March 15-16. Dallas Contemporary is a non-collecting arts space, a kunsthalle, with the mission to present the forefront of contemporary artistic practice and artistic production through exhibitions, performances, and public programs in order to advance the discovery and appreciation of the art of this moment. Always different. Always free.
For more information about Dallas Contemporary or any of its events and programs, please visit dallascontemporary.org/.
