[box_light]Top 5 Artworks
1.) The real queen of “Royal Crown Neat” is the artist. Nancy Lamb is the most popular (and, arguably, beloved) Fort Worth painter of all time –– and for good reason. Her signature style –– mostly bird’s-eye views of high society in syrupy brushstrokes –– is unique and immediately identifiable. And, y’know, lovable.
2.) Surprised no one thought of this sooner. Like a set piece from a futuristic Kubrick flick from his mid-’70s heyday, this one about a religious cult in space, the anchor of The Idyll, Ryder Richards’ solo show at Carillon Gallery (Tarrant County College South), is simultaneously creepy, intriguing, and uplifting. Hail, Lord Mars!
3.) The centerpiece of Bobby on Drums, a spring group show/party at Shipping & Receiving’s cavernous Tilt Room, Jay Wilkinson’s giant homeless guy represents a huge step forward locally. Simply put, not all art in galleries has to pair well with the sofa. The bigger, weirder, and less “functional,” perhaps the better.
4.) A little Old World, a little edgy, Winter Rusiloski’s “Fractured Vessel” rocks and roars. It was part of the Fall Gallery Night group show at Artspace 111, where, on Fri, Oct 16, the TCU alum’s new solo exhibition, Magnificent Tempest, will open.
5.) The best part about Devon Nowlin’s “Don’t Deny Your Heart” is that there’s a sarcastic joke in there somewhere, but you just can’t put your finger on it. Whimsical yet caustic, this great conversation piece stays with you.[/box_light]
Public Art
Critic’s choice: Wings of the City, various locations downtown
It’s too bad that Fort Worth Public Art’s most recent endeavor, a series of sculptures by Mexican artist Jorge Marίn installed at nine locations throughout downtown, was only temporary. The surreal winged figures displayed a sense of daringness that went far beyond the Texas stars made of cowboy hats that you often see in public here, and their human scale encouraged visitors and residents to pose alongside them. It was a refreshing display of imagination in a city that too often leans on the cowboy side of its “Cowboys & Culture” slogan.
Film Series
Critic’s choice: Story, Style and Character: The Art of Japanese Animation
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth had such success with its festival devoted to Hayao Miyazaki last year that it expanded on the topic this year. The event paid tribute to more than just one filmmaker this past August and in doing so showed off the visual beauty, narrative complexity, wild imagination, and dramatic power of the animators of Japan.
Art Collective
Critic’s choice: Bobby on Drums
The brainchild of Fairmount artists Jay Wilkinson and Jeremy Joel, Bobby on Drums was a wildly ambitious charity bash at the end of May, turning Shipping & Receiving’s spacious Tilt Room into a gallery of sight and sound, showcasing a variety of works across multiple media. Aside from painting, photography, and a reactive sonic installation by The Theater Fire’s James Talambas, outsized sculpture ruled the day. Anyone who visited probably hasn’t forgotten the giant, wooden daddy longlegs looming overhead, nor the even bigger sculpture of an oddly lifelike homeless man that dominated the room. Wilkinson and Joel, who have been active participants in the Near Southside’s artistic underground for years, are kicking open the doors for a host of Fort Worth’s unsung artists to make their mark.
Outsider Artist
Critic’s choice: Jay Wilkinson
Wilkinson is at ease in most any medium, and his creative output ranges from paintings to sculpture, from the absurdly small to the towering. Fort Worth South Inc. recently named him its first ArtSouth resident.
