If you haven't heard already, Farewell Shoes for Mr. Bush was a fantastic success. The opening reception was not just well-attended; it was downright packed. Enthusiasm about the exhibition has been a bit overwhelming for our little gallery - even the Associated Press has done a piece about it!
Please bear with us while we scramble to organize and process imagery from the exhibition and the opening reception; click here to view a pop-up window slideshow that we've started. We'll be adding images as we can.
We exhibited lots of entries from Texas, of course, but artists expressed their passions from all over the country - even a few from Canada!
Rather than us trying to describe the event and exhibition, allow us to quote how it was described by Dallas Observer's Jim Schutze:
The Farewell Shoes for Mr. Bush show at Decorazon Gallery in Oak Cliff was a great success last night. Across the street from Hattie's in Bishop Arts, the gallery was wall-to-wall, cheek by jowl and elbows with artists, lookers, glancers and general voyeurs. I was there, of course.
But I came with the wrong attitude. For some reason, I had been taking this thing lightly. But there was nothing light about it. Gallery owners Hugo Garcia-Urrutia and MK Semos brought in more than four dozen submissions from artists all over this country and Canada, all based on the cultural, political and moral intersection of George W. Bush and shoes.
It wasn't a joke. Many of the works -- some 20 of which you'll find in our slide show -- were very powerful and evocative, some caustically funny, some extremely dark and angry, and some of them just absolutely heartrending. One that brought tears was a simple pair of work boots below a printed tribute to a man who had been a good father and hard worker but who died without health insurance. The artist was his widow.
I feel like a very bad reporter: I got home without my notes somehow. I penned this in the wee hours, and I didn't trust my memory for the names and correct spellings of the winning artists in this juried show. I promise to post them as a comment later, when I can get in touch with the gallery.
I told Hugo and MK afterward that I thought they had created an important little moment in the city's history. But for them, the only story about Dallas and the return of George W. Bush would have been those welcome-home yard signs up in and around North Dallas. One day Dallas will be very glad for Decorazon Gallery and a show that depicted the city's better nature.
Unfortunately, the shoes are no longer on display; despite the enthusiastic response to the show, we must continue with our scheduled exhibitions.
The Winners:
Grand Prize Winner - $500.00 prize – Tom Boyd-Lloyd – Environmental Heavy -or- Ouch! That’s Gonna Leave a Mark
Best Conceptual: Lisa Jenkins - Empty Boots
Best Visual: Kathy Boortz - Eschew Tree
Honorable Mention: Bryan Gooding - Burning Bush
Honorable Mention: Rebecca Sanchez - Soles of Our Soldiers
People’s Choice, 1st Place: Bryan Gooding - Burning Bush
People’s Choice, 2nd Place: Kathy Boortz - Eschew Tree
People’s Choice, 3rd Place: Martin Campos - High/Low
JIM SCHUTZE - Since 1998 Jim Schutze has been the lead columnist for the Dallas
Observer, writing about politics. While at the Observer, Schutze has been a recipient of
the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ national award for best commentary
twice and Lincoln University’s national Unity Award for writing on civil rights and racial
issues three times. In 2003 he received the National Association of Black Journalists’
award for commentary. In 2005, Schutze won the Dallas Press Club’s “Katie Award” for
best writing portfolio by a reporter at a major market newspaper. In 2004 Schutze won
the Katie for best general column in a major market newspaper. Schutze was Dallas
bureau chief for the Houston Chronicle from 1996 to 1998. In the early 1990s he wrote six
non-fiction books including, The Accommodation: The Politics of Race in an American
City and Bully, which was the basis for a controversial film directed by Larry Clark. In the
same period he worked as a consultant and associate producer on more than a dozen
movie projects. From 1978 to 1991 Schutze was the metropolitan page columnist for The
Dallas Times Herald and a member of the editorial board. He was part of a two-man
investigative team that won Dartmouth University’s Amos Tuck Award for community
service reporting. He also won the Texas Headliner Award for investigative reporting.
Between 1971 and 1978 Schutze worked at The Detroit Free Press, where he was a
reporter on the city desk, on general assignment and on the police beat.
BENITO HUERTA is an artist, writer and curator. He is the co-founding editor and a current
Board Member of Artlies. He is the director of the Gallery at the University of Texas at
Arlington, an independent curator, a participant in numerous public art commissions as
well as in institutional collections throughout Texas. In 2002, The Dallas Center for
Contemporary Art awarded Huerta with its Legend Award.
ELISA JIMENEZ is an interdisciplinary artist, primarily in fashion design but also including
writing, drawing, painting, performance art, and art installation. Born in Texas, Jimenez is
the daughter of sculptor Luis Jiménez and graphic designer Vicky Balcou.
Vogue discovered Jimenez as "the scoop" and consistently has acknowledged her as
being at the forefront of the new avant-garde as well as one of the top 10 American
Designers in the independent realm. Her designs have appeared in the pages of
Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Dutch, Black Book, Paper Mag, Jane, and Trace. She has worked
for a number of actors, musicians, films and television programs, including: Melissa Auf
der Maur, Cher for her Believe album, Jennifer Connelly for her character in Requiem
for a Dream, Marisa Tomei, Courtney Love, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City, Pink,
Cameron Diaz, and art photographer Cindy Sherman. Jimenez was invited to be in the
Barbican Gallery's exhibit and book Rapture: Art and Fashion Since the 1970s, curated
by Chris Townsend of London.
In 2007 Jimenez was a contestant on the fourth season of Project Runway, a reality
show on Bravo in which designers compete against each other in various fashion
challenges to win $100,000 to create their own fashion line, among other prizes.
PHILLIP COLLINS is the retired Chief Curator (since December 2007) at the African
American Museum, Dallas and the newly appointed Executive Director/CEO for the
Memnosyne Foundation.
Mr. Collins has curated over forty five exhibitions and has served as Treasurer on the
Texas Association of Museum (TAM) Board in Austin, Texas. He has served on numerous
local boards for cultural institutions which include the Arts District Friends, the Mexico
Institute, Contemporary Cultures and numerous city and statewide cultural committees
with a focus on the visual arts, cultural diversity, and arts education. He has developed
art education programs, exhibition designs, fabrications, and art installations. Collins
has written art reviews and essays for local, state, and national catalogues, periodicals
and other related publications. Collins has served as juror for art exhibitions locally,
statewide and nationally and is currently engaged as a freelance curator who is
engaged with ongoing projects nationally and internationally.
Among many awards and commendations, Mr. Collins was awarded the 2004 Artist
Advocate’s Award by the Visual Arts Coalition of Dallas. In November 2004, Mr. Collins
was awarded the Creative Arts Award for Community Service by the Dallas Historical
Society, and the President’s Award for Outstanding Community Service and
Volunteerism by The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Inc. In October 2005, Mr.
Collins was appointed Cultural Affairs Commissioner for District #2 for the City of Dallas
Cultural Arts Commission. Currently Mr. Collins serves as Vice Chair of the Public Arts
Committee for the Office of Cultural Affairs Commission.
