Nasher Invites Public To Peek In Its Windows
While many museums remain closed in Dallas during the coronavirus pandemic, the Nasher Sculpture Center has come up with an innovative way for those who might be out for their morning (or evening, or afternoon) constitutional to take in a little art – safely.
Nasher Windows will be a series of exhibitions that are placed within the museum’s entrance vestibule on Flora Street. The installations can be seen through the windows from the outside of the museum, and will feature North Texas artists.
The exhibits will change weekly until the museum opens, running from Friday to Wednesday of each week.
Presented weekly until the museum resumes operating hours, Nasher Windows installations run Friday-Wednesday and host a roster of early- and mid-career North Texas-based artists.
Dallas-based artist Tamara Johnson was tapped for the inaugural exhibition with her work Deviled Egg and Okra Column, 2020, on display through May 27.
Johnson’s work was slated for exhibition at the Dallas art space ex ovo before the show was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A nod to Constantin Brancusi’s Endless Column (1918), Johnson’s column features a mirroring tower of stacked deviled eggs and pickled okra cast in resin, spanning the height of the vestibule. While Brancusi favored abstract geometric shapes, Johnson turns to recognizable foods that are prominent in the American South. \
“Since moving back to Texas in 2018, my work has shifted to explicitly focus on a more personal iconography — my relationship to the South and the ways in which my (temporary) body moves and works within this familiar, yet unfamiliar landscape,” Johnson said. “Each of these works explore a personal terrain, embedding meaning in foods I associate with my upbringing, like deviled eggs, pickled okra and RO*TEL. These items become condensed bouillon cubes of material meaning, holding vulnerability, sexuality and humor in a delicate balance.”
Subsequent artists for Nasher Windows will be announced via media alert and on the Nasher Sculpture Center’s social media channels in the coming weeks. Supplemental content can be found on the Nasher App, available for download on iOS devices, and as a web app.
