David Bates at Dunn and Brown Contemporary

This was originally posted on Art and Seek in January 2010, but it seems to have been lost when they reformatted.

I stopped in at Dunn and Brown Contemporary to see the new show by David Bates, Themes and Variation. Of the 24 paintings on view only 3 are not of flowers. So it's safe to say that this is a show of floral still lives. It is not breaking any new ground in the world of painting, in fact it is looking backwards into the history of painting, one of the things that David Bates does with skill and passion.

There are strong connections with the stone solid flowers of Marsden Hartley, Picasso's late decorative work, and Manet's paintings of cut flowers. All artists that demonstrate an obvious love for the medium of oil painting.

From this platform of art historical connections David Bates launches into a series of paintings that are thick with paint, rich with deep color, and bold with mark making. When all combined, this show of Themes and Variations is a strong must see for those who love oil paint.

5X7 2009 is coming to Dallas

August 14th! Mark that date on you calendar! It's the Dallas edition of the 10th anniversary Arthouse 5X7 fundraiser.

The event will be held once again at the Dunn and Brown Contemporary. The postcard states that the event opens at 5:00 and the sale starts at 5:30 but that sounds kind of early to me and the Arthouse web site has not been updated yet, so I plan on being there at 5:00.

With all the personal cutbacks that we have all had to submit to this year, I predict that when the bell rings at 5:30, it is going to be most frantic, ravenous art buying frenzy that one will ever hope to see.

And that's the whole reason I'm going. It's good for my artistic soul to see a room full of art collectors behaving so very badly, to see people of class and sophistication getting so whipped up about a small work of art that they forget their cocktail demure and start pushing and shoving so they can snag that one irresistible art gem.

It's art buying like you will never see in real life. I wonder sometimes what it would belike to have this kind of excitement and energy at one of my art openings.

Well here is a link the all of the artists that have art in this years 5X7.

Arthouse 5X7 show 2008

The annual Arthouse 5 x 7 fundraiser is coming to Dallas on August 29th. This time it will be held at the Dunn and Brown Gallery. It is always a great event. Lots of great art for great prices. Lots of people to meet from all walks of the Dallas art life.