Dallas Art Fair: The place to be this weekend . . .

Beginning with a preview Gala on February 4th, the second annual 2010 Dallas Art Fair (DAF), celebrating modern and contemporary art, will showcase paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints and photographs from postwar artists represented by over 50 prominent national and international art dealers from over 15 cities, the United Kingdom and Canada. Previous artists exhibited include Chuck Close, Joan Mitchell, Sol LeWitt, Damien Hirst, John Chamberlin and Rufino Tamayo.

Located at the Fashion Industry Gallery, the DAF is within walking distance of the world-class cultural institutions of the Dallas Arts District including the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, AT&T Performing Arts Center, the Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art and the Meyerson Symphony Center. Co-founded by John Sughrue and Chris Byrne, in its first year over 5,500 art lovers attended the DAF, and the events drew established and aspiring art collectors and enthusiasts from throughout the nation. For more information, visit http://www.DallasArtFair.com.

An exciting feature of this year’s program is the “Finding Frida” Symposium to be held from 10 a.m.–12 noon, 2/6 and 2/7, Saturday and Sunday. A controversial collection of Frida Kahlo material will be the subject matter discussed by an international group of noted panelists. They will debate the authenticity of the Noyola collection of approximately 1,200 drawings, journals, letters, paintings, and other items whose owners maintain are handmade by Frida Kahlo, but which others have denounced as fakes. The panel will also present an overview of the challenges of authenticating newly discovered works of art purported to be by famous artists. This is a not-to-be-missed event!

The Dallas Arts District is a unique, 68-acre, 19-block neighborhood in the heart of the city. A rare jewel that is the centerpiece of the region's cultural life, the district is home to some of the finest architecture in the world. Enhancing the downtown Dallas skyline are buildings by Pritzker Prize winners I.M. Pei, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas and AIA Gold Medal recipient Edward Larrabee Barnes. In addition to the Fashion Industry Gallery, other superb features of the district are the Annette Strauss Artist Square, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (where the “Finding Frida” Symposium is to be held), Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Theater Center/Arts District Theater, Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.

Art in the District, a satellite art show offering exceptional pieces by nationally and internationally known artists alongside emerging and breakthrough newcomers from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area will be taking place simultaneously at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel, 1717 N. Akard St., Feb. 5–7. The event space will be open from 12 p.m.–9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.–4 p.m. on Sunday. For more information: http://www.artinthedistrict2010.com

-- Rosemary Carstens
http://www.CarstensCommunications.com