The Dallas Center for Contemporary Art is a wonderful space located in a fun area. The gallery is down the street from the Latino Culture Center near Deep Ellum. This was my first time to visit DCCA and I am glad I made the trip. Unfortunately the art did not mirror the wonderful space is was showing in.

This was DCCA's members show and there must have been no junior. The work ranged from photography to strange “modern art”. The paintings were the weakest point of the show. Several of my friends in New York City always told me that painting was dead but I did not realize how dead until saw what members of the DCCA thought paintings was. Most paintings lack any technical skills such as the ability to draw, apply paint and make texture. Even if the work was to be “conceptual” at the very least a composition should be develop. All of the work was too small for the space which was a shame. Some of modern art claims is that it is large, uses paint and makes a statement.

One painter did stand out of the muck, Anne Turner Beletic. Her water color entitled “Little Orange Hair” was odd and emotional charged. She created an intense sense of strangeness with her figure's head being to large for her body. The colors were bright and jarring. Her work suggested that painting is not dead but quite well when a skilled artist employs it to make a statement.

Another interesting artist that I have seen at 500x is Simeen Ishaque. Her piece “Daiva” was made of hand dyed fabric. The fabric was cut in the forms of dancing women and then pinned in a circle on the wall. This whimsical figures were not being raped or warmed in some way which seems the only we can address woman's issues now of days. These female figures were instead empowered and playful in their womanliness.

Then Joe Field had to make the very Texan statement of how obsessed Texan men are with boobs. His pieces entitled “Boobs” had different boobs in squares that were then named. The names made me wonder if that is what he does when he meets a new pair of tits. The piece was silly and sad in a way. Are boobs that interesting? I would think that there are other parts of the body that are by far more interesting such as the mouth, the nose and hands. Boobs?

Regardless, most the work was lame. I also think it was disappointing that the work in this show exemplifies the low level work that is being produced in Dallas. The DCCD has an awesome space but this group show did not corresponded with the ideas of contemporary art. I hope the next show I attend will be more “modern”.