DMA Morning

 My sweetheart has snagged passes to the DMA this morning and after picking up coffee at White Rock, we are downtown just a week bit early.  Like 40 minutes too early.  Might as well walk around a bit.  One end of Klyde Warren Park has been finished and we have not checked it out in a long time.  Walking along the path, I love what they have done at this end.  It's the perfect city park.  I do like the buildings all around and the little nooks and crannies to sit in.

It's a peaceful time and just being outside is awesome.  The day is perfect for sitting outside.  I could not ask for more.  Just as we start to make our way over to the museum, the trolley comes by.  Picture perfect.  Yes.

There is a peek-through window into the Nasher center as we are walking and I take advantage.  We haven't been to this garden in awhile -- perhaps we need to add it to the walking list.

Alright - we are ready to enter - 

The exhibit we are here to see is entitled "To Be Determined."  Come along with us and we'll enjoy it together.  (I managed to miss a few of the artist names, I'm sorry.)

This was not called "American Upside Down," but I wanted it to be.

Frederic Edwin Church - The Icebergs, 1861 ----- made us think of Iceland and the "glow" that was always part of the day -- never full light.  (We were there in winter.)

This is a punching bag that has been beaded --- love the half-square triangles top and bottom along with the chevrons everywhere else.  Once a quilter, always a quilter --- I just see it.

"The True Story of an Elephant Who Survived in a Flood" by Roger Brown.  This was done in 1981.  

So, this next one pulls us both in quick.  It is "Prosperity is Just Around the Corner" by Frannie B. Shaw of Van Alstyne, TX.  It was made in 1930-1932 and I have to tell you --- it is wonderful.  From the footprints in the sashings to the quilting that gives the buildings the appearance of brick to the individuality of each occupation.  One block is an homage to the American Farmer and simply says "The Backbone of the Nation."  Look close --- it's just fun.

Just a few steps away is another fiber beauty.  This one, by Faith Ringgold (2000) and entitled "Coming to Jones Road #5," is painted canvass with fabric borders.  Cool, right?  Writing all around the teal border tells a story, "A Long and Lonely Night by Faith Ringgold 11/23/00  Our worse night was when we followed the river deep into the swamps.  We was weary, runnin from dogs and fightin snakes and we so hungry and there was nothing to eat.  Just before daybreak we came to a clearing in the woods where some white folks had left a banquet of food untouched.  Lord did we had a party in them woods?  Somebody thought the food and wine was left in the woods to poison us, But Barn Door said, "hope they be leavin some more, cause ain no more here.  And if it is poison, we sure die happy with a full belly."  We laughed out loud for the first time and nobody heard us.  After that our nights was not so long and lonely.  Coming to Jones Road #5.  It is based on family narratives.

Another new exhibit is Contemporary Art and Design, New Acquisitions.  In here I spot this - 

Sliced Tropics, Fragment by Sarah Crowner (2018).  Again, the quilter in me wants to graph this out and twist and turn the blocks to see what would happen.

I'm standing and looking at this and ask Mister what it is.  He say, "It's a Tingle Tangle Mingle Mangle."  That little stinker, he read the card as did I, but it still doesn't answer my question.  Is it a bar, does the hold work like a sink?  Who knows.  This is by Misha Kahn and was designed in 2017 and made of bronze.

As we leave this exhibit, I'm drawn to a pair of earrings on the wall.  They are HUGE and look crazy heavy.  They are late 20th century from the Fulani peoples in Mali.

To give context --- here is my fingertip and remember I am still about 6-8 inches from them.

These brooches are pretty interesting, although a couple of them had me scratching my head and thinking perhaps they were not in the right order.  Made by Kiff Siemmons and entitled Twelve Brooches from the Hands of the Heroes series (1987-1991), they are attributed to the following people (read across each row as if reading a book):  Stephen Jay Gould, Emily Dickinson, Marco Polo III, Harry Houdini, Louis leaky II, Glenn Gould, Marie Curie, Joseph Cornell, Roaid Amundsen, Jacques Cousteau, Fred Astaire, Don Quixote.

I'm just about to walk out the door and this bracelet stops me short.  This photo is from the side, through the glass case and attempts to show how tall it is.

This one is straight on.  This is just so big and heavy.  I can't imagine having it on my wrist.  Created by Robert Baines in Melbourne, Australia in 2014, it is just titled, "Red Car Bracelet."

We're not quite ready to leave yet and decide to take one trip to the top of the stairs as sometimes they have changing exhibits in a room there.  Score!!!  Flores Mexicanas:  Women in Modern Mexican Art.  My eyes are quickly pulled towards this fiber piece.  "Oaxacan Indian Woman by Lola Cueto (1928) and is an embroidered tapestry on blanket with chain technique.

I am FLOORED!!!  This is pure perfection.

Nearby, another beauty strikes me.  Thisis also by Lola Cueto (1926) and is Tehuana (Fuit Seller)

Her stitching is simply impeccable.  

Well, that's it for this trip to the DMA.  I'm sure it won't be long for another exhibit to open -- there are still empty room.  Until then, stay safe y'all.