Jessica Fuentes and Gabriel Martinez talk about the book Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma and some of the cultural creatives who have committed monstrous crimes.

"There aren't good celebrities and bad celebrities. They're all just people. There is a spectrum of behaviors with people. There's nobody that's purely good, and there are maybe a few people who are purely evil, but it's rare. It's kind of ridiculous to assume that any person is going to always be good. I don't say that to excuse any of these truly heinous and criminal behaviors. I don't think they should be excused... I think that it's foolish to uplift a celebrity and expect a certain standard of behavior."

See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2025/03/09/art-dirt-monsters-of-art/

This week's podcast is sponsored in part by Arts Fort Worth and the Arts Forward Summit, happening on Saturday, March 29, 2025. What if everyone who enjoys the creative arts came together at once? What new collaborations and ideas are waiting for a chance meeting? What best-kept local secrets are ready to become your new favorite thing? At the Arts Forward Summit, Arts Fort Worth invites you to join hundreds of creative and curious people as they create art, share resources, discuss big ideas, and dream together about where the arts can take us next. Learn more about Arts Forward here: artsfortworth.org/summit

Art Dirt - Glasstire - Monsters of Art

William Sarradet talks with gallerist Bart Keijsers Koning about the Dallas scene and the role galleries play in the art ecosystem.

"An artist going directly from studio to museum is problematic because the language hasn't had a chance to encounter an audience and see what is clear, what isn't working and kind of fine tuning it. The museum's responsibility is to represent and clarify history, culture and not always (dictate) where its going next because we don't know that. That's much more in the gallery's hand, because if you do that as a museum you start getting into very murky water. I think there's a good way for a gallery to sit in between that to foster certain ideas to make sure the narrative is translated in the best way and edited in the best way."

See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2025/03/23/art-dirt-understanding-the-dallas-art-world-a-conversation-with-bart-keijsers-koning/

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Art Dirt: Understanding the Dallas Art World: A Conversation with Bart Keijsers Koning

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss recent news stories in Texas, including the controversy surrounding Sally Mann's work, the destruction of artwork installed at the Austin Convention Center, and the closure of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

"The Modern (Art Museum of Fort Worth) had a notification at the entrance stating that the exhibition (Diaries of Home) contained mature content. Is a museum allowed to show work that some people might deem obscene if they provide notice so viewers can make the decision whether or not they want to go in? The Modern, in particular, charges an entry fee, you make a choice to go in."

See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2025/04/06/art-dirt-news-roundup

 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Art Dirt - News Roundup

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss the trends they found at the 2025 Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas Invitational.

"It stuck out to me thematically that there seemed to be a lot of landscapes and interiors — interiors of houses, some still lives. Overall the work felt a little more conservative to me than the Dallas Art Fair normally feels. Dallas is generally the most adventurous buying-wise." 

See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2025/04/20/art-dirt-reporting-on-the-dallas-art-fairs/

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Art Dirt: Reporting on the Dallas art fairs

Dr. Eddie Chambers
	•	April 11, 2025 6:00 PM

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth announces the launch of the Exhibition Lecture Series, a dynamic new program featuring curators and artists from the Modern’s special exhibitions and permanent collection. This series provides a rare opportunity to explore the creative processes, curatorial strategies, and artistic visions that shape modern and contemporary art. The Exhibition Lecture Series is a free program open to the public.
Seating begins at 5:30 pm. Free admission tickets (limit two per person) are available at the Modern’s information desk beginning at noon on the day of the lecture. A limited number of tickets (limit two per person) will be available for purchase online ($5) from 10 am until 4 pm the day before the lecture.

 Join us for "The Delayed Presence of Bowling, Williams, et al," a lecture presented by Dr. Eddie Chambers in conjunction with the special exhibition Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling. Organized by the Modern and Curator María Elena Ortiz, the exhibition brings together for the first time the work of these two groundbreaking artists, highlighting their individual contributions to late-twentieth-century abstraction. Williams and Bowling, both originally from Guyana, pursued distinct artistic paths despite their shared connections to London. The exhibition showcases key works from Williams’s series Shostakovich, 1980-81, and Olmec-Maya and Now, 1982-88, reflecting his deep engagement with music and Pre-Columbian cultures, alongside Bowling’s influential Map Paintings, 1967-71, and later Poured Paintings, 1977-78, which explore both the materiality of paint and sociopolitical themes.
Dr. Eddie Chambers, a leading scholar of African diaspora art history, will provide insight into the complex artistic legacies of Williams and Bowling, examining their belated recognition within broader art historical narratives. Chambers, who joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2010, holds the David Bruton, Jr. Centennial Professorship in Art History. Both an artist and curator, he has worked extensively with modern and contemporary artists, including Bowling, and has published widely on Black British art. His deep engagement with postwar visual culture and critical contributions to the field position him as an essential voice in contextualizing the work of Williams, Bowling, and their contemporaries.


Dr. Eddie Chambers April 11, 2025 6PM

Alex Da Corte: Cadavre Exquis
	•	February 28, 2025 6:00 PM

The Exhibition Lecture Series is a dynamic new program featuring curators and artists from the Modern’s special exhibitions and permanent collection. This series provides a rare opportunity to explore the creative processes, curatorial strategies, and artistic visions that shape modern and contemporary art. The Exhibition Lecture Series is a free program open to the public.
Seating begins at 5:30 pm. Free admission tickets (limit two per person) are available at the Modern’s information desk beginning at 4 pm on the day of the lecture. A limited number of tickets (limit two per person) will be available for purchase online ($5) from 10 am until 4 pm the day before the lecture. Purchase your online ticket here starting at 10 am on Thursday, February 27. 

Join us for an engaging evening with acclaimed artist Alex Da Corte as part of the Exhibition Lecture Series. On Friday, February 28 at 6 pm, Da Corte will present “Cadavre Exquis” and engage in conversation with Alison Hearst, the exhibition’s organizing curator.
Alex Da Corte: The Whale marks the first comprehensive museum exhibition to explore Da Corte’s dynamic relationship with painting. Spanning the past decade, the exhibition features over forty paintings, drawings, and a video work that examines painting as a performative act.
Known internationally for his interdisciplinary installations that merge painting, video, performance, and sculpture, Da Corte draws from art history, design, and pop culture. His works blend fantasy with darker undertones, while traversing high and low cultural themes. In The Whale, Da Corte views painting as a space that captures cultural “ghosts”—referencing the Jungian concept of a journey into the subconscious, likened to the mythical “belly of the whale.”
The exhibition includes Da Corte’s signature reverse-glass paintings, evoking the invisible labor of traditional animation and sign-making; Puffy Paintings, crafted from stuffed neoprene; Shampoo Paintings, created with everyday hair products; and Slatwall Paintings, which incorporate found objects. By taking up such unconventional techniques, the artist challenges the dominance of painting on canvas, expanding the boundaries of the medium and revealing new opportunities for expression.
Organized by the Modern, the exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with contributions from Da Corte and essays by Hearst, scholar Kemi Adeyemi, art historian Suzanne Hudson, and poet Hanif Abdurraqib.


Alex Da Corte lecture Feb 28, 2025 6pm

William Sarradet speaks with Dallas artist Hava Toobian about the art, culture, and manuscripts they encountered during their recent trip to Ireland.

“I didn’t know what to expect in a national contemporary art museum for the Republic of Ireland, and it was beautiful. It was an astute mixture of contemporary mediums and works in a historical building.”

See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2025/05/04/art-dirt-manuscripts-modern-eyes-seeing-dublin-with-hava-toobian

This week's podcast is sponsored in part by Aurora Picture Show’s Extremely Shorts Film Festival. Always interesting and eclectic, Extremely Shorts showcases all kinds of adventurous contemporary films, all three minutes or shorter. This year’s program includes 30 films from eight countries. Screenings take place May 30 and 31 at Aurora’s new space on Navigation in Houston's East End, with some participating filmmakers in attendance and receptions featuring music provided by Icehouse Radio! Find more information and tickets here: https://www.aurorapictureshow.org

Art Dirt: Manuscripts & Modern Eyes: Seeing Dublin with Hava Toobian

Jessica Fuentes speaks with art educator and author Laura Evans about her recently published book, “The Atlas of Art Crime: Thefts, Vandalism, and Forgeries.”

“I remember learning about the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner theft… and then going to visit the museum in grad school and confronting those empty frames, where those works of art were stolen from, was really sobering. Seeing these holes, these gaps, where these artworks were disappeared… it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.”

Related Readings: https://glasstire.com/2025/05/18/art-dirt-theft-vandalism-forgeries-talking-with-laura-evans-about-art-crime

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Alex Da Corte lecture Feb 28, 2025 6pm

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

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