NOW/THEN/AGAIN: Contemporary Art in Dallas 1949-1989 Page: 5
85 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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A staff member since 1958, Barney
Delabano has designed many of the
museum's memorable art installa-
tions, both temporary exhibitions
as well as from the permanent
collection.(Opposite:) The DMA's latest pur-
chase in the area of contemporary
art, Chris Burden's All the Sub-
marines in the United States of
America (1988), is fascinatingly
analogous to Calder's Flower.In 1949, though, Dallas was on the edge of national and international promi-
nence. Its economy, fueled by transportation, banking, oil, ranching, distribution, and
retailing, was incipient, but almost everyone believed utterly in the brilliance of its
future. Now, in 1988, the city sits amidst the splendor of its post-War development,
gloomy at times, stubbornly optimistic at others, brooding on its future at a time of
regional economic stagnation. As we hope for the beginning of a long awaited
recovery, it is a good time for the city of Dallas to take stock of its post-War
aspirations as they are embodied in the museum's collection of works of art produced
in that period by men and women throughout the world.
All art - at least in the most abstract sense - represents or contains dreams. So
perhaps the best measure of the dreams of a city can be found in how its people
embrace culture in its many forms, especially in their response to works of art and
architecture. As a city in the national sense, Dallas is essentially a product of the years
since World War II. Therefore, it is not surprising that its citizens and art institutions,
both public and private, have been active collectors and exhibitors of contemporary
art. Yet, paradoxically, the Dallas Museum of Art has never sought to assess its
enormous collection of post-War art, preferring instead to exhibit small portions of it
more or less continuously, while restlessly changing the installations of "contempo-
rary" art recently purchased or loaned. The result has been a fascinating mosaic of
Modernist and Post-Modernist trends that has excited - or infuriated - people
more easily than it has informed them. It is now our intention to tell the story of post-
War art as it is revealed by our permanent collections and to share the visual heritage
of Dallas with all its citizens.
Interestingly, the museum's latest purchase in the area of contemporary art is
fascinatingly analogous to its first, the Calder. A little more than a month before
opening these newly installed galleries with contemporary art, the museum acquired
through a combined effort of adventurous private citizens and its own funds a
wonderfully provocative work of art that, like Calder's FLOWER of 1949, hangs from
the ceiling. ALL THE SUBMARINES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is
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Brettell, Richard R. NOW/THEN/AGAIN: Contemporary Art in Dallas 1949-1989, book, 1989; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth307668/m1/10/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Museum of Art.