Kelly Moran of Texas Collaborative Arts and Steve Cruz founder of Mighty Fine Arts in Dallas are co- curators of  “ Dallas Vs Houston Smackdown” round 1. TCA will be hosting the Dallas artist. Mighty Fine Arts will be hosting the Houston Vs. Dallas Smackdown round 2 in the fall of 2009. Dallas and Houston have been rivals on many fronts and this is an opportunity for the art communities to co mingle and have an exchange. The Artist featured makes no claims to being representative of art trends prevalent in the Metromess known as Dallas. These artists follow their own particular and personal inclinations and are looking to “smackdown” the preconceptions on what constitutes a Dallas Artist.

This show presents the singular talents of Janet Chaffee, Steve Cruz, Paul Greco, Brian Jones, Wendi Medling, Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, Harmony Padgett, Brian Scott and Erik Tosten. The work of Janet Chaffee is lush and emotive, deeply textured and resonant with inner life. Her encaustic pieces incorporate patterns derived from lace work that references tradition and reflects her personal history. Steve Cruz makes paintings about the affects of sin and the conflicted nature of modern desire. His prototypical characters suffer the dread self awareness of the contemporary life style. Paul Greco is as much a moralist and story teller as he is an image maker. His collage pieces are dense with detail and full of warped nostalgia. Brian Jones is a true unrepentant original whose politically incorrect viewpoint is full of wicked humor. The profound absurdity of his images is liberating, shredding notions of repressed inhibitions. Wendi Medling takes humble crayons and melts and manipulates them into layers upon layers to create poetic studies of textural intrigue. Within the confines of her adapted medium she manages to coax up an inspired blend of luscious solutions.

Rosemary Meza-DesPlas is known for drawing with human hair, sewing line work into the paper or canvas to create forms and figures. Her masterful technique underlines her grand feminist themes and speculations on gender and identity. Harmony Padgett plays off the exalted improvised brushstroke of abstraction by gouging and carving into wood. Her uncompromising approach is steeped in virtuosity and the resultant work is stunning in its vibrant intuitiveness. Brian Scott conflates simian behavior with human misbehavior and finds humanity unsurprisingly lacking. His brilliant and satiric images juxtapose monkeys in place of humans revealing the shortcomings in all of us. Erik Tosten takes a cool techno approach to his work but not without humor and sharp social commentary. The computer generated imagery he creates comments on the assumptions of the art world as well as the nature of the medium he has chosen to work with. 
 
 

TCA (Texas Collaborative Arts) Studio is owned and operated by Dan Mitchell Allison and Kelly Moran since April 2002. TCA Studios serve as art exploration, collaboration and an exhibition space for contemporary art. TCA is open from noon to 5 Saturday and Sunday or by appointment and is located at 303 E. 11th St. Houston, 77008. For more information please call Texas Collaborative Arts studio Monday through Friday at 713-261-1409 Texas Collaborative is located at 303 E. 11th Street Houston, TX next door to the Nau-haus  Gallery and Redbud Gallery and is open from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday or by appointment.