The 20 Best Black Artists in North Texas
yes, in order, and yes I want all the smoke
(Picture from Black Projects Think Tank #2 at Talley Dunn Gallery 2019)
I love lists. I enjoy reading them. I enjoy arguing with them. I enjoy hating on them. A list is the height of human folly. To take the chaos and nuance of the world and pretend it is as orderly as 1, 2, and 3. More importantly to pretend that something that is just a few people’s or one person’s opinion is now an authoritative reality - a fact, so to speak, is one of the great tricks writers and publications can employ.
I am really excited about this list because I have been thinking about it for quite some time. It interests me as an artist, a curator, a writer, and an entrepreneur. If I were to change the title from something less clickbaity - it might be called, “Love Them or Hate Them - the 20 Black Artists You Have To Deal With”.
There are a lot of great Black artists in North Texas. I could make the list 50. However, 30-50 is really subjective. This is a bit less subjective. The criteria of this list is the artist CV, which stands for curriculum vitae, which is Latin for “course of life”. Basically, it is a document that most professional artists have that says this is what I have done, this is what I have accomplished, and these are the facts of my artistic life.
So this list is not a list of my favorite artists. This isn’t a list of artists who I think make the best work. It isn’t the most impactful artist. It isn’t the most popular artists. It isn’t the best-selling artists. It isn’t a list of who my friends are. This is the go look up what this person has done and then look at what you have done and deal with it list. It is the men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t list. It is CV vs CV - omitting everything that isn’t artist based - so no I don’t care about your teaching or your curating or your writing or your community service or where you went to school at for this list. This list is about what shows have you had, what collections are you in, what awards have you gotten, and what publications have you been in - all of the things that are important to establish an artist’s place in Art History.
And there are some big and perhaps obvious things that stood out (I looked through the CVs of 40 artists in making this list). Museum shows really matter. Very few artists on this list haven’t had their work in a museum. Being collected by museums really matter. And geographical diversity really matters - i.e. do you have opportunities outside of where you live?
So for all of you who want to be the best visual artist out of Dallas, look at this list and get a sense of what mountains you are going to have to claim. Get a sense of whose careers you have to deal with. Then start putting in the work and the pressure. I will keep it a buck, I’m trying to be number one. I know my boy - David-Jeremiah is trying to be number one. I know half of the list will say they don’t care - but don’t let them fool you - they are trying to be number one too.
Oh and for everyone who is going to argue with this, don’t just tell me who should be on the list - tell me who you would take out. Because that is how lists work. And also please no whining about so and so’s connections, schooling, etc. Some folx do it with a deal and some folx do it without one. Everyone works super hard. Hard work and talent are prerequisites and not features. Also, don’t feel bad if you aren’t on this list. Four years ago literally half of the people on this list would not have been on it. Which is wild to think about. Just go on a crazy run and sustain it. Make it undeniable. Can’t wait to see what the list will look like next year.
Without further ado:
Guggenheim Fellow. Joan Mitchell Fellow. Fulbright Fellowship. National Portrait Competition winner. Permanent collections SFMOMA, Whitney, Art Institute of Chicago, Minnesota Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Art Boston, Amon Carter, McNay, Blanton, Harvard, Yale. Galleries coast to coast. Taught George W. Bush how to paint. What more can I say.
Guggenheim Fellow. Creative Capital Fellow. Solo at the Hammer. Solo Blue Chip gallery shows. International Gallery shows. Multiple museum shows. A million awards. Permanent collections of The Whitney and The Studio Museum of Harlem. Under 40. You better know her name.
Art Pace Residency. Hopper Prize. Permanent collections of National Museum of American History, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Crystal Bridges, McNay Art Museum. Museum solos, gallery solos coast to coast. Only getting better.
Art in America cover. Six-figure auction sales. Dallas Contemporary solo. Gana Art solo in Korea. Library Street Collective Detroit. DMA permanent collection. Y’all know who he is.
Bought an old KKK building in Fort Worth and is transforming it into a cultural space named after a lynching victim. Interchange Grant. Project Row House.
Solo DMA, Solo MFAH. Whitney Biennial. MacDowell Fellow. Permanent collection of Blanton Museum, DMA, MFAH. Group show San Antonio Museum of Art.
Solo Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Nasher Sculpture Center, and Houston Museum of African American Culture shows. National Endowment for the Art Grant and DMA Grant. Project Row House. Gallery shows across the country. Permanent collection of MFAH, African American Museum of Dallas.
Creative Capital Award. Permanent collection of Nasher Sculpture Center. Dallas Drinking Fountain. American Monument.
Permanent collection Dallas Museum of Art. Solo museum HMAAC. Project Row House. Solo gallery shows across the country. Nasher Grant Award. Under 40. On one of the greatest runs of all time.
Solo African American Museum of Dallas. Solo gallery shows in Switzerland, Germany, and South Africa. Solo Erin Cluley. Under 40. Mr. International.
Jer’Lisa Devezin