In Where It’s At, Phin Jennings walks you down the world’s less-trodden cultural paths, consulting with some of the most plugged-in locals to guide you through a world of beautiful, moving, delicious and enriching experiences. Eating, drinking, gallery-hopping, shopping, swimming, staring at the sky: nothing is off the table as he explores the outer reaches of our cultural world to find out where it’s really at.
As I zoom in and out of Dallas on Google Maps, its grid system punctuated by BBQ restaurants and overlaid with five-lane motorway intersections that look like mandalas, I wonder whether it’s the right place for me. It looks frighteningly American, a place for long drives in big cars followed by plates piled with objects that, to me, exist only in the mythical lexicon of televised gourmands like Guy Fieri; “brisket”, “chuck”, “burnt ends”.
Faced with this, I wonder if I’d rather remain in my comfort zone with a chic and walkable European weekend, subsiding on ensalada and agua con gas.
Hugh Hayden, an artist and Dallas native, left his hometown at 18. I imagine he knows all too well the caricature of his city that I have in my head. His exhibition ‘Homecoming’, currently on display at the Nasher Sculpture Centre, is full of smiling references to American archetypes like high school lockers and wooden porch chairs.
A weekend in Dallas might be a weekend outside of your comfort zone, but why not take a leaf out of Hayden’s book and lean into it? What’s the point in this column if not to charter unfamiliar territory? It’s with this courageous refrain in mind that we enter the largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States. Yeehaw!
Thursday, 24th October
Let’s not set foot in the home of cowboy culture without the correct footwear. Hayden recommends Pinto Ranch for boots. Their selection ranges from tasteful classics to pairs made from the skins of animals that I didn’t know existed.
To stay, local gallerists Cody Fitzsimmons and Oshay Green — both of whom we’ll visit on Saturday — have equally spooky ideas. Respectively, they recommend The Madison, a boutique hotel once frequented by Lee Harvey Oswald, and the motels on Fort Worth Avenue and Harry Hines Boulevard. Personally, I’m drawn to the vibe of the Anchor Motel, whose interior photographs look like Adam Gordon paintings.
Cody recommends a visit to Spacy, an independent cinema whose owner Tony Nguyen curates a programme of films that will imbue your Letterboxd page with some serious big-brain credentials. Tonight, continuing the Halloween theme, it’s Pedro Almodóvar’s favourite horror film, Arrebato.
Dinner is meat and three at Sweet Georgia Brown, one of Hugh Hayden’s favourite spots. Once that has digested, I have a tip-off from Nguyen that Thursday nights are for Southern Skates Roller Rink, just across the road, where you can skate to hip hop and R&B until 1am.
As you pull your boots back on, belly full of collard greens, looking forward to your first motel night, I hope you’ll feel well inducted into a world that, just this morning, felt so unfamiliar.
Friday, 25th October
Today, it’s back to more familiar territory with a gallery crawl. Gallerist Erin Cluely recommends starting with a trip to Deep Vellum, a publishing house and bookshop where you can also get a coffee. While you’re in the area, it’s also worth visiting Power Station, a non-profit art space whose current exhibition, featuring Olga Balema, John McCracken and Stella Zhong, should stir your appetite for sculpture.
Next, it’s a trip Downtown for Hayden’s show at the Nasher. While you’re there, you can also see Samara Golden’s concurrent exhibition, which Chief Curator Jed Morse describes as an “extraordinary and confounding visual puzzle”. Around the corner at Various Small Fires, Diedrick Brackens — another Texas-born artist — is exhibiting his symbolic textiles in tantalising wearable form. For an anything-but-light lunch nearby, the gallery’s director Adrian Zuñiga recommends Rodeo Bar. He warns that it “leans into the Texas tropes hard” which, by this point, is music to my ears.
A couple of miles northwest is the Design District, where Erin Cluely’s eponymous gallery is part of a small enclave of dealers plus Dallas Contemporary, which Jed Morse describes as the “kunsthalle of Dallas”. At this point, following an afternoon of galleries and fried food, your body might be calling out for that salad and seltzer combo. No such luck, I’m afraid — we’re heading to Double D’s bar, a favourite of Cluely’s (and not, as its Instagram page points out, a “titty bar”), where you can have tacos from Milagro delivered for dinner.
Saturday, 26th October
This morning, we leave Dallas for something that, to me, feels more like home. Described by Adrian Zuñiga as a perfect museum, the Kimbell over in Fort Worth has a collection heavy on Modern European painting and a café that serves afternoon tea. It may be the perfect tonic for a slightly over-Texased soul.
In the afternoon it’s back into town to visit Oshay Green and Cody Fitzsimmons’ galleries, Jessamine and Tureen. At the time of writing, Oshay doesn’t yet know when the next show at Jessamine, which he co-runs with Greg Meza, will open but, if it’s closed, he suggests visiting the giant 7-Eleven down the road on Sylvan Avenue. As someone lucky enough to live a stone’s throw from a truly beautiful, award-winning Budgen’s, I have nothing but respect for this recommendation. At Tureen is multidisciplinary artist John Garcia’s exhibition ‘Water & Power’, a show that has transformed the gallery’s exterior with a painted mural.
If you’re ready for another horror film, I have a great one for you: the camp, theatre-based cult horror musical Phantom of the Paradise is showing tonight at the Majestic Theatre, where it was filmed 50 years ago. Afterwards, there’s a party at the nearby Texas Theatre. This is where Lee Harvey Oswald was discovered and arrested in 1963. Tonight, we have a guy called DJDREAMLOVER69 spinning gothic tunes until late.
Sunday, 27th October
You don’t need me to tell you that the way to beat a hangover is to dissociate in a shopping centre. But it might be helpful to know that Dallas contains (probably) the most impressive shopping centre-based sculpture collection in the world. The Nasher family, also behind the Sculpture Centre, have filled the Northpark Centre with work by Antony Gormley, Frank Stella and Katharina Grosse, among others. Standing between Nordstrom and Macy’s, contemplating one of Henry Moore’s reclining women, you’ll experience a level of catharsis unknown to this writer. While you’re there, local artist SooMi Han recommends hitting one of the mall’s many perfume shops to pick up a fragrance to remember the trip by.
By now, you might be starting to feel like you are a good fit for Dallas. In your new boots and perfume, you’re as worthy of this city as anyone else. To celebrate, head to Xamán Cafe, a favourite of SooMi Han and Tony Nguyen, find a seat outside and enjoy watching the low riders that cruise by on Sunday afternoons. Around the corner, legendary gay neighbourhood dive bar Barbara’s Pavilion awaits your arrival. Welcome home, partner.
Words by Phin Jennings
