The 8th Dallas Art Fair wrapped up over the weekend and with it came an exceptional gathering of international galleries and artists. I’m not so interested in picking top booths, name dropping who was in town for the parties or lingering on the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program, which provides the Dallas Museum of Art with $50,000 to acquire work by artists exhibited at the fair. Rather I wanted to give some quick thoughts on a group of selected paintings that stood out from the crowd. Some selections are consistent with what is being seen on the coasts and beyond but there were surprises and discoveries to be had. – Arthur Peña, Dallas Contributor

Tony Delap, Pender, 2016, linen, acrylic, aluminum, 13 x 13 in, Parrasch Heijnen Gallery

90 year old Tony Delap’s two small pieces at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery were precarious and deftly witty. Well known in California for decades, his paintings kept refreshing themselves the more I looked. Superstar Nadia Ayari had two pieces at Taymour Grahne (her solo show Bricks just opened last month at the NYC gallery) that manage to tap into the abject quality of paint as she delicately pushes and builds her surface to a sumptuous saturation of color and touch. Fresh off their month long residency at Luis de Jesus in LA Josh Reames and José Lerma showed new works at Brand New Gallery. It’s obvious that not only has their years of friendship from the halls of SAIC deepened a kinship for each other’s approach to painting but also their time together in LA working on two large scale collaborative works provided them the opportunity to play off of each other’s aesthetic. Lerma in particular is making some of the freshest paintings around. All in all there were plenty of solid paintings to behold and I’m sure everyone in Dallas is well on their way to recovery from the whirlwind week.

Tony Delap, What Is That?, 2016, linen, acrylic, aluminum, 13 x 13 in, Parrasch Heijnen Gallery

Nadia Ayari, Rain, 2013, oil on canvas, 50 x 46 in, Taymour Grahne Gallery

Nadia Ayari, Slow, 2014, oil on canvas, 20 x 22 in, Taymour Grahne Gallery

Josh Reames, Bills, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 72 x60 in, Brand New Gallery

José Lerma, El Huelestaca, 2016, acrylic on Canvas, 50 x40 in, Brand New Gallery

Davide Balliano, Untitled, 2016, plaster, gesso and lacquer on wood, 72 x 56 in, Luce Gallery

Davide Balliano, Untitled, 2016, plaster, gesso and lacquer on wood, 72 x 56 in, Luce Gallery

Davide Balliano, Untitled, 2016, plaster, gesso and lacquer on wood, 72 x 56 in, Luce Gallery

Ruth Root, Untitled, 2014-2015, fabric, plexiglas, enamel paint, and spray paint, 106 1/4 x 63 1/4 in, Galeria
Marta Cervera

Ryan Kitchen, Hills, 2016, oil on linen, 15 x 12 in, Nicelle Beauchene

Ryan Kitchen, Path in the Snow, 2016, oil on linen, 15 x 12 in, Nicelle Beauchene

Kirk Hayes, With Power of Rendering, 2015, oil on signboard, 43 x 39 in, Conduit Gallery

Matthew Bourbon, Once Charming, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in, Kirk Hopper

Matt Kleberg, Ordinary Time, 2014, oil stick on canvas, 84 x 58 in, Morgan Lehman

Matt Kleberg, Hot Mic, 2015, Oil stick on canvas, 24 x 20 in, Morgan Lehman

Laura Lancaster, Untitled, 2014, acrylic on linen, 19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in, Workplace Gallery

Andrew Holmquist, Lifting, Pumping, Stretching, 2015, oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 in, Carrie Secrist Gallery

Andrew Holmquist, Green Room (Quick Change), 2016, oil and acrylic on canvas, 36 x 44 in. , Carrie Secrist Gallery

Sayre Gomez, Untitled Painting in Cerulean with Trompe L'oeil Thief Hands, 2016. acrylic on canvas over panel. 60 x 84 in,Ghebaly Gallery

Jonathan Meese, DR. FRÄULEIN D'ON MAGNETAR: GELD DE GELD, ALSO, SLICE MEIN DR. SCHEISS, 2016, acrylic, Caparol-dispersion binder and mixed media on canvas, 210.5 x 140.3 x 3.3 cm, Tim Van Laere Gallery

Jonathan Meese, ES WÜRGT SEINE WYRKYNG (SAALABLUBB'), 2016, oil, acrylic, Caparol-dispersion binder and mixed media on canvas, 210.5 x 140.3 x 3.3 cm, Tim Van Laere Gallery

All images courtesy of galleries.
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Arthur Peña is an arts educator, painter, and director of roving music venue and music label Vice Palace. He co-organized and is currently showing in the group show Cult of Color at Circuit 12 in Dallas.