Suni Mullen visits PDNB Gallery & Cris Worley Fine Arts

Today I woke up and decided to not be in the house. I went online and found a website called, "Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas." where galleries throughout Dallas are featured. I wanted to view a different medium and chose to view an exhibition featuring works by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. which were compiled of 36 black and white photographs.

Earlie Hudnall, Jr. exhibition at PDNB Gallery photograph of five works. 2021

The photographs are showcased at Photos Do Not Bend Gallery (PDNB) in Dallas, TX. They were consistently- evenly and non-evenly spaced apart from 5 to 8 inches. His images are matter of fact, solemn, and exclamatory. The photographs were Black children, women, and men that reside in Houston, TX. Because the images are in black and white, the focus I feel, rests in the eyes, garments, and actions.

Although I am not from Houston, TX, I still felt seen: as though these moments were mine to share or rather, stories made for me to hear visually. The culture of Blackness parallels across borders and these images exclaim with detail the importance of documenting such narratives. The everyday-ness of the photographs is what initially captivated me online and I knew I wanted to view more to see all of the pieces physically, in close proximity to one another.

6 photographs by Earlie Hudnall , Jr. at PDNB Gallery

Suni Mullen at PDNB Gallery in front of photographs by Earlie Hudnall, Jr.

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I asked the front desk at PDNB gallery if there were other galleries that were walking distance away and she suggested the Cris Worley Fine Arts (gallery) which was about a ten minute walk around the bend. The weather is pretty crisp around this time in Dallas, TX so I brisked walk. The area reminded me of a much more spread out version of the Arts District in Downtown LA but without the restaurants.

There were three solo exhibitions on view and I favored two. The artworks were separated into three rooms featuring three unique styles. The first room I enjoyed included works by Ruben Nieto of which were themed abstractions like Mickey Mouse and Fred Flinstone. Nieto uses bright and vibrant colors including yellow, red, and green. The paintings look like scenes in movement filled with bursts of color from action.

(left) "Mickey musketeer with a pipe," oil on canvas, 2020 & (right) "Fred Flinstone," oil on canvas, 2020 in Cris Worley Gallery

I then visited the final room which Becca Booker was present and her works were being debuted. I briefly spoke to Booker and inquired about the theme of her works. She expressed her desire to create works of ambiguity to give the viewer multiple visual realizations. I felt as though Booker's works were zoomed in pieces of the human body but also this macro universe. In some pieces, Booker played with multiples, compiling arrows to transform the arrows into new figures and give space to portal dimensions.

"Yellow Arrows: Five Obstacles," ink and watercolor on paper, 2014 on view at Cris Worley Fine Arts (Gallery)

I am happy I decided to get outside of the house today. There is a large community of creators and galleries and museums to host those that are energized to exhibit their works. Enjoy this conceptual VLOG of my day.