James Surls & David McCullough: Art in Exposition Park — 1973
by Paula Bosse
From the DMA archives (click for larger image)
by Paula Bosse
Above, a postcard advertising a 1973 art show at 839 1/2 Exposition (Parry & Exposition, across from Fair Park), featuring the work of James Surls (right, next to one of his sculptures) and David McCullough (left, in front of one of his paintings).
James Surls (b.1943), originally from East Texas, came to Dallas in the late-’60s to teach sculpture at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, from 1969 to 1976. His first mention in The Dallas Morning News, though, was on Sept. 12, 1967, when a 23-year-old Surls was mentioned as a participant in a group sculpture show at Atelier Chapman Kelley (on Fairmount Street) alongside major artists such as Georges Braque, Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, and Henry Bertoia. Surls made his first professional impact on the art world while he was living in Dallas, and for years he was known as a “Dallas artist.” Surls eventually left Dallas for Spendora, Texas, and he now lives and works in Colorado and is an important internationally admired and collected sculptor.
After studying in Boston and Kansas City, and after a stint in California working on “happenings” with Allan Kaprow and Dick Higgins, David McCullough (b. 1945) moved to Dallas in 1970 where he quickly became part of the local art scene. After only seven months as a resident of the city, McCullough was commissioned by the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts to execute “Baggie Mantra Sanctorum March,” an art and performance piece which was Dallas’ first outdoor environment “happening.” A respected artist, McCullough continues to create and continues to call Dallas his home.
The McCullough/Surls show touted in the above postcard paired the two local artists and was well-received by local publications. The exhibition space at 839 1/2 Exposition was McCullough’s studio at the time, and the show presented sculptures by Surls and “relief wall paintings” by McCullough.
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For a FANTASTIC look at this period in Dallas’ contemporary art scene, Ken Harrison’s 1975 documentary “Jackelope” (which aired on KERA, Ch. 13 in January, 1976) is absolutely essential. (Watch it here.)
“Jackelope” subjects Wade, Green, and Surls
It profiles Surls, George Green, and Bob “Daddy-O” Wade (who will forever be known in Dallas as the creator of Tango’s dancing frogs), and the Surls and Wade portions are extremely entertaining. I watched this documentary earlier this year, and I’ve found myself thinking about it frequently. I highly recommend this deliberately slow-moving documentary for anyone interested in Texas art (…or just art). Or for anyone who’s a fan of incredible Texas accents (why don’t we hear accents like these anymore?).
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Here’s a great clip showing Surls with friends and students laboriously transporting one of his pieces, the name of which is given as “Point to Point,” through the streets of Old East Dallas before it is taken to Houston. In 1975, Surls was teaching at SMU and living at 5019 Tremont, in a house which is still standing. (WFAA News Film Collection, Jones Film Archive, Hamon Arts Library, SMU, Oct. 1975)
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Sources & Notes
Postcard is from the Paul Rogers Harris Gallery Mailings Collection, Dallas Museum of Art Archives; found as part of the interesting article “Fair Park-South Dallas: The City’s First Arts District” by Leigh Arnold, here.
To see just a few of James Surls’ wonderful pieces, click here. To view a slideshow of the DMA retrospective, “Visions: James Surls, 1974-1984,” click here. His official website is here.
Articles of interest from the Dallas Morning News archives:
- “Kelley to Unveil Sculpture Show” by John Neville (DMN, Sept. 12, 1967) — first mention of Surls in the pages of The News, this announcement of an upcoming sculpture show at Atelier Chapman Kelley has Surls alongside big-hitters such as Georges Braque, Henry Moore, and Louise Nevelson
- “Loft Offers ‘Big Art’ Space” by Janet Kutner (DMN, Feb. 16, 1974) — review of the show advertised on the postcard at the top of this post
- “Surls Casts ‘Sams’ for Movie Awards” by Janet Kutner (DMN, March 11, 1972) — about the bronze movie awards — the “Sams” — which Surls created for the 1972 USA Film Festival
- “Art for Dog’s Sake” by Janet Kutner (DMN, Dec. 7, 1975) — about a 1975 group show at SMU consisting of over 50 artists (!), which Surls organized (and created a sculpture for) on a $50 budget; contains a thoroughly delightful interview about “The Dog Show” (“It’s both serious and non-serious, maybe ‘arf ‘n ‘arf…”)
- “Texas Artists in TV Special” by Janet Kutner (DMN, Jan. 25, 1976) — review of the film “Jackelope”
For a profile on David McCullough that appeared in The Lakewood Advocate, click here. To watch an entertaining video in which he paints before a crowd at the Dallas Arboretum as the Dallas Wind Ensemble plays, followed by an interview, see the YouTube video here. McCullough’s website is here.
Read the background of McCullough’s 1971 “Baggie sculpture” — the outdoor “happening” at the lagoon at Fair Park in these Dallas Morning News articles:
- “Baggie Sculpture in Park Lagoon” (DMN, June 12, 1971)
- “McCullough Creates ‘Baggie Happening'” by Janet Kutner (…that lady was busy!) (DMN, June 20, 1971)
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Copyright © 2015 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
this is so Texas–especially
see time 56 minutes for the dynamite party
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56 minutes of Jackelope video
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Oh yeah. Bob Wade is very entertaining in this. “Macho kitsch.”
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I have forwarded this post to Bob – he loves to see his name in print.
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Ha! Thanks, Mac. I LOVE Bob Wade. When he was in Dallas a few months ago to bring the dancing frogs back to Greenville Avenue, I missed him by just a few minutes. I really love his segment in “Jackelope.”
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I had worked for David around this time period and Rafel Martini and then Jay Largo as a sculptors apprentice for 6 years and later went to work for Peter Wolf at Fair Park in display and Theater and Stage…
.this was a exciting time in Texas Art and yet it was a very difficult time, the Museum was still at Fair Park and we really went over to the Stoneligh P on Wolf street and Maple, and then we would later go to Will Hips studio that later became 500 X..gallery,
This was a new era since Delahunty gallery came along and the small colleges were opening up and These Oak Cliff 4 well it should of been 5 since Mcullough was over on Tyler street in Oak cliff at that time also…
.And Poets of The City came to Dallas that was banned, or put down since so many folks were getting out side of the mark….which was sad and the comment came up,…..is their a positive Texas future….and so by the 1980’s it was over with….Surls moved to Houston by then and Green to New York by 1979… and Wade he was in Ft Worth or Denton…This is the kind of event Historical that should of come up with the Site Show of 2013 at the D.M.A, and it didn’t happen because so few people really exist now from that era I am now seeing….
I came into the art scene in 1959 with my folk and have retired in 2010….when you are born into something then it is real and good….
It was along time ago……and this is very good document, again Paula you are the next thing to being a true and great Dallas Historian now and so Thank You….
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Thanks, Alex. I think the art scene of this period would have been an exciting one to have been a part of. I particularly liked learning that Surls taught night school extension courses in sculpture while he was on the faculty there. Imagine being a hobbyist, and being able to say that you had James Surls as a sculpture instructor.
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you are so welcome, that era was a very difficult time and place…and these artist were hobbyist and the students who took their courses, while they had been called such.. they were very well placed in a time DALLAS ………………
is away always second place……
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Well he was and still is a great, a true follow and do better then Alexander Calder, why don’t you check hat one, he came to Dallas around the same time Dali over at Preston center……and that is what Dallas is really a central theme here sculpture……any my mother had one of his small sculptures that was signed…she later acquired from Laura Carpenter at Delahunty who was his dealer……over all the excitement was that was the end of one era and the beginning of a new one…..we should recall….Ok carry on and tally ho….
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David HI
I wanted to know what your painting sell for these days. I have one from wither 1970 or 1971 72 that is pastels and maybe geometric shapes I have it all these years and its in grate shape. I had a few cars accidents in the last three years and I have book out but it’s selling slow. I need money from the medical hardship; and hoping your paintings sell for $200 thouand now. Let me know our fees. I’d think it’s expensive now.. :Please advise. Vicki
i would love someone to hire me for speaking and to purchase hundred s of books for their employees. it’s unique and good.Still mediating.
All the best to you. My phone is 917 547 8822. Your boys must be all grown now. Get back to me please asap. Time is of the essence IRs wants to be paid too.. I am at 917 547 8822. Watch my video only 3 minutes on my new books 3 minutes at loveremembers.net please
All the best,
Vicki
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