honoring shepard fairey 

we are thrilled to announce globally renowned artist and activist shepard fairey as our honoree.

shepard fairey was born in charleston, south carolina. he received his bachelor of fine arts in illustration at the rhode island school of design in providence, rhode island. in 1989 he created the "andre the giant has a posse" sticker that transformed into the obey giant art campaign, with imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. after more than 30 years, his work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art, including the 2008 "hope" portrait of barack obama, found at the smithsonian's national portrait gallery. in 2017, the artist collaborated with amplifier to create the "we the people" series, which was recognizable during the women's marches and other rallies worldwide in defense of national and global social justice issues.

fairey's stickers, guerilla street art presence, and public murals are recognizable globally. his works are in the permanent collections of the boston institute of contemporary art, museum of modern art (moma), the museum of fine arts boston, the san francisco museum of modern art, the smithsonian's national portrait gallery, the victoria and albert museum, and many others.

shepard fairey has painted more than 110 large scale murals across six continents worldwide. his solo exhibition at dallas contemporary opens to the public 25 september 2022.

toasting gabrielle goliath

gabrielle goliath (b.1983) situates her practice within contexts marked by the traces, disparities, and as of yet unreconciled traumas of colonialism and apartheid, as well as socially entrenched structures of patriarchal power and rape-culture. enabling opportunities for affective, relational encounters, she seeks to resist the violence through which black, brown, feminine, queer, and vulnerable bodies are routinely fixed through forms of representation.

goliath has exhibited widely, most recently in our red sky, göteborgs konsthall, gothenburg; le guess who, centraal museum, utrecht; future generation art prize, pinchuk art centre, kiev and venice; kubatana – an exhibition with contemporary african artists, vestfossen kunstlaboratorium, norway; verbo performance art festival, são paulo, and the palais de tokyo’s do disturb festival, paris. her solo exhibition, this song is for… is currently installed at the iziko south african national gallery, and will travel in 2021 to the durban art gallery, durban; william humphreys museum, kimberley; and konsthall c, stockholm.

goliath has won a number of awards including a future generation art prize/special prize (2019), the prestigious standard bank young artist award (2019), as well as the institut français, afrique en créations prize at the bamako biennale (2017). her work features in numerous public and private collections, including the tate modern, iziko south african national gallery, johannesburg art gallery, and wits art museum. she is currently a ph.d. candidate with the institute for creative arts at the university of cape town, south africa.

reimagining what an art party can be

we took a two year hiatus, re-imagined our annual fundraiser, and now we are ready to raise the bar! 

the gala, which will honor acclaimed artists and activists shepard fairey and gabrielle goliath, provides the opportunity for our dc family to come together and celebrate our mission to present the art of our time to the public always at free admission. 

just as the sun is setting dallas’ art + fashion set will toast dc + share a meal featuring american fare on the streets of dallas’ east quarter in full view of shepard’s new mural debuting in conjunction with his and gabrielle’s solo exhibitions at the museum. after dinner guests are invited to hit the dance floor as shepard + friends dj till midnight (or later!)

the evening serves as a night in benefit of dallas contemporary, that raises vital operating funds for the museum to continue presenting new and challenging ideas through contemporary art—all at free admission, and supported by unparalleled learning programs k-12+ beyond.

should you have any questions and/or are interested in becoming a sponsor please contact alexandra eagle at alexandra.eagle@dallascontemporary.org 

let’s partner

let us customize dynamic opportunities to highlight your commitment to contemporary art and widen your audience by giving you a unique opportunity to reach our highly coveted audience.

the ways to support artists’ dreams are endless, let’s make it happen!

if you are interested in becoming a sponsor please contact alexandra eagle at alexandra.eagle@dallascontemporary.org