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It is a new year and with this time of renewal, I would like to lament about a few shows coming or came down in January before I preview some exciting new shows for you to get out and see. On January 2nd, a powerful show of masks was up at Liliana Bloch Gallery. With the season so busy, my intended write-up of Alicia Henry's work just got away from me. I can’t be sorrier.  This was a truly impactful show. These sewn faces were some of the most emotionally charged objects of all last year’s shows. Henry maybe tapping into the identity art wave, but she speaks with a distinct voice rooted in past imagery.

A show coming down on the 6th is at Conduit Gallery. This is a ten-year survey of Vincent Falsetta’s paintings. No other exhibition in Dallas last year got you so close to seeing an artist work through the process of painting. You could have only learned more by visiting his studio. The small studies were insightful treasures to his thoughts and made the larger paintings richer. If you missed this show, you need to get out more. At least you have this weekend to catch a glimpse.

Abstract and non-objective art is back in a big way in 2018. Not that it goes anywhere, but January does have a heavy line-up. Holly Johnson Gallery offers up another David Aylsworth this weekend alongside Ruben Nieto at Cris Worley Fine Arts. Both Aylsworth and Nieto are employing abstract processes of painting but with radically different approaches. Aylsworth plays it cool and modern with muted colors, calculated drips, and whimsical shapes. Nieto shakes up the space with noise, digitally twisted forms, and a postmodern/smashing of traditional sensibility.  Another irreverent character on the scene is Bret Slater. His show at Liliana Bloch this weekend should be entertaining. Slater cakes on his paint to create nice little abstract works that seem to look more edible than something that would last forever.

Galleri Urbane’s two solo shows also feature abstract art. Caroline Lathan-Stiefel and Arden Bendler Browning both play with shape, form, and pattern. Unlike Aylsworth and Nieto, these two artists seem to be in dialogue rather than arguing. Lathan-Stiefel has an installation that you must navigate around. Bendler Browning has some straight up paintings. Her work connects to the landscape which is broken and twisted with flowing forms. Lathan-Stiefel uses shapes and objects to make you feel like you’re in an unusual landscape. These two shows also open on the 6th of January.

I had mixed feelings about the Tom Sachs’ show at the Nasher Sculpture Center. You only have until the 7th for the end of the exhibition, but part of the show was the performance. I only caught the performance online, myself. Right now, we are having this debate about appropriation and I think Sach is taking on this idea more thoughtful than some of the careless trust fund baby artists out there. But I still feel a bit squeamish about the whole thing. Maybe that feeling of uncomfortableness makes it work. So, ignore the cold, get out from under that cabin fever, and go see something amazing in the galleries and museums.