While museums around the globe are closed to the public, we are spotlighting each day an inspiring exhibition that was previously on view. Even if you can’t see it in person, allow us to give you a virtual look. 

“For a Dreamer of Houses”
Dallas Art Museum

What the museum says: “‘For a Dreamer of Houses,’ an imaginative and immersive exhibition, explores the significance of the spaces we inhabit and how they represent ourselves, our values, and our desires. …The featured artists use forms derived from dwellings or furnishings to investigate ideas including belonging, alienation, fantasy, gender, and the body.

The exhibition takes inspiration from philosopher Gaston Bachelard’s influential 1958 book The Poetics of Space and his use of the house as a metaphor for psychological and cultural development. Fifty-four works in a variety of media by more than 35 artists from around the globe demonstrate the evocative power of domestic objects and structures.”

Why it’s worth a look: At a moment when most of us are spending a whole lot more time at home, this show feels especially timely with its expansive view of domesticity in its many forms. The show features more than 50 works, most from within the museum’s own collection, and is organized by themes drawn from the chapters in Bachelard’s book.

Some of the works, like Alex Da Corte or Do Ho Suh’s three-dimensional installations, relate to the literal structure of a house in sections titled “Dialectics of Inside and Outside” and “Shells.” Others, like Olivia Erlanger’s sculpture of a mermaid tail hanging from a washing machine, is included in a section called “Drawers, Chests, and Wardrobes,” about objects as repositories of private desires. Many of the works explore ideas of shelter as a concept instead of a literal place, a way of seeking refuge, or delineating boundaries between spaces.

What it looks like:

Alex Da Corte’s Rubber Pencil Devil (2018). Photo: John Smith, courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art.

Installation view of Francisco Moreno’s Chapel (2016-18). Photo: John Smith, courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art.

Francisco Moreno, Chapel (2016-18). Photo: Wade Griffith, courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art.

Do Ho Suh, Hub, 260-10 Sungbook-dong, Sungbook-ku, Seoul, Korea, (2016). Photo: John Smith, courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art.

Installation view of “For a Dreamer of Houses” at the Dallas Museum of Art. Photo: John Smith.

Olivia Erlanger, Pergusa (2019). Photo: John Smith, courtesy of AND NOW Gallery and the artist.

Alex Da Corte’s Rubber Pencil Devil (2018). Photo: John Smith, courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art.

Margaret Lee, Who Do You Think You Are (sink) (2016). Courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art.

Pipilotti Rist, Massachusetts Chandelier, (2010). Dallas Museum of Art. © Pipilotti Rist Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Luhring Augustine.

Misty Keasler, Green Room (Quarenteen) Leagnul di Copii, Tigru Mures, Romania, (2004). Courtesy of the artist and the Public Trust Gallery.

Annette Lawrence, 3708 Utopia Pkwy #1 (1999). © Annette Lawrence.