Twenty years ago, Dennis Dickinson transformed a former ranching family’s Sunday home into the 2d art gallery, enhancing Marfa’s status as an arts “mecca.” After a career spanning the Navy, television set design, and art handling in Santa Fe, Dickinson was drawn to Marfa, ready to realize his own artistic vision.
“Dennis Dickinson visited Marfa 18 months ago, and his life changed course,” as the Big Bend Sentinel noted in 2003. Dickinson’s goal was clear: to connect artists whose work he championed with discerning collectors. “I want art that has depth and is made by people who have something to say,” Dickinson stated. He further elaborated, “I want it to be for people who buy art for themselves, don’t want it to necessarily match the sofa, and want to spend time looking at what they buy.”
Exhibitions 2d, named after Dickinson’s initials, showcases reductive, geometric art within its high-ceilinged, white and gray-hued space. Gallery furnishings include Wassily Chairs by Marcel Breuer, inviting visitors to linger. He humorously admits, “I’m the guy that wants to sit in a chair and look at the piece.”
Yet, as New York-based photographer William Jess Laird noted, Dickinson possesses a surprising “punk element” beneath his serene exterior. “You think he’s gonna be this super zen, minimal, everything calm kind of guy, but he’s actually a little bit of a raconteur in his own way,” Laird recalled, sharing a story of Dickinson allowing an 11-year-old Laird to skateboard on a limited-edition artist deck in the gallery. “If you think about how he treats that space, I cannot believe he was cool with that,” Laird said.
This welcoming approach has cultivated a loyal following of collectors and a consistent roster of artists over two decades. The gallery proudly represents a select group of around 10 individuals, including Stuart Arends, John Robert Craft, Jonathan Dankenbring, Michael Diaz, Larry Graeber, Gloria Graham, David McDonald, Ben Meisner, Ken Morgan, Laszlo Thorsen-Nagel, Susan York, and Duane Zaloudek. Thorsen-Nagel, the “newest” addition and only Marfa local, joined a decade ago.
Shown here are works by:
- John Robert (Jack) Craft, hailing from a commercial cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle, creates solid cast-iron sculptures and prints that reflect the mass and dimensions of his sculptures. His art, deeply rooted in geology and metallurgy, evokes imagery of vast night skies or microscopic structures, disorienting the viewer with shifts between the unseen and the cosmic. “His work is hard, heavy, and sometimes uncomfortably honest, reflecting the artist and his life as a rancher,” he said. Craft’s sculptures are currently displayed alongside Gloria Graham’s scientific ruminations inspired by molecular patterns.
- Ken Morgan, an artist with a fascinating background, grew up in a family of acrobats, learning to juggle, unicycle, and defy gravity. Despite his circus roots, he felt an early calling to art, stating, “The art part of my book started early. The more color the better. The less familiar the most interesting,” as he shared in his bio. Initially influenced by abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko and Morris Louis, Morgan’s artistic journey took a profound turn after a stroke in 2008. This led him to the world of CGI, liberating him from his “signature style.” “I isolated myself with the intention of reinventing myself,” he shares from his bio. His works, which he calls “safe havens, mindscapes, places to play, places to ponder, momentary impossible realities,” offer escapism and respite, representing mental journeys for minds that are hard to control. Morgan’s art, now influenced by his circus background, reduces everything to its common denominator—”a curve, an angle, a straight line, or combinations of the two,” stripping away identity to “juggle, balance, levitate, defy gravity through simple line.” His series like Roadways and Destinations explore possibility within rigidity, providing “visual vitamins” for the mind. Morgan is currently represented by Exhibitions 2d and has been supported by prestigious organizations like the National Endowment on the Arts.
Dickinson’s curated exhibitions encourage close observation and contemplation, fostering a deeper connection between artist and viewer. “We live in a culture of display, and that is the way we express ourselves,” Dickinson mused. “We think, ‘That person’s seeing the same vision of the world that I’m seeing,’” as he told the Sentinel. York confirmed these sentiments are shared by the artists, praising Dickinson’s attentiveness, prompt payouts, and regular feedback, which set him apart from typical gallerists. “He engages us in a way where we feel that we’re [more] a part of the gallery,” York explained.
Exhibitions 2d, located at 400 S. Highland, will be open during Chinati Weekend Friday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.