Artists ‘Decolonize Dallas’ With A ‘Super Fantasy Mercado’

“We wanted to see if people would actually make their way out to somewhere that may not have been a traditional venue for experiencing art or buying art.”

By Hady Mawajdeh April 11, 2017 10:29 am, , ,

From KERA’s Art&Seek

Dallas’ Southwest Center Mall is unconventional. It doesn’t have a bunch of anchor stores like Dillard’s or Macy’s. Those places have closed up shop. Instead a variety of mom and pop stores sell urban streetwear, cell phones and jewelry.

But artists Brent Ozaeta, Taro Waggoner and Mylan Nguyen say Southwest Center Mall is the perfect place for their pop up art store – “Super Fantasy Mercado.”

“Let’s be real,” says Nguyen. “It’s not super fancy or anything like that.”

She’s right. The mall’s not that fancy, but that’s okay because “Super Fantasy Mercado” is about inserting the work of Dallas artists into places they wouldn’t normally be.

“I think it’s really fun to take an audience that is used to a certain environment, feels safe, let’s say, in a certain environment, and take them out of the norm,” Nguyen says.

The pop-up shop has work from more than 40 Dallas-based artists and makers. Artwork hangs on walls in front of a former department store. Merchandise is displayed atop jewelry cases purchased from that store when it closed. You can pick up a zine. Or have an artist paint a sign just for you.

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