2012 Catalogue Archive

Tom Orr’s work is informed by his interest in Japanese Noh Theater. Here, the artist looks to the patterns in the apparel design of the kyōgen play, Busu (Japanese for “delicious poison”), as an inspiration. In the play, two servants are entrusted with some sugar by their master, but told not to eat it, as it is poison; disregarding their master, they eat the poison. In Orr’s work, the compositions, both visually intoxicating and aesthetically delicious, can be interpreted as representatives for the characters in the play. Tom Orr recently had a show, Delicious Poison, at Barry Whistler Gallery. He has had solo exhibitions at Blue Star Contemporary Art, San Antonio; Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas; Tulsa Artists Coalition, Tulsa; and Conduit Gallery, Dallas. Select group exhibitions include Ft. Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth; Dallas Museum of Art; Mitchell Museum, Mount Vernon; Dougherty Arts Center, Austin; International Print Center, New York; Ube City Museum, Japan; and the Osaka Foundation of Culture in Osaka. Orr’s set design (in collaboration with wife Frances Bagley) for the Dallas Opera’s production of Verdi’s Nabucco was included in the Performance/Art exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art in 2009-10.