Wanda Koop's Dreamline, at the Dallas Museum of Art.Dallas Museum of Art
Like many venerable female artists of her generation, Winnipeg’s Wanda Koop is finally enjoying the wider recognition she deserves. Her first-ever solo show at a major U.S. venue, the Dallas Museum of Art, has just opened.
Entitled Dreamline, it’s an eight-piece series that reflects the tension between the environment and its despoilation. “All the paintings in the DMA show have these dual drips cutting through the paintings, which for me is a lament for what we’re doing to the planet," said Koop, whose relationship with the DMA began four years ago, when the museum’s curators spotted her gauzy, gorgeous renderings of office buildings, In Absentia, at the Dallas Art Fair.
In part, Dreamliner refers to Koop’s ability to summon her previous work into her current painting, but it also refers to the way she came up with this concept of this series, which took place on a Dreamliner plane flying from Chicago to London. For Koop, air travel unlocks enormous creative potential. “I just look out the window and go to another place, and by the time I land I have clarity about what I have to do,” she said.
The show continues until Feb. 2, 2020.