DMA, Kimbell and NLC offer great art

After you've viewed the photoworks of Kathy Lovas in the North Lake Gallery and still have a desire to see more great art, take a trip to the Dallas Museum of Art or the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

“Matisse: Painter as Sculptor” explores artist Henri Matisse's sculptural works at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center through April 29.

Along with the sculptures, there will be paintings, drawings, and photographs of the artist at work.

Get in free on the first Saturday of the next two months, March 3 and April 7, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Get in free on the third Thursday, March 15 and April 19, from 5-9 p.m.

The DMA has a lot of activities planned for the next two months of the Matisse exhibit's run, so visit its Web site at www.matisseindallas.org.

If you saw the film Memoirs of a Geisha, you know about the “floating world” of Edo during the years 1690-1850. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, it's the pleasure quarters (red light district) of Edo (modern-day Tokyo).

That area, which was frequented by actors, courtesans, rich patrons and bohemians, is the subject of the Kimbell Art Museum 's latest exhibit entitled, “Drama and Desire: Japanese Painting from the Floating World, 1690- 1850,” now on display through April 29.

There are 67 masterpieces by such renowned artists as Hokusai, Utamaro and Harunobu. This is the first exhibition to highlight the world's largest and finest collection of Japanes ukiyo-e paintings.

Visit www.kimbellart.org for prices and times. Tuesdays are halfprice days.

After Lovas' show ends March 14, look for two more exciting exhibits in the Gallery before the spring semester ends.

From March 19-April 11, works by Sally Packard and Mary Benedicto will be on display in an exhibit entitled “Biological Patterns.” You can meet the artists at a reception March 20 at 7:30 p.m., in the Gallery.

From April 12 through May 4, the popular “Student Art Exhibition” will grace the walls of the Gallery and beyond. The reception will be April 18 at 7:30 p.m.

The approaching spring months are filled with lots of color and a variety of artistic styles. I hope you will take advantage of these wonderful opportunities to see great art.

– Melodee Ramirez is a full-time art professor at NLC.