Transplant

You'd hardly notice the tiny drops of blood--long-dried and resembling sticky dregs of sloshed espresso--along the sidewalks from 3200 Main St., deep in Deep Ellum, all the way to Trammell Crow's "Design District" west of Stemmons Freeway, south of Oak Lawn. Last May, Nancy Whitenack ripped part of the heart and innovative spirit out of Deep Ellum, moving the memory of Conduit Gallery in its original incarnation--one of the first art galleries to open in alternative Dallas 20 years ago--to a bigger, brighter, whiter gallery space at 1626 C Hi Line Drive. Whitenack was one of Deep Ellum's visual arts pioneers, and her decision to move wasn't lightly considered. "Finally," Whitenack says, "it was just time." Conduit's mission hasn't changed--and won't--says Whitenack. "Now we have twice the space, with the same commitment to showing emerging artists as well as our established artists."

Conduit Gallery can run three distinctive exhibitions at once in the new space, and Whitenack's gift for selecting side-by-side shows that highlight similarities and differences, showcase complementary or contrasting elements and media and keep her "Project Room" for innovative installations, oddball art or very, very new artists at the ready is well-served by the additional square-footage. Three new shows open with an artists' reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. True to form, each exhibit vibrates on separate but equal wavelengths.

Winter Journal features visual narrative paintings and drawings by Jeremy Red, who shrugged off his real last name, Ables, to plunge headlong into an artist persona within which his rich fantasy life could flourish. Red uses characters, text, color fields and tiny, detailed, whimsical drawings to tell a visual story often based on his own life. "Jeremy's work is so strong and forthright," Whitenack says. "He has a gift of combining naïve and streetwise concepts. You'll see images like children's book illustrations, but in the middle of the picture are dark places and dark images." Winter Journal is Red's second solo show at Conduit, and Whitenack says he's one of the few artists she picked up straight out of college. "He's very young and remarkable in that sense. I took him on just after he graduated from the University of North Texas. He's a wonderful colorist, with truthfulness and wisdom beyond his age or experience," she says.

The Brooklyn-based Pierogi Gallery has lent Conduit its Selections From the Flat Files for an unusual art-viewing experience, and the second concurrent show. Visitors to this exhibit will wear white gloves to handle the art collection made by more than 500 artists, perusing the flat files filled with a broad cross section of contemporary work.

Opening in the "Project Room" is a New Work show by Dallas artist C.J. Davis, whose signature paintings are deftly layered, minimal abstracts with a three-dimensional, near-sculptural element. His paintings have object quality as well as visual interest. "C.J. is so accomplished in how he handles materials," Whitenack says. "It's slow work, his building of layers and layers of paint, to accomplish a thoroughly considered, beautiful finish."

After 20 years in Deep Ellum, Conduit Gallery's thoroughly considered move to the Design District doesn't seem to have affected Whitenack's original purpose--to discover, nurture and share innovative art. As for Deep Ellum's "art failure," somebody should call the paramedics.