There’s no local gallery quite like Tureen. From the start, owners Cody Fitzsimmons and Christopher Scott eschewed the Design District, opting to take over a former pharmacy space in Oak Cliff with chipped tile floors and tin ceilings. 

They didn’t program like their peers, either. Fitzsimmons, an art advisor and collector, had an eye for showcasing underrepresented artists and ambitious new talent. Choosing a name inspired by American photographer Louise Lawler’s seminal image Pollock and Tureen, this off-the-beaten-path space opened in 2023. 

“I think our niche is not having a niche,” says Fitzsimmons of his stable, which includes multimedia works from artists all over the globe. “The biggest compliment I ever got about the program was from an artist who told me it seemed like we were into the ideas of the artists rather than our own tastes, and I think that’s a really good way of putting it. I only like to operate off my gut. I know what I want and what works.” 

When not traveling to art fairs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles or Paris, Fitzsimmons hangs work that will contrast the show that came before. You’ll never see dual abstract-painting shows or conceptual-sculpture exhibitions back-to-back. Instead, he prefers to highlight River Shell, a multimedia artist and cofounder of the artist-run space PRP (Permanent Research Project).  

“I think they are painting unlike anyone else in Dallas,” Fitzsimmons says. “They’re known for blending abstract works with figurative works. The body is their focus, so there are a lot of figures in the show.” 

Named after a background prop in the film Paris, Texas, “The Dust is Here to Stay” is cinematic and diaristic. Ranging from found objects (such as a rearview mirror from Shell’s former car) to luminous sunflowers and watercolor torsos, the pieces are impactful for the stories that continue just outside the image’s frame. 

“I make films and such, so I’m just moved by images,” Shell says. “And so much of my work is about time — not having it, making time, trying to escape time. I’m a color guy, somehow. I’m split in two. There’s a part of me that’s quite dark and a part that’s light. It’s quite jazzy, what I do.”

“River Shell: The Dust is Here to Stay” is on view at Tureen through Oct. 3, Wednesday through Saturday noon to 5 p.m., at 901 West Jefferson Blvd., Dallas. tureen.info