American artist Elliott Hundley uses a plethora of cosmetic and natural resources for his artwork. Wood, fiberglass, bamboo, shells and even found lanterns compose these unique works. (Photo courtesy of Nasher Sculpture Center )

Dallas is an art city.

Yet, our skyline hides art museums, opera houses, theaters, bars, galleries and other places where art and artists hang.

The Nasher Sculpture Center is just one art haven that lies tucked behind the buildings that shoot out of the ground and scrape heaven.

Pieces by Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, Auguste Rodin and Pablo Picasso call the sculpture center home.

On Jan. 28 several of Elliott Hundley’s pieces will also make the center their home.

“The Bacchae” is a new exhibition of 11 works by Hundley that will run until April 22.

“Elliott Hundley has garnered accolades for his dazzling, densely-layered reliefs and free-standing sculptures that bring together in novel fashion an extraordinary array of materials,” said Nasher Sculpture Center Director Jeremy Strick.

The exhibit is based on Euripides’ Greek tragedy, “The Bacchae.”

When the people of Thebes refused to acknowledge Dionysus as the son of Zeus, the God got mad. 

So mad, in fact, that he made the women of Thebes go bananas and run off into the woods.

The God then sent the king of Thebes after them.

The Theban women heard the king and, inevitably, leapt upon him and tore him apart.

“His exhibition offers works that are at once remarkable technical achievements and powerful meditations on topics both primal and contemporary,” Strick said.

The Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University organized the exhibit.

There will also be a book accompanying the exhibit.

This book will include input from curators, poets, art historians, artists, critics and educators while discussing his work in the past decades.

Hundley’s work has been featured in the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

His work is also on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

He currently lives in Los Angeles and earned his MFA from UCLA in 2005.

SMU alumnus Julius Pickenpack now works in PR and is the social media coordinator at the museum.

“The Nasher usually hosts three major exhibitions throughout the year and a couple of smaller exhibitions, which are part of Sightings: New Art at the Nasher series,” he said.

The Nasher Sculpture Center is located in the Dallas Arts District and houses 300 works of art.

The museum opened in 2003 and is the dream of the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher, according to Pickenpack.

“Dallas was honored when Mr. Nasher decided to keep the collection in Dallas and he wanted to make his art accessible to the whole world and to the public,” said Pickenpack.

“The Nasher Sculpture Center is a treasure to the city of Dallas. The Nasher is the only urban museum and garden in the world dedicated to modern and contemporary sculpture. It is a one-of-a-kind institution. Museums around the world wanted to acquire the Nasher Collection including New York’s Guggenheim, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., and the Tate in London, but Mr. Nasher chose to keep his collection in Dallas, Texas.”

Pickenpack went on to say, “The Nasher is nationally and internationally recognized. Hailed by “USA Today” as one of the great sculpture gardens where art enhances nature, the roofless museum seamlessly integrates the indoor galleries with the outdoor spaces creating a museum experience unlike any other in the world.”