Tom Orr, 'Between Wind and Water'
Tom Orr
Between Wind and Water
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
$1,500 USD
Tom Orr (b. 1950, Dallas, TX) is a sculptor and installation artist whose practice explores optical pattern, spatial rhythm, and perception through layered materials and geometric form. His work often responds to movement and light, inviting experiential engagement.
Orr has exhibited widely in the U.S. and Japan, with notable installations at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Utsukushi-Ga-Hara Open-Air Museum (Nagano), and the 21st Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture in Ube. His public commissions include permanent works for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, and DART. A recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2011), Orr is represented by Barry Whistler Gallery.
Your purchase supports Dallas Contemporary’s mission to present the leading edge of contemporary art through exhibitions, performances, and public programs. To inquire about this work, please contact shop@dallascontemporary.org.
Tom Orr
Between Wind and Water
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
$1,500 USD
Tom Orr (b. 1950, Dallas, TX) is a sculptor and installation artist whose practice explores optical pattern, spatial rhythm, and perception through layered materials and geometric form. His work often responds to movement and light, inviting experiential engagement.
Orr has exhibited widely in the U.S. and Japan, with notable installations at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Utsukushi-Ga-Hara Open-Air Museum (Nagano), and the 21st Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture in Ube. His public commissions include permanent works for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, and DART. A recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2011), Orr is represented by Barry Whistler Gallery.
Your purchase supports Dallas Contemporary’s mission to present the leading edge of contemporary art through exhibitions, performances, and public programs. To inquire about this work, please contact shop@dallascontemporary.org.
Tom Orr
Between Wind and Water
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
$1,500 USD
Tom Orr (b. 1950, Dallas, TX) is a sculptor and installation artist whose practice explores optical pattern, spatial rhythm, and perception through layered materials and geometric form. His work often responds to movement and light, inviting experiential engagement.
Orr has exhibited widely in the U.S. and Japan, with notable installations at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Utsukushi-Ga-Hara Open-Air Museum (Nagano), and the 21st Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture in Ube. His public commissions include permanent works for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, and DART. A recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2011), Orr is represented by Barry Whistler Gallery.
Your purchase supports Dallas Contemporary’s mission to present the leading edge of contemporary art through exhibitions, performances, and public programs. To inquire about this work, please contact shop@dallascontemporary.org.
In Moving Through Moiré, presented at the Nasher Sculpture Center from April 26 to July 20, 2025, Tom Orr investigates the perceptual tension between stability and movement through optical patterning. The exhibition centers on his exploration of moiré effects—visual phenomena produced by overlapping repetitive lines and grids—which shift and shimmer as viewers change position. This spatial engagement is most evident in Atlas, a large cylindrical sculpture that appears to animate with undulating motion, despite its static form. Orr’s manipulation of geometry and repetition disrupts visual certainty, prompting a visceral response grounded in motion and ambiguity. Drawing on his background in public art and set design, he continues his long‑standing inquiry into how physical structures can alter cognitive and sensory experience, transforming formal minimalism into a field of perceptual instability.
