Breathe in. Breathe out.
A friendly reminder to take a moment to breathe, and also the titular inspiration for EX(SPIRO), the inaugural solo exhibition of Anthony TungNing Huang that debuted at Hyphen Space, a unique venue in Dallas’ Expo Park neighborhood. This hybrid community hub and creative space is part photo studio, part coworking space, part art gallery, and part cafe, providing a distinctly Dallas and Asian Texan perspective into the growing Dallas art scene.
EX(SPIRO) is a contemplation on the polarities of the human experience. “Spiro,” Latin for inhalation or inspiration, is nested within “exspiro” for exhalation or death. The show is a meditation on the duality of life; an experiment in the balance of control and no control. A reflection on how we receive information and how we translate ourselves to the world, and vice versa.
Anthony TungNing Huang “Within The Misty Rain XXI,” 2024, monotype on Chine-collé Kitakata, 21.5 x 9 inches
An exhibition like this is special for a few reasons. First, it is deeply ingrained in the local community: it is curated by a Dallas-based curator, features a Dallas-based artist, and hosted in a Dallas-based gallery. The hyperlocality of EX(SPIRO) reflects the cultural landscape of Dallas in a way that broader, traveling shows by larger institutions often cannot. This exhibition isn’t just happening in Dallas — it is of Dallas. The casual nature of Hyphen Space helps make art accessible by removing the typical, and often intimidating, barriers of entry. There is no entry fee, no need for an exclusive invitation, no need to schedule a visit because of appointment-only hours, no need of a formal art education or to be well versed in institutional vernacular,, this openness dissolves the idea that you must hold an art-world credential to feel included. In a city as dynamic and ever-evolving as Dallas, a show like this captures something ephemeral — a moment where local voices shape the cultural conversation on their own terms.
The exhibition’s curator, Christina Hahn, is a pioneer in amplifying Asian Texan art and bringing it to the forefront of the DFW artscape. A multidisciplinary artist, she is also an independent curator, creative consultant, Creative Director of the Dallas Asian American Historical Society, and Founder of the Dallas Asian American Art Collective (colloquially known as DAAART Club).
In 2023, Hahn participated in the Cedars Union Cohort program, an 18-month artist incubator consisting of 14-16 artists handpicked by an external jury and representing a diverse range of artistic practices. Earlier this spring, the cohort graduated and the program welcomed a new batch of artists to the year-and-a-half long residency. What started as a friendly DM on Instagram from Cohort IV alumni Hahn to newly appointed Cohort V Artist-in-Residence Anthony TungNing Huang evolved into a solo presentation of Huang’s medium-to-large-scale monotype prints and Chine-collé installations.
Hyphen Space co-owner Alex Nguyen, curator Christina Hahn, and artist Anthony Huang. Photo: Curtis Tran
Huang is a Taiwanese American artist born in Taipei and raised in Shanghai, China. After earning his BA in Journalism and working as a professional ballroom dancer and theater producer in Shanghai, he moved to the United States, first living in Los Angeles, California, and then earning an MFA in Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2024 he received his second MFA in Studio Art with a focus on printmaking from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Last summer, Huang made the move to Dallas to begin his teaching career as a full-time professor of Printmaking and Drawing at Dallas College.
This exhibition represents a lot of firsts for all involved: Huang’s first show in Dallas, Hahn’s first show curated in a non-traditional gallery space, Hyphen Space’s first solo show, and the artist’s first time experimenting with the color green.
This leads me to the second reason why this exhibition is significant: it is, in all senses of the word, a product of collaboration. Many of the pieces are new works created specifically for EX(SPIRO). The idea to experiment with deep emerald hues was influenced by the venue itself — the cafe within the venue is renowned for its high-grade ceremonial matcha offerings imported from Shizuoka, Japan. Not only was Huang inspired by the space and its menu, but in turn Hyphen Space was inspired by the art, creating a bespoke drink with colors and textures drawn from Huang’s monoprints and even naming the drink after a series of works by the artist.
Huang and Hyphen Space co-owner Alyx Nguyen worked together over several iterations of the drink to create Within The Misty Forest, which emulates the ink works in the gallery and debuted with the exhibition. By combining bold, umami matcha with toasted black sesame seeds, and a layer of condensed milk, the ingredients come together effortlessly to create a perfectly savory matcha latte. The ingredients and flavors reflect the visual details of the show, but also push forward the artist’s intention for the exhibition: to reflect, to relax, to meditate, to notice.
The concept of meditation is woven throughout all of Huang’s works, particularly in his monotype prints. Each piece captures the quiet, intentional movements of his painterly process — layers of ink applied, altered, and transferred in a way that mirrors the repetition and mindfulness of meditation. The ephemeral nature of monotype printing, where no two prints are exactly alike, further reflects the impermanence and presence central to meditative practice.
Another theme prevalent in Huang’s works is the idea of one’s journey and exploration of our connection to where we are in the universe: chronologically, physically, spiritually. Huang’s printmaking expertise is displayed throughout the entire building. Utilizing materials like mulberry paper and rice glue, and embracing the Daoist philosophy of Wu Wei (i.e. letting things unfold as they are meant to), the artist brought in 10-foot sheets of monoprinted paper, hand-placing them one by one on the walls to create a large-scale collage.
Artwork by Anthony TungNing Huang. Photo: Curti Tran
It is common practice among artists to create a model of the gallery where their work will be on display and to visualize where they intend for each painting or sculpture to be placed. Huang utilizes this process, but what sets him apart is his philosophy of non-attachment, yet another example of how he incorporates Daoism into his practice. He is less concerned with perfectly recreating the scale model, and instead he allows for intuitive movement to guide him, inviting improvisation as he integrates smaller works to create a cohesive larger-than-life installation. The result of this practice is the creation of a serene backdrop that flows throughout the space and serves as a backdrop for his framed works.
The main gallery space features two opposing walls covered in Huang’s floor-to-ceiling ink illustrations, layered with a handful of custom-framed prints. As you journey deeper into Hyphen Space, you traverse a hallway filled with an almost 360-degree view of the artist’s signature inky swirls. Like a Rorschach test, these prints invite us to linger, look deeper, and reflect inward. What do you see? How does it make you feel? At first, the swirls and smears are the gestures of an artist at play, but they subtly encourage contemplation. Are they echoes of the wind’s movement, an aerial view of the landscape, or an abstract representation of our journey?
Enter the third (but certainly not final) aspect that sets this show apart: it is immersive. Not in the passe trend of The Van Gogh Experience, where you stand in the middle of a room with projections on the walls, but instead in an intentional, multi-sensory way, where you are immersed visually by the art, gustatorily by the bespoke matcha drink, and spiritually; after all, this exhibition was created as a practice in meditation.
EX(SPIRO) does more than simply showcase prints and specialty matcha — by uniting Huang’s meditative printmaking, Hahn’s curatorial vision, and Hyphen Space’s hybrid setting, it helps to define a new rhythm for Dallas’ art community, one grounded in intentionality, and invites us to continue writing its next chapter. So sit back, relax, notice, be present, enjoy. Breathe in. Breathe out.
EX(SPIRO) is on view through May 31 at Hyphen Space in Dallas.