Vision & Experience: Bart Keijsers Koning Takes the Helm of Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas

Kendall Morgan·
Dallas/Ft WorthVisual Art
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As the visionary owner of Keijsers Koning, gallerist Bart Keijsers Koning has never shied away from edgy programming. Since he moved his business to Dallas from New York, Keijsers Koning has specialized in envelope-pushing work with a hint of humor, showing everything from quirky cartoons by Kris Pierce to board game collages by Brent Birnbaum, blue beaded figures by Baya Gille Gacha to Tamara Johnson’s hyper-realistic bronze saltine sculptures. He was brave enough to show the work of the late pangender artist Genesis P. Orridge—an artistic flex in a conservative city if there ever was one.

In short, Keijsers Koning has a vision, which makes his recent appointment as the president of the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas not only intelligent but logical. Sometimes it takes an outsider to see what a city’s cultural scene really needs.

Born and raised in Maastricht in the Netherlands, Keijsers Koning left the country at 11 to live in the United States. Ultimately, after deciding to study painting at Columbia College Chicago, he became intrigued by the other side of the business. This inspired him to earn a business minor before completing his studies in New York at the School of Visual Arts. Throughout his time at university, he moonlighted in galleries until he finally decided that a life selling, rather than making, work was what suited him best.

“First, I just went to art school but studied business on the side, and that pushed me into looking at, ‘Hey, what is this thing called the art world?’ It was the ’90s, so it was still mysterious. Because I had a degree in business, artists started asking me about their contracts, ideas, and concepts.”

Joining his wife, Louky, in founding LMAKprojects in 2005, Keijser Koning opened dual galleries in Williamsburg and Chelsea before consolidating into one space. Still, the pandemic had the Dutch entrepreneur looking further afield for his next chapter.

“We were assessing what we wanted to do,” he recalls. “Louky went more into the angle of appraisal and running (artist’s) estates, and I still wanted to run a gallery program and do solo shows. And I couldn’t see doing it in New York. When you start looking at the map, there are not that many cities that support the arts and have financial backing. I’d been here because of the Dallas Art Fair, and I always enjoyed the city—I had a good feeling there was something happening in Texas, and I felt there was curiosity that could feed the art market.”

Prompted by the Fair director Kelly Cornell to take an empty space near the organization’s location in the River Bend development in the Design District, Keijsers Koning unveiled his latest HQ in 2022, immersing himself in what proved to be a highly collaborative, community-oriented scene bolstered by the support of the Contemporary Arts Dealers of Dallas.

Two years later, Keijsers Koning felt he had proved himself to be a trustworthy ally, and he was invited to become part of CADD by gallerist Cris Worley. His membership ultimately led him to become president of the organization last year.

“I was accepted almost immediately,” he says. “They saw I had a history, and my history wasn’t this poaching approach but a much more positive element. Quite a few people were asking me to run, and I said, ‘Sure!’ I’m also kind of pushing for some new ways to approach things and think about things, and I thought, ‘If I’m going to have a big mouth, I may as well back it up!’”

Founded in 2007 to promote the advancement of contemporary art within the Dallas cultural community, CADD was formed in response to the Dallas Art Dealers Association, which included members from the non-profit realm and museums.

“As a group, it felt like it was really important to separate ourselves,” explains Worley, who has been involved with the organization since the beginning and currently serves as secretary. “DADA had…a come one, come all approach, and we really wanted to separate ourselves as dealers working in a similar sort of model. The art scene in Dallas was very different than it is now, and we were trying to continue to bring a spotlight (to our work).”

From the start, participating spaces did things like pooling their resources for advertising and finding a safety-in-numbers way to resolve disputes. Those first founding galleries (a lucky 13 in number) in CADD devised events to draw more patrons, including mystery dinners, where art lovers met at surprise locations like a studio or collector’s home. Annual gallery days in the spring and fall were also on offer, as were bus tours.

Sadly, the pandemic ended some of these events. As galleries struggled to get back to pre-2020 attendance, CADD has continued with its seasonal gallery days (the next one is March 8) but has added the hashtag #Saturdayisgalleryday to their Instagram to remind patrons to go out and see some art on any average weekend.

“During the pandemic, we started to have to address other things we never had to as an organization,” says Keijsers Koning. “I felt the focus of what we were was lost, and we need to get back to what we do. We’re not a community center. We’re a place that promotes galleries. We’re very different in our expressions, but our goal is the same—to represent the culture of Dallas that we feel is very important, something you can stand on or for.”

Because members are busy running their own small businesses, CADD offers support by sending emails highlighting every event and opening in one convenient place. By joining the email list, new arrivals to our city can learn about the city’s culture, and experienced collectors can discover different aesthetics of work and new spaces.

Membership has ebbed and flowed over the years and remains by invitation. Existing members (which currently total 15) vote to approve inclusion to assure that any newbies support the same ethos the CADD founders embraced all those years ago.

“Then there’s the bloodletting under a full moon,” Keijsers Koning jokes. “But really, (being part of CADD) just means you’re part of a group trying to have an impact. What’s also nice is if there’s a grievance or something that needs to be addressed as a community, we can do that under the name of CADD, and it makes you stand a little stronger.”

After nearly two decades, CADD members finally say they’re discovering collectors from all over the world are taking Dallas seriously and even traveling here to see work. With strong MFA programs at institutions like Texas Christian University acting as a pipeline for a new generation of talent, the future of CADD looks bright in the hands of Keijsers Koning.

“It’s a continuation of building a stronger platform,” the gallerist says of his vision. “I would like his city to take itself seriously as an artistic destination. That’s really my goal. What I would like people to do when they hear the word CADD is to fully understand that it is an organization fully invested in Dallas and standing as one of the pillars of its culture. Just making it a household name is enough for me.”

—KENDALL MORGAN

Kendall Morgan

Kendall Morgan is a Dallas-based writer and editor who keeps her finger on the pulse of art, design, fashion, film, literature, and pop culture.