The juggernaut of arts and entertainment meow wolf announced the name of its highly anticipated fourth locationopening in the Grapevine Mills mall near Dallas on July 14. Entitled the real unrealthe immersive and interactive 29,000 square foot exhibition will feature over 70 installations with works by more than 60 artists, all building on the existing Meow Wolf Mythology.
Designed by Wisconsin science fiction and fantasy author LaShawn Wanakthe Real Unreal story is about a missing boy, a chosen family, and something called “Hapulusgarrulus Lophoaquaflori”.
To build relationships with the local artist community, Meow Wolf hired the Dallas muralist Will Heron as a liaison artist for Grapevine. The exhibit features 38 participating Texan artists, including Mariell Guzman, Riley Hollowayand video game designer XaLaVier Nelson Jr. Also included are a few Meow Wolf vets, like Emmanuelle Jean, Lance McGoldrickAnd Nico Salazar (Future Fantasy Delight)who have now created artwork for all four sites.
A highly anticipated moment is the work of Dan Lam, who was born in Manila and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His neon dripping tentacles have earned him almost half a million followers on instagramand she’s building her largest piece for Meow Wolf, a 16-by-16-foot installation in her signature rainbow hues.
Meow Wolf collaborative artist Dan Lam in the studio. Photo by Jordan Mathis, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
All participants took on the challenge of not only incorporating their own work into the maximalist and kaleidoscopic display of Meow Wolf, but also tapping into the narrative of space.
“It’s about finding the right artists who want to tell the stories we tell. We give the theme to the artists and let them interpret it in their own way,” Kati Murphy, vice president of corporate communications, told Artnet News. “It’s a kind of exquisite corpse. Stories are linked to art.
Originally founded as an arts collective in 2008, Meow Wolf exploded onto the scene with the 2016 opening of House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, its first permanent exhibition. Funded in part by Game Of Thrones author George R. R. Martinthe house wasn’t just a maximalist art environment brimming with Instagram-friendly photo ops — the abandoned family home hiding mysterious portals to other dimensions was the first chapter in a complex sci-fi-soaked universe.
Meow Wolf collaborative artist Ricardo Paniagua in the studio. Photo by Jordan Mathis, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Then came Las Vegas Omega Mart This open in February 2021a grocery store powered by nefarious technology. This autumnthe denver Convergence stationa gateway to a parallel universe where four radically different worlds converge, followed.
These ambitious expansions were fueled by huge fundraising—$158 millionto be exact, but weren’t without their growing pains.
The original location of Santa Fe unionizedreaching a contract agreement last spring after filing a unfair labor practice lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Council. (The Denver site is also close to finalizing its union contract, according to Murphy.) Plans for additional sites in Phoenix and Washington, DC, have fallen victim to the pandemic, which also sparked a massive series of layoffs.
There was also a personal tragedy, with the death of the co-founder of Meow Wolf Matt King in 2022. A posthumous personal exhibition of his paintings, “Matt King: Become Light” must open at Turner Carroll Santa FeIt is Container in September, and King’s legacy still looms large as Meow Wolf prepares to open its first location without him.
But the company now appears to be on a strong growth trajectory. Prior to the opening of Grapevine, Meow Wolf will debut its next Houston outpost, slated to open in 2024 in the Fifth Ward.
Promotional images for Meow Wolf the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Courtesy of Meow Wolf.
And, with each new location, the mythos of Meow Wolf deepens. There are already little Easter eggs dotted around the existing locations that hint at connections between the three.
“It’s something that’s going to continue to build and grow with every exhibit we open, connecting these spaces to one another,” Murphy said.
While guests are encouraged to enjoy the art on a purely visual level, Meow Wolf’s mystery has been key to its success, inspiring die-hard fans to closely examine the finer details for clues.
“Our Reddit is crazy. They’re like investigative reporters who are dedicated to everything we do, to the point where they look at our trademarks and license applications,” Murphy said. “It’s really crazy how dedicated our fanbase is, considering we only have our physical locations with no pre-existing properties or stories.”
The long term plan will be to bring the Meow Wolf universe into other mediums that can be experienced without making a pilgrimage to any of the locations. The first leg of this journey was announced in March, with the addition of a Meow Wolf-themed golf course in the popular virtual reality game Walkabout Mini Golf.
Real Unreal tickets are now on sale for $50 general admission.
See more photos from the upcoming exhibition below.
Detail of Dan Lam’s installation at Meow Wolf the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Tsz Kam’s installation at Meow Wolf’s Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Will Heron, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Morgan Grasham’s installation at Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Will Heron, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Detail of Meow Wolf’s the Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Shayla Blatchford, courtesy of Meow Wolf.
Meow Wolf the Real Unreal will open at 3000 Grapevine Mills Pkwy Suite 253, Grapevine, Texas on July 14, 2023.
“Matt King: Becoming Light” will be presented at Turner Carroll Santa Fe’s Container, 1226 Flagman Way, Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 8 through November 5, 2023.
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