Shape Up.

The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art Is A Pretty Trippy Place.

Dallas boasts some cool, quirky spots that, for the most part, go largely ignored. The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art on Carlisle Street is definitely one of these places.

For starters, it's a pretty niche museum, focusing on an oft-overlooked art movement — but one that's worth your time nonetheless. According to numerous signs throughout the museum that detail its history, the MADI movement was started by Carmelo Arden Quin in 1940s Buenos Aires. It focused on geometric and often colorful art that largely disassociated itself with traditional frames (oftentimes the art was mobile and multidimensional). In a way, these artists in this movement created pieces that were less about what the art represented and more about viewers' basic visual enjoyment of these interesting installations.

But this place is more than just a normal museum that displays geometric art. For starters, there's the size of the building. It's not that big. It's respectably sized, of course, but the wall space in the museum is minimal. That doesn't mean there's less artwork on display, though; the ambitious owners of the collection squeezed into this space as much art as anyone possibly could. Everything is pretty close together, but, really, that much seems to work in the collection's favor; since all of the art on display is geometric and is so colorful, this crowded display strategy makes for a fairly trippy visual.

The other part to what makes the museum a mini-acid trip is its location. The building that houses the museum also harbors several practicing law offices. It can be somewhat disorienting to be admiring a piece in a narrow hallway and then move out of the way when a business type needs to pass. Some of the art is also in the offices, too, which almost makes you feel like you're just browsing a dentist office for the art they hang up in the waiting rooms.

It's more interesting than weird, though. The art is literally everywhere throughout this space. It even extends into the stairwell — so make sure you skip the tempting elevator.

Overall, The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art really is a hidden gem. The museum only takes about an hour to fully enjoy. And it happens to be completely free to visit, too. So, really, there's nothing to stop you from checking it out.