Papercity

Who’s curating: Owner and director Arturo Palacios.
Trend spotting: The most anticipated new arrival is unquestionably Art Palace. Owner/director Arturo Palacios single-handedly catapulted the Austin art scene from deep underground to cool, important and more mainstream (but without sacrificing the edge) by co-founding the Texas Biennial and opening Art Palace there, both in 2005. Watch for more of the same here, as the one-time City of Austin cultural grant administrator takes up residence in the Isabella Courts complex, adjoining neighboring galleries Ctrl and Inman, in the former Finesilver address. Palacios has carved out a 1,350-square-foot portion of that cavernous space; architect, pal and collector Karen Lantz did the design honors. Palacios is poised to continue his mission of mentoring emerging Texas artists towards an international trajectory, with a program that has already captured the attention of The New York Times, plus the influential trinity of Art in America, Artforum and Artnews. Witness his debut show for Jonathan Marshall, a 2003 UT grad who agilely works in painting, sculpture, installation, drawing and video, with a 2008 London show now on his CV. What’s next on this trendsetting dealer’s radar? “A group exhibition called ‘Ladies First,’ running from March 12 to May 1. It will be all women artists, all of whom I’ve been wanting to work with for awhile,” Palacios reveals. We know we’ll be there. 3913 Main St., 281.501.2964; artpalacegallery.com.
Obsidian Gallery
Who’s curating: Owners/directors Carrie and David Hardaker.
Raw and relevant: Meet the hard-working Hardakers. He’s a British painter and impresario; she’s an American teacher and former public art gallery administrator. And they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty. The couple’s new one-night-only gallery is not a “white gloves handling a boxed set of prints” type of space. Instead it’s raw, real and ready to go — a showplace for under-known Houston artists to test their chops. The nearly 3,000-square-foot gallery has taken over the location of a 1930s soda shop on a high-traffic corner in the Heights. David transformed the space after the landlord — Obsidian Technical Communications, hence the moniker — gave them a sweet deal in exchange for refurbishing the decrepit interior to utilize its good bones and size. Prior to that, Hardaker + Hardaker had presented often sell-out shows in roving venues, most recently in new homes seeking buyers. Now they’re ready for prime time, with a stable of intriguing up-and-comers including Gary Parkins, whose sculptures formed from fine filaments of glue on an art-making machine could make him a cousin of late Latin American modernist Jesús Rafael Soto; rising abstract painter Jeanette Chinelli; and Tim Johnson (opening March 12), who combines painting with printmaking on handmade Nepalese paper to produce surreal, slightly macabre works. 3522 White Oak at Harvard713.231.8967; hardakerandhardaker.com.
The Gallery at River Oaks
Who’s curating: Owner-president Ian Cruickshank, director Clint Sanders.
Cheers for traditional: With its impressive selection of paintings by European, American, South American and Asian masters, The Gallery at River Oaks is a good bet for collectors of a more traditional bent. This well-stocked 3,500-square-foot space, steps away from River Oaks Theatre, represents the vision of owner Ian Cruickshank, whose other endeavor is his canvas collection at Louis Shanks. The Gallery brims with oils and acrylics in every genre imaginable: historical and religious scenes, landscapes, street vistas, still lifes and portraits, plus a few abstracts. What captured our attention? Evocative Impressionistic blossoms by Tatiana Rieta, Chilean Enrique Ortiz’s icon-like canvases that evoke an early Renaissance style with their haloed madonnas and a tantalizing selection of antique artworks, including turn-of-the-century German painter Lovis Corinth’s Art Nouveau take on a bouquet, dated 1912.  River Oaks Shopping Center, 2019 West Gray, 713.520.1563; arthub.com.
PG Contemporary
Who’s curating: Owner and director Zoya Tommy.
Watch for the pop-ups: Trinidad-born painter Zoya Tommy is armed with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the University of Houston. Now she’s testing the waters as a gallerist via PG Contemporary, an abbreviation that combines an initial from her middle name with her late father’s given one. The burgeoning dealer began a series of pop-up exhibitions this past winter by showing UH art department students in a private home. Now another RISD grad, artist Bill Davenport, is lending his Heights space, Optical Projects, for a PG Contemporary show that is a true coup: “Picasso’s Kitchen or Me Gusta Tu Jefa” spotlights Argentine artist Santiago Cucullu, a former Core Fellow and Whitney Biennial talent (through April 3). Word’s out the exhibition includes watercolors, sculpture, a wall drawing and two new videos from Cucullu, who currently resides in Milwaukee. Also on Tommy’s curatorial plate: “Material and deStructure,” including a slew of former Core Fellows (Poissant Gallery, April 16 – May 15); and “New World Creole,” a festival of avant-garde videos and films from the Caribbean at Labotanica (2316 Elgin St.) with Spammo/Objectif magazine, also April – May. Optical Project, 1125 E. 11th St. (temporary space through April 3), 347.461.6543; pgcontemporary@gmail.com.    
Gallery M Squared
Who’s curating: Owners/directors Max Harrison and Michael Kubis.
What’s screening: Kudos to under-the-radar Heights dealers Max Harrison and Michael Kubis, who scored one of the primo spots on West 19th Street — and a point for preservation — when they leased the greatly beloved Heights Theatre from its owner, fellow gallerist Gus Kopriva. Some of Kopriva’s stellar collection of works by Houston artists, Dan Allison to The Art Guys, remain on view in the circa-1920s cinema, which was restored to its Deco splendor by architect Robert Morris in the late 1980s. Harrison and Kubis’ original M Squared space was a storefront several doors down on the Heights’ main drag; with the expanded square footage, they’re able to continue their commitment to the hometown team. Houston artists are first and foremost, including photog Katy Anderson and her husband, frequent collaborator/sculptor Patrick Medrano with his disturbing Gothic sensibility; pop meister David Adickes’ paintings (showcased this January); and sculptor John Knotts, whose quirky metal robots are inventive, witty and winning. The historic location is also available for private events and has already hosted nuptials and fund-raisers. Trivia: The last film to be shown at the Heights Theatre was the XXX-feature I Am Curious (Yellow) in 1969. Legend has it the screening led to a protest fire 20 years before the building’s restoration. 339 West 19th St.; 713.861.6070; gallerymsquared.com.
McWhorter Gallery
Who's curating: Owner, director and talent Taft McWhorter; gallery manager and talent Lindsay Peyton.
Painter's progress: This by-appointment-only space in the historic east-of-downtown Canal Street Gallery enclave represents the vision of artist, art consultant and founder Taft McWhorter, who once directed the sales force for John Palmer Art. Now this painter of expressionistic abstracts reigns over another stable where, besides his own canvases, he mounts shows for fellow painters including Art Basel Miami Beach–exhibited Allan Rodewald, Lester Marks–collected Matt Messinger, accomplished realist Kevin Peterson, figural TKTKTK Cookie Ashton and mosaic mistress Chris Silkwood. 2219 Canal St., 713.868.4616; mcwhortergallery.com.
Sculptures by Design
Who's curating: Owner and talent Holly Denslow; directors Cindy Davenport, Diedra Shaw.
We're seeing 3-D: Painter Holly Denslow still curates her original Greenway Plaza digs (24 E. Greenway Plaza in the Compass Bank Building, Weslayan Tower, 713.623.0550). Now she’s added a second location at CityCentre, the new retail-restaurant-hotel-residential mecca in the Memorial area. While presenting a gaggle of sculptures, both figural and abstract, Denslow has branched into other media to show abstract works by well-regarded Art League Houston teacher Salli Babbitt and Peggy Woods' unique linocuts printed at the Museum of Printing History. Denslow's own creations, ranging from figural bronzes to abstract canvases, come with a special pedigree: She’s a descendant of 19th-century children's-book artist William Wallace Denslow, the illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. CityCenter, 12848 Queensbury, Suite 204, 713.304.8876; sculpturesbydesign.com.
Galerie La Belle Epoque
Who's curating: Owner-director Andy Roughton.
Cortès or bust: "The gallery features Post-Impressionist original paintings from the '30s, '40s and ’50s, specializing the ‘Boulevard Artists’ of Paris," explains Andy Roughton about his exhibition program, which showcases painters with impressive pedigrees and a long line of collectors vying for their work. Roughtonhas been in this niche of the art biz for 35 years and still maintains his original Dallas connections (fellow dealer Brian Roughton is his brother). He opened Galerie La Belle Epoque last winter in a handsome 4,000-square-foot-space in the Memorial area that is also HQ for builder and collector Jack Dennis of Centamark Homes. By appointment only, Roughton is known by insiders for his extensive expertise regarding the most coveted painter of the School of Paris, Edouard Cortès of the luministic street scenes. 8901 Gaylord Dr., 713.377.1055; rwfinearts.com.