Coast to Coast Buzz

Texas Contemporary Art Fair Set to Reach New Heights —

By Catherine D. Anspon // Oct 1, 2015

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The players at Cardoza Fine Art, including owner Pablo Cardoza (second from left). A good bet here are the Bret Shirley crystal-encrusted canvases (left), as well as works by Dual and Alika Herreshoff (right).

Casa Maauad leads the lineup on the back wall, dedicate to Mexico City spaces.

Core Fellow Rodrigo Valenzuela (left), last year's $10,000 Texas Contemporary Prize winner, with dealer David Shelton.

Inman Gallery goes with a conceptual landscape theme. Director Patrick Reynolds poses with a wall of Beth Secor paintings.

Jay Shinn (middle) and dealer Barbara Davis bask in his light installation.

Lee Steffy and Betty Moody, in the Moody Gallery booth, with avian-themed works by Helen Altman (wall) and the late Luis Jimenez (the fierce owl, perfect for a Rice alum).

The view from Hall A3.

Other Criteria's goodies

FotoFest and Houston Center for Photography previewed "Talent in Texas," curated by this scribe.

Unix Gallery's David Solomon (left) and Alex Cesaria (right) complete an install of text works by Desire Obtain Cherish.

Eugenio Merino's creepy "Punching Putin," 2013-2014, at Unix Gallery. (The artist exhibits in the upcoming "Corpocracy" at the Station Museum.)

A geometric wall piece, Dieter Balzer's ‘Papilio,' 2011, at Gallery Sonja Roesch.

At Art Palace, an exquisite, and exquisitely collectible, Raychael Stine painting.

We have a feeling about this one — the fifth edition of the Texas Contemporary Art Fair, organized by Art Market Productions. All signals point to this being the year that the Texas Contemporary really takes off, building a buzz capable of reaching both coasts, beginning the buildup that soon will equal that of the spring-time convergence farther north, the Dallas Art Fair.

What the Texas Contemporary always had going for it is a vibe that mirrors Houston: important artwork, sans attitude, with a dash of high jinx and some mayhem mixed in. (Remember the snapping gators several years back at the Glasstire booth, and the collectible art multiples/tchotchkes served up at the Rice Gallery stand?)

And everyone in the remote corners of the Houston art world knows that this evening, Thursday, October 1, marks the Fair’s Opening Night, including the big reveal of a new international vision, “The Other Mexico,” organized by Mexico-City/Texas-based indie curator Leslie Moody Castro.

We visited the Texas Contemporary, and went backstage and behind the curtain this week – braving the ramps of the George R. Brown Convention Center – to gaze upon this Fair in formation. You’ll love the new third-floor venue, Hall A3, which allows light and space to open up the art-viewing experience. David Graeve‘s jumbo blue-hued balloons serve as punctuation point and welcome signal at the Fair entrance.

Andrea Dezsö headlines at the Rice Gallery booth.

During our visit yesterday, plenty caught our eye. And Houston dealers acquitted themselves quite nicely, including Art Palace, Moody Gallery, Barbara Davis Gallery, David Shelton Gallery,Cardoza Fine Art and Unix Gallery, among others. You’ll also want to visit the Mexico City denizens, Rice Gallery‘s silhouette-obsessed booth bearing the creations of Andrea Dezsö, and Other Criteria, which is stocked with Damien Hirst multiples and more. In the common area, don’t miss Jay Shinn‘s futuristic wall piece, all pigment and light rays, and nearby the MaRS-designed VIP Lounge, which also boasts a light experience devised by Erick Calderon. Tune in tomorrow for more from the #TxContemporary mise-en-scène.