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36 Gideon Ibemere Jr. India Lovejoy Michael Moebius' The Queen Bubblegum, 2016, at Maddox Gallery Posing with Audrey and Marilyn at Maddox Gallery Anya Tish and Sharon Neyland take in Mr. Brainwash at Contessa Gallery. Zhanna Merson, Irina Litvak Timothy Yarger, Tatiana Massey Kelly Freeman Taking in moonGARDEN Art gazing at Timothy Yarger At Contessa Gallery, Brendan Murphy's six-figure astronaut. Matt Johns, David Shelton with a painting by Robert Hodge Kaitlin Saragusa, Claire Cusack Marcelo Saenz & Adrián Dueñas at the BeDesign VIP Lounge Meagan McCormack Nick Boulle By Catherine D. Anspon. Photography Chris P. Bachman. Additional photography courtesy Texas Contemporary. M ore than 3,500 art insiders — collectors, museum-trustee types, artists, curators, and press — queued up in long escalator lines alongside the curious to ascend to the third floor of George R. Brown Convention Center where Texas Contemporary Art Fair, year seven, unfurled its opening night. The fair's largest edition to date featured Houston art stalwarts like Moody Gallery and David Shelton Gallery (both placed front and center, anchoring the aisles) alongside a contingent of national and international exhibitors. Here's what caught our eye amidst a democratic lineup of booths from near and far, showcasing hundreds of works crafted from a dizzying array of media and aesthetics. Best Booth honors go to Moody Gallery for its solo show for Helen Altman, where the Texas artist's nature-centric chalkboard drawings were sublime. Moody also gets a shout- out for affordability: Newbie and museum-level collectors could take home Altman works at all price levels, starting from $200. At David Shelton Gallery, Robert Hodge's latest text painting signaled an ambitious statement about diversity from one of Houston's own progressive talents who has finally met his gallery match. Pablo Cardoza Gallery, the talent scout to Houston's next-gen painters, presented gem-studded works by Bret Shirley, as well as canvases by Terry Suprean (a diminutive painting was nabbed by Bill Arning) and Melinda Laszczynski's impasto mash-ups of pigment and image. TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR'S RETURN EMPHATIC (continued on page 38)