Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1056059
38 Betty Moody, Jana Cothren Catherine D. Anspon, Jeffrey Wainhause TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR'S RETURN EMPHATIC A mong the out-of-towners, an epic Ed Ruscha canvas at Denver's Robischon Gallery was museum worthy. Gallery co-owner Jennifer Doran told us she wanted to bring The Pioneers, 1987, to Houston audiences because of its theme of Western expansion and the dynamic image of a bamboo rod that bifurcated the canvas — a nod to our Asian community. At Timothy Yarger Fine Art, in from Beverly Hills, an inky duo of Louise Nevelson totems stood out — perfectly timed with the two-person show of Nevelson and Dorothy Hood, now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Lending a note of connoisseurship for its precisionist geometry and light- filled palette, jewel-like paintings by Judith Seligson stopped traffic in AH Contemporary's booth. Seligson's works were palate cleansers in the visual cacophony of this maximalist fair. Finally, Uprise Art, in from NYC, bills itself as a hybrid of a traditional gallery and online selling platform. Its textile-rich woven screens by Rachel Mica Weiss, which read as canvases, were fresh and timeless, with a mid-century vibe that alluded to Rothko while being equally futuristic. Finally, hometown faves Michael Hollis at Zoya Tommy Gallery and Jonathan Read (curated by Tommy for a public area of the fair) served up, respectively, idiosyncratic abstract panels (this scribe acquired one dusted with glitter) and carved and painted sculptures that enacted a fantastical universe peopled with cartoonish characters. CANVAS: Fair founders Art Market's Jeffrey Wainhause and Max Fishko, and Fair director Kelly Freeman; collectors Jereann Chaney, Lester Marks, and Mariana and Bob Debes; BeDesign's Adrián Dueñas and Marcelo Saenz, organizing the VIP Lounge, populated with furnishings from Zanotta, B&B Italia, and Molteni&C., in collaboration with Contour Interior Design; and influencers including artists Arielle Mason, Sarah Sudhoff, Elaine Bradford, Felipe Lopez, and Victor Rojas; independent curator Clint Willour; the Menil's Tommy Napier; art advisor Cali Alvarado Pettigrew; Community Artists' Collective's Michelle Barnes; Michael Viviano, who served on a design panel with Mary Hammon Quinn of C2 Art Advisors; and India Lovejoy, rising cultural impresario. Ed Ruscha's The Pioneers, 1987, at Robischon Gallery Gazing at Guerrero Medina at Pigment Gallery Lori Loria de Hess, Heather Villarreal, Sarah Sudhoff Damla Koken, Nicole Calderon Jean Dubuffet's Monument Au Fantome, 1977, at Discovery Green Lester Marks contemplates a woven screen by Rachel Mica Weiss at Uprise Art Arielle Mason takes in works by Judith Seligson at AH Contemporary. Helen Altman's Spotted Dog, 2017, at Moody Gallery Works by Stallman Studio draw a crowd at Laura Rathe Fine Art. (continued from page 36)