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[ THE TOP FARE] DALLAS ART FAIR, YEAR FOUR THE BEST OF THE BOOTHS, THE HOTTEST ARTISTS, THE PERENNIAL POWER PLAYERS AND WHO ALIGHTED AT THE PREVIEW GALA. PLUS, WHICH GALLERY SOLD OUT HOURS BEFORE OPENING NIGHT. CATHERINE D. ANSPON COVERS THE META CONVERGENCE. PHOTOGRAPHY BRUNO. ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY JASON AND JOHANNA GILMORE. FAME, FORTUNE AND FAN-FAIR A fitting slogan for the Preview Gala and the ensuing weekend's spectacular art feast came from the booth of Fair newcomer Charlie James Gallery of L.A.: a loud, blinking neon sign by Steve Lambert proclaiming Everything You Want, Right Now! We didn't disagree. Dateline Dallas Art Fair Preview Gala: The buzz was deafening as I stepped from the Bentley, BMW and Benzjammed valet line at the entrance to Fashion Industry Gallery before plunging into the fray. Tiptoeing under jaw-dropping Goliath-scaled balloons by David Graeve — suspended from the treetops in the alfresco lounge area — I paused to admire the glow from the illuminated booths visible inside, including a pulsing Adela Andea light sculpture in the cafe area and a Jay Shinn geometric wall piece occupying pride of place in Marty Walker's booth. I also glimpsed through the glass the compelling outsider realm of Webb Gallery and was determined to pay a visit. Then I couldn't wait any longer and rushed into F.I.G. with my fellow travelmates, artist Selven O'Keef Jarmon (whose text piece formed from hundreds of hand-sewn buttons was a standout at Deborah Colton Gallery) and chanteuse, stylist and fashion-show producer (and our driver) Zoe Jackson-Jarra. The sense of energy and drumbeat of art were overwhelming. To the left of the doorway, a giant canvas of a TV dinner by Theo Wujcik, courtesy of Galleri Urbane, was an apt metaphor for the awaiting visual experience — a ready-made banquet of virtually unlimited stylistic flavors and fanfare. We immediately encountered the leading men of this Texas-crafted international Fair, which has become one of the most scintillating and succinct art convergences in the nation and is served up annually in Dallas. Front and center was co-founder John Sughrue, positioned on the high-traffic axis between the main door, the first-floor aisles and a Ruinart Champagne bar, quipping that he was "the Walmart greeter of the Dallas Art Fair." Darting downstairs was co-founder Chris Byrne, but soon both men disappeared, summoned to hobnob with Mayor Mike Rawlings, who was taking an extended tour with wife Micki and son Gunnar in tow. Before he dashed, Sughrue imparted big news from the booth of ballyhooed Brit newcomer Jonathan Viner Gallery: "Sold out since two o'clock this afternoon," he lamented about the no-longer-available abstract paintings executed by Dan Rees on prosaic building material Artex (buyer not to be divulged). "I couldn't even get one." A moment later, he brightened with the news that "I am on a list for a painting from the same series. It should arrive from London next month." Sughrue also revealed that the global head of Ruinart Champagne, Frederic Dufour, had jetted in from Reims, France, with an entourage. The Ruinart team brought a contingent large enough to play in Cowboys Stadium, purchasing a block of nearly 40 Preview Gala tickets. (We learned Dufour's Fair stops included a visit to Deborah Colton Gallery, where he scooped up a canvas by Alfredo Scaroina.) FRAMED — EAVESDROPPED/SPIED/ BEST BOOTHS: We sighted Howard Rachofsky in an earnest discussion with Hudson in his gallery, Feature Inc. We didn't dare interrupt the tête-à-tête. Steve Lambert's Everything You Want, Right Now!, 2011, at Charlie James Gallery COURTESY THE ARTIST AND DEBORAH COLTON GALLERY, HOUSTON At Franklin Parrasch Gallery, a whispery lemon-yellow and sky-blue John McLaughlin canvas from 1966, Untitled, went to a private collector in a transaction as hush-hush as the pigments on the painting. Besides this lovely McLaughlin, other hits on parade were an early (1959) John Altoon, which led to Parrasch quipping that his booth was "reprising Pacific Standard Time," that wonderful L.A. show about the early history of the West Coast scene. Perusing Webb Gallery, I reconnected with the wondrous work of Georganne Deen. Her sly surrealist vision was a nice offset with the brash bravado of crazy kitsch woodcarver Camp Bosworth and reliable outsider Ike Morgan. How moving to welcome gallerist Lisa Cooley back home. Cooley started her career at Mixture Contemporary Art in Houston. Her eponymous Lower East Side space is now regularly buzzed about in all the art mags. Amid her Fair offerings, we were most taken with a significant portrait by former Texan Alan Reid from his "Concrete Boudoir," series. Cooley explained the work was about "the idea of ornament and identity," but we were personally taken by the icy pink palette and faraway gaze of his vaporous Deco-styled belle. Also captivating was Barcelona-based Pop-surrealist Sergio Mora in newcomer Drexel Galería's space. Mora's humor-blending paintings are perfumed with the whimsy of another era. At Artspace 101, we fell for Dennis Blagg's exquisite watercolor of a roadside Americana sign that went home to Houston with devoted collectors Nora and Bob Ackerley. We later saw the pair shopping the H.C. Westermann works in Lennon, Weinberg, Inc. ABOVE: Oleg Dou's Pig, from the "Cubs" series, 2009, at Deborah Colton Gallery BELOW: Zoe Crosher's Disappeared Nurse for Aperture Editions nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, from "The Vanishing of Michelle duBois" series, 2010 © ZOE CROSHER; COURTESY THE ARTIST AND PERRY RUBENSTEIN GALLERY, LOS ANGELES Steve Christensen Lauren Christensen Barry Whistler was all smiles; by Saturday afternoon, his solo for pioneering Texas geometric modernist Toni LaSalle was a critical and financial success, with two of the six LaSalles scooped up, to the tune of $15,000 each. At Lyons Wier Gallery, Greg Haberny's explosive installation questioning the American dream was a Photi Giovanis Lauren Kennedy Alden Pinnell Janelle Pinnell Gunnar Rawlings Brian Bolke Faisal Halum Max Anderson Jacqueline Anderson Zoe JacksonJarra Cindy Rachofsky Selven O'Keef Jarmon PaperCity's Catherine Anspon Howard Rachofsky