Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/135428
FAIR PLAY Stacey Swift Thedra Cullar-Ledford John Sughrue, Minnette Boesel, Bob Devlin Kasi Kubiak, John Bebout Neiman Marcus fabulously kicks off the Dallas Art Fair while Bert Long Jr. carves some ice. Poppi Massey, Libbie Masterson Sharon Engelstein Heidi Gerger Selven O'Keef Jarmon Zoe Jackson-Jarra CATHERINE D. ANSPON REPORTS. PHOTOGRAPHY FULTON DAVENPORT. Cocktails + Social Canvas F or the Dallas Art Fair's annual kickoff fête, sponsors Neiman Marcus and PaperCity magazine came together to concoct an over-thetop night fueled by free-flowing flutes of Ruinart bubbly, plus four visual types who created some memorable performance art. Neiman's ringmaster Bob Devlin and Neiman's Stacey Saba Jawda Swift, welcomed the man of the evening, co-founder John PaperCity's Sarah Jawda Sughrue, who in turn invited the throng of 200 assembled collectors, gallerists, artists and museum notables to Dallas for year four of Texas' only home-grown international Fair. Tapped to recreate his studio practice for a few hours, Rome Prize winner Bert Long Jr. stood guard over a giant carved cube of ice, while a video of his monumental, multi-ton ice projects screened nearby. Cleverly costumed Kasi Kubiak paraded among the revelers in a sequined number worthy of a showgirl, while Matt Messinger and Justin Dunford devised, respectively, sculptures and pen-andink drawings, which they crafted mid-aisle near the perfume counter. Exhibiting Fair dealers — the Houston triumvirate of Deborah Colton, Wade Wilson, and Lee Steffy (Moody Gallery), as well as Liliana Bloch, in from Dallas (representing Kirk Hopper Fine Art) — chatted up the art-smart set including Dallas Art Fair go-to gals Lauren Kennedy and Beth Shapiro, Zoe Jackson-Jarra, Selven O'Keef Jarmon, Ulrike Natus, Blaffer director Claudia Schmuckli, Heidi Gerger, Joan Batson, Judy Nyquist, sculptor Sharon Engelstein and painter Aaron Parazette, lenslady Libbie Masterson, Elina Htun, and cultural affairs adviser Minnette Boesel, who stopped by with good wishes from Mayor Parker at City Hall. Lee Steffy Aaron Parazette Judy Nyquist Miri Wilkins John Guess Jr. Sonja Roesch Calli Saitowitz Matt Johns Claudia Schmuckli Bert Long Jr. Matt Messinger Justin Dunford Wade Wilson JohnDictatorof Droll,, Waters the Hits Houston When John Waters came to town, one night wasn't enough for all the risqué revelry. John Waters at McClain John Waters, Elizabeth Dunbar at DiverseWorks Becca Cason Thrash Don Mafrige Jr. at McClain Erin Siudzinski Aaron Parazette at McClain Ulrike Natus at McClain BY SETH VAUGHAN. PHOTOGRAPHY MEGAN BATSON, SETH VAUGHAN. Filthy and Dirty at DiverseWorks The venue for night one was DiverseWorks, home of all things raw and unruly, where John Waters' performance and the accompanying dinner took the place of the annual spring fund-raiser. Benefactors of the institution known for its boundary-breaking art enjoyed cocktails alongside the night's performer, as well as a repast dreamed up by Beavers restaurant that included foreplay salad, Salisbury steak with sloppy seconds and ice cream sandwich happy endings. After the meal, Waters took to the stage to perform his 90-minute solo show, This Filthy World: Filthier and Dirtier. The wicked recitation of corrupt comedy included his own movies, certain questionable human fetishes, the performer's commitment to teaching in jails and, most interestingly, how he came into a lifetime supply of poppers. Eating it up: Freshly minted DW director Elizabeth Dunbar, Nina and Michael Zilkha, Kara Williams with DW board prez William Betts, Lynne Goode, Sixto Wagan, George Lancaster, Bill Arning and Mark McCray, and Kellye Sanford and Fritz Lanham. Waters-rama at DiverseWorks Jackie Sager Valerie Carmona at McClain Bryan Beene, Ron Jones Mark McCray, Mat Wolff at DiverseWorks Sebastian Silver Megan Batson at McClain Sorcha Landau, Toby Kamps at McClain Mr. Potty Mouth Premieres at McClain Gallery The next night, Waters' show "Neurotic" opened to much fanfare at the always buzzing boîte de blue-chip, McClain Gallery. Standouts in the exhibit were the enormous vat of La Mer — so lifelike that many proponents of the costly crème were eyeing it all night — as well as a thought- and laughter-provoking photo-collage of American idols gone awry, care of super-imposed cleft palates on the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Alfred Hitchcock. Afterwards, a select few were invited to the Mexican-style manse of Pepper Paratore and Michael Landrum for yet another depraved dinner with the man himself. Browsing the cynical yet charming creations: host Robert McClain, Becca Cason Thrash, Betty Newton with daughter Elizabeth Newton, Scott Woodard, Bryan Beene, Ulrike Natus, Apama Mackey, Mary Lou Swift, Larry Horton, Star Massing, and Eugene Foney. Kellye Sanford at DiverseWorks Shannon Hall at McClain JUNE | PAGE 14 | 2012 Mike Loya, William Betts at DiverseWorks Haley Spears, Victoria Ridgway Stuart Folkes at McClain Kim Davenport, Wayne Washburn Emily Todd at DiverseWorks Kristian Salinas Marian Luntz at McClain Kent Dorn, Bill Arning at DiverseWorks