Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1532781
OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. Marilyn A s we went to press on our January/ February issue, news arrived that an art-world icon — the woman who saved one of America's most singular visionary art sites and helped found Houston's one-of-a-kind Art Car Parade — Marilyn Oshman had died at age 85 after an illness. One of the most transformative presences in Texas' visual scene, Oshman will be remembered as a force in the outsider art world who made Houston HQ for the then-nascent collecting field. Decades before outsider or visionary art had a name — let alone its own art fair — Oshman recognized the contributions of mailman Jeff McKissack and saved his monument to a citrus fruit. That's how the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art came to be preserved and why, 43 years later, it has not only been kept going but prospered and birthed offspring under its outsider umbrella: Houston Art Car Parade (save the date: Saturday, April 12), Beer Can House, Smither Park, and Bob Wade's Smokesax, planned for the new Kensinger Plaza along Brays Bayou Greenways. Here, international artist John Alexander — whose adventures with Oshman began half a century ago — recalls their friendship for PaperCity. MARILYN THE MAGNIFICENT M a r i l y n O s h m a n entered my world with the intensity of a tugboat spotlight piercing the fog. We met in 1973 at her home in Meyerland and hit it off immediately. Her very presence was exciting, her passion contagious, and her collection astounding. That day started a conversation that continued for more than 50 years. She took me under her wing (igniting a firestorm of jealousy among my peers), providing access to places and people in the Houston art scene that I had never dreamed possible. She introduced me to everyone from the mayor down — collectors, curators, museum directors, writers, musicians, and a passel of artists. Her world was alive, busy, and extremely full, and she brought me fully into that world. My life was never the same. Great collectors are rare, perhaps more rare than great artists. Over my life, I watched Marilyn become one of America's most interesting great art collectors. With an exquisite and authentic eye, Marilyn collected from the heart. Visionary art, Mexican art, Texas art, Buddhist art — her world was filled not with assets and acquisitions, but spiritual objects, artworks far removed from the art world's trendy fashions. She was as fearless and original in her approach to collecting as she was in her life. John Alexander with Catherine D. Anspon Read more on Oshman's legacy at papercitymag.com. Contribute to the Marilyn Oshman Orange Show Endowment, orangeshow.org. THE Maverick Above: Marilyn Oshman is depicted in Linda Hofheinz's Visionary, circa 2005. COLLECTION MARILYN OSHMAN, COURTESY THE ARTIST AND HEIDI VAUGHAN FINE ART. Artist John Alexander Remembers 50 Years of Friendship with Orange Show Savior, Artist Champion, + Fun Maker Marilyn Oshman 16