Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1543537
OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. A rtist Donald Sultan is one of the titans of the post-'70s period. No talent has done more for distilling the art of still- life — through painting, drawing, and printmaking — to exquisite, yet commanding meditations on line and color via eggs, lemons, morning glories, poppies, and lantern flowers. Then there's his inventive use of heroic scale and industrial materials, famously oil with tar and spackle on tile over Masonite, forging intensely visceral works that hover between painting and sculpture. For all these reasons, Sultan's solo this month at McClain Gallery promises to be one of the most anticipated openings of the spring. What you'll see: the artist's recent paintings and drawings starring emblematic blossoms from the South of France — clusters of mimosas on branches, executed in enamel, cement, spray paint, and graphite on Masonite. "You have to experience the paintings in a way that you're in a landscape, an intellectual landscape, a spiritual landscape. I've created this world that I'm working in, but I keep trying to find a way of even further expressing the relationship between the human being and the architecture of nature," Sultan says. "Donald Sultan" marks the artist's second one-person show at McClain Gallery. March 19 – April 25, mcclaingallery.com. Read our exclusive Q&A with Donald Sultan on papercitymag.com. Catherine D. Anspon A merican's longest- running and most important photographic showcase, the Houston- founded international biennial FotoFest, takes over the town this month (March 7 – May 10). Begin your viewing with the crucial "Global Visions: FotoFest at 40" at Sawyer Yards, a sprawling and epic exhibition encompassing 450 artists — U.S. photographers joining those from nearly 60 countries. FotoFest's dream team organized this seminal retrospective: co-founder/original artistic director Wendy Watriss, current executive director Steven Evans, and co-curators + a Homecoming: + Wendy's Eye at The Mystery of Mimosas FotoFest Donald Sultan's Pink Mimosa January 10 2026, 2026, at McClain Gallery From top: Wendy Watriss at The Menil Collection selecting images for "Photography from the Menil Collection: Curated by Wendy Watriss," October 20, 2025. Lola Flash's The Weight of Silence, 2026, from the series "syzygy, the vision," 2019 – ongoing, at Project Row Houses, commissioned by FotoFest. Annick Dekiouk and Madi Murphy. In three decades on the art beat, FotoFest has been the one constant international story emanating from Houston. While you're investigating the 2026 biennial, visit Project Row Houses, which hosts fresh FotoFest commissions for three artists: Houston-based Shavon Aja Morris and André Ramos-Woodard, and New York activist Lola Flash. Look for myriad compelling exhibitions at participating spaces as well — refer to fotofest.org for more than 80 pendant shows spun around photography. Our must-see: The Menil Collection tapped Watriss to cull through 5,500 photographs in the museum's vaunted holdings and mount an exhibition that reveals the informed eye and social- justice stance of the de Menils via 45 featured images. In the gallery guide, Watriss writes: "John and Dominique … were more than collectors. The images in the museum's photography holdings are a testament to the interconnection of art and activism, art and human history, and the many contributions the de Menils made to life in Houston and other parts of the world" — rather like FotoFest itself (through May 31). Catherine D. Anspon 40 SARAH HOBSON 18