Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1545128
From top, Inman Gallery artists: Alexis Pye, Oh joy! Long time no see, 2023, at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Jamal Cyrus, Augmented Trumpet_00001, 2026. David McGee, Dalí from Ready Made Africans series, 2015, at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. C ontinuing our series profiling Houston's most iconoclastic art dealers, we devote this column to Inman Gallery and the recent unveiling of its heroic Midtown space. This is the fourth home for Kerry Inman, who founded her gallery in 1990, and her opening at 1502 Alabama in the former Station Museum of Contemporary Art location signals a fresh and significant chapter in Texas' cultural ecosystem. The 8,500-square-foot, '60s-era building was readied for its next art iteration by Dillon Kyle Architects. Inman worked with the Houston-based firm on renovating what was originally an auto paint shop to carve out three exhibition galleries, augmented by an office and art storage. Kyle's concept metaphorically referenced a geode, finding inspiration in the gallerist's former career as a geologist. "This idea was brought to life by Dillon and his associate, Miranda Miramon," Inman says. "Together they created a jewel-like space inside the building's rough exterior." For Inman, who relocated after two decades at Isabella Court, the choice of architect was personal. "This is the first space that Dillon has designed for Inman Gallery," she says. "We have been friends for about 22 years, and I have always admired his design sensibility." Buying this building means staking a claim as one of the prime players on the Art Notes Texas field. "This final iteration for Inman Gallery represents me doubling down on the belief in the power of art and its ability to foster communication and understanding among people," Inman says. "Standing in front of a work of art, in person, experiencing the physical presence of a work, made by hand by an artist, is the goal … Art becomes more than a commodity. The art object can represent aspirations, beliefs, a sense of history, and a chance to learn from another human's experiences." For proof that Inman should definitely be on your radar, look no further than three key talents in her Texas-focused stable, who are all having shining moments: Houston painter David McGee, highlighted in the mid-career retrospective "The Griot and the Nightingale" at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC (through August 23); 2026 Texas Artist of the Year Jamal Cyrus, set to be celebrated by Art League Houston in a solo exhibition this fall (September 18 – December 20) and honored at ALH's gala; and rising art star Alexis Pye, whose MFAH- collected canvas Oh joy! Long time no see, 2023, is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in "Good Times with Ernie Barnes and Alexis Pye" (through July 5). Now on view at Inman, a pair of solos: the mystical, enigmatic painted abstractions of Yevgeniya Baras; and Loc Huynh's complex and poignant takes on the Vietnamese-American experience plucked from his own family photo albums (both through July 3). Catherine D. Anspon COLLECTION OF POPPI MASSEY. PHOTO BY JAKE ESHELMAN. COURTESY INMAN GALLERY. COLLECTION OF LEIGH AND REGGIE SMITH. PHOTO BY THOMAS R. DUBROCK. COURTESY INMAN GALLERY COLLECTION MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON 72