Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/184500
IN OUR LENS: Timothy GreenfieldSanders' Latest Beautifully Bizarre Jan Showers' Glamorous Retreats (Abrams, $50) will find its place on coffee tables everywhere this month. A follow-up to her best-selling Glamorous Rooms, this tome opens the door unto vacation abodes that are equal parts inspirational and envy-inducing. And while the locations may be all over the map, each shares something in common: the designer's deft touch combining Hollywood high style, mid-century modernism and 18th-century French classicism. Amy Adams Other Worldly VIP COURTESY THE ARTIST AND ANYA TISH GALLERY AT THE TC Katja Loher's Interplanetary Kisses, 2013, for the Texas Contemporary VIP Lounge Clowning Around Jumper Maybach in studio Jumper Maybach's Blue Eyes Metro Man, 2011 Ever since we encountered Jumper Maybach (aka Ben Workman), we've been enamored of this painter and performance artist who's descended from a famed Corpus Christi clown. Granddad Earl Eugene Readdy first applied the grease paint, tapping a young and impressionable Workman to be his sidekick for volunteer gigs in South Texas. Years later, Workman has stepped into the arena of clowndom, but adds artist to the equation. With dual Heights-area studios, he pairs his signature whiteface with striking Robert Graham shirts at monthly openings. The booming painting practice of his ab-ex canvases in circus hues — our fave: the Cotton Candy series — led to a PA at Art Dubai and a biopic produced by actor Pepe Serna of Scarface fame. Stay tuned for Maybach's cinematic debut: His eponymous movie, set for release next spring, has garnered 24,000 Likes on Facebook for its moving account of the Jumper story, including his struggle for equal rights as a gay clown man. At Aurora Art Studios, 129 Aurora St., Studio 11; Heights Art Studios and Gallery, 214. E. 27th St., Studio 6; 713.703.1350; jumpermaybach.com. Catherine D. Anspon Suzanne Kasler The best way to take in the Texas Contemporary Art Fair? Secure a VIP Pass. For a mere Benjamin, this ticket gets you into the first-look Preview Party (benefitting the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston) and includes three-day admission and, above all, access to the VIP Lounge designed by MaRS Architecture — an art installation unto itself. Swiss-born, NY-based video mistress Katja Loher (represented by Houston exhibitor Anya Tish Gallery) transforms a prosaic space at the George R. Brown into an other worldly ticket to planetary visions. But you'll need a VIP ticket to get there. $100, October 10 – 13; txcontemporary.com. Catherine D. Anspon BRENT BRUNI COMISKEY TO TURN NOT BRENT BRUNI COMISKEY What Pages Timothy GreenfieldSanders' Lady Bunny, 2012, at Hiram Butler Gallery One of the most legendary portrait artists of our time, Timothy GreenfieldSanders, turns his lens on high-profile members of the LGBTQ community in his latest, "The OUT List." Known for alternately riveting and timeless photographic images from porn stars to super models and even pets, TGS's most acclaimed series to date has been the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston-exhibited "The Black List" (also the title of an award-winning documentary that cinematically profiles the protagonists captured by Greenfield-Sanders). Long-time TGS gallerist Hiram Butler rolls out "The Out List," presenting celebs from Lady Bunny, Suze Orman and Ellen DeGeneres to Larry Kramer and Cynthia Nixon, rendered in Greenfield-Sanders' inimitable take on color portraiture. Artist reception Saturday, October 5, 11 am to 1 pm; exhibition October 5 – November 30; hirambutlergallery.com. Catherine D. Anspon BRENT BRUNI COMISKEY So reads the tagline for The Place Upstairs, and we couldn't agree more. Cue the curated and artful eyes of owners Laura Levine and Mike Hildebrand; the pair have made a name for themselves as well-edited vintage players — witness their other endeavor, the still-goingstrong Replay on 19th in the Heights. But Bobcat on the prowl for this duo, the newly minted Midtown by-appointment and evening-houred space (open Thursdays and Saturdays, 8 pm to 1 am, plus first Thursdays and Fridays, and second Tuesdays, to take advantage of their location upstairs from The Continental Club) is their most personal project ever. This latest vintage venture reflects a collecting acumen — others would call it obsession — that dates back to Hildebrand's childhood as the son of Houston pickers and thrifters and Levine's previous go at selling privately from her River Oaks apartment, which later segued into a shop. Forsaking the expected '50s, '60s and '70s memorabilia, The Place Upstairs presents the arcane, the dainty and disturbing, doses of the macabre and some truly beautiful Victoriana, including the most perfect pair of lady's high-top shoes (Friedman Shelby, St. Louis) we've ever glimpsed and some exquisitely preserved turn-of-the-century lace-and-beribboned frocks that look like they came straight from a museum. Also notable are creepy medical instruments and devices, an array of taxidermy, late 19th-century/early 20th-century beaded evening handbags in immaculate condition, a Japanese rickshaw driver's outfit from between the wars, collectible early-20th-century photography and an original Prince's carhop uniform, all shiny red and white satin. The space for this commercial endeavor perfectly matches its contents — the 500-square-foot, circa -1930s, time-capsule interior above Main Street that was once home to an early typing school. "I feel like I'm in the adoption biz, finding new homes for these treasures," says proprietress Miz Levine. 3708 Laura Levine and Mike Main St., above The Continental Club; facebook.com/ Pristine treasures Hildebrand at The Place theplaceupstairs. Catherine D. Anspon Upstairs Tom Scheerer Jeffrey Alan Marks DESIGN TRIPTYCH W ith plumes in hand, we await three storied designers at The Houston Design Center's Fall Market Tuesday, October 29, 11 am, at Alkusari showroom, Suite 229. Composing a very knowledgeable panel, Suzanne Kasler, Tom Scheerer and Jeffrey Alan Marks will discourse on expanding the design brand, then sign their new decorating tomes: Suzanne Kasler: Timeless Style, Tom Scheerer Decorates and Jeffrey Alan Marks: The Meaning of Home. A light lunch will be served. Books will be for sale at the event. See pages 28 and 30 of this issue for more about the books. The event is gratis, but RSVP required. To RSVP, call 713.864.2660 or visit thehoustondesigncenter.com/fallmarket. 7026 Old Katy Road. CHRIS BROWN Back Row's BOUNTY Cheri Mahoney Kelly O'Donnell, Tracey Shingledecker Leighton Hale 2 Lucy's Antiques Continental Charm Gracie Hall Designs by Grace tablescape A Leighton Hale vignette W hile Back Row Antiques is relatively new, those behind it are not. After stints at Memorial Antiques and Interiors, 2 Lucy's Antiques (Kelly O'Donnell and Tracey Shingledecker), Leighton Hale Antiques and Gracie Hall's Designs by Grace, along with Cheri Mahoney, all found themselves in need of more room to show their enchanting amalgamations of antiques. So they migrated across I-10 to their own space, set within the Memorial Design Center. After extensive renovations to the shop, they realized their vision of a well-appointed warehouse segmented so that each member of the collective has ample room to display wares. Here you'll find an enviable assortment of French earthenware, mirrors and books from Leighton Hale; a trove of 19th- and 20th-century French, English and Italian antiques and architectural elements from 2 Lucy's; and a varied and feminine assortment of lighting elements, tables and chairs from Grace Hall. Best of all, they integrated a central kitchen onto the floor, including a sizeable farmhouse table that is never without some delectable morsels, making the hunt for that perfect Louis XVI fauteuil all the sweeter. 8750 Katy Freeway, Suite 111, 713.827.9292; backrowantiques.com. Seth Vaughan