Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/238007
Art Notes New Year, Intriguing Art: Globalism, identity politics, design, photography — especially FotoFest — the promise of public art (which can even transform parking meetings), surrealism's siren song and art-making as détente. An octet of exhibitions this month touch upon these themes; others are unfurled throughout the coming season. Begin at Anya Tish Gallery, where a recent Core Fellow of Korean ancestry, Jang soon Im, David McGee's, Othello, 2013, makes his solo debut. Pop cultural critiques in hot hues inform sculpture, at Texas Gallery digital collage, video, painting and installations, capturing the pulse of Im's modern homeland, including a Plexiglas cycle taken from TV shows, all loosely group around the theme of war (January 10 – February 8) … At Texas Gallery, Houston's painter of Baroque imagery and lyrical text, David McGee, steps up with a provocative body of portraiture whose title we can't print (January 16 – February 15) … Media master Edward Lane McCartney has a ay with wallpaper at Hooks-Epstein w Gallery, departing from his usual jewelry making to forge abstract collage color cycles with all the beauty of a Josef Albers in their pure rectangles of pigment (January 18 – February 15) … The Blaffer Art Museum continues its march into smart conceptual internationalism with Phil Collins and Christian Jankowski's media-based meditations upon the telenovela in a heady high-low mix, "Tears and Politics" (January 18 March 15; opening Friday, January 17). Coinciding with – this dual showing, watch for enchantingly enigmatic photographs, films, sculpture and painting by Russian-born, Venice Biennale-exhibited Anton Ginzburg — the artist's American museum debut. Based on the ancient concept of the traveler's tale, Ginzburg's "Terra Corpus" is filled with longing. His titles hint at the mystical Jang soon Im's Untitled (after the Korean TV show "Queen nature of this creative voyage: Seon-deok"), 2013, at Anya Tish Gallery At the Back of the North Wind and Walking the Sea. More art topics, papercitymag.com and thanks for the follow on Twitter @PaperCityCA. Catherine D. Anspon COLLECTOR'S CONVERSATION brought to byto by you brought you APRIL 11–13, 2014; PREVIEW GALA APRIL 10, 2014 WWW.DALLASARTFAIR.COM F specifications (bespoke orders will take 12 weeks from design to delivery) and by the affordable power harnessed, thanks to its familial roots. The first thing one notices is the car's lines, which have a very exotic appeal, as does the interior. The Poltrona Frau leather upholstery is exquisite, as are luxe touches such as the bi-xenon headlights (adaptive on the S Q4), LED exterior illumination, WLAN hotspot, double-laminated side glass and Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system with 15 speakers and 1,280-watt amplifier. Under the hood, Maserati relied on Ferrari, which produces the two twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6s that generate 345 horsepower in the base car and 404 hp in the S — the latter is shared with the Quattroporte and only available with the Q4 all-wheel-drive system. Both come mated to an eight-speed automatic. The engine has lots of torque and power. The characteristic Maserati growl is all the more menacing in sport mode; not only is there an uptick in shift points and handling, but how it sounds is music to the ears. Maserati of Houston, 6100 Southwest Freeway, 877.760.9267, maseratiofhouston. com; Sewell Maserati of Houston, 17805 North Freeway, 877.609.0033, maseratihouston.sewell. com. Jim Shi ifty years ago, the Iron Curtain and the Russian threat dominated American foreign policy. Now the front burner is percolating with the rapidly shifting policies of the Arab world, a region steeped in tradition yet at the brink of revolutionary change — a vast territory little understood and often misinterpreted by the West. FotoFest continues Hassan Hajjaj's Eyes on Me, 2000, Chan Hyo Bae's Anne Boleyn, 2012, from the Series "Existing in Costume," at at FotoFest its commitment to the prescient and impactful FotoFest International Fine Print Auction by selecting the Arab arena as the theme for its upcoming Biennial, "View from Inside: Contemporary Arab Video, Photography and Mixed Media Art." More than 50 artists from the Middle East and Northern Africa, 14 countries in total, converge in Houston this March, via four exhibitions organized by FotoFest's co-founder Wendy Watriss with lead curator Karin Adrian von Roques, a German-based art historian whose expertise is the Arab sphere. This series of exhibitions — the largest and most in-depth view ever mounted in the U.S. of photographic artists from the Middle East — alongside some 100 accompanying photo shows presented in town, make this 15th Biennial one of the most watched ever. Stay tuned for provocative programming — lectures, film screenings, symposia, artist-curator dialogues, evenings with the photographers, conferences and the first ever Collectors Weekend — as well as the definitive acquisition opportunity in the FotoFest auction (prepare your paddles). More details in our March art issue and via Twitter (@PaperCityCA). FotoFest 2014 Biennial, March 15 – April 27, fotofest.org; FotoFest International Fine Print Auction, Monday, March 24, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Downtown, contact Liz Wickersham, 713.223.5522, ext. 14, projects@fotofest. org. Catherine D. Anspon Tony Vallone has reprised his Vallone Steakhouse, but this time the players and locale are different. Situated at the Gateway at Memorial City on Gessner, this reinterpretation serves dry- and wetaged steaks and all the go-withs crafted by chef Grant Gordon (a Tony's alum). Gordon, GM Scott Sulma and Vallone are partners in the new venture and together oversee the 12,000-square-foot space designed by Shafik Rifaat … Seasons 52 and The Capital Grille have opened at CityCentre. Houston-based Chris Fannin, formerly of The Strip House and Philippe, serves as managing partner at The Capital Grille, with Todd Williamson as exec chef … James Beard Award-winning chef Bradley Ogden and his protégé son, Bryan, have opened a branch of their fast-casual chicken concept Funky Chicken in the Houston Heights. Look for American comfort food with — no Restaurant Buzz DALLAS ART FAIR: W hatever you thought Maserati stood for, you're going to have to rethink it. With the all-new $65,000 Ghibli sedan, the Italian marque seeks to dispel any preset notions held by owners of high-performance sports cars who typically keep their pride and joy safe in garages during inclement weather. Think of the Ghibli as the Quattroporte's highly capable,younger brother, which is forecast to help Ferrari's older brother quintuple its annual global sales to 50,000 cars. Ghibli, translated, means "Mediterranean wind," and this second resurrection of the iconic name competes squarely with the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Maserati hopes to lure new-car buyers with its elaborate personal COURTESY THE ARTIST Take us back to the beginning. The East Village, 1985. What was the scene like, and how did you persevere? Challenges? And what in your personal background made you want to be a gallerist? The East Village of 1985 was a very exciting time in the evolution of the contemporary art scene. We were very young, energetic, the spaces were small. And we introduced art to a demographic who never thought art was an option for them. At that time, you had to put on a suit and tie and go up to 57th Street and be snobbed. I started collecting early and friends thought I had a good eye and started asking me to help them develop a collection. In 1985, I was approached to become a partner in a recently opened gallery. For the rest of the conversation, peruse papercitymag.com. A MEDITERRANEAN Masterpiece COURTESY THE ARTIST Preview some of the artists in your booth for 2014. Will you be bringing any of Milwaukee painter Fred Stonehouse's wondrous image + text Fanchon and Howard Hallam canvases, for example? I will be bringing several repeat artists. Fred Stonehouse is very popular and will return. Also Rebecca Salter, Sati Zech and Rolf Behm, to mention a few. Laura Wilson's Young Girl with Colt in Living Room, 2006, at Red & White Gallery ASCENDANT COURTESY THE ARTIST AND HOWARD SCOTT GALLERY, NEW YORK Rolf Behm's Schimgar 6, 2013, at Howard Scott Gallery Was Won The Arab World Howard Scott, founder/director of Howard Scott Gallery, New York, takes questions from Dallas-based patron and collector Howard Hallam, vice chair of Ben E. Keith Co., a Fair sponsor. Do you participate in other fairs? And if so, what stands out about the Dallas Art Fair? Yes, I have participated in other fairs. I like the warm reception of the people in Dallas ... They seem happy you are there. West D allas-based artist Laura Wilson has forged an enviable career with her camera. She's also been at the right place to intersect with one of the late, great masters of 20th-century photography. (Her time with Richard Avedon as his assistant is memorialized in her book Avedon at Work, one of her four published photo volumes). Now Wilson's signature series gets its due: "West," debuting this month in a jewel-box space appropriately located in the charming central Texas hamlet of Fayetteville. Red & White Gallery, sited on the historic town square, is owned and directed by renaissance design duo Joan and Jerry Herring; the couple, formerly of Houston, published a handsome survey of Jesus Moroles' sculpture, one of the talents recently showcased at their gallery. Wilson is known for her series depicting both the debs of Laredo and high school football players of small-town America, as well as playing mom to famous sons Luke and Owen Wilson. Here she presents, for the first time, images spanning her Avedon years to the past decade. Crisp, timeless black-and-whites document Texas cowboys and the 19th-century attired members of Montana's Hutterite community, alongside modern color portraits that possess an enigmatic fashion edge and a whisper of surrealism. "Laura Wilson's West" at Red & White Gallery, opening Saturday, January 25 (5 to 8 pm); artist talk Sunday, February 23 (3 pm); exhibition through March 1; redandwhitegallery.com. Catherine D. Anspon Maserati Ghibli S Q4 DALLAS ART FAIR You've shown at the Dallas Art Fair every year since its launch in 2009. How did you originally come to exhibit at the Fair? Why are you returning in 2014? The idea sounded good. I like Dallas, and I had several collectors and friends in the city. I am returning because I like the intimacy of the Fair, and it's very well run. They treat us very well. How the surprise — all kinds of chicken dishes taking center stage … As we go to press, Tracy Vaught and chef Hugo Ortega were poised to open their longawaited new concept Caracol in the BBVA building on Post Oak. We'll be heading there as soon as the doors open to give you details … This month, Etoile chef/owner Philippe Verpiand will begin serving his own house-made ice cream. Why is this big news? Because this is the only item that Etoile's chefs didn't make themselves. Now they can brag that 100 percent of everything they serve chez Etoile is made on premises … This month at Nara, chef/owner Donald Chang debuts a 10-person chef table serving a six-course tasting menu ($85 per person; seatings at 6:30 and 8:30 pm) that will change every two weeks. He has also just opened the semi-private Korean Grill Room at Nara, including communal tables built with authentic yakiniku grills … Piatto Ristorante, John M. Carrabba's Italian concept, is opening a third incarnation in the Heights on Studewood. Laurann Claridge