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AUGUST | PAGE 32 | 2014 MEET YOU AT THE FAIR: WHY WE'RE GOING A $10,000 art prize, the high-voltage Opening Night that raises big bucks for the CAMH and a contingent of Houston's very top gallerists (joined by Manhattan and West Coast notables) are some of the salient details you need to know about Texas Contemporary Art Fair. And, remember this: The Texas Contemporary is produced by New York-based Art Market, the same team that organizes one of Miami's best fairs during Art Basel week. Now, read on for why we're going to the Texas Contemporary this year. CAMH CENTRIC It's important to acknowledge that after this fall's Fair, Art Market — co-owned by art-smart duo Max Fishko and Jeffrey Wainhause — will be on track to have donated nearly $100,000 to date to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, thanks to Opening Night's significant ticket sales. (Last year alone, Thursday evening's event raised more than $25,000.) We also applaud the annual bestowing of the $10,000 Texas Contemporary Prize upon a worthy talent. Weighing in on the 2014 award will be CAMH director Bill Arning and Anne Ellegood, senior curator of the authoritative Hammer Museum, L.A. CREDENTIALS The Texas Contemporary possesses street cred in abundance. From its Opening Night chairs, culled from the top ranks of CAMH supporters — CAMH board chief Bill Goldberg, joined by discerning and adventuresome mega private collector J.B. Fairbanks, Judie Oudt and Yvette and Scott Hill — to its wide aisles, spacious booth configuration and nonconformist layout, the non-cookie-cutter Texas Contemporary is engaging and often provocative. And natch, PaperCity is lead media sponsor. HOUSTON'S 11 Now take a look at this lineup of Houston gallerists, confirmed to date: Art Palace, Darke Gallery, David Shelton Gallery, Devin Borden Gallery, Barbara Davis Gallery, Inman Gallery, McClain Gallery, The Mission, Moody Gallery, Gallery Sonja Roesch and Zoya Tommy Contemporary. Best bets among these include Barry Stone at Art Palace; Vincent Valdez's exquisite realist drawings of his San Antonio world at David Shelton; and Inman's solo for Spanish photog Linarejos Moreno, as well as works by Houston abstractionist David Aylsworth and Californian Shaun O'Dell. Houston mixed-media master Joe Mancuso at Barbara Davis Gallery is also on our list for his beguiling, reductive way with industrial materials, as are the precision minimalists in Sonja Roesch's well- edited stable. Hot spot The Mission presents Larassa Kabel of the sublime drawings, paired with a special project by Colombian duo Fernando Pareja and Leidy Chavez. Rounding it out, McClain's booth highlights Stephen Dean's Juggler series, inspired by Picabia, juxtaposed with David Row drawings on vellum confronting the curvilinear and the hard-edged. THE TEXAS CONTEMPORARY TAKES THE TOWN TEXAS WATCH LIST Stop by the booth of Dutton for some fresh Austin-New York energy. Dutton mixes up contemporary talents with outsiders such as Richard Kendall, a mysterious late Houston master whose dense drawings of downtown 'scapes are rare and coveted. Mandatory is a visit to The Public Trust, one of Dallas' most progressive spaces, directed by catalyst and graphic king Brian Gibb. Also meritorious is a suite of black- and-white tulips by Donald Sultan at Fort Worth denizen William Campbell Contemporary Art. BICOASTAL Then there are arrivals from Manhattan, Miami, San Francisco, L.A. and New Orleans, including the historic ACA Galleries (NYC); Diana Lowenstein Gallery (Miami), with artists commenting on topical issues; Santa Monica force Rosamund Felsen Gallery, where Les Biller's interiors meld fluid paint handling and patterning; and Manhattan space Other Criteria, HQ for multiples by certified art stars such as Damien Hirst. Don't miss returning Manhattan dealers Fredericks & Freiser (home gallery to last year's Texas Contemporary Prize winner, Keegan McHargue, whom they'll be bringing back) and the always intriguing Mixed Greens, delving into environmental topics via Kim Beck's Field Recordings. Guggenheim Fellow Stacey Steers of the creepy, yet compelling Victorian videos will be presented by Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco. Finally, devotees of Pop should flock to Jonathan Ferrara's white walls for Skylar Fein's trompe l'oeil matchbooks, which would fool the eye if they weren't so supersized. VIP LOUNGE + DESIGN STAR The VIP Lounge will once again be crafted by MaRS, the architectural firm headed by Kelie Mayfield and Erick Ragni; Ligne Roset Houston steps up as VIP Lounge furniture sponsor. Coming in for a rare Houston PA is a Ligne Roset progeny: Antoine Roset, the great-great grandson of the company founder and executive VP of Ligne Roset USA. He'll dish about "The Art of Design," Saturday, September 6, 2 pm, in the VIP Lounge, inaugurating the Ligne Roset- sponsored series of Design Dialogues that will take place throughout the coming year. THE TEXAS CONTEMPORARY IS PRODUCED BY NEW YORK-BASED ART MARKET, THE SAME TEAM THAT ORGANIZES ONE OF MIAMI'S BEST FAIRS DURING ART BASEL WEEK: THE WELL RESPECTED, MUST-ATTEND MIAMI PROJECT, WHICH IS ON EVERY COLLECTOR'S MUST-SHOP LIST. CATHERINE D. ANSPON REPORTS ON YEAR FOUR OF A FAIR THAT LAUNCHES OUR FALL WHILE LURING SIX-FIGURE COLLECTORS TO BOLDLY ACQUIRE. MEET THE PLAYERS — ART STARS AND THEIR GALLERISTS — WHO WILL ROAR INTO TOWN RIGHT AFTER LABOR DAY. AND CALENDAR THESE DATES: TEXAS CONTEMPORARY, ARRIVING AT THE GEORGE R. BROWN CONVENTION CENTER SEPTEMBER 4 THROUGH 7 (TXCONTEMPORARY.COM). Les Biller's Dress Cage on Yellow Kimono, 1997, at Rosamund Felsen Gallery Shaun O'Dell's floatAbovehorizontals, 2014, at Inman Gallery Fabiano Parisi's Il mondo che non vedo #91, Stiltville, Florida, 2013, at Diana Lowenstein Gallery Donald Sultan's Black Tulips and Vase, 2014, at William Campbell Contemporary Art Paul Fleming's Azusa XVI, 2014, at Barbara Davis Gallery Luis Jimenez's Fiesta Dancers, 1985, at ACA Galleries COURTESY ROSAMUND FELSEN GALLERY, SANTA MONICA COURTESY INMAN GALLERY, HOUSTON COURTESY DIANA LOWENSTEIN GALLERY, MIAMI Jonathan Leach's Untitled, 2009, at Gallery Sonja Roesch COURTESY GALLERY SONJA ROESCH, HOUSTON COURTESY WILLIAM CAMPBELL CONTEMPORARY ART, FORT WORTH PRIVATE COLLECTION, COURTESY BARBARA DAVIS GALLERY, HOUSTON COURTESY ACA GALLERIES, NYC COURTESY JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY, NEW ORLEANS Skylar Fein's Learn Basic Computer Programming, 2014, at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery