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MAKING ART HAPPEN FROM ITS MUST-ATTEND PREVIEW GALA AT FIG TO A PSYCHEDELIC SEND-OFF BENEATH TONY TASSET'S WATCHFUL EYE, THE EVER- INVENTIVE DALLAS ART FAIR CREATED AN ENERGETIC AIR, ENTICING ALL THE ARTS INSTITUTIONS IN TOWN TO HOST THEIR OWN FLURRY OF MUST-ATTEND EVENTS. BY JANE ROZELLE. PHOTOGRAPHY BECKLEY & CO., DANIEL DRIENSKY, NATHAN MARLOW, BRET REDMAN, KRISTI AND SCOT REDMAN, DERRICK TRIBBEY, JASON VOINOV. PAINTING A PREVIEW OF EPIC PROPORTIONS Fashion Industry Gallery was the canvas for the Dallas Art Fair's colorful Preview Gala. The art contingent — from esteemed curators to noteworthy artists to top-tier collectors — couldn't wait to make its way into FIG's massive two-story space. Before the art games could commence, many guests conducted their own strategy sesh at the Art Fair's most popular watering hole: The Ruinart Champagne bar. Canvassing the scene were venerable collectors Deedie Rose, Muffin and John Lemak, Jennifer and Tom Karol, Marguerite Hoffman, Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, and Christen and Derek Wilson, who pow-wowed with Dallas Art Fair co-founders John Sughrue and Chris Byrne and other art-world power players, including Dallas Contemporary executive director Peter Doroshenko; The Goss-Michael Foundation co-founder Kenny Goss and exec director, Joyce Goss; Dallas Museum of Art interim director Walter Elcock and the museum's Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art Gavin Delahunty; and Nasher Sculpture Center director Jeremy Strick. The crowd numbered more than 1,000; all had places to go and people to see. Nearly 100 celebrated national and international dealers and galleries were exhibiting, showcasing covetable paintings, sculpture, photography, video, installations and more. "The eighth edition is our best to date," said Byrne. "We're hosting galleries from 41 cities around the world." WHO'S WHO: THE ART EDITION In from New York City, John Blaffer Royall (as in Houston's Blaffer Art Museum) and his pal, dealer Richard Taittinger, who are hatching their own fair in Antarctica; Los Angeles gallerist Steve Turner, reporting brisk sales with rapper/new-media sensation Yung Jake; Rachel Hovnanian, a standout in Leila Heller's booth for her elegiac flower canvases; Blanton Museum of Art curator Evan Garza; transatlantic dealers including Monitor's Paola Capata from Rome, Brussels-based Harlan Levey, and Jeffrey Rosen of Misako & Rosen of Tokyo; and Heritage Auctions' Frank Hettig and Ed Beardsley, hosting Friday barbecue bash that included photo ops with a live steer. JULY/AUGUST | PAGE 10 | 2016 Ceron, Erica Henley, Taylor Hudgins at Eye Ball Howard Rachofsky at DMA Natasha Clegg at Erin Cluley Gallery Anais Assoun John Gustafson at FIG John Sughrue at FIG Marlene Sughrue Debora Hunter at FIG Alden Pinnell at FIG Irving Penn opening reception at DMA Tim Headington at FIG John Runyon Howard Scott at FIG Deedie Rose at FIG Dallas Art Fair Preview Gala at FIG Chris Byrne at FIG Nancy Koen Walter Elcock at DMA Cindy Rachofsky Charlotte Swasbrook at Dallas Contemporary Kyle Hobratschk at Erin Cluley Gallery Olivia Smith Jeremy Strick at Grange Hall Oliver Clegg at Erin Cluley Gallery Erin Cluley Jeny Bania at Eye Ball Kendall Morgan, Tim O'Heir at Eye Ball Shelle Sills at Eye Ball Michael Sills Back row: Clay Grier, Karolina Dankow, Nan Coulter, Fred Holston. Front row: Fabian Marti, David Quadrini at Fig