Hall A at the the George R. Brown was hopping Thursday night, as the second annual Texas Contemporary Art Show opened its doors to more than 3,000 eager art fans.
From 6 to 7:30 p.m., the night began with a special preview event benefiting the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH). Galleries like Houston newcomer David Shelton reported strong sales during the benefit, as collectors — who paid a $100 donation to get first dibs — scurried across the fair floor before the opening party revelers spilled into the convention center.
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Marcus Kennedy, St. Fuquwah, 2010, reclaimed taxidermy, sticks, rope, twine, plastic, acrylic, oil, nails, screws and misc. objects; Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans.
By 7:30, the evening took a more raucous turn as guests swarmed upon the Glasstire booth, which, for the second year in a row, featured live animals.
Yup . . . as promised, the popular Texas visual art blog brought a trio of baby alligators to add that extra dash of spice to their booth, which was fashioned as a "Gulf Coast Dive Bar."
Not surprisingly, the mini gators were a huge hit, especially when the reptile handlers announced they would be allowing people to hold the little guys. It was awesome.
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Judy Nyquist poses with a new friend
Art at this year's fair appeared particularly strong, offering a range of innovative work from living artists that included names like William Wegman.
After a 2006 retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Wegman has been getting more and more attention for his strong body of work beyond those always-entertaining pictures of Weimaraners. The Texas Gallery booth offered a suite of the artist's new work based on found images and vintage postcards.
"He's not just the dog guy," laughed gallery owner Fredericka Hunter. "Wegman's always made paintings and drawings throughout his career, in addition to the photography."
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Work by William Wegman; Texas Gallery, Houston
Artist-musician Damon Smith — one of Houston Press' 100 creatives for 2012 — played an intriguing John Cage piece.
Just a booth away, FotoFest International offered up an installation by artist Brian Piana that allowed guests to vote for their favorite presidential candidate on a computer screen that resembled a football scoreboard. By 8:30 p.m., Obama was winning . . . by a lot.
Ukraine-born, Philadelphia-based artist Mark Khaisman arms himself with nothing but packaging tape and clear sheets of plastic to create portraits and, more recently, images of antique rugs and furniture.
"Right now, I'm attempting to look at the culture of antiques through the lens of contemporary materials," he explained when CultureMap stopped by the Pentimenti Gallery booth.
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Mark Khaisman, Antique Rug 1, packaging tape on clear polyester film; Courtesy Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia
Thursday's opener brought a steady stream of art world powerhouses, including former Menil curator Franklin Sirmans, who joins CAMH director Bill Arning as a judge for this year's inaugural Texas Contemporary Award, which will be announced at the show on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Click through the photo essay for more party pics and be sure to stop by this year's Texas Contemporary, which is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday hours are noon to 6 p.m.
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Left to right: Houston Museum of African American Culture CEO John Guess, Jr. with Franklin Sirmans, chief curator of contemporary art at the L.A. Country Museum of Art
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Left to right: CAMH director Bill Arning, Blaffer Art Museum director Claudia Schmuckli and Steven Evans
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Glasstire founder and editor Rainey Knudson
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Left to right: Marshal Lightman, Hannah James, Barbara Davis and John Pazda
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Left to right: Dustin Smith, P'Nina "Jessica" Topham and Tyler May
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Left to right: Rafael Naranjo and Janet Hassinger
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Left to right: MFAH prints curator Dena Woodall with Skip Fowler
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Left to right: Washington Sereatan, Lisa Lee and Sanford Dow
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Work by Kelly O'Connor; Courtesy of David Shelton Gallery, Houston
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Hannah Chalew, Vacant Lot, pen, ink, thread and wood on paper, 42 x 58 x 12"; Courtesy Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans
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Melissa Miller, Little Death, Grasshopper, 2012, oil on canvas, 12 x 9"; Courtesy of Moody Gallery, Houston.
