On-site Installations & Events
The 2013 projects & events will be posted late summer 2013.
The following is a list from Texas Contemporary 2012.
Texas Contemporary Preview
Admission Requires Purchase of Preview Pass
Thursday, October 18 | 6:00PM - 7:30PM | Exhibit Floor
Benefiting the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
Exclusive first access with complimentary drinks and hors d'oeuvres.
Opening Night Party
Open to Preview Pass, VIP Pass & Opening Night Party Pass Holders
Thursday, October 18 | 7:30PM - 9:30PM | Exhibit Floor
Opening night continues with a party from 7:30PM until 9:30PM.
MINGLE! Reception at Asia Society Texas
Invitation Only
Wednesday, October 17| Asia Society Texas
Sponsored by Kinzelman Art Consulting, Asia Society Texas & Ligne Roset
Texas Contemporary, Julie Kinzelman of Kinzelman Art Consulting and Asia Society Texas Center host a pre-show reception at the newly unveiled Asia Society building in Houston. Host committee members, exhibitors and guests can look forward to an evening of drinks and hors d'oeuvres as they enjoy the building's unique design, which elegantly blends the East and West by Architect Yoshio Taniguchi.
TOUR OF SILENCE EXHIBITION AT THE MENIL COLLECTION
Invitation Only
Thursday, October 18 | Menil Collection
Tour the critically acclaimed Silence exhibition, co-organized by the Menil Collection and the University of California Berkley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Silence looks at nearly a century of art considering silence—that most elusive of states—as a subject and substance.
PRIVATE TOUR OF TONY FEHER EXHIBIT AT BLAFFER ART MUSEUM
Invitation Only
Thursday, October 18 | Blaffer Art Museum
Guests will enjoy an exclusive private behind the scenes tour of the newly renovated Blaffer Art Museum building & its first major exhibition by Tony Feher. The tour will be followed by a lunch with Blaffer Art Museum Chief Curator and Director Claudia Schmuckli.
CHASE BANK INSIDE ACCESS AFTER HOURS EVENT
Invitation Only
Friday, October 19
Inside Access from Chase Bank will host a special reception for their membership on Friday, October 19th. The event will feature a cocktail reception in the VIP Lounge as well as a comprehensive series of after-hour tours of gallery booths provided by Weingarten Art Group.
Announcement of the Artadia Awards 2012 Houston
Open to All Attendees | Presented by Artadia
Friday, October 19 | 12:00PM - 1:00PM | Discussion Theater
Presentation of the exceptional artists selected through Artadia's rigorous two-tiered jury process following the open call to all visual artists living and working in Houston. Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue supports visual artists with unrestricted awards and connections to a network of opportunities, while providing local communities with national exposure. Since its founding in 1997 by Christopher E. Vroom, Artadia has awarded over $3 million to over 250 artists in its program cities Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. This is Artadia's sixth awards cycle in Houston.
Tseng Kwong Chi Downtown New York 1980's
Open to All Attendees | Presented by Eric Firestone Gallery
Friday, October 19 | 1:30PM - 2:00PM | Eric Firestone Gallery Booth 2005
In conjunction with the estate of Tseng Kwong Chi, Eric Firestone Presents a very important photographic archive of the downtown New York Scene with spectacular images of Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat. A Q&A regarding both establishment of market and the importance of archive to follow the presentation.
FOCUS ON PHOTOGRAPHY with Clint Willour
Open to All Attendees
Friday, October 19 | 2:00PM | Meet in Collectors' Lounge 15 Minutes Prior to Tour
Clint Willour, curator of the Galveston Arts Center and longtime photography collector will lead a tour highlighting selected photographic works at the fair. Mr. Willour is known for his critical eye and vast knowledge of contemporary photography.
Artist Eric Beltz Discusses his Site-Specific Drawing Installation
Open to All Attendees | Presented by Morgan Lehman, New York
Friday, October 19 | 3:00PM - 4:00PM | Discussion Theater
Eric Beltz will offer a rare glimpse into the process and context of his meticulous graphite drawings. His research interests range widely including: ethnobotany, Pre-Columbian art, apocryphal writings, gnosticism, origin myths, American history, natural history, mythology, gardening and wine-making. Beltz will also share images of influential art and objects, vacation photos, and in-progress snapshots taken of his drawings at the end of each day in the studio.
Artist Travis Somerville Discusses His Installation “Well Division”
Open to All Attendees | Presented by Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco
Friday, October 19 | 4:30PM - 5:30PM | Discussion Theater
Inspired by the famous photograph showing a refrigerated drinking fountain designated for WHITES sharing the same pluming with a porcelain fountain for COLORED, Somerville created his own set of water fountains loosely based on the 2000 census and anticipation of changes for the 2010 census. Over each fountain is a label and inside each sink is a stereotypical image associated with that group.
Off-Site Open House: SELF GUIDED TOUR OF PRIVATE COLLECTION
Invitation Only
Friday, October 19
Tour a classic Tudor home in Houston’s River Oaks neighborhood with a growing contemporary art collection. The home, originally built in 1934, designed by the Russell Brown Company has experienced various remodels over the years and the previous owners installed amazing custom woodwork and handmade chandeliers throughout the house. Eclectic touches include a red lacquer library and specially crafted woodwork, which conceals cabinets with whimsy. The current owners have just completed an addition and interior update, which honored the history of the home while accommodating their collection of contemporary art. The collection includes recent work by Donald Moffett, Liliana Porter, Dario Robleto, Luis Jimenez, John Sparagana, Katrina Moorhead, Shaun O'Dell, Natasha Bowdoin, Jim Richard, Jay Davis, Johannes Girardoni, Matthew Picton, ChanSchatz, Dornith Doherty, Hunt Slonem, Lance Letscher, Eric Zimmerman, Sean Healy, Jang soon Im, Paul Booker, Lauren Levy among others. Pastries and coffee provided by Canopy Houston..
DUSK TOUR OF SELECTED RICE PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS
Invitation Only
Friday, October 19
Guests will enjoy a walking tour of selected site-specific works from the Rice Public Art collection. The James Turrell Skyspace Manager will discuss the acquisition, site selection and installation process for works by James Surls, Jaume Plensa, and James Turrell, among others. The tour will conclude at dusk where guests will be invited to sit-back, relax and enjoy Turrell's Sunset light sequence.
PRIVATE RECEPTIONS & TOURS FOR EXCLUSIVE MUSEUM GROUPS
Invitation Only
Friday, October 19 & Saturday, October 20
Two distinct private events will take place both Friday and Saturday. Each event will include a catered reception followed by a private tour with Texas Contemporary fair directors and/or museum curators.
Viewfinder: Lens-Based Artists in Texas
Open to All Attendees | Presented by FotoFest International
Saturday, October 20 | 12:30PM - 1:30PM | Discussion Theater
A conversation between critics and contemporary artists making work in dialogue with the past. Moderated by FotoFest staff member and freelance art critic Laura Wellen and featuring artists Chris Akin, Emily Peacock and Ben Ruggiero. Organized by FotoFest International.
A WALKTHROUGH with Lester Marks
Open to All Attendees
Saturday, October 20 | 1PM | Meet in the Collectors’ Lounge 15 Minutes Prior to Tour
Houston collector Lester Marks will lead a focused tour of the fair, highlighting his favorite works in the fair. Mr. Marks is a well-known Houston collector who has been recognized by Artnews, Art & Antiques and most recently American Art Collector. Mr. Marks has served on the board of CAMH and MFAH and is an enthusiastic supporter of Houston’s arts organizations.
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Director Bill Arning
in Conversation with Artist Robb Pruitt
Open to All Attendees | Presented by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Saturday, October 20 | 2:00PM - 3:00PM | Discussion Theater
Bill Arning and Rob Pruitt in conversation about the Andy Monument, a shiny tribute to Andy Warhol.
A Conversation on Interactive Photographic Media
and the #hcpinteractive Installation
Open to All Attendees | Presented by Houston Center for Photography
Saturday, October 20 | 3:30PM - 4:30PM | Discussion Theater
Houston Center for Photography is proud to present an interactive digital installation, #hcpinteractive, co-curated by Theresa Escobedo and Libbie Masterson of HCP, and Engineered by Travis McCarra and DSGNFRDG design group. HCP members and invitees will be able to upload their images, in real time, from all over the world. These images will be displayed on a series of monitors on view in the Texas Contemporary Fair. This is open to participation. Houston Center for Photography will lead a discussion on interactive photographic media, using the installation#HCPinteractive as a platform. Discussion will be led by Co-Curators Theresa Escobedo and Libbie Masterson from HCP, and Travis McCarra of the DSGNFRDG design team, who engineered the installation. Come with Instagram ready on your phone to participate!
TEXAS CONTEMPORARY AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
Open to All Attendees
Saturday, October 20 | 4:00PM | Collector's Lounge
LACMA’s chief curator of contemporary art, Frankin Sirmans and CAMH’s Director Bill Arning will announce the winner of the Texas Contemporary Award.
CAMH SPECIAL EVENT: Bring Andy Warhol to Houston Saturday
Invitation Only
Saturday, October 20 | 6:00PM - 8:00PM | CAMH
A reception will be held at the CAMH from 6-8pm with a special "ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony" with the Artist, Rob Pruitt and surprise celebrity guests at 7:30pm. For more information visit www.indiegogo.com/AndyWarhol.
SPOTLIGHT: WORKS ON PAPER: A private tour with Dena Woodall
ART + PAPER Members and VIP Guests Only
Saturday, October 20
Guests will enjoy a private tour of the fair with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston prints & drawings curator, Dena M. Woodall. Dr. Woodall will lead a special tour focusing on works on paper and engage with Gallery Directors at selected booths that feature prints & drawings in the art fair arena.
PRIVATE RECEPTION FOR HOUSTON ARTS ALLIANCE
Invitation Only
Saturday, October 20
Following an exclusive private reception, guests will be treated to an in-depth tour of the fair with Texas Contemporary fair director Max Fishko.
WHITTEN & PROCTOR FINE ART CONSERVATION STUDIO TOUR
Invitation Only
Saturday, October 20
This very exclusive behind-the-scenes tour gives participants a glimpse into the highly technical world of fine art conservation. The tour will view several ongoing projects in the studio. Talk will focus on what conservators do, what kinds of problems arise with paintings, and when to call in a conservator. Whitten & Proctor Fine Art Conservation specializes in the restoration and preservation of paintings for museums, universities, and both private and corporate collections. Located in the greater Houston Heights, they worked with Houston architect John Blackmon to transform a former convenience store into a sleek mid-century, open-plan studio bathed in sunlight.
EARLY MORNING SELF GUIDED TOUR OF MENIL COLLECTION
Invitation Only
Saturday, October 20
Guests are invited to enjoy a self-guided tour of the Menil Collection before the doors open to the public.
Got Coffee
Open to All Attendees
Sunday, October 21 | 9:00AM - 11:00AM | Isabella Court
Come join the galleries at Isabella Court for a festive breakfast along Main Street. Tour five art spaces, feast on breakfast from Tacos A Go-Go and take a peek at the soon to be unveiled new home for Diverseworks.
Hosting venues: Art Palace, David Shelton Gallery, Devin Borden Gallery, Diverseworks, Inman Gallery and Kinzelman Art Consulting. Parking available in the neighborhood or hop the light rail (exit Ensemble/HCC and walk two blocks south).
PRIVATE TOUR FOR ASIA SOCIETY
Asia Society Donors - Invitation Only
Sunday, October 21
Guests will enjoy a private tour of the fair highlighting works by contemporary Asian and Asian American artists. The tour will be led by Lea Weingarten, principal of Weingarten Art Group.
Keren Cytter, Vengeance
Presented by DiverseWorks
Open to all Fair Attendees
During Fair Hours | Replayed Several Times Daily | Video Theater
Vengeance (2012) features three episodes from an as-yet unfinished multi-part series. In this new work, Cytter co-opts the strategies of the television soap opera to explore classic themes of melodrama – love, envy, betrayal, and vengeance. Vengeance is Cytter’s first work created in the United States after her recent relocation to New York City, and these episodes reflect a much more elaborate production than most of her earlier works. Utilizing the rich settings of Staten Island and New Jersey and employing a total of 50 actors, the scenes were filmed at a variety of locations including restaurants, hotels, parks, apartments, and the street.
MRKTworks Charity Auction Program
Available Online 2 Weeks Prior To The Fair & On Exhibit Floor During Fair Hours
Opens 4:30PM Thursday, October 4 | Closes 4:30PM Sunday, October 21
In an effort to integrate our fair into the landscape of art institutions in Houston and give back to the community, we have developed a program called MRKTworks. The MRKTworks program is, at its core, an online/live auction for non-profits sponsored by Texas Contemporary and its dealers that will launch two weeks prior to the fair. The program will feature individual works donated by participating dealers to several key arts non-profits from Houston.
We are proud to present our MRKTworks beneficiaries: ArtBridge Houston, Art League Houston, Aurora Picture Show, Blaffer Art Museum, DiverseWorks and Lawndale Art Center.
To see and/or bid on the MRKTworks Auctions visit
www.txcontemporary.com/texas/mrktworks.
Pyramids of Conscience, Agnes Denes
Presented by Ballroom Marfa
Agnes Denes' Pyramids of Conscience are powerful monuments that metaphorically and theoretically encapsulate our world's most precious resource. Pyramid I is filled with tap water from Marfa, Pyramid II is filled with polluted water from the Rio Grande River, Pyramid III is filled with recycled motor oil, symbolically referencing water as a commodity, and Pyramid IV is constructed of mirrors, which reflect ourselves. Not only do the pyramids create profound relationships between the natural and unnatural state of water, they also bring one full circle in comprehending Denes' emphasis for understanding human existence through the perfect form of a pyramid.
Well Division, Travis Somerville
Presented by Catharine Clark Gallery
Inspired by the famous photograph showing a refrigerated drinking fountain designated for WHITES sharing the same plumbing with a porcelain fountain for COLOREDS, Somerville has created his own set of water fountains loosely based on the 2000 census and in anticipation of changes for the 2010 census. Over each fountain is a label and inside each sink is a stereotypical image associated with that group.
A Sentimental Tree Reminisces, Gina Phillips
Presented by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
The forms will be constructed out of textiles. The largest form will be a custom made tree that will wrap around all three sides of a massive structural column. Interspersed among the spaces of the branches and the spaces between the ground and the branches will be various sized “thought bubbles” which will represent nostalgic scenes from the tree’s past. Other components of the installation will include cut-out forms of animals, clouds and teeth. These three components are meant to represent the tree’s past, present and future.
WV 745 & WV 716, Herbert Mehler
Presented by Lausberg Contemporary
The inspiration for Herbert Mehler’s artwork comes from organic, natural matter such as fruits and seeds. The sculptures serve as a play between light fluid shapes and the seemingly insurmountable weight of the material. At the same time, the rhythmic, fan-like structure strongly suggests architectural and man-made forms. At the same turn the rhythm of the corten-steel forms evoke the serene undulating forms of the changing tides or mountain landscapes. It is this ambivalence between the natural and the man-made that makes Mehler’s works so captivating. These sculptures are from Mehler’s KAVEX series (2003- 2009).
Cord, Colby Bird
Presented by Lora Reynolds Gallery
Colby Bird’s sculptures are minimal and precarious exercises in balance, comprised of commercially abundant materials—chair parts, fruit, lumber. While his work may appear to be elegant and effortless, he goes to painstaking lengths to create this illusion. Bird’s work carves out a space between high art and youthful insouciance.
Roadside Attractions, OKAY MOUNTAIN
Presented by Mark Moore Gallery
As part of the Diane Marek Visiting Artist Series, Roadside Attractions (2011) - by artist collective OKAY MOUNTAIN (Austin, TX) - was commissioned for the Cress Gallery of Art at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. The sculpture, which is as much a print project as it is a sculpture, draws upon the mythology and quirkiness of different categories of roadside attractions, some more or less substantial, some more or less believable, all for the purpose of delighting and confounding the expectations of the browser and would-be tourist. The brochures themselves, all one hundred designed by the members of the collective, mimic the discordant imagery and incongruous information often found in a typical visiting center brochure rack, a place where do-it-yourself and professional design are forced to cohabit. The printed works – like the brochures they are drawn upon – are free to take by the viewing public, giving Roadside Attractions something of a performative life outside the institutional setting where it originates.
The Sky Is the Limit, Kim Beck
Presented by Mixed Greens
Kim Beck is excited to present an installation of light boxes from her skywriting project, “The Sky Is the Limit.” These backlit prints capture a series of messages taken from advertising--Space Available, All Sales Final, Everything Must Go--as they were drawn in the sky over Pittsburgh. The phrases, both exciting and portentous, indicate fantastic sales and business closings. The available space advertised is, of course, the most potent symbol of longing in the landscape: the sky. When loosed from paper signs and billboards, the texts evoke open-ended poetic phrases that, as evanescent marks in the sky, gradually fade back into air.
Revival Wall, Eric Beltz
Presented by Morgan Lehman
Derived from the sampler patterns of his Elementary Forces series, Eric Beltz will install a unique 9’ x 12’ wall drawing for Texas Contemporary. This series uses the grid-map of cross-stitch to create eye-popping illusions in his signature grayscale palette. Bringing these drawings out of the frame and into monumental scale is a first for Beltz.
Kingdom Come, Dan Douke
Presented by Peter Mendenhall Gallery
"Kingdom Come" is a 2012 painting by Daniel Douke composed of sixteen separate stretched canvases, representing two large shipping crates, one atop the other. The five-sided painting is hand crafted-- everything that meets the eye is made with paint. The labels are all hand lettered, the wood texture , the scrapes, and smudges all hand painted. The question "is this real" is central to his endeavors. Douke's answers seamlessly blend notions of painting and sculpture, realism and abstraction, and representation and reality.
#hcpinteractive
Presented by Houston Center for Photography
Houston Center for Photography is proud to present an interactive digital installation, "#hcpinteractive", co-curated by Theresa Escobedo and Libbie Masterson of HCP, and Engineered by Travis McCarra and DSGNFRDG design group. HCP members and invitees will be able to upload their images, in real time, from all over the world. These images will be displayed on a series of monitors on view in the Texas Contemporary Fair. This is open to participation.
Lode Runner, Mike Beradino
Presented by Emergency Room
This work is a virtual currency-mining rig, utilizing a computer that is dedicated to the production of a type of money called BitCoin. These BitCoins are collected, then exchanged for real gold, resulting in a sculpture that produces a growing pile of gold. Emergency Room is an emerging artist project space in the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts, Rice University.
Vulpecula, JULES BUCK JONES
Presented by DUTTON, Austin
Jules Buck Jones' kinetic installation acts as a counterpoint to the gallery booth setting. A forest-like environment appears aware and alive as video projections and moving scrolls of intricately painted forest imagery slowly move behind forms that recede and advance into the forest - an entrancing, multi-layered optical push and pull. Jones draws on the duality of our relationship with our natural environment - we subjugate and worship nature - surround ourselves with its imagery while distancing ourselves from it. Vulpecula evokes sentient force in nature, myths of forest gods, apocalyptic fantasies, and fear of a vengeful natural world.
Layer Cake, Ann Wood
Presented by Art League Houston
Art League Houston is pleased to present Layer Cake, a site-specific installation by Galveston-based artist Ann Wood, which combines animal decoys with a variety of media including yarn, pom poms, faux flora and fauna, puffy paint, rubber, resin, push pins and sequins to explore themes of beauty and decay, seduction and perversion, attraction and repulsion. “I use a lot of animal forms, and reference Spanish and Dutch Still Lifes, and I use a lot of casting materials like plastic, foam, rubber, to coat objects and make them look cake-like or almost like utopiary I am really into attraction/repulsion, things that look yummie, for lack of a better term, but then are taxidermy mannequins”, said Ann.
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