Untitled Art Houston Hosts 98 Galleries, Sees Strong Sales

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The second edition of Untitled Art, Houston features 98 galleries at the George R. Brown Convention Center, marking an 11 percent increase from the inaugural edition's 88 exhibitors. The fair is on view until October 4. Approximately one-fifth of participating galleries this year originate from Texas, with a notable presence of Houston-based establishments.

Among the returning Texas galleries are established Houston names like Inman Gallery, McClain Gallery, Moody Gallery, and Sicardi Ayers Bacino. Younger local galleries such as Laura (the gallery) and Seven Sisters, both from Houston, and Martha's from Austin, are also participating. Notably, all five Dallas-based exhibitors from last year are absent from this edition. The fair has also drawn international participants, including Kaufmann Repetto, which operates in New York and Milan and is sharing a stand with Anton Kern Gallery, and Nara Roesler, with locations in New York, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo.

Sales from the VIP preview on Thursday, October 1, provided an early look at the market for artists with strong ties to Texas. Moody Gallery sold Mary McCleary's Earth Felt the Wound for $80,000. McClain Gallery placed Dorothy Hood's Tixo in the Morning with a new local collector for $95,000.

Night Gallery from Los Angeles reported selling multiple works by Houston-based artist Tomashi Jackson to local collectors, with prices ranging from $80,000 to $100,000. Richard Saltoun Gallery, which has spaces in London, New York, and Rome, sold paintings by Bea Scaccia for $15,000 to $40,000 to both new and international clients. Los Angeles-based galleries Megan Mulrooney and Feia both sold out their stands during the VIP preview, while Laura (the gallery), PFA Gallery from Washington, DC, the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and Night Gallery reported near sell-outs.

Houston-based art adviser Katharine B. Barthelme noted the preview day had“good energy.” She also commented that the new floor plan at the George R. Brown Convention Center improved the fair's flow, making it feel more open despite the increased number of exhibitors. Barthelme stated:“They've really been able to get people excited about an art fair, which is hard, and George R. Brown is not necessarily a sexy space. We were probably a little trigger shy about having a fair come through, but I do think that Michael [Slenske, the fair's director,] and his team did a really good job of courting Houston.”

The fair's focus on Houston comes as the city's art scene continues to gain prominence. Houston is home to major institutions, including the Menil Collection, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Contemporary Art Museum Houston. The city also benefits from a long-standing tradition of philanthropy and robust support for the arts from its substantial donor community. Beyond institutions and collectors, Houston offers artists a rare combination of space to work, opportunities for experimentation, and a relatively low-cost environment conducive to building and sustaining an artistic community, features increasingly scarce in other large American art centers.

Fair director Michael Slenske observed an openness in the city. Slenske stated:“That's the problem with the art world right now, people are jaded. I think we need to go back to basics in a lot of ways. Why are we all in this? Let's start with artists, let's start with projects to be inspired by. When I got into the art world, it was fun.”

The fair's programming reflects this local character and enthusiasm. A section inspired by artists' markets highlights Houston's DIY culture, offering smaller, more accessible works that visitors can purchase and take home. Tessa Granowski, founder of the nomadic Dallas gallery Nature of Things, brought this spirit directly to the fair with a dual-artist stand featuring two artists with strong Houston ties. Painter Cody Ledvina, raised in Houston, works as an archivist at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, a nonprofit known for local folk-art sites like the Orange Show Monument and the Beer Can House, which was started in the 1960s by John Milkovisch, who covered his Rice Military home with approximately 50,000 beer cans. The Orange Show Center also organizes the annual Art Car Parade, which photographer Harrod Blank has documented for decades. Blank is also known in the horror film community for his role in the 1988 cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Nature of Things is selling his photographs of Houston art cars.

Granowski described the artists. Granowski stated:“Harrod and Cody are extremely dynamic people who have a lot going on beyond what you would see just in their artwork, which I always find makes for a more interesting outfit. Energetically, Cody and Harrod were the most Houston people I could think of.”

This marks Ledvina's first art fair appearance. Granowski highlighted the extensive range of materials in his work, including paint, leather, watercolor, rocks, wire, clay, ink, and colored pencil. Similarly, Blank's photographs of the Art Car Parade showcase the resourcefulness of participants who use materials like feathers, found trash, intricate ironwork, and cowhide to adorn their vehicles. No item on the Nature of Things stand is priced above $4,000.

Granowski characterized Houston's art community. Granowski stated:“Houston has artists who are art-obsessed, and they find a lot of joy in the investigation and obsession of art, a lot of artists that don't separate art from their life. It's a very funky and free scene.” She cited Houston artist Mark Flood, whose fair stand features canvases leaning against walls, resembling a studio. She described Flood as a“living legend” who“sets the tone for Houston [where] the only rule is to break all the rules.”

Granowski attributes this aesthetic freedom partly to the environment. Granowski stated:“There's a sort of looseness, which I think comes from extremely oppressive humidity most of the year. And no zoning really feeds into the cowboy spirit.”

Houston's unique absence of comprehensive, citywide zoning laws has also offered practical advantages for artists. The affordability of space allows artists to maintain studios and has fostered DIY spaces in old warehouses, strip malls, and residential areas. Ledvina views this freedom as a core aspect of the city's appeal. Ledvina stated:“There's nothing written in stone here, nothing. For better or worse, things are torn down. But it's also reinvented every ten years. This place allows you to own a piece of Houston culture, as opposed to places, I lived in London for some time, where it owns you.”

Ledvina also connects the city's artistic character to its history as a hub for the global energy industry. Ledvina stated:“It's a f***ing crazy place. There's still a lot of cowboy in it. There's a lot of prospecting as an energy town. That embeds itself in other elements. It takes chances on big projects or interesting artists; it's not self-serious. In fact, it should probably be more self-serious, and it's evolved organically into this amazing place.”

Houston's energy wealth has historically shaped its collecting community, from the de Menil family to contemporary collectors with industry ties, such as Leigh and Reggie Smith and Judy Nyquist, who attended the VIP opening. This combination of wealth, proven philanthropic support, institutional infrastructure, affordable space, and an independent-minded artist community gives Houston a distinctive position within the broader art industry.

Laura Burton, founder of Laura (the gallery), commented on the city's appeal. Burton stated:“I think people want a little bit of that Texas magic. My artists are always really excited about coming and showing here.”

Source: The Art Newspaper

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