A Big Ol’ Texas Art Fair
Ain't nuthin' wrong with pretty!
Howdy folks! It has been a few weeks since my last post. I was spring breaking with my family and then needed a hot second to get re-situated in my routine. And now I’m off again on a little adults-only vacay to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, which means I’m missing Dallas this week/weekend. I loved Dallas last year (both the main Dallas Art Fair as well as the Dallas Invitational happening concurrently) and would highly recommend the trip as good beginner fairs if you are wanting to get on that circuit. It is small enough to not feel overwhelming but expansive enough to get a good taste of a lot of different things that are happening in the art world. Additionally, I say it is a good beginner fair because I feel like it is curated to cater toward the collector who is not buying bananas duct-taped to a wall. Much of the work hits that sweet spot between looking pretty but also having something to say. And the price points span the spectrum so it feels like there is something for everybody. It really is the perfect amuse-bouche to EXPO Chicago at the end of April, which would be the appetizer for Frieze in NYC in May, which would be the main course to Miami Art Week’s dessert course (la grande finale, if you will). Anyway, I’d recommend putting it on your calendar for this time next year. I plan to be there and would love to have some company. (Hint hint, wink wink.)
On the note of looking pretty while having something to say, I would like to take a moment to address the fact that there is nothing wrong with pretty art. It is okay to be a collector of contemporary art and also want that art to be pretty. You don’t have to live with edgy. raunchy, difficult art to appreciate it. Time and place, yall, time and place. And I would say that this is my spec-ee-ality—pretty art that ain’t decorative art.
So for this week’s installment of Art I Saw and Liked, I am going to share some of my favorite pretty-but-also-has-something-to-say art and artists (all under $10k of course) that are showing in Dallas right now. (And just to remind you, the Impressionists were criticized in their own time for being pretty and decorative and it turns out they had much more to say than anyone thought. So, I’ll just leave that nugget with you there…)
As a reminder, if you would like to attend an art fair, let me know! I have plans to be in Chicago April 24-25 and NYC May 6-9 but I can be easily persuaded to visit almost any venue. I will have more fair dates for Q3 and Q4 later on. We can do IRL or FaceTime. Let me know what you’re thinking with the form, a good ol’ fashioned email or send me a message.
Ok, onward to the art, mi amigos!
Tammi Campbell
I am almost positive I have talked about Tammi on this platform before but I like to sing her praises every chance I get. I met her in New York last May on the occasion of her solo show at Anat Ebgi and had the pleasure of an extended conversation with her about her work and practice. She is one of the best in the biz at merging the pretty with the technical with the thematic. And she does so with humor and grace. Some might call her a feminist but I would probably more generally classify her as an activist for canonical inclusion, as if to say, “We should always revere and show gratitude for the (male) luminaries of the mid-century, but now it is time to make space on the wall for a new generation of voices that includes all perspectives.” She’s showing this wonderful bubble-wrapped Andy Warhol with Blouin Division in Dallas this weekend. (This particular one, being quite large, is over $10k but one could easily acquire one of her smaller works for well within this range.)
Sean Weisgerber
Sean Weisgerber is a new-to-me artist and also happens to be showing with Blouin Division in Dallas this week. His work centers on the intersection of art and commerce and commodification of art. It also happens to be really well painted and very cool in any style decor. You can calculate the price for yourself…
Kevin Ford
Kevin Ford asks us to question the very objects before our eyes. In his hands, the process of first looking, then seeing, and finally knowing becomes tenuous. “Ford’s objects (often corporeal, comical, and overlooked) are rendered as barely there- inhabiting space between a glance, observation, and memory. One object bleeds into another, mimicking the visual slippage of internal images. His paintings’ soft focus simultaneously alludes to the atmospheric sfumato of Renaissance pictorial space, the narrow depth of field of photographic images, and the pixelization that occurs as one zooms in on a digital image. Ford draws on a wide range of visual traditions and histories as he explores the very immediate act of looking.” In a time when it is difficult to trust the very institutions we once relied upon for facts, this work feels all the more relevant. Plus he’s got the academic pedigree and CV to back it up. Yale MFA, yall. We call that Context. Kevin Ford is showing in a 3-person presentation with Tops Gallery from Memphis. (BTDubs, this work is V affordable…)
(On the subject of Tops Gallery, they are also presenting Mamie Tinkler who is a perennial favorite. Her colors are positively luminous but some might find the imagery to be difficult, which is why I didn’t include her in the official list. There was a little watercolor of hers at Abattoir in Cleveland a while ago and it was the one that got away. Poor moi.)
Katie Butler
Katie Butler is an Akron-based artist who will be included in the group presentation from Hesse Flatow. Hesse Flatow is a hotbed for great up-and-comers, FYI. Katie’s work is always expertly crafted, fusing tenants of historical genres that boast photographic precision like Dutch still life and Renaissance interiors with other genres that turn these very principles on their head. Think Cubism and Surrealism. Commenting on the financial disparities of American society, Butler’s deeply seeded art historical references allow the work to be both beautiful to look at and to contemplate. It’s brilliant is what it is. (And again, we are comfortably under $10k here.)
As a reminder, I will be attending fairs in Chicago April 24-25 and in New York May 6-9. If you have always wanted to got a fair but would like a chaperone for your maiden voyage, fill out this form or just send me a good ol’ email. I’d love to show you the ropes either IRL or on FaceTime.
Sean Weisgerber, Price Per Square Inch series, 2023, Acrylic on linen, 46 x 55 in.
Kevin Ford, Seagull 22, 2025, Acrylic on panel, 10 x 9 in
