What Houston has long needed is a world class art fair to put the city’s significant creative scene back in the national cultural conversation. After two previous competing art fairs came and went, Houston was left with an art void, and the Bayou City collecting community seemed to plateau. Now — with the increased footprint of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston campus; the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston acquiring more land; the Orange Show energized with artist Jack Massing as director; and the upcoming $2 billion expansion of George R. Brown Convention Center with plans for an adjoining 30-acre downtown park; plus a slate of new gallerists — Houston seems poised for visual liftoff. But about that art fair. . .
Enter Untitled Art, Houston, a much-anticipated edition of the respected and buzzy Untitled Art, Miami Beach, held every December to align with Art Basel fair time in Florida. For the new Houston art fair — Untitled’s only fair outside of Miami — expect 50 to 60 galleries, from Texas dealers to internationals, showcased in a four-day fair. It all will unfurl next year with a VIP preview on Thursday, September 18, followed by fair days Friday, September 19 through Sunday, September 21 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Confirmed exhibitors for this new Houston art fair so far are Texas dealers Seven Sisters (Houston) and 12.26 (Dallas), joined by nationals Jessica Silverman Gallery (San Francisco), Various Small Fires (Los Angeles, Seoul, Dallas), Megan Mulrooney (Los Angeles), and Half Gallery (New York City, Los Angeles), with Seven Sisters, 12.26 and Megan Mulrooney appearing in the Nest section for emerging galleries. Untitled has tapped PaperCity as the new fair’s media sponsor.
