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!