Houston Fine Art Fair Moves to the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston

HFAF Established Itself as the Premiere Art Event in the South/Southwestern Region

The third annual HFAF will move to the George R. Brown Convention Center, the site of its inception in 2011. Moving back to GRB, a more central downtown location than last year’s Reliant Center, is expected to stimulate more fair attendee participation from scores of nearby large corporations. It will also give the fair closer hotel options as well as more space to expand with sculptures and installations.

The Top Collectors’ Converge

In 2012, 80 national and international dealers from 11 countries benefited from the record turnout of 12,000 fair attendees. Opening night generated a substantial 3,000 hi-powered art patrons. As the popular online site, Culturemap Houston put it “With such a commanding turnout of the city’s top rung movers and shakers, the night was as much about social interacting as it was about artful shopping”. The Chron said, “An enthusiastic crowd of about 3,000 filled the aisles, and plenty opened their wallets. More than a half-dozen of the 80 dealers exhibiting said they made sales in the first hour.

HFAF has grown into a citywide event

Over 40 of the leading museums and art institutions in the greater Houston and Texas region teamed up with the fair. In our efforts to position HFAF as the anchor event of the region, the 2013 edition will again be supported by a strong contingent of museums and art institutions locally and from throughout the south and southwest regions.

Showing the Best of the Americas

The Bayou City has a large well-budgeted and influential collector base committed to acquiring the best in Latin American art. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and its collector group, The Maecenas, are actively involved in purchasing and promoting this genre of art. With two airports, Houston is a primary access and tourist point for Latin Americans visiting the United States. Houston and HFAF has emerged as America’s new art buying hub, ranging from cutting edge and mid career contemporary to Geometric Abstraction, Minimalist masters and Latin American art.

Discover Why Houston is the Third Largest Art Buying Market in America

With 100 museums, a booming economy powered by the energy sector, a thriving gallery scene and a strong and influential base of serious collectors and patrons, the city remains an ideal and untapped art fair destination. Houston currently is the fourth largest city population in America, challenging Chicago for the third spot.

A Rigorous Selection Process

HFAF reflects Houston’s sophisticated and diverse collecting practices, where fair attendees will encounter an international selection of works in all media from post-war to present. Some 80 distinctive exhibitors from across the US, Latin America and Europe will be selected to exhibit. In efforts to present the highest caliber of art, The Selection Committee is currently accepting applications.

In addition to full sized booths, the fair offers two other smaller options. The Focus section is devoted to solo artist exhibits. Fahrenheit section presents new and upcoming galleries. Apply online.

For detailed information, contact HFAF Sales Director Andrew Horodysky at andrew@hegshows.com, or Group Sales Director, Rich Ferrante at rich@hegshows.com

HOUSTON FINE ART FAIR EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
12,000 Attended ∙ Millions of Dollars Changed Hands

HOUSTON, TX (September 20, 2012) –The second annual Houston Fine Art Fair (HFAF) exceeded expectations with more than 12,000 people attending Sept. 13-16, 2012 at Reliant Center. Opening Night alone garnered 3,000 visitors and benefitted The Core Program of the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

More than 2,000 works, from 500 respected artists, were offered from 80 galleries representing 12 countries and 34 cities, thus establishing this Fair as the largest in the Southwest Region. World-renowned collectors, curators and art patrons, from the experienced to the novice, culled through the array of paintings, drawings, print editions, installations, sculpture, and photography. Attendees and exhibitors alike buzzed about the new location’s smart layout of open aisles and dramatic 12-foot high walls.

“This year we defined HFAF as a Texas-based Fair, reflecting Houston’s collecting population,” said Rick Friedman, Fair Organizer and President of Hamptons Expo Group. “The Fair walked the line between Southern, Western, and Latin viewpoints.”

To enhance the fairgoers’ experience, the Fair staged several awe-inspiring public installations. MFAH Core Factor displayed the works of 12 now prominent alumni. Crowds assembled around the monumental thread installation, Plexus C-5 by Gabriel Dawes, an illusionary rainbow built from 13 miles of thread attached to 2 walls. The most talked about display was the Director of the Glassell School of Art, Joseph Havel’s mind-blowing installation “Hope”, consisting of 30,000 shirt labels with the word Hope, meticulously pinned and covering a 20 ft. wall, presented by Hiram Butler Gallery.

The tone of the Fair was a mix of cutting-edge, established artists and the masters. New elements to the Fair included HFAF Fahrenheit, featuring galleries that are younger than 5 years-old and HFAF Focus, showcasing a single artist’s work. Twenty-five cultural institutions, throughout the state were represented.

The Fair introduced ARTWEEK, a series of off-site events that included the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Menil House, the new Asia Society Texas Center and collectors’ dinners in patrons’ homes. ARTWEEK and the Fair’s three-day lecture program created an “art happening” for world-renowned collectors, curators, dealers and attendees.

Multiple sales were rampant, including Cernuda Arte, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, Devin Borden Gallery, Flowers Gallery, Hiram Butler Gallery, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Kopeikin Gallery, Margaret Thatcher Projects, Pan American Art Projects, Pictura Gallery, Sammer Gallery LLC, The Mission, ULAE and Von Lintel Gallery.

Big name sales included Carlos Cruz Diez, Fernando Botero, Robert Rauschenberg, Eric Fischl, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Cy Twombly, Robert Motherwell, Patrick Hughes and Lisa Yuskavage. Other important Latin American artists included Maria Freire, Antonio Llorens, Manuel Alvaraz, Sameer Makarius, Hugo De Marziani, Ana Sacerdote, Jose Gurvich, and Carmelo Arden Quin. Mid-career and up and comers sales were represented by Andy Burgess, Joseph Cohen, Adrian Guerrero, Klari Reis, Alex Cao, John Adelman, Sara Frantz, Geoff Hippenstiel, Kazumasa Noguchi, Eric Forstmann , Terrell James, Omar Chacon, Kim Luttrell, David Bates, Gustavo Diaz, and Zac Freeman.

Fair Organizer and President of Hamptons Expo Group Management, Rick Friedman, serves as the Executive Director of the HFAF. Melissa Grobmyer and Janet Hobby, partners of Houston’s MKG Art Management, served as this Fair’s Show Advisors and Fran Kaufman served as this year’s Creative Consultant.

Media Contacts:
Marta Fredricks, Marta@dpwpr.com
Kim Stinebaker, Kim@dpwpr.com
Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations, 713-224-9115

Executive director Rick Friedman, creative consultant Fran Kaufman and local advisers Melissa Grobmyer and Janet Hobby were beaming as exhibitors, collectors and artists congratulated them on the fair’s smart layout, mix of booth types (for internationally known galleries as well as emerging spaces) and diverse, quality offerings.

For some, long bar lines were the only beef about the return of one of the biggest art fairs. Barbara Davis was among those applauding the move to Reliant Center from the George R. Brown. “It feels so much more 21st century,” she said.

“It’s about time we have something like this,” said Lucinda Loya, who frequents major fairs such as Art Basel Miami and the New York Armory Show. Loya and her husband, Javier Loya, were among the crowd of about 3,000 on opening night.

A stellar crowd of visiting dealers and VIP collectors were wined and dined for days during a slew of private parties dubbed ArtWeek that took them from prime venues such as the Asia Society Texas Center to posh private homes. And the festivities weren’t just for night crawlers.

Sicardi Gallery’s Maria Ines Sicardi, Allison Ayers and Carlos Bacino hosted a fab breakfast to honor Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Latin-American curator Mari Carmen Ramirez at their sleek new building, and Judy Nyquist and Lee Ellis hosted the fun, informal “Big A$ Breakfast” at the Glassell School of Art. See the slide show.

Source: Houston Chronicle | Sep. 16 2012

Photo by Julie Knutson. Devorah Sperber, After Picasso, 2006, 5024 spools of thread, aluminum ball chain, clear acrylic spheres and steel stand, courtesy of Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Those who attended the bustling opening night party for the Houston Fine Art Fair won’t be surprised to hear that the second annual art show broke last year’s attendance numbers, starting with a whopping 3,000 on opening night.

In its new digs at the Reliant Center, the HFAF for its duration squeezed in more than 12,000 art aficionados — an increase of roughly 2,000 attendees as compared to the fair’s 2011 debut at the George R. Brown. This year’s move to a slightly larger venue saw higher booth walls and wider interior avenues, easily absorbing the extra guests and improving the overall flow. A recent HFAF press release estimates that sales at Reliant reached well into the millions.

“One of our major efforts in Houston is to try to expand the art market and I think that definitely happened this year at Reliant,” noted fair organizer Rick Friedman.

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback about the new space,” fair organizer Rick Friedman told CultureMap.

“One of our major efforts in Houston is to try to expand the art market and I think that definitely happened this year at Reliant. There were about 25,000 people in the building last weekend for the Metropolitan Cooking Show and the Home and Garden Show. It was a great chance to have people walk by and discover some new art.”

Numberwise, the fair boasted 80 galleries from 12 countries and 34 cities. On display were more than 2,000 pieces of art from 500 nationally and internationally-recognized artists. A few phone calls around the Houston gallery world revealed rave reviews as far as sales were concerned.

“The show ended up being a great opportunity for us to build our base of local collectors,” said Zoya Tommy, who owns PG Contemporary in Midtown. “We’re still a rather new gallery, so we were able to get a smaller 12-by-12 booth as part of the fair’s Fahrenheit program for young galleries.”

After such a positive run, Tommy said she plans to attend the next Dallas Art Fair and has her sights set on Art Basel Miami Beach in the near future.

“The show ended up being a great opportunity for us to build our base of local collectors,” said Zoya Tommy, who owns PG Contemporary in Midtown.

“This was our first time showing at the fair and we had a fantastic few days,” said David Hardaker of the Avis Frank Gallery, which hosted a booth dedicated to the work of Houston artist Joseph Cohen. “I think every major collector and museum person in Houston came by our booth. We’re still getting sales from the show, in fact.”

To coincide with the fair, Hardaker’s gallery also mounted a successful show of work by Benito Heurta, the renowned Texas artist whose work was on display in Cheech Marin’s HFAH booth of contemporary Latin American art.

“This is one of the few shows in the country that shows a balance of art from all across the Americas . . . north and south,” said Friedman. “Houston is emerging as a premier market for Latin American art and it’s only getting stronger.”

Source: culturemap Houston | Sep. 23, 2012

Despite more mixed, and less fact-filled anecdotes about the fair’s performance from visitors and participating galleries, everyone liked the wider aisles and 12-foot high walls.
Source: Glasstire | Sep 23, 2012

Portrait is just one of the works that the Peter Fetterman Gallery will have on display at the Houston Fine Art Fair. During the fair’s four-day run at the George R. Brown Convention Center, some 80 galleries will be showing contemporary work from established and emerging artists in a variety of mediums, from painting to sculpture, prints to installations.

There’s an opening-night preview party Thursday for anyone who can’t wait for the fair to open on Friday (and has an extra $100 in their pocket). Artist Donald Sultan will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the evening. Along with the gallery displays, panel discussions by curators, collectors and critics are planned throughout the weekend. Today’s opening-night party is at 6 p.m. $100. Regular fair hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. 1001 Avenida de las Americas.

Source: Houston Press | Sep. 15 2012

HOUSTON — Fans at Minute Maid Park got an unexpected surprise Wednesday when actor and comedian Cheech Marin threw out the ceremonial first pitch while wearing a 1980s-era Astros rainbow jersey.

“They asked me throw out the first pitch, and they paid enough money so here I am,” he joked. Primarily known as an actor, director and performer, Marin has developed the finest private collection of Chicano art in the United States. He was in town for the second annual Houston Fine Art Fair this weekend.

“I’m a collector, but I also love baseball,” said Marin, who grew up as a Dodger fan in Los Angeles but had no problems wearing an Astros jersey. “When in Rome do as the Romans do. I love the Astros.”

Marin said Houston was a popular tour stop in his “Cheech and Chong” comedy days, but not for the reasons you might imagine.

“It has the best combination of good-looking girls and barbecue in the world,” he said.

Source: Astros | Sep., 12 2012