Your Go-To Guide to Houston's Sizzling Galleries
By Catherine Anspon
Concurrent with its world-class museums, Houston boasts a thriving community of more than 60 art galleries that together comprise one of the most dynamic art markets in the country. These significant art spaces, many fueled by the metropolis’ large pool of painters, sculptors, photographers and conceptual talents (Houston ranks among the top cities in the country in its population of working artists) are distinguished both by the quality of their exhibitions and the diversity of their staples.
The city’s top-echelon galleries meld a global outlook with a commitment to Texas talents, offering a healthy mix of emerging to mid-career as well as senior notables. Houston dealers annually participate in international and national art fairs, exhibiting at such prestigious destinations as Art Basel Miami Beach; Artissima in Turin, Italy; ARCO Madrid; Manhattan’s Armory Show; and the Aqua, Pulse and Scope fairs in Miami Beach. Artists represented by Space City gallerists are frequently included in definitive international surveys such as the Whitney Biennial, Venice Biennale, Carnegie International and Istanbul Biennial.
The media shown on Houston gallery walls range from avant-garde digital, video, conceptual and installation work to important blue chip, old masters, outsider and visionary art, craft and studio jewelry, vintage photography, and 19th and 20th century American and European paintings and works on paper. Styles run the gamut from abstract to representational, surreal to hyperreal, traditional to cutting edge. Additionally, many spaces mirror Space City’s internationalism, specializing in offerings from around the globe, including Mexico and Latin America art, aboriginal works of Australia, ancient Asian artifacts, and creations from the African continent.
Houston’s galleries reflect the geographic vitality of the city, fanning out from Gallery Row to mid-town and the Museum District to the near-downtown Washington Avenue-West End Corridor and the Galleria. Most are Inner Loop, located within an easy 15-minute driving radius, making gallery hopping an enjoyable and convenient pursuit. And every July, nearly 40 major galleries come together to host a free, day-into-evening, citywide open house, introducing emerging talents or highlighting established masters. (For information on this annual art trek, ArtHouston, log onto www.ArtHouston.com or call 713.522.9116.)
Art Hopping
Where to begin? Follow our gallery-by-gallery guide for where you need to go to get your art on.
Gallery Row
For more than two decades Gallery Row—at the intersection of Colquitt and Lake Streets––has been home to an exciting enclave of galleries housed door-to-door in a handsome, Arquitectonica-designed postmodern structure. Among Colquitt’s powerhouse dealers are Hooks-Epstein Gallery (in business for more than three decades, with a penchant for contemporary surrealists); Thom Andriola/New Gallery (representing talents from up-and-coming Texas sculptress Tara Conley to hotly collected internationals video artist Michal Rovner and painter Yigal Ozeri); Goldesberry Gallery, Houston's source for contemporary craft; respected photo dealers John Cleary (a significant stop for vintage photography) and newcomer Watermark Fine Art Photographs and Books); McMurtrey Gallery (photo giant Keith Carter debuted there); Moody Gallery (opened 1975, which emphasizes Texas talents such as Whitney Biennial-exhibited, 2006 Texas Artist of the Year Al Souza, known for his Pop jigsaw puzzle paintings); representational destination Dean Day Gallery; new arrival Thornwood Gallery, with its diverse painting and sculpture focus; and Parkerson Gallery, a specialist in the secondary market featuring rare estate finds.
Upper Kirby District
Five minutes north of Colquitt lies the Upper Kirby District, anchored by Meredith Long & Company, the Bayou City’s preeminent blue chip, founded 1957, with a history of exhibiting 19th century American Impressionists (Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent) and contemporary grand masters Helen Frankenthaler and Kenneth Noland. Another River Oaks neighbor, noted dealer Texas Gallery, also features a stellar stable, representing heavy-hitters such as New York-based abstract painters Elizabeth Murray and Jeff Elrod, as well as Ellen Phelan’s lyrical landscapes. Blocks away, Gerhard Wurzer Gallery is all about master prints, showing big names such as Picasso, Chagall, Bonnard, and Miró. Nearby International Décor Gallery is devoted to ancient Asian artifacts, while Archway Gallery, an artist-owned space, is celebrated for its way with clay. Ten minutes by car, off Allen Parkway, the loft-like, recently relocated Bering & James boasts a stable of hometown painters including husband-and-wife owners Austin James and Blakely Bering. The space also represents acclaimed, nationally exhibited Houston furniture artist Kelly Gale Amen.
Richmond Avenue Corridor
East of Colquitt and south of River Oaks and the Upper Kirby District is the Richmond Avenue Corridor, a burgeoning area boasting some of Houston’s most powerful art players. Four major dealers with Richmond Avenue addresses are McClain Gallery (a sophisticated temple to international talents, exhibiting painters Julian Schnabel, Christian Eckart and Andy Moses); next door neighbor Sicardi Gallery, with its esteemed contemporary and historical Latin American stable (an annual exhibitor at Art Basel Miami Beach); minutes away De Santos Gallery, a sleek space dedicated to contemporary photography from the U.S., Europe and Asia; and Rudolph Projects/ArtScan Gallery, (housed in a 1930s era bungalow) known for promoting rising Texas talents and traveling to many of the national art fairs.
Montrose to Museum District
Continuing down Richmond Avenue, you’ll quickly reach the Museum District, a new nexus for gallery action. The must-see stop is 4411 Montrose Gallery Building, home to five galleries (as well as the charming dining nook, Tart Cafe). The soaring, two-storing minimalist structure (designed by internationally known Houston architect Peter Zweig) was unveiled in 2005, featuring top-tier tenants Barbara Davis Gallery, Peel Gallery, Anya Tish Gallery, Joan Wich & Co. Gallery and Wade Wilson Art.
4411’s Barbara Davis is recognized for having her pulse on the international scene (she recently mounted a show for artists from culture capital Leipzig, Germany) as well as a keen eye for emerging talent (she was the first ever to exhibit New York-art star painter Julie Mehretu (a former Core Resident at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Glassell School of Art); Peel Gallery features cutting edge design culled from America, Europe and Asia; Anya Tish has recently expanded her eye from Eastern European to intriguing Texans such as Neva Mikulicz’s multi-media realism: Joan Wich showcases Houston masters including Floyd Newsum’s rhythmic, symbol-laden canvases; and Wade Wilson’s mission is to promote international concrete artists (mid-career notable Joseph Marioni’s powerful monochromes were recently highlighted).
Heading south is Nolan-Rankin Galleries, exhibiting canvases by the vibrant School of Paris painters, then museum area mainstay Harris Gallery, steps from the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Harris offers beguiling realists, including Sebastian Diaz’s exquisite studies of blooming flora and award-winning lensman Peter Brown’s lyrical color images documenting the Great Plains.
Rice University Area
Just south of the Museum District, discover a trio near Rice University. Gremillion & Co. Fine Art represents notables from Philip Guston protégé Gary Komarin’s adroit painted abstractions to Houston collage master John Pavlicek, while the gallery’s Annex specializes in art furniture, and has exhibited American master Wendell Castle. Nearby, Asia Minor in Rice Village shows collectibles and decorative arts (jewelry to glassware) from Turkey, while Bissonnet dealer, Jack Meier Gallery excels as the representational, showing favorites such as Vietnamese-born realist Quong Ho.
Midtown
The booming mid-town area, between downtown and the Museum District, boasts four significant spaces. Gallery Sonja Roesch, housed in an elegant modernist structure, mixes a European and Texas stable characterized by a shared minimalist aesthetic, including emerging Houston visualists painter Melanie Crader and installation artist Mick Johnson. Blocks away in the historic 1920s-era Isabella Courts complex, Inman Gallery and Finesilver Gallery export smart Texas talent to the hip, young art fairs, respectively exhibited in 2006 at Aqua and Pulse in Miami Beach. Five minutes by car, investigate Gite Gallery, representing more than 70 contemporary painters from the African continent, and owned by respected former newsman Lloyd Gite.
Washington Avenue to West End
Fifteen minutes by car from mid-town, and just west of downtown, is the red hot Washington Avenue-West End Corridor, home to an intriguing sextet of gallerists. In the shadows of downtown’s skyscrapers (and enjoying a sublime view) Deborah Colton Gallery, founded in 2004, combines Texas and New York avant-gardists that often share a similar spiritual sensibility. The gallery is sited on the third floor of the edgy compound owned by Houston sculptor legend David Adickes (check out his monumentally scaled presidential heads when you visit). A short drive away in a serene residential neighborhood, Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, the granddaddy of West End gallerists, pairs an understated modern space with a beautiful garden (that often features ethereal sculpture by Houston’s Joe Havel, an important Whitney Biennial-exhibited artist). A restored early 20th century cottage adds to the charm of this art enclave. DBHB is also home to important contemporary masters such as Robert Wilson and Jennifer Bartlett, whose works rub shoulders with sculptures by Texans Darryl Lauster and Dean Ruck.
Minutes from DBHB are Blossom Street Gallery & Sculpture Garden, a quirky artist-owned space that’s a good bet for emerging, homegrown talent and Booker-Lowe Gallery, an important stop for contemporary and aboriginal fine art from Australia, one of the few spaces in the U.S. to focus on this extraordinary collecting field, co-owned by Houston’s honorary consul-general to Australia, Nana Booker. Also in this neighborhood, just west of Shepherd and Durham, are Center Street denizens Poissant Gallery and Mackey Gallery. The former, sited in a converted house of worship (hence the steeple), maintains a commitment to up-and-coming Texas painters, sculptors and photographers, and often features performance happenings in its multi-acre compound. In contrast, the gleaming, futuristic metal façade of Mackey contains cutting edge contemporary art from Latin American and Mexico melded with national visualists such as the LA-based, cartoon confections of the Clayton Brothers.
Houston Heights
Just north of Washington Avenue, discover the Heights, a thriving, restored Victorian era community traditionally home to a number of working artists, and now the site of a gallery boom. Significant stops include Texas art incubators G Gallery and Redbud Gallery, neighbors in a 1940s-era shopping center on 11th Street; and Koelsch Gallery on Yale (owner Franny Koelsch moved to this gleaming, metal-clad structure in October 2006), which specializes in outsider and visionary artists, as well as a healthy dose of jewelry, ceramics, books, and Texas painters. Final Heights destination is Casa Ramirez, representing – and celebrating – America’s Latino culture in the visual arts.
Galleria Area
Wrap up your art trek just outside the 610 West Loop at Off the Wall Gallery, sited in the world-renowned Houston Galleria shopping mecca. At Off the Wall, investigate annual exhibitions highlighting original lithographs from the Impressionist and Belle Epoque periods, as well as contemporary impressionist works by Renoir’s grandson, who annually makes a special appearance. Across the street, Post Gallery boasts works by the very iconic painter and printmaker LeRoy Neiman. Complete your day by traveling back centuries in art history at Cavalier Fine Art (in Decorative Center Houston), owned by prominent antiquaries Carl Moore and Bert Melnick. If your taste runs to Old Masters, Cavalier is the place, stocking Continental canvases from the 17th through early 20th centuries.
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Catherine Anspon is the fine arts editor for PaperCity Houston.
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