The Friends Fair in Austin will be the latest event to join the art world’s packed calendar when the inaugural edition was released on May 15.
The new fair has been a group of five Austin galleries creatives, including Gredake, Evester Contemporary, Martha, Martha, McLennon Pencil Company and North-South-South-South-South-A year ago, an informal gallery association was created about a year ago to make it more collaborative. Under the banner of Friends of the Gallery (FOG), they initially started hosting events in their own galleries and other Austin venues for collectors and customers.
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“We all have different styles, but we all thoughtfully about our programming,” said dealer Jill McLennon.
Friendship from the fog event has led them to attend more formal annual events. Martha’s co-founder Ricky Morales told Artnews. “We think: How do we do a bigger thing, once a year, and on the same page, everyone can make it possible for everyone to do it?”
The first edition of the fair will consist of five fog members from outside Austin and five galleries: 12.26 (Dallas and Los Angeles), Dutton (New York) (New York), Half Gallery (New York), Inman Gallery (Houston) and Megan Mulrooney Gallery (Los Angeles). The fair will also include a room organized by independent curator Taylor Danielle Davis and a room organized for Austin-based nonprofit Sage Studio.
Dealer Megan Mulrooney told Artnews By email. “We are not only excited to be part of its ever-evolving art world, but we are excited to join our friends to showcase emerging contemporary artists to young Texas collectors. We are ready to participate in the spirit of the Texas border.”
Morales said they wanted to “start smaller, more grassroots” to “work kinks before we expand,” and are often considered a test of the longevity of the fair. Martha attended the Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles last month, and Morales said he has gained interest from several gallery in his second year.
Like Felix or the nearby Dallas Invitational, Friends Fair will also be located in a hotel, the new Loren Hotel Austin, which overlooks Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin. Morales said the group chose the location because the Loren Hotel has artwork curated by art consultant Penny Aaron and funded the 2023 murals created in contemporary Austin, Manik Raj Nakra, who “shows that they are dedicated to the art world in Austin, which is our choice.”
The Texas release is the latest sign of the state’s art market. Last year, an expo was untitled in Miami Beach, announcing an expo to be held in Houston in September this year. Dallas already owns the Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas Invitational in April.
“The untitled coming to Houston makes us say we have to do that right now,” Morales said. “We think we can’t wait for that and we need to make sure Austin is here to represent our contemporary scene.”
Works by Andy Coolquitt.
©Andy Coolquitt/Petitive Artist and McLennong Pen Company.
Austin’s contemporary art world is only growing, even if it’s much smaller than the art worlds in Dallas and Houston. Morales said the scene is little known because of the city’s long link to live music, but “Austin has a rich history of visual arts.” He hopes the fair will change that, adding: “We have seen Austin’s demand for visual arts.”
McLennon of McLennon Pen Co. agrees: “We’ve been talking about how to develop Austin’s art world and take it to the next level as it’s penetrating and growing rapidly.”
After 17 years in New York, she moved to Austin in late 2022, where she worked for Andrea Rosen and Galerie Eva Presenhuber of Sotheby’s. After feeling tired during the lockdown, she is looking for change. She visited Austin and quickly connected with other dealers in the city who encouraged her to open a store.
“Austin feels like it’s growing and changing so quickly, and it’s really attractive and exciting for me, maybe part of the next chapter of a place,” she said.
She moved in late 2022 and opened the gallery of McLennong Pen Company within a few months. The gallery’s first exhibition, “Just Friends,” includes artists including Korakrit Arunanondchai, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Borna Sammak, Ryan Trecartin, Chloe Wise and Jordan Wolfson. “With my plan, I wanted to make sure to bring the artists from the international stage to Austin,” she said. Two years later, McLennon has already planned to move to a larger commercial space in the near future.
One of Austin attracts McLennon is its tech world thriving. Several companies, including Dell, Tito, Yeti and Whole Foods, are also located in the city. She and her colleagues hope to use that young energy and turn it into a collector.
“It’s a very young city with people we can make them lifelong collectors,” she said. “I’m so excited every time I meet a new person who told me that this is the first painting they’ve ever bought.”
Technically, Austin received its first fair last year at the Affordable Art Fair, which sold for less than $10,000. The Mist Group chose a May date to align with the event, with the aim of “providing Austin with a different view of the art fairs at our gallery, so several different versions of contemporary art can be seen in Austin.”
He added: “What one can expect is young galleries, fresh sounds, new perspectives in a city that already has a lot of historical art. Now, we want to show what we have from a visual perspective.”
