The FOG rolls in: Coming off the most important and alluring Dallas Art Fair yet — we’re happy to report that year four’s sales were off the charts — news has hit of another significant endeavor by Fair co-founders John Sughrue and Chris Byrne. The duo has been invited by SFMOMA to take their Fair smarts, integrity and commitment to the West coast — San Francisco, to be precise — to organize a design fair that is less than a year away. FOG (don’t you love this name?) will unveil January 16 to 20, 2013, at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion within the glorious green space of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Birdies: We’re mad for a triumvirate of exhibitions at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC) all underscoring environmental issues. Houston talent Daniel-Kayne solos with a new statement piece about water, while headliner Billy Hassell goes to the birds. Staunch Texan Hassell’s latest canvases have an Asian feel and balance between figuration and patterning — exquisitely realized here in “Watershed.” Completing the trio is California Bay artist Carol Salter, whose staged photographs and videos subtly star taxidermied fauna (through May 19).
Prepare Your Paddles: Heritage Auctions’ modern and contempo man, Frank Hettig, is plotting an exceptional auction for May 22, stocked with a trove of Warhols, from a timeless Marilyn to a sassy Superman. Also watch for an early David Bates still life from 1984 and a nice little Basquiat painting on paper, plus a side of Cuban art (Preview May 19 – 22; ha.com).
IMAGE: Billy Hassell’s Brown Pelican, Turbulent Sea II, 2011, at The MAC