What to Collect at Dallas Art Fair, Year 17

An art advisor, collecting couple, and auction-house expert all weigh in on what to ponder at the 2025 Dallas Art Fair, taking place Thursday through Sunday, April 10 through 13, at Fashion Industry Gallery.

Adam Green, founder, Adam Green Art Advisory, on why the Dallas Art Fair is de rigueur for collectors, and which artists he’s steering his clients toward.

Last fall marked the final edition of TWO x TWO, closing a significant chapter in Dallas’ art scene. The focus now turns to the Dallas Art Fair, the most significant event for the city’s visual calendar, offering a crucial platform for galleries to connect with local collectors.

This year also marks the third edition of the Dallas Invitational, a fair at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. The fact that Dallas can sustain two fairs underscores its growing reputation as a serious market.

As regional art ecosystems experience shifts in momentum, Dallas must remain an active and engaged market. The Dallas Art Fair has become central to this effort, giving collectors, institutions, and the broader art community an opportunity to support the city’s cultural growth.

We must support the galleries that choose to exhibit at the fair. This does not mean just buying art, though that is always welcome, but also engaging with galleries, showing interest in their programs, and making them feel welcomed. When galleries have a positive experience in Dallas, they are more likely to bring exceptional works and build long-term relationships with the local collector base and the city.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Dallas Art Fair is the breadth of contemporary art on view, from rising talents to established names. The fair offers a chance to discover fresh voices, many of whom are shaping the future of contemporary art. As an art advisor, I help clients navigate the fair, introduce them to exhibiting galleries, and acquire works that align with their collecting goals. Below are a few of my personal highlights for this year’s fair.

• Emily Mae Smith at Perrotin: Her work was recently included in “He Said/She Said: Contemporary Women Artists Interject” at the Dallas Museum of Art. Smith’s signature broomstick figure, inspired by Disney’s Fantasia, acts as her personal avatar, exploring gender, power dynamics, and identity.

• Celeste Rapone at Josh Lilley Gallery: Rapone is best known for her figurative paintings featuring contorted, exaggerated bodies in complex compositions that blend humor, anxiety, and introspection.

• Ileana García Magoda at Anat Ebgi: Magoda’s paintings explore themes of physical fragility and spiritual transcendence through vibrant, gestural compositions that merge organic shapes with deeply personal narratives.

Collector Sheryl Adkins-Green, who speaks for herself as well as her husband, Geoff Green, on their must-sees at the fair.

• Devin B. Johnson at Nicodim Gallery: The group presentation at Nicodim Gallery seamlessly integrates cultural, sociopolitical, and spiritual undercurrents into their esoteric mix of art and artists, fostering the exploration of new narratives.

We’re particularly excited to witness the work of artist Devin B. Johnson. His paintings masterfully blend abstraction and figuration, creating layered, textural compositions that delve into memory, history, and Black identity. His works often incorporate elements of collage, gesture, and erasure, evoking a sense of transformation and the fluidity of time. It has been said that if Johnson’s work were translated into music, it would undoubtedly be a jazz composition, filled with abstract sounds, riffs, and spontaneity.

• Jann Haworth and Harold Cohen at Gazelli Art House: The inaugural participation of Gazelli Art House at the fair features works from pioneering artists including Derek Boshier, Pauline Boty, Harold Cohen, and Jann Haworth.

Pop icon Jann Haworth is known for her fearless artistic individuality infused with material sensitivity. She’s celebrated as a fierce advocate for female representation in the art world, and her innovative use of diverse media has inspired a broad cross section of artists. 

We’re also eager to view Harold Cohen’s rarely exhibited large-scale figurative paintings. These will be showcased alongside drawings created using AARON, one of the earliest AI programs for autonomous artmaking, and a piece from his Painting Machine series. Cohen was a trailblazer in merging art and code, facilitating his transition from traditional painting to computational creativity. Fast forward to today, the online platform GAZELL.iO brings pioneers of digital art and a new generation of artists to a broader audience through its dynamic exhibition and educational program.

• Alexis Pye and David McGee at Inman Gallery: As Texas continues to nurture and attract remarkable artists, Inman Gallery remains a vital source for a broad cross section of Texan talent.

We have been closely following the career of Alexis Pye, who is known for her unique visual language, informed by modernist and contemporary forebears Manet and Matisse to Derrick Adams and Sahara Longe. — and are eagerly anticipating her new work. Pye’s style features figurative, expressive and symbolic elements, yet remains solely her own.

We’re also looking forward to seeing pieces by David McGee, whose oeuvre — which encompasses painting, printmaking, watercolor, and drawing — explores the interplay between image and text, situating his practice within larger art historical narratives and generating profound social critiques. 

Frank Hettig, Heritage Auctions vice president of modern & contemporary art, on which international galleries he’s tracking at the fair.

• Lucia Hierro at Fabienne Levy Gallery: Taking a bold risk, this Lausanne/Geneva-based gallery presents a solo exhibition for Dominican artist Lucia Hierro. A conceptual talent working across sculpture, textile, digital media, and installation, Hierro critiques 21st-century capitalism through an intersectional lens. Her work, influenced by Andy Warhol’s pop aesthetic and Claes Oldenburg’s oversized-object sculptures, blends humor with social commentary.

Last year, Hierro reimagined the Hermès flagship store in New York, transforming its interiors with everyday urban motifs — Central Park cobblestones, dry-cleaning conveyors, repurposed street signs as clothing racks, deli apple-styled stools, and mannequins inspired by city signage. Her ability to merge consumerism with cultural identity makes her one to watch.

• Ben Arpéa at 193 Gallery: One of the most compelling artists at 193 Gallery (Paris/Venice/Saint-Tropez) is Ben Arpéa. His paintings, while intentionally lacking depth, align with the artistic lineage of Tom Wesselmann and David Hockney. However, whereas Wesselmann and Hockney often incorporated the human figure, Arpéa’s works focus on contemporary Mediterranean still lifes.

His process begins with sketches before layering paint mixed with mineral elements, sand, and pebbles, creating a richly textured surface. His large-scale compositions exude a serene yet dynamic quality, making them an intriguing addition to the fair.

• Jill Baroff at Galerie Christian Lethert: This Cologne-headquartered gallery brings an abstract and minimalist selection, with a particularly noteworthy presentation of Jill Baroff.

Known for her multi-panel drawings, Baroff transforms delicate materials into poetic spatial fields, reflecting themes of chance, order, and transience — concepts influenced by her time in Japan. Her Floating Weeds series exemplifies this approach, with multiple panels symbolizing time’s passage, shifting perspectives, and the impermanence of life. The interplay between structured and organic elements makes her work both meditative and visually compelling

• Sir Anthony Caro at Piero Atchugarry Gallery: Founded in Garzón, Uruguay, now with a main Miami space, Piero Atchugarry presents sculptural works across nine generations, emphasizing form and texture from diverse cultural backgrounds.

I have great admiration for international galleries willing to bring sculpture to art fairs, considering the logistical challenges and costs involved. One highlight is the late Sir Anthony Caro (1924–2013), who’s renowned for revolutionizing abstract sculpture with his large-scale industrial-material works. His freestanding steel sculptures invite engagement from all angles. Dallas audiences may already be familiar with his pieces at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center, but seeing his work in this fair setting will offer fresh context and appreciation.

Dallas Art Fair, Thursday – Sunday, April 10 – 13, at Fashion Industry Gallery. For more information, tickets, and exhibitors, go here.