The sixth edition of the Texas Contemporary Art Fair, which was scheduled to open on 19 October at the George R. Brown Convention Center with 65 international exhibitors, has been cancelled. The fair’s director Kelly Freeman told The Art Newspaper that going ahead with the fair, in light of the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, “felt inappropriate, especially considering that the convention center is still an active shelter”.
Max Fishko, the director of Art Market Productions, which runs the fair, told the Texas publication Glasstire that “this just isn’t a time to bring people from all over the world to sell art in Houston”.
And in the wake of Hurricane Irma, the sixth edition of the Miami Project fair in Miami Beach, also organised by Art Market Productions, will not go forward in December. Although the city was spared much large-scale destruction, “I can’t call a dealer and honestly tell them everything [in Miami] will be fine in 12 weeks”, Fishko said.
Art Market Productions plans to reboot Texas Contemporary and Miami Project in 2018. Its next fair, coinciding with the Armory show in New York, will be Art on Paper (8-11 March 2018).