Untitled Art, Houston Reveals a Stacked Lineup for Sophomore Edition

Gallery Network Untitled Art, Houston Reveals a Stacked Lineup for Sophomore Edition The fair brings together artists whose work appears on the global stage with those actively shaping the city's contemporary art identity. The fair brings together artists whose work appears on the global stage with those actively shaping the city's contemporary art identity. Artnet Gallery Network ShareShare This Article This fall, Untitled Art, Houston is returning to the George R. Brown Convention Center, bringing together 95 galleries representing 20 countries. In its second edition, running October 2–4, the fair continues to deepen its partnerships with the city’s leading institutions, like the Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH), solidifying both the event and the wider city as key hubs within the global art scene. With a mission to spotlight artists both local and international, this year a slew of participants are underscoring the notion that global acclaim and local identity aren’t mutually exclusive—and several names stand out. A cornerstone of the Houston art scene since the 1980s, Nestor Topchy co-founded the Zocalo/TemplO artist compound, and has shown work at the Menil, MFAH, and CAMH. Topchy is also slated to lead studio visits as part of the fair’s VIP Programming. “The art scene in Houston has its own DIY dynamic, artists are creating from scratch in an exceptionally approachable landscape where it’s possible to do exactly what you want without concern for what people think,” the artist says. “It’s a city made up of true individuals and that’s what makes it so special, as the second most diverse city in the United States, people bring their culture with them which creates this great source of power.” At this year’s edition of the fair, works from Topchy’s evolving portrait series, depicting around 30 Houstonians, will go on view. Also based in Houston, Vincent Valdez was recently the subject of a major survey co-organized by CAMH and Mass MoCa. Interrogating American histories of race and violence in his practice, his work is held in major collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery. “The identity of this city continues to be shaped by the artists who live and work here, artists who reflect Houston’s histories, contradictions, and communities while pushing its culture and its future forward,” says Valdez. Last year, the artist created a limited-edition print It Was A Very Good Year (1986) (2025) for the inaugural edition of Untitled Art, Houston, and the proceeds went to supporting the CAMH Commission prize. Valdez described it as “a way to contribute to the legacy of artists in this city, making space for another artist to create their own record of this moment. It’s this exchange between artists, institutions, and communities that makes Houston’s arts ecosystem thriving and surviving in these challenging times.” Other Houston natives and residents who have made a name on the international stage include Mark Flood, who exhibited at the 2009 Athens Biennale and is part of numerous Texas museum collections. Jamal Cyrus, who participated in the 2006 Whitney Biennial as part of the Otabenga Jones & Associates collective, and had his first survey exhibition hosted at Houston’s Blaffer Art Museum. Trenton Doyle Hancock was featured in both the 2000 and 2002 editions of the Whitney Biennial, is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum, and has a 2020 tapestry commission on permanent view at the MFAH Kinder Building. JooYoung Choi, whose fantastical multiverses have been shown at museums like Bentonville’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, was also a participant of the 2021 Texas Biennial. Emily Peacock, best known for her photography that explores themes of familial history, domesticity, and the Texas landscape, has exhibited both in the United States and Europe. Together, these artists and more embody the fair’s core proposition: that the city’s local talent and internationally significant names are inextricably linked, and form a compelling and essential facet to the contemporary art world story. Untitled Art, Houston, will be held October 2–4, with a VIP preview October 1, 2026.