VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Barbara Davis Gallery presents MILE MARKER: Celebrating Three Decades of Contemporary Art. Artists' Reception: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30pm. On View: January 12 - March 2, 2012. February 24, 2012.

For 30 years, Barbara Davis Gallery has brought groundbreaking contemporary art to Houston. Driven by her intuitive sensibilities and perennially fresh vision, Barbara has championed a generation of significant contemporary artists. In the process she has challenged a generation of art collectors, both seasoned and aspiring, to see the beauty and value in their work through dialogs and panel discussions with prominent museum curators and artists from across genres. She has launched the careers of international artists such as Julie Mehretu, one of the most important contemporary artists of our time, and Mie Olise, a rising star from Denmark discovered in a Saatchi Sensations exhibition, having given Mehretu her first gallery exhibition and Olise her first U.S. exhibition.

She was also one of the first to bring to Houston the influential names of Joseph Beuys, Kiki Smith, Jonathan Borofsky, Allan McCollum, and Gilbert & George among many others. She brought progressive international exhibitions such as Leipzig Select, artists from the New Leipzig School, and exhibitions for Beijing East Village artists Zhang Huan and Li Wei.

Barbara Davis Gallery was one of the first Texas galleries to be included in the influential and prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach art fair. The gallery’s exhibitions have been reviewed in international publications such as ArtForum, Art in America, Art News, Flash Art International, The Art Economist, and The New York Times among many others. Her passion for exhibiting innovative contemporary art and her commitment to educating her collectors and the community has driven the focus of the gallery for 30 years.

Mile Marker is a celebration of Barbara’s unique vision and three decades of contemporary art with new works by Andrea Bianconi (Vicenza, Italy and New York), Joe Davidson (Los Angeles), Paul Fleming (Houston), Robert Kelly (New York), Donald Lipski (Philadelphia, PA), Joe Mancuso (Houston), Daniel McFarlane (Houston), Mie Olise (Copenhagen, Denmark and New York), Gavin Perry (Miami, FL), Danny Rolph (London), Jay Shinn (Dallas, TX), Anthony Thompson Shumate (Houston), Julie Soefer (Houston), and Jason Yates (Houston).

Additionally, a­s part of the anniversary festivities, 15% of proceeds from this exhibition will benefit the Houston Arts Alliance presentation of renowned Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads to be exhibited in Hermann Park in Spring 2011 as Ai Weiwei is an artist who embodies the same sense of fearlessness and freedom that has driven Barbara Davis for the last three decades.

Read more about the artists.

Pictured: Joe Davidson, Untitled (GoldFlowers), 2011, Gold Leaf on plaster, wire, metal hardware. 63" x 9" x 6").