A Culture of Women: Now in its sixth year, Vignette Art Fair continues to promote women artists

Lindsey Wilson·
Dallas/Ft WorthVisual Art
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There is no shortage of artistic talent in Texas, but each year is another chance for the Vignette Art Fair in Dallas to remind us once again of how skilled and creative the women of the Lone Star State truly are.

The juried event, now in its sixth year, exclusively features works by Texas women artists to promote, support, and connect exceptional yet under-represented regional talent. The goal is to help close the gender disparity gap, as female artists are not nearly as represented in museum exhibitions, acquisitions, and galleries compared to their male counterparts.

Last year’s fair received a record number of applications, and this year’s submissions were equally plentiful, with the official tally topping 200. A total of 36 artists—from Aubrey to Amarillo, Richardson to Round Rock, Houston to Highland Village—will be featured Oct. 17-19 at Dallas Market Hall. The 85 juried works span art of all mediums and disciplines, including performance pieces.

“The Vignette Art Fair is a shared conversation across the state,” says this year’s curator, Dr. Vivian Li. “It takes all these many different stories to create and embody the fair, but also to create a story that each artist is a part of. And these are stories that need to be brought to the forefront.”

Dr. Li is the Dallas Museum of Art’s curator of contemporary art, specializing in Asian art of all eras but especially postwar and modern.

“I’ve noticed that being a specialist in one region makes you more attuned to other stories that are underrepresented or haven’t been talked about,” Dr. Li says. “I do look at that more carefully when I look at the broad range of artists working today.”

A few of the selected artists include San Antonio’s Jenelle Esparza, who examines the lesser-known history of cotton and labor in South Texas through photography and textiles. Her recent projects utilize textiles and found objects to explore the parallels between landscape and bodily experiences, and the implications of generational trauma.

Dallas’s Deepa Koshaley is an Indian-born artist and yoga and meditation teacher who explores themes inspired by nature’s paradox of opposing forces. Keller-based Claudia Maysen is a Mexican American artist and former architect who merges abstraction with representation to explore emotions, social issues, and the meaning of community. Using collages of her figurative drawings, she incorporates ambiguous elements through water media, graphite, spray paint, and ink, while her sculptures and installations utilize wood, steel, and readymade objects.

When Dr. Li moved to Dallas in 2019, she was surprised to learn that Vignette Art Fair was not a typical exhibition filled with separate booths. Instead, the works are displayed as they would be in a museum, with the aim of making them approachable and accessible to the public.

Even more surprising was learning that this is the only art fair in the world to solely feature the work of women artists and have all sales go directly to the artists — no commission paid elsewhere.

“The artist receiving 100 percent of the piece’s sale price is pretty much unheard of,” Dr. Li says. “And if you like a piece, you can purchase it and take it home with you. This is definitely not just an event for ‘big art world’ people, though it certainly does draw them here.”

Indeed, Vignette Art Fair’s timing is ideal this year. The weekend overlaps with the renowned Two x Two for AIDS and Art benefit gala on Oct. 19. This will be Two x Two’s final year, a grand finale to 25 years of supporting medical research and the DMA’s contemporary art acquisition program. Curators, collectors, advisors, and gallery and museum staff from around Texas, the country, and the world will likely be in Dallas that weekend. While Vignette Art Fair is free and open to the public on Friday and Saturday, tickets are required for Thursday’s VIP benefit preview.

“This is an excellent chance for people near and far to see what’s going on here,” says Dr. Li. “Vignette might still be young, but it’s growing a great reputation. Not only is it promoting and elevating these amazing artists in our midst, it’s cultivating the culture of collecting women artists in general. Those who are hungry for good art can find it in Texas and bring it back into their own orbit.”

—LINDSEY WILSON

Lindsey Wilson

Lindsey Wilson is a Dallas-based arts writer and critic with a journalism master's from Syracuse University and an undying love for chips and salsa. When not at the theater (which is rare), she enjoys reading, playing with her dogs, and traveling. Photo by Jeffrey Hummel.