The Dallas Art Fair is considered the best boutique art fair in North America. Now its closely guarded list of 2018 exhibitors can be revealed.

The nearly 100 vetted galleries in the 10th edition of the Fair arrive from across the United States, joined by dealers who will travel to Dallas this April from Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Thirty different cities are represented, including exhibiting galleries hailing from New York, Chicago, Paris, London, Berlin, L.A., Dubai, Bogota, Hong Kong, Brussels, Cape Town, and Dublin.

It’s among the most global iterations of the fair co-founded in 2009 by Dallas business entrepreneur/real estate developer John Sughrue and independent curator Chris Byrne. (Byrne stepped back from the Fair after year nine, to concentrate on projects elevating the profile of artists such as visionary talent Susan Te Kahurangi King, whom he has championed.)

Who’s New

For 2018, excitement swirls around some highly significant first-time exhibitors, notably New York’s James Cohan Gallery, home to Texas-based Trenton Doyle Hancock, Spencer Finch known for this evocative work for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the estate of land artist Robert Smithson, and Chinese-born painter Yun-Fei Ji (who back in the day began his career in Texas at Meredith Long & Company in Houston). Also Kathy Grayson‘s The Hole promises to be anything but tame, when she makes her Dallas Art Fair debut.

Generating the biggest buzz are Manhattan power gallerists Paul Kasmin Gallery andLuhring Augustine, both among the most respected Fair newcomers of 2018.

Kasmin’s stable encompasses text master Robert Indiana and the deft photography of Tina Barney, whose image making says a lot about America. In their Fair booth, peruse the paintings of Ian Davenport, in advance of the artist’s solo next September at the Dallas Contemporary.

Luhring Augustine’s brand features talents of such depth and diversity as lensman Larry Clark of the searing “Tulsa” series and the pioneering Brazilian Lygia Clark.

One of the emerging galleries to watch is Magenta Plains, a New York-based dealer with an emphasis on inter-generational exhibitions. Directed by SMU grad Olivia Smith, the gallery plans on showcasing the gestural canvases of Zach Bruder and Bill Saylor in their first Dallas Art Fair outing.

Of course, there will be plenty of returning big names including global player Perrotin(Paris/Hong Kong/New York), Hales Gallery in from London (its Fair solo for Frank Bowling in 2015 is still fondly remembered), and top stop for blue-chip Allan Stone Projects of NYC.

Texas Pride

Dallas dealers always figure prominently in the mix, this year 11 with DFW connections including Galerie Frank Elbaz whose main HQ is in Paris. Newbie Dallas Fair dealers include Bivins Gallery and Liliana Bloch Gallery.

Houston dealers number just two, but bear pedigrees — Inman Gallery and Sicardi Ayers Bacino Gallery, both fresh from December 2017 showings at Art Basel Miami Beach.

Austin’s lone participant brings her A-game: well-connected Lora Reynolds Gallery presents design darlings the Haas Brothers, concurrent with a showing of the twin creatives’ life-sized mega beast in Icelandic sheepskin, King Dong, improbably holding court at The Joule.

Dallas Art Fair Primer

What else and who else you need to know: watch for Fair director Kelly Connell, and director of exhibitions Brandon Kennedy, returning in leading roles.Dallas Art Fair Foundation has boosted its acquisition fund to a hefty $150,000 (from last year’s $100,000). Sughrue told PaperCity in 2017 that he hopes one day the fund may hit $250,000.

It allows DMA director Agustín Arteaga and curator Katherine Brodbeck to go shopping for the permanent collection of the museum at the Fair, a novel idea that takes the concept of “institutional support” to a tangible, exciting level.

Dallas Art Fair Preview Gala, set for Thursday, April 12, one again benefits this dream trifecta — Dallas Contemporary, Dallas Museum of Art, and Nasher Sculpture Center.Dallas Art Fair weekend unfurls in full Friday, April 13 through Sunday, April 15, at Fashion Industry Gallery. (The Fair’s move to the Dallas Design District may still be more than a year out.)

Some 14,500 art aficionados attended in 2017, so expect this record to be reached and exceeded this April.Secure your tickets and VIP Passes here.Watch the April print issue for more on Dallas Arts Month, including our Best Booths forecast.

Dallas Art Fair 2018 Exhibitors:

Albertz Benda (New York)

Allan Stone Projects (New York)

Altman Siegel Gallery (San Francisco) AND NOW (Dallas)

Anthony Meier Fine Arts (San Francisco)

Beatriz Esguerra Art (Bogotá)

Bivins Gallery (Dallas)CANADA (New York)

Hales Gallery (London)

Hales Project Room (New York)

Half Gallery (New York)

Harlan Levey Projects (Brussels)

The Hole (New York)

Hollis Taggart Galleries (New York)

Hosfelt Gallery (San Francisco)

Inman Gallery (Houston)

James Cohan Gallery (New York)

Jane Lombard Gallery (New York)

Jason Jacques (New York)

Josée Bienvenu Gallery (New York)

Josh Lilley Gallery (London)

Susan Inglett Gallery (New York)

Talley Dunn Gallery (Dallas)

Taubert Contemporary (Berlin)

Tim Van Laere Gallery (Antwerp)

TOTAH (New York)

Turner Carroll Gallery (Santa Fe)

Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden (Dallas)

Van Doren Waxter (New York)

Whitestone Gallery (Hong Kong/Taipei/Tokyo/Karuizawa)

William Campbell Contemporary Art (Fort Worth)

Workplace Gallery (London/Gateshead)

Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York)