Glasstire

Glasstire Publisher Brandon Zech and Guest Editor Lucia Simek discuss the Texas artists and collectives who've taken on institutional critique, how the genre so often slips into performance and discomfort, and what it means to critique an institution you also depend on. "You need to be housed by the institution in order to make work that pushes against it, and so there's a certain affection you ha...

Glasstire's William Sarradet and Nicholas Frank discuss new books on Texas art and architecture, talk about the dialogue between minimalism and rasquachismo in Josh T. Franco's "Marfa, Marfa," and run through exhibition catalogs, political comics, and the latest issue of "F Magazine." "Rasquachismo… we could say it's making do with what you have. Josh T. Franco is trying to draw direct lines betwe...

Throughout 2026, as part of Glasstire’s 25th anniversary, the publication is organizing panel discussions in Dallas-Fort Worth, The Panhandle, West Texas, East Texas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and The Valley. Each panel features artists, art critics, and arts professionals from the region discussing the area’s art and art writing over the past two-and-a-half decades. Glasstire presented the fo...

William Sarradet speaks with Dallas dealer Bart Keijsers Koning about a gallery's responsibilities to the arts ecosystem, how artists can engage with galleries, and what a gallery actually does. "Get a space, put it on the wall, see what happens, get it out of the studio. And once you start understanding your work that way, it will just make everything clear for the next engagement… When an ecosys...

Brandon Zech speaks with gallerist Laura Burton, owner of Laura (the gallery), about leaving New York and opening a space in Houston, why art fairs matter to a young gallery, and how she thinks about her program's aesthetic. "There's an amazing floor in the front of the gallery that we're kind of famous for, because it has all of these layers of history… There are spills of paint, shadows from spr...

William Sarradet speaks with Galveston-based paint conservator and object restoration artist Jhonny Langer about disaster mitigation, the slow work of triage and salvage after a storm, and what a century of Gulf Coast weather has taught the island about holding onto things. "The biggest excuse for tearing down an amazing structure is that it's too costly. And I would propose that it's too costly n...

William Sarradet speaks with "Dallas Morning News" architecture critic and 2026 Pulitzer winner Mark Lamster about the contradictions and marvels of Dallas architecture, what's at stake with losing iconic buildings, and his new book, "Welcome to Paradox City." "I like to say that living in Dallas is like going to the circus every day. It's an inherent craziness... It's wonderful and it's frustrati...

Brandon Zech and Jessica Fuentes discuss Texas' art museums since 2020, including renovations, closures, collaborations, and curatorial shifts. “You think of these kind of smaller-scale, midsize institutions, or even noncollecting kunsthalles, that have smaller budgets ... as being very much affected by leadership and curatorialship transitions because they are, and oftentimes the impact is larger...

Throughout 2026, as part of Glasstire’s 25th anniversary, the publication is organizing panel discussions in Dallas-Fort Worth, The Panhandle, West Texas, East Texas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and The Valley. Each panel features artists, art critics, and arts professionals from the region discussing the area’s art and art writing over the past two-and-a-half decades. Glasstire presented the th...

Brandon Zech, Jessica Fuentes, and Nicholas Frank speak about issues around AI-generated art and writing following ArtReview USA's unauthorized republication of articles published by Glasstire. “Whenever I have someone ask me if I am scared about AI, and if it's going to take my job or do what Glasstire does, my answer is always no, in part because the writing that we do... is about opinions and p...

William Sarradet speaks with North Texas artist Jess Tedder about her nonlinear path as an artist and how her work as a flight attendant fuels her practice. “[Ajijic, Mexico, where I was in a monthlong artist residency] is where the wheels started turning, and I thought, ‘I think I can make a career out of this. It's possible to be an artist, it's possible to travel, it's possible to explore the w...

Jessica Fuentes speaks with Sono Osato, an Austin-based artist and founder of the Gutterblood Talk Show, which hosts conversations between artists and arts professionals about the Austin art scene. “I just had an epiphany one day. I thought, ‘If I can do an art exhibition in my studio, I can have an artist talk.’ ... So we did the first one in August 2022 ... It's important to identify the challen...

Jessica Fuentes speaks with Cameron Schoepp, professor and Graduate Studio Art Coordinator at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, about his experience as a grad student, TCU's MFA program, and advice for artists considering an MFA. “For me, one of the most important things in a graduate program is defending the time in the studio. That time in the studio is so important; you must allow the s...

Throughout 2026, as part of Glasstire's 25th anniversary, the publication is organizing panel discussions in Dallas-Fort Worth, The Panhandle, West Texas, East Texas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and The Valley. Each panel features artists, art critics, and arts professionals from the region discussing the area’s art and art writing over the past two-and-a-half decades. Glasstire presented the se...

William Sarradet and Nicholas Frank discuss recent books they have read, including books on Victorian glass, costume designing, queer heroes, what it means to live an artistic life, and more. “I like the idea that we need to be cognizant of how interwoven virtual space and material space have become in our lives... I love to have books on my shelf that I can draw from repeatedly over time... I lov...

Throughout 2026, as part of Glasstire's 25th anniversary, the publication is organizing panel discussions in Dallas-Fort Worth, The Panhandle, West Texas, East Texas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and The Valley. Each panel features artists, art critics, and arts professionals from the region discussing the area’s art and art writing over the past two-and-a-half decades. Glasstire presented the fi...

Brandon Zech speaks with Steven Evans about his career path from the Dia Art Foundation to his current role as FotoFest Executive Director, the history of FotoFest, and this year's biennial. “[FotoFest] didn't have to restate [its] mission after Black Lives Matter and 2020. Our mission was always responding to issues within society... that had been part of FotoFest from the beginning. And that's t...

William Sarradet speaks with Dallas Art Fair Director Kelly Cornell about the new Dallas Art Prize, her recent appointment as Director of the Aspen Art Fair, and the upcoming annual fair in Dallas. “Through the Dallas Art Fair, there can be so much crossover and opportunity for growth. If you’re a Dallas-based artist, getting your work picked up by a New York gallery can then spread it further. Th...

Jessica Fuentes and Nicholas Frank discuss Glasstire's recent news coverage, including the University of North Texas' cancellation of Victor Quiñonez’s exhibition, Texas art institutions and galleries celebrating milestone anniversaries, and more. “The closure of this UNT exhibition was not a singular event that happened this year, it was part of an ongoing unfolding of new restrictions that are h...

Brandon Zech and Jessica Fuentes ruminate on all things Texas as they try to pin down a Texas aesthetic. “When I think about Texas art, I think about exploration. When I think about Rauschenberg, I think about exploration of space — of outer space, but also of material. When I think about somebody like Kermit Oliver, I think about someone who defies logical expectations of being someone who grew u...

Nicholas Frank and William Sarradet discuss recent books and publications about art, made by artists, or unexpectedly connected to art. “Did you know that Frederic Remington was a writer? He was possibly more well-known, in his time, as a writer. There was a particular form of adventure journalism that he took on as a profession, and his illustrations for his writings were probably his best-known...

Brandon Zech speaks with Houston artist Bill Davenport, who was Glasstire's first-ever contributor, about how he found his way to Texas, the artists he's seen grow up over the years, and writing criticism. "I always said my writing was like a pair of pliers — it got the job done. Clarity, truthfulness — it opened my mind, and anything else was extraneous." See related readings here: https://glasst...

William Sarradet and Nicholas Frank discuss exhibition open calls, including obstacles around related costs, and recap some opportunities currently happening in Texas. “It's hard to overstate the importance of social connections... Your network is really important, and it's not just the people that are going to get you into the Whitney Biennial, it's the people who are going to support you through...

Brandon Zech speaks with Glasstire founder Rainey Knudson about what led her to create the publication in 2001, the early years of Glasstire, and the projects she has undertaken since leaving the organization. “In the early days, most galleries did not have a website, a lot of them didn't even have email, and they would physically mail me transparency slides and/or postcards. I would scan the slid...

Brandon Zech and Jessica Fuentes look back on the year in Texas art, from the removal of Sally Mann's photographs from the Fort Worth Modern to art fairs that debuted in Texas and major leadership changes at institutions across the state. "It struck me how different not only the process of selecting [Alma Allen as the U.S. representative for the Venice Biennale] was but also how different their ar...