Hanging Around Austin

Hanging Around Austin: 4 March art shows that roar in like a lion

March has been one beast of a month so far, but by all accounts it should be better soon. With both spring and SXSW coming, preliminary reports suggest that it may actually be pleasant outside as you bop between free official events and witness dozens of pretty good bands whose names you wish you could remember.

While there is plenty of art at SXSW this year, including Norman Collins (Sailor Jerry), SprATX, Hello Lamp Post, take the occasional break from the craziness and re-center yourself in a nice, quiet, art-filled place.

Sara Frantz: Between Borderlands
Women & Their Work, through March 18

The work of hypermodern landscapist Sara Frantz casts a sharp shadow on the myriad methods by which orderly human structures interfere with the cozy chaos of roadside scenes from West Texas to Iceland. The architectural shapes in her work stand up like high-noon shadows in Technicolor. Sticking out distinctly from the gray stalks and puffs of surrounding vegetation, these shapes are made to look as ephemeral as all human structures are.

Gabe Leonard: Desperados
Art on 5th, through April 4

Self-styled cinematic artist Gabe Leonard is back for another solo rodeo at Art on 5th, this time bringing roomfuls of artist’s proofs and new original oils that combine to forge a rumpus-room outline of the hard-edged, long-limbed, world-wandering spirit that dwells somewhere inside of all of us. Art enthusiasts can stop by on Saturday, March 7, to mix, mingle and meet the artist from 7-9 pm.

Milt Kobayashi + Gregg Kreutz
Gallery Shoal Creek, through April 4

The simultaneous exhibition of two New York-based painters currently up at Shoal Creek offers a look at two distinct and powerful methodologies in expert oilwork. Kobayashi brings a firm hand of visual fiction to his plummy, curvaceous interpretations of human moments, while Kreutz’s work serves up the warm awe of tightly representational forms with just a glimmer of impressionist backlighting.

JJ PEET: BRAIN to HAND to OBJECT_
Gatehouse Gallery at Laguna Gloria, through April 19

We gave this one a brief mention in our piece on the Tom Sachs boombox party at The Contemporary Austin this season, but Peet’s work is so raw and so odd that it bears further mention. This exhibition — his first anywhere in Texas — presents assemblages of found and made objects that challenge established structures of all types. It’s surreal, anarchic stuff; opaque, incisive, culturally critical and unflinchingly self-assured.

New York-based artist Milt Kobayashi is on display at Shoal Creek Gallery.

"Winter" by Milt Kobayashi

New York-based artist Milt Kobayashi is on display at Shoal Creek Gallery.

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Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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