Free up your mind, spirit, and some time this December to appreciate all the arts on offer in Austin, from new installations to pop-up shows and year-end group exhibitions. New lights dazzle at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden with family-friendly sculptural art works from the Design Shine juried competition; over 120 rescue dogs have earned the spotlight in art works created by local and national artists capturing the Tito’s distillery dogs rescued over the years; and the Blanton presents the work of modern artists created prints, drawings, paintings, illustrated books, sculptures, and decorative objects informed by the craftsmanship and compelling historical figures of the Middle Ages in Medieval X Modern. So many options to dazzle the senses this holiday season.
Long Center
“Impressions of Tito’s Distillery Dogs Over 25 Years” — Now through January 4, 2023
Inspired by the 120+ distillery dogs rescued over the years, Tito’s Vodka for Dog People has unveiled its newest project, a one-of-a-kind, 25-piece art collection featuring vibrant dog artwork created by local and national artists. Dogs are a huge part of the brand's story, and since the early days when strays found their way to the distillery, they were always well received and the employees would feed, nurture, and find them loving homes. Each portrait depicts a dog’s unique story and legacy of resilience, with featured work by local artists including Tom Jean Webb, Sam Soper, Saira Holland, Raine Lipscher, Lindsay Laser Smith, Judy Paul, John Walker, Joel Ganucheau, Jeff Skele, Hope Perkins, Erika Jane Amerika, Elissa Marie, and Amy Ringholz.
ATX Wonderspaces
“Micromonumental Mapping, the Essence of Creation by Limelight” — New Installation
The Essence of Creation by Limelight was originally created to be displayed on the Opéra de Lille in France for the Lille Video Mapping Festival that was set to take place in April 2020. Due to COVID 19, the festival had to be postponed so the artists decided to downscale and project it onto a 1:40 3D model of the building. Inspired by the national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo, who has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, war and death, the artwork conveys this complexity by using the symbolic and physical elements of the building.
Umlauf Sculpture Garden
“Design Shine” — December 1 through April 15, 2023
Presented by the Emerging Professionals Committee of AIA Austin and the UMLAUF, the Design Shine juried competition was created to promote emerging talent in the fields of architecture and design. This year’s competition showcases winning installations by three local design teams, Crux Celestia, Introspectacle and Prismascope. Each presents a unique interpretation of the 2023 theme, Designing for Discovery with the goal of enlivening and energizing the UMLAUF Garden in new and unexpected ways with captivating, family-friendly sculptural art works. All three installations include elements of light that can also be enjoyed during evening events or viewed from the street.
Wally Workman
“America Martin: Solo Show” — December 3 through 30
America Martin is a Colombian-American fine artist based in Los Angeles and has been called a rising star in the contemporary art world with a national following. Martin describes herself as a painting anthropologist, working primarily with paint on canvas and paper to explore the human experience and the human form. Taking inspiration from Mid-Century Modernist masters, her distinctive style is underscored by the use of boldly brushed lines and punctuated bursts of color to imply tone and mood. She treats her subjects with an obvious reverence, and in a manner that captures their individuality and their dignity.
Ivester Contemporary
“Late Bloomer” — December 3 through January 14, 2023
Late Bloomer is a solo exhibition of new paintings and sculptures by Honduran-American artist Jasmine Zelaya. Zelaya has used portraiture to explore themes of identity throughout her career, specifically from the perspective of a first generation, Latinx artist. This newest body of work is heavily informed by memory, the awkwardness of youth, and the experience of assimilation. Graphic floral masks, a subtle head tilt, teary eyes, and explosive gradients of color all coalesce to capture the strong, mixed emotions of introspective teen years. Zelaya’s work explores themes of identity, assimilation and the brown body through a familial narrative rich with symbolism.
Flatbed
“31 BY 12” — December 10 through January 7, 2023
This annual group exhibition includes work by twelve artists: Adrian Armstrong, Miguel A. Aragon, Connie Arismendi, Jennifer Anderson, Pepe Coronado, Laura Berman, David Everett, Mike Hart, Peter Nickel, Heather Parrish, Maricela Sanchez, and James Sullivan. Thirty-one refers to the number of projects published during 2022. Each project might include over fifty unique monoprints while some projects are editioned etchings or lithographs.
Blanton Museum
“Medieval X Modern” — December 10 through July 9, 2023
Many artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were fascinated by the styles and subjects of medieval art. Soaring cathedrals and ornate illuminated manuscripts impressed artists living in an era of increasing mechanization, while reverent visions of saints and heroes offered inspirational models in the midst of war and political violence. Along with representative medieval objects, Medieval X Modern presents the work of modern artists from Europe and the Americas who created prints, drawings, paintings, illustrated books, sculptures, and decorative objects informed by the spectacular craftsmanship and compelling historical figures of the Middle Ages. Drawing primarily from the Blanton’s permanent collection, Medieval X Modern offers a wide array of artistic responses to the European Middle Ages, including one of the museum’s most iconic works — Ellsworth Kelly’s "Austin."
