These past few weeks I’ve been working my way around Austin’s gallery scene intent on introducing myself and discovering new venues as well as stopping by some old standards. My first stop was Domy Books to see William Gaynor’s To Climb A Mountain On Top of a Tree. It seems like a quiet little show filled with works on paper but it sneaks up on you and some works have teeth. Two successful drawings were Kricfalusi’s Blues I and Jill is Typing II. They seem the most emotive and surreal being both playful and aggressive in their use of color and rendering. Unfortunately I was unable to get images but the show is up until October 21st if you’d like to see these two pieces in person. All of the work in the show seems littered with Masonic and old master detritus that worship effigies from nature and the past.
Down the street at Okay Mountain is Ruth Van Beek’s The Great Blue Mountain Range. A beautifully minimal show that is uncommon for the gallery. It has to be one of my favorite exhibitions in that space and I’ve liked more than a few before seeing this one. Working with photography, collage, animation and sculpture, Van Beek takes the viewer on a nostalgic trip to timeless, mysterious, and yet somehow known places. She constructs and documents her travels with souvenirs and artifacts she finds along the way. If you haven’t been go before October 16th and if you’ve already been, go again. I promise you’ll discover something new each time.
The image below does not do it justice.
.
