Art Galleries

Self-Portait, Home, Weston, Connecticut, 1957, by Thomas Benton Hollyman

Earlier this year, Austin lost one of its rare galleries that focused (no pun intended) on photography. But in less than two months, two more have risen in its place. The B. Hollyman Gallery, which opens Saturday, April 2, quite literally fills the void left by the closing of the L. Nowlin Gallery on Feb. 12; it will occupy the same space adjacent to the Wally Workman Gallery, 1202 W. Sixth. Owner Burnes Hollyman, who heads the digital entertainment alliance, a trans-media think tank, has been surrounded by photography all his life – he practically has developing fluid in his blood. He's the son of two accomplished photographers: Jean Burnes Hollyman, who made her mark in the fashion and editorial fields, and Thomas Benton Hollyman, a renowned photojournalist who was invited by Peter Brook to be director of photography for Brook's film of Lord of the Flies. (Young Burnes played one of the boys in the film, too.) Burnes' sister Stephanie followed her parents into their profession and now works as a photographer and documentary filmmaker.

For his gallery's opening exhibition, Hollyman is showcasing the work of his father, who passed away in Austin in 2009. "Some Creatives: Vintage Prints 1939-1975" features silver gelatin portraits made by Thomas Hollyman of numerous luminaries of his time: George Balanchine, Jorge Luis Borges, Marlene Dietrich, Robert Frost, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Arthur Miller, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. The opening reception will be Saturday, April 2, 6-8pm; the exhibition will continue through April 30. For more information, visit www.bhollymangallery.com.

Meanwhile, one mile east in the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown's cavernous lobby, a gallery specializing in similarly expansive large-format photographs has been opened by photographer Phil Crawshay. His strikingly detailed panoramic images include skylines of Austin; San Francisco; San Antonio; Las Vegas, Nev.; Houston; and London; and landscapes in Cancun, Mexico, and Surrey, England. (Crawshay grew up in the United Kingdom and runs the UK-based online company BCW Office Products.) The process for creating these jumbo photos is, Crawshay admits, "difficult and time-consuming, not to mention expensive," but he's quick to add that "the end result looks really impressive and fits with the 'everything is bigger in Texas' ideology." The Crawshay Gallery is at 701 Brazos. For more information, visit www.crawshaygallery.com.