This Week's Recommended Arts Events

The World of Hunt Slonem

Through May 26, West Chelsea Contemporary

Over six decades, internationally acclaimed artist Hunt Slonem has created his own universe, with pieces in the Met, the Whitney, Guggenheim, et al. and celeb collectors from Sharon Stone to the Kardashian clan. Known for vibrant neo-expressionist works starring the three B’s – bunnies, birds, and butterflies – the New Yorker even paints with a bird or two from his personal aviary perched on his shoulder. This comprehensive display brings together over 100 works spanning oil paintings to blown glass, and is presented in conjunction with “Huntopia,” opening May 4 at San Antonio Botanical Garden.   – Kat McNevins

Yamin Li’s “Gnortsma” Exhibit

Through July 14, Central Library

Accenting soft, blurred pastels with sharp acrylics, Yamin Li’s “Gnortsma” exhibit reflects the uncertainty of life as an immigrant. Nothing is quite right in the series’ 20 paintings; the Chinese artist blends “habitual objects” – houses, trees, toys – with more unexpected ones, like a figure rendered with childlike collage bearing a medieval spear and sword. Li debuts her works at a May 2 opening ceremony, which runs from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Afterward, the Central Library will display the exhibit until July 14.   – Carys Anderson

Halfway to Halloween

Friday 3 -Saturday 4, House of Torment

Of course every day is Halloween at Austin’s premier haunted house attraction, but the resident spooks and ghouls couldn’t wait a whole year to invite you into their lair. Get a sneak preview of what will be lurking inside its walls when the haunting season really gets its claws into you in October.   – Richard Whittaker

Austin Record Convention

Friday 3 – Sunday 5, Palmer Events Center

Tell me you didn’t blow ALL your spring savings on Record Store Day, because the Austin Record Convention makes the music industry gouge/record store lifeline feel like a kiddie B-day. Some 300 dealers erecting micro-storefronts on 40,000 square feet of a prime local ballroom approximates the Aztecs’ lost city of gold, El Dorado. More new and used and vintage vinyl in one spot than you’ll glimpse anywhere else on the globe – not to mention CDs, cassettes, posters, T-shirts, and any other music-related pop culture delivery format – rise from tables, booths, and floor boxes like the treasures of Tutankhamun. A $30 early shopper ticket buys a whole extra day Friday, plus early admission Sat.-Sun.   – Raoul Hernandez

In the Lone Star Wars State

Saturday 4, Bullock Texas State History Museum

Does Texas have the best Star Wars fans? That’s what Alejandro Cabrera examines in his new documentary about how the Skywalker saga has found a particular home in the Lone Star State. From the joy of building your own Jedi costume to the moving story of how the fandom gathered around one of its own in his final days, Cabrera’s film celebrates the best of those that follow the Force. Stick around after the screening for a Q&A and some very special guests. The Bullock is also providing Star Wars-themed craft tables to build your own Yoda ears, or you can just get your photo taken with Mandalorians, Jedi, or droids. Read our interview with Cabrera online at austinchronicle.com/screens.   – Richard Whittaker

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Saturday 4, Alamo Drafthouse, AMC, Cinemark, Flix Brewhouse, Moviehouse and Eatery, Regal

It’s been 25 years since George Lucas got back behind the camera and started telling the story of how little Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. The Phantom Menace changed how we looked at one of cinema’s greatest villains, and also changed cinema, giving us the first-ever fully realized CG character in Jar-Jar Binks. These special anniversary screenings bring his legendary epic back to the big screen. So strap into your podracer, practice your best Darth Maul snarl, and remember: Keep your lightsaber dark, silent, and in your pocket for the entire screening.   – Richard Whittaker

Free Comic Book Day

Saturday 4, Austin Books and Comics, Bat City Comics & Games, Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy, King’s Cache, Rogues Gallery Comics & Games, Tribe Comics & Games

Feel like getting into sequential art but not quite sure where to start? The annual international celebration of your friendly neighborhood comic store is a great way to get your collection started, or just to pick up a few free issues printed just for the day. Grab Free Comic Book Day specials from Archie, Dynamite, Fantagraphics, IDW, Marvel and more, including a special Star Wars issue, at any of the six participating local stores. And while you’re there, look out for special events like signings, costume events, and sales on regular items.   – Richard Whittaker

The Jigglewatts Burlesque Revue: a Night at the Movies

Saturday 4, Mama Merlot’s

Bright lights, big screen, and burlesque: These are the ingredients chosen to create the perfect night out this weekend. Join Jigglewatts members Something Blue, Ruby Joule, and Alexander the Great alongside host Selma Bawdy as they sparkle inside Doc’s Drive In’s speakeasy. They’ll be bringing the usual class and sass out to this Buda gem for 20 bucks a ticket. But those tickies go quick, so make sure to grab yours before it shimmies right on outta your grasp.   – James Scott

Her Dog Satan

Saturday 4, Eastside Cinema

Hurl yourself into the Austin punk scene of 1991 with Her Dog Satan, a recently resurrected vampire thriller shot at the legendary Cannibal Club complete with a score by members of Living Pins, Foot Patrol, the Cherubs, and Butthole Surfers. As the Lone Star State’s two greatest film preservationists, the Texas Archive of the Moving Image and the nonprofit American Genre Film Archive have teamed up to bring this seemingly lost mosh into the city’s underground. Stick around as AGFA unreels other local classics of the era, including Invasion of the Aluminum People (a favorite of Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme) and Student Academy Awards-nominated horror Mask of Sarnath, with its score by industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle.   – Richard Whittaker

Time Passages

Saturday 4, AFS Cinema

In the pandemic, time was our friend: The longer we could wait, the better the chances a cure could be found and we could all be together. But for Kyle Henry, time was the enemy as his mother’s dementia accelerated and stripped away years of memories. As part of the AFS Cinema Doc Days season, Henry returns to Austin from his home in Chicago with Time Passages, his new and deeply personal documentary in which he reconstructs his family history and his mother’s memories through the family’s archive of Kodachrome film footage. Stick around for a Q&A with Henry, editor Karen Skloss (The Honor Farm) and producer Jason Wehling (Saturday Morning Massacre).   – Richard Whittaker

Toast of Texas

Springdale Station, Sunday 5

Why raise a glass when you can raise 25 instead? That’s how many Texas wineries will be pouring samples from their latest releases at this Wine & Food Foundation afternoon event at Springdale Station, a location that is both very cool (former train station) and offers just a luxurious amount of parking. The tickets are steep ($110) – less so if you become a WFF member ($90) – and include barbecue, paella, a silent auction, and something called a wine toss, which sounds dangerous but is probably just a ring toss onto wine bottles? Only one way to find out.   – Kimberley Jones

Crown & Club: Don’t Panic

Sunday 5, Violet Crown Cinema

Kicking off their summer-spanning genre series at Second Street cineplex Violet Crown, local movie mavens Hyperreal Film Club and programmer Morgan Hyde drop a real deep cut. Don’t Panic represents a Mexican spin on the Freddy Krueger craze: 17-year-old Michael gets a birthday-gift Ouija board that unlocks an evil spirit known as Virgil, after which Michael begins to receive premonitions of murders – murders he ends up the chief suspect of! The movie’s tagline ordered audiences to “Forget Freddie and Jason. Virgil’s the newest nightmare in town.” You’ll have to judge for yourself if that confidence is earned.   – James Scott

Road to Leadville 100: Sí Se Puede

Sunday 5, Dougherty Arts Center

We always thought a marathon was the ultimate running challenge, but someone decided that wasn’t enough and created the Leadville Trail 100, an astonishing 100-mile ultra-marathon that is seemingly impossible due to its elevation and rough terrain. Now’s your chance to meet and be inspired by someone who actually finished it, Daniel Flores, who’ll be present for a bilingual talk after a screening of the documentary about his journey to accomplishing this remarkable feat, along with doc director Ramon Morales.   – Kat McNevins

The New Romantics Book Club: The Neighbor Favor

Monday 6, BookPeople

If your friends don’t know their Cristina Laurens from their Katherine Centers, you need to come to New Romantics. It’s full of your people. The ones who understand “oh no there’s just one bed” or “enemies to lovers” or “meet cute.” This saucy book club meets at BookPeople the first Monday of every month. For May, they’ll be discussing Kristina Forest’s The Neighbor Favor, a tale of shy literary nerds with secrets and yearning galore. Cozy up with your new best book friends.   – Cat McCarrey

Monday Night Jammie Jam Burlesque: It’s Gonna be May

Monday 6, Kick Butt Coffee

Everybody rock your body right (and comfortably) at the monthly Jammie Jam Burlesque – now with the best of the Nineties and Aughts. Hosted by the effervescent Ginger Snaps, this burlesque brings a showstopping array of the spiciest, most ’N Sync tunes possible. You can’t beat watching incredible athletic feats while you’re in snuggly pajamas. It’s a millennial dream, but everyone’s invited to the ultimate in cozy nostalgia.   – Cat McCarrey

Disney on Ice Presents Magic in the Stars

Wednesday 8, H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

Win your child’s love through any ice means necessary. That’s right: Disney brings out the big skates for a magical musical experience featuring performances by all the kiddos’ favorites. Does that mean Mickey? Yes, and also Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and two little-known royals named Anna and Elsa – plus many, many more characters that’ll make everyone’s faces light up in wonder. Gonna miss this school-night soiree? No worries: These icecapades run through May 12.   – James Scott

Adaptations Book Club

Wednesday 8, We Luv Video

Ah, the eternal debate: Which was better, the book or the book of the film? Physical media defenders We Luv Video hope to settle this debate – or at least, keep it polite – with the Adaptations Book Club, where readers and film lovers hash out what makes it from the page to the screen. After coming together in perfect harmony for Pride & Prejudice, now the club picks up the debate over whether either of the big screen adaptations of The Stepford Wives – or the baffling sequels and spin-offs – matches Ira Levin’s acid satire. Grab a copy ahead of the night via bookshop.org/shop/weluvvideo to make sure you’re helping this movie-loving nonprofit.   – Richard Whittaker

Jeffrey Dell “Tidal Waive”

Through June 8, Flatbed Gallery

Tusa, Sicily, in addition to being a beautiful seaside Italian village, was also birthplace to artist Jeffrey Dell’s newest monotypes. He created the works during an artist’s residency, utilizing traditional printmaking materials to capture the vertical nature of his surroundings. In his artist’s statement, Dell explains his goal with the monotypes as interrogating what happens between seeing and understanding images. “The mind wants and expects to see certain things and is capable of leaping ahead,” Dell writes. “Mostly those leaps are amazingly correct, but sometimes they’re wrong. I’m trying to make work that creates a moment when it’s possible to notice such dynamics while also avoiding the 'punchline’ of an optical illusion – that is, to deny a moment of 'getting it.’”   – James Scott