Perhaps between the Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival, Fusebox Festival, Austin Wine and Food Festival, Austin Psych Fest, Blanton Museum of Art’s Fifty Fest, and Eeyore’s Birthday, you missed getting in any art-gazing during last weekend’s West Austin Studio Tour. Well, fear not, visual arts lovers, WEST continues this Saturday and Sunday, 11am-6pm, giving you another shot at sampling work by more than 250 artists at 178 stops west of I-35. We wholeheartedly encourage you to map out your own artistic excursion by poring over the lovely catalog assembled by producers Big Medium and available in print at grayDUCK Gallery, 608 W. Monroe; and Women & Their Work, 1710 Lavaca, as well as online at www.west.bigmedium.org. However, to prime the pump, here are some stops we’re planning.
Women & Their Work, 1710 Lavaca
If you weren’t already inspired to see Kelly O’Connor’s exhibition “Last Resort” by Wayne Alan Brenner’s glowing review (“Exhibitionism,” April 12), maybe this will do the trick: free manicures! Yes, just for WEST, W&TW has teamed with the Aveda Institute of Austin to provide free hand massages and manicures in eye-popping shades drawn from the colors in O’Connor’s art (Saturday, May 4, 2-6pm). The artist herself will journey up from San Antonio to share in complimentary refreshments and discuss her work while you’re being pampered. Also grab a catalog in the gallery shop ($20).
Studio Romy, 2617 S. First
Caroline Wright has been developing a new series of works as part of an ongoing collaborative series called “Dream Architecture.” Ink and watercolor washes provide backgrounds for thin graphite lines that create spiderweb houses and wires across overcast skies. Projected images of the series were paired with original music by local composers Ethan Greene and Steve Parker earlier in the week, but the art itself is still on view at this new photography studio owned and operated by Romy Suskin. To wind up WEST, the studio will host a Cinco de Mayo Happy Hour Sunday, May 5, 4-6pm, with fresh fruit cups by Mr. Fruitcup and fruity cocktails to boot.
Denise Fulton home studio, 4104 Avenue H
Chalda Maloff and Denise Fulton are exhibiting together for the first time in three years. Their show “Flora and Fauna” will offer the first look at Maloff’s “Waterlilies” series and Fulton’s “Trees” series. For Maloff, it’s a warm-up to her upcoming show in New York. “Search Engines: New Digital Paintings” will be on view May 28-June 22 at Ceres Gallery, 547 West 27th, NYC. For a preview, visit www.chalda.net/preview.html.
This article appears in May 3 • 2013.