Artists reimagine Linklater movie posters in newest Mondo Gallery show

Richard Linklater films are known for generating countless enduring images, from a mustachioed Matthew McConaughey in “Dazed and Confused” to a young bohemian peddling Madonna’s alleged pap smear in “Slacker.” On March 12, a slate of artists will reimagine those scenes in the form of movie posters for Mondo Gallery’s “No Longer/Not Yet” show, a tribute to Linklater’s work.

Artists at Mondo, the creative offshoot of Alamo Drafthouse, are responsible for designing the exclusive movie posters that accompany the films shown in Drafthouse theaters. Additionally, the company’s permanent gallery on Guadalupe Street has hosted several highly anticipated South By Southwest shows in the past, including a Disney-themed exhibition, for which some collectors waited days to snag limited-edition prints.

With the premiere of Linklater’s newest film, “Everybody Wants Some,” headlining the South By Southwest Film Festival, Mondo creative director Jay Shaw said the timing for the show seemed perfect.

“To be honest, this is a show that’s been talked about for years,” Shaw said. “Everybody at Mondo, we’re all huge Richard Linklater fans, and obviously his films are very Austin-centric. I think we’ve always wanted to have a show about his work. I don’t think we were going to let this one pass by this year.”

The show will feature redesigns of posters for some of Linklater’s classic films, including “Bernie,” “Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Boyhood” and more. Shaw said the ability to access the sentiments and memories that fans associate with Linklater films made creating the posters different than making art for a new film.

“We’re not selling a movie, so in the case of a body of work like this, where it’s celebrating a director’s history, honestly, the best thing is just to connect with fans of the film,” Shaw said. “When you get to do something for a Richard Linklater film, you know everybody’s seen it 100 times. So then you can get kind of interesting about it. You can do clever jokes and little winks and nods.”

According to Shaw, the appeal of designing for Linklater films made it difficult to limit the number of artists.

“There are 100 other artists I would love to see do stuff with these films, too,” Shaw said. “But at the end of the day, it has to be an intimate show, because his films are so intimate. It made more sense to dial down the number of posters and really focus on the best stuff that we can do.”

For the show, Shaw designed posters for “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly,” two films that he anticipated would provide the greatest challenges.

“I’ll do any Linklater film,” Shaw said. “There isn’t one that I wouldn’t want to do something for. But I didn’t want to jump into the favorites, the things that people are automatically going to want to do. I just picked the two that I figured, ‘These are gonna be tricky, these are gonna be a little harder, so let me try it and see what happens.’ I feel good about the result for sure.”

In a press release, Linklater said he is honored to have Mondo’s team of artists redesign the artwork surrounding his films. Ultimately, Shaw said the artists hoped to design posters that remind fans of why they love Linklater movies.

“I really just hope people get to connect with some of their favorite Richard Linklater films,” Shaw said. “The big takeaway is just that we are absolutely in love with the filmmaker, and we’re just so happy to celebrate his body of work so far. Honestly, I can’t wait to do another one in 15 years.”

When: March 12–15, 7–10 p.m.