If you run out of outdoor activities and want to check out Austin’s art scene instead, take a self-guided tour around the city’s galleries and museums. Austin’s vibrant culture sets a special space for exhibitions with hundreds of themes, and The Daily Texan picked four of the best ones for avoiding the July heat.
- Lisa Brawn: ¿Quién Es Más Macho? Wes Anderson vs. The Wild Birds of Texas
- Yard Dog Art Gallery — 1510 S. Congress Ave.
Calgary woodcut artist Lisa Brawn created a showdown between film director Wes Anderson and some folky birds. The pop-art portraits are made from painted woodcut blocks with geometric patterns. Brawn uses lively colors in her depictions of acorn woodpeckers and Eleanor Zissou, one of the main characters from Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The interesting showdown between popular culture personas and wild birds deserves a visit.
- Fixing Shadows: Contemporary Peruvian Photography, 1968–2015
- Blanton Museum of Art — 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
In collaboration with the Harry Ransom Center, the Blanton Museum of Art presents a compilation of more than 40 works documenting a Peruvian period of artistic growth and political upheaval. The exhibition features photographs from the ‘70s through today, taken by artists such as Fernando La Rosa, Carlos Domínguez and Milagros de la Torre. The collection is a glimpse of the last five decades in Peruvian history and serves as evidence of fights for social justice, traditions and changing times in this Latin American country.
- Young Latino Artists: Amexican@
- Mexic-Arte Museum — 419 Congress Ave.
David “Shek” Vega, a self-taught artist raised in a Mexican American, working-class neighborhood in San Antonio, curated this year’s YLA exhibition. This exhibition provides emerging Latino/a artists a space in a professional-level museum to feature their work, which represents their Latino upbringing and the rekindling of their Mexican roots. Vega’s work as a curator exposes artworks that relate to today’s immigration debates. Besides appreciating the artwork, you can also contemplate the ways Latinos have influenced the cultural and artistic scene in Texas.
- The Fine Art of Disney
- ART on 5th Gallery — 3005 S. Lamar Blvd.
As “Finding Dory”’s success continues to increase and “Legend of Tarzan” is just around the corner, The Fine Art of Disney will pay tribute to Walt Disney’s impact upon artists and storytellers around the world. This exclusive exhibition will feature your favorite Disney films by 10 licensed Disney artists. In addition, Rodel Gonzalez, one of Disney’s official artists, will be painting live in the gallery during the opening reception July 8 and 9. Make sure you RSVP for this two-night event on the gallery’s official website.
