Yard Dog Gallery proudly presents a new exhibition of paintings by Matt Straub. This is the first time his work has been shown in Texas.
He currently works in New York City and has a home in Buffalo, Wyoming. He has hitch-hiked across most of the western states and even hopped a few freight trains. His work has a deep nostalgia for the the harsh landscapes of the West.
The work is a mash-up of Pulp Fiction westerns and street art sensibilities. These paintings also reflect the period of transition between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. The paintings’ surprisingly varied and layered surfaces resonate with affinities to artists such as William De Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Sigmar Polke. Featuring classic Western iconographic images of cowboys, cowgirls, guns and horses, his work depicts the violent narratives and sentimental mythologies of the American West—a landscape defined by melancholy sunsets, badlands, gunfights, outlaws and red-blooded heroes. References include Hollywood Westerns and the bold visual vocabulary of the comics and pulps of the 1940’s-50’s. BANG! BLAM!
These Pop-Westerns are like graffiti splattered box cars rolling across the plains. The paintings are a metaphor for a vanishing West.

Matt Straub
Trouble For Sale
June 23 - July 29, 2012

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 23
7 - 9 PM
Yard Dog Art Gallery
1510 S. Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78704[gallery order="DESC" columns="1"]

Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20, we're taking part in the 1st ever West Austin Studio Tour, W.E.S.T. It's a self-guided tour of artist studios, exhibition spaces & galleries. We'll be showing a whole bunch of Steve Keene paintings. Steve, who lives in Brooklyn, believes in mass producing hand painted works of art for the masses.Steve says, "I want buying my paintings to be like buying a cd: it’s cheap, it's art and it changes your life, but the object has no status. Musicians create something for the moment, something with no boundaries and that kind of expansiveness is what I want to come across in my work." The paintings will be for sale, in the gallery only and not here on our website, for $25 each. That's cheap, right? Come on out and buy a few. Selling for that price this Saturday & Sunday only!!

We're excited to be taking part in the first-ever West Austin Studio Tour, W.E.S.T. . If you live in Austin you probably know about E.A.S.T., which has been up and running big-time since 2003. Well, W.E.S.T. is like E.A.S.T. only it's west of the territory that E.A.S.T. covers, so it's W.E.S.T. Got it? Anyway, it's a self-guided tour of artist studios, exhibition spaces & galleries. Lots and lots of art to see all over town, but don't forget to stop in here!

We'll be open our normal business hours: Saturday 11 - 6 & Sunday noon - 5.

Saturday, May 19 & Sunday, May 20

Born in Galveston, Texas, and currently living and working in Marfa, Camp Bosworth draws much of his inspiration from the richly diverse culture inherent in a border state.  Diverging traditions and histories, the trope of the Western, border tensions, the war on drugs, the figure of the Narco (or drug lord), gun laws, cartel wars—all form the scope of influence surrounding the artist’s practice.  Initially trained as a painter, Bosworth creates monumental wood sculptures that examine the image of the Narco, representations of narco-culture in Corridos, and our collective fascination with, in the artist’s words, “the lives of outlaws and the rich, or anyone living a more than normal life.”
Creating oversized icons of the narcotraficante—pistol, tequila, spurs, bling jewelry—has allowed him, like an anthropologist, to observe, document and investigate life in Northern Mexico at the start of the 21st century. He acknowledges the ongoing folklore of Mexican history and popular arts within the culture of La Frontera by creating recurring and enduring images from wood. He employs techniques derived from Mexican artisanal wood carving, bas-relief, metal working and jewelry making traditions. Isolating the trappings of narco-culture demystifies them, allowing them to be seen apart from their cultural milieu, and diffuses their charge as associated symbols of power and machismo. They begin to move into the realm of Pop. Increased in scale, the stereotypical status objects lose some of their connotations of menace and domination and make way for an appreciation of craft, skill and beauty.
Through this body of work, Bosworth deliberates challenging questions unique to the border region: corruption, violence, murder, poverty and lawlessness wrought by the drug cartels. He further hopes to encourage dialogue as an important tool for change.  “I don’t think I’m romanticizing Narco culture or power; I am working through it. It does not mean that I sympathize with these types of characters. Art is an inherent form of communication and my work stimulates conversations about border issues, the Narcos, and the war on drugs.”

Jon just sent us a few new paintings. Check them out on his page.

Dakota Pratt
Trunk Show
Friday, March 30
6 - 9 PM
Saturday, March 31
11 AM - 6 PM

Dakota has come & gone but we have some photos of the show over on Flickr. If you see something you like let us know and we'll see if it's still available. Otherwise we'll have his pieces back in the gallery and online sometime in May.

Dakota Pratt is a Southern California artist who builds over-sized pop art objects out of wood and covers them with bottle caps. He collects his bottle caps from all kinds of places, flattens them and nails them in place.  In the show will be such things as a 6 foot hotdog, a bacon and egg table set, benches, chairs, a peppermint ottoman, hearts, stars and more.

Dakota will be in the gallery Friday evening and all day Saturday. Come by & say hey!

We only have 2 days of parties this year (compared to 4 in previous years) but hey, what a lineup!

The World Famous Yard Dog Party

Saturday March 17
noon - 6:30 pm

Free, open to the public.

12:00 - 12:30 Diego’s Umbrella
12:45 - 1:15 The Silos
1:30 - 2:00 Ken Stringfellow
2:15 - 2:55 Garland Jeffreys
3:10 - 3:50 Chuck Prophet
4:05 - 4:45 Tender Mercies
5:00 - 5:40 Jon Langford
5:55 - 6:35 Ian McLagan & The Bump Band

JEB LOY NICHOLS Prints

with special guests
JON LANGFORD Paintings
TONY FITZPATRICK Prints
MAKE SKATEBOARDS Limited Edition Skateboards
March 15 - April 29

Got Spotify? Here is a Jeb Loy Nichols playlist.

Opening Reception
Thursday, March 15
6 - 8 PM

Walter Salas-Humara plays at 6:30 PM

Jeb Loy Nichols plays at 7:00 PM

Jon Langford plays at 7:30 PM

Jeb Loy Nichols is an American living in Wales, Jon Langford is a Welshman living in Chicago, and they're both artists and musicians - a match made in heaven! Yard Dog will be showing new woodblock and lino cut prints by Nichols and new paintings by Langford. Both Nichols and Langford will perform at the opening.
Tony Fitzpatrick is a renowned Chicago artist. Yard Dog is showing selected pieces from his "American Etchings" and "Nickel History" series.
Make Skateboards is a Brooklyn-based skate company that has released limited edition skateboards by: Kenny Scharf, Prophet Royal Robertson, Peter Saul, Scott Ogden, Marina Kappos, Slater Bradley, Chris Dorland, Cameron Martin, Eduardo Sarabia, Jacob Kassay, Erik Parker, Tom Sanford, and Debra Hampton. Along with producing these editions, they also work with artists to create unique, one-of-a-kind boards.

Bloodshot Records SXSW annual Yard Dog party (1510 S. Congress)

Friday March 16th, 2012 -- starts crack-o-NOON

Sponsored by: Lagunitas, Blurt/Second Motion

12:15-12:40  Southeast Engine (Misra artist, Bloodshot distributed)
12:55-1:20    Valerie June  (Bloodshot friendly artist)
1:35-2:00      Deadstring Brother
2:15-2:40      Cory Branan
2:55-3:20      Wayne Hancock
3:35-4:00      Lydia Loveless
4:15-4:40      Rosie Flores
4:55-5:20      JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound
5:35-6:15      Waco Brothers & Paul Burch

Our buddy Jon Langford is hosting the Industry of Music party, sponsored by our friends at Dogfish Head, at the Gingerman on Thursday March 15, and we'll be there with some of Jon's artwork.  It's a great lineup, and there'll be great beer, of course.  You can get more info here, here and here.

Saturday, February 25

7 - 9 PM

We will be showing off the work of local painter & musician, Brian Salvi. Brian does large-scale portrait paintings on plywood of American Indians, presidents and other historical figures. He's also a musician, a current or former member of Austin bands The Weary Boys and Eaglize It. He and some friends will be making music at the opening party.

Our favorite El Paso painter & cantante Tom Russell has just completed 9 new paintings for us. You can see them and all of his available work here. They will be in the gallery by Monday, February 20, if you want to see them in person.