Bright Lights. Big City. It’s Going to be Okay.

by Margaret Meehan July 30, 2010

Austin Gallery and Artist Collective- Okay Mountain


 
 
It’s official. With almost a full month under my belt I now live in Austin and so I guess it is time I give this town some play. Okay Mountain is at Freight + Volume. Okay Mountain is at Freight + Volume!
 
That said, Okay Mountain is an artist run collective
and gallery space that first opened in 2006. That’s around the first time I moved to Austin and it has been amazing to watch their success and ambition grow over only a few short years. It consists of ten members (Carlos Rosales-Silva, Corkey Sinks, Josh Rios, Justin Goldwater, Ryan Hennessee, Nathan Green, Peat Duggins, Michael Sieben, Sterling Allen, and Tim Brown) who now live and work in Austin, Cambridge,
Chicago, and Los Angeles. Each member is a working solo artist in addition to being part of the collective.
 

Corner Store - exterior

In 2009 at PULSE Miami they turned their art fair booth, which was commissioned by Arthouse, into a convenience store complete with products, store fixtures, soundtracks, advertisements, diet pickle juice, and Okay Mountain cashiers. Everything was for sale and everything was made or altered by the collective members. The installation received both the PULSE prize and Viewer’s choice award at the fair. This over the top display of Texas talent lead to their latest endeavor Benefit Plate at Frieght and Volume in NY. It opened last Thursday and runs through September 4th.

 

In progress mural at Freight + Volume


 

 

Benefit Plate is a large-scale sculptural installation based on the tradition of customizing automobiles and barbecue pit trailers. According to the press release, customization is "Often carried out within limited means" and "aims to improve performance and functionality, while adding personalized style". I had the opportunity to see the installation in progress a few days before they drove up to NY and I’d say they did the tradition proud. If their intention was "to out perform predecessors and push the envelope in spite of consequence and…at the expense of practicality", they did just that too. See image of toilet below.
 

Benefit Plate- installation overview

 

Counter- detail


Extra amenity-detail

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