May 15 - July 11, 2021
From West Chelsea Contemporary:
“On Saturday, May 15, West Chelsea Contemporary invites the public to experience their newest exhibit “Icons & Vandals” at the downtown art powerhouse, running through July 11. Recognizable by name and respected for their invaluable contribution, the artists featured in this new show have subverted the contemporary art world throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Categorized by their emergence, these artists have distinguished themselves through disruption. Icons & Vandals seeks to celebrate and highlight monumental works by notable innovators in the contemporary art world.
Beginning May 28, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness will take over WCC’s ‘On the Wall’ program with a curation of emerging artists – including Lanecia Rouse Tinsely, A’Driane Nieves, and Ben Medansky – to be featured alongside the current exhibition. Also, on Juneteenth, WCC will release a limited run of new works by represented contemporary artist Cey Adams, the founding creative director of Def Jam Records. Additional information on both collaborations will be announced in the coming weeks.
With artwork spanning 60 years, Icons & Vandals features art-world agitators from across the globe. Modern Masters—such as Alex Katz and Frank Stella—challenged the status quo through aesthetic and technical innovation. While Pop Art icons—like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol—mined ‘low-brow’ culture and transformed it into fine art. Contemporary Neo-Pop legends—such as Takashi Murakami and Yoshitimo Nara—re-explore the conceptual underpinnings of Pop through the lens of global contemporary culture while pushing the visual language of the movement even further. Contemporary Chinese Artists—like Ai WeiWei and Zhang Xiaogang—critique their country’s collectivist society on a global scale. Street art pioneers—from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Banksy—disrupt physical urban space while challenging the boundaries of what can be considered art. In this same vein, artist-licensed Skate Decks and Vinyl Art bring both toy culture and the subculture of skating into the upper echelon of the art world and redefine what it means to be a collector.
“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” – Banksy
West Chelsea Contemporary’s nearly 8,000 square-foot gallery offers the opportunity to highlight work on a monumental scale. From 16-foot originals by RETNA and Cey Adams to colossal sculptural work—including a larger than life mixed media shark and painted aluminum spaceman—the gallery is quite literally activated by art world giants. By contemplating ground-breaking movements from the past six decades, Icons & Vandals allows viewers to rediscover and redefine the art world’s most iconic and contentious house-hold names. These artists have left their mark on the development and progression of contemporary art by subverting the norms of their own time. Through this show it becomes clear that these two labels are not mutually exclusive, but rather are ingrained in their interconnectedness.
“Art should by something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination, and encourages people to go further” – Keith Haring
Initially founded in 2002 by Lisa Russell as Russell Collection, the revamped gallery launched in the fall of 2020 as West Chelsea Contemporary. Since reopening, the gallery has delivered show after show of world renowned art for purveyors and collectors alike, celebrating the biggest names in contemporary art alongside local emerging and mid-career artists. Each exhibit since its reopening has reiterated the breadth of the gallery’s wide curatorial scope and what it has in store for Austin — a city that’s risen in recognition for its public art and museum offerings in recent years, which continue to grow alongside the city itself.
Visitors will enter through the WCC Gift Shop, which features items for the art enthusiast and art collector alike. The store makes contemporary art accessible, complete with KAWS companions and Kusama pumpkins, as well as art books covering Alex Katz, Takashi Murakami, and more. Smaller art tokens such as magnets, toys, mugs, and tea towels highlight artists ranging from David Shrigley and Keith Haring to the Guerilla Girls and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday from 10-6 and Sundays from 12-6. In order to maintain a safe experience for all, visitors are encouraged to wear face coverings in the space and to practice social distancing.
For more information on West Chelsea Contemporary and the opening of Icons & Vandals, please visit wcc.art and follow the gallery on Instagram @wcc.art and Facebook @wcc.gallery. “
On View: May 15, 2021 | 1–5 pm
1009 West 6th Street
Austin, 78703 Texas
512.478.4440
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