Round Top’s Art and Design Mecca — The Halles Embraces a New York/Austin Gallery Power

The Halles events space is once again enthusiastically embracing an art theme, bringing contemporary paintings and sculptures edged with street chops via the bold Round Top debut of New York City/Austin gallery West Chelsea Contemporary.

Fresh from inclusion in the five-person exhibition “First Impressions” at West Chelsea’s Manhattan space, British talent Gary James McQueen enters the Round Top arena with an imagined world forged from his time as head mens ready-to-wear textile designer for his late uncle, fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

The artist’s aesthetic mirrors the Chrome Skull iconography that defined the global brand, with his lenticular image famously appearing as the cover of the book Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.

For Gary James McQueen’s solo at The Halles, West Chelsea organizes a tightly woven exhibition of lenticular artwork, offered in a small-edition series that speaks to the Savage Beauty symbolism that continues to define this British fashion house.

It’s compelling iconography. A man’s face merging with a cyborg, a tangle of naked bodies writhing in dance, a skull where birds and blossoms transform into gold, a modernist swirl of fantastical avians, and a flayed angel trussed in a Renaissance velvet corset are some of McQueen’s visceral images.

Designer Confidential: March 31, Austin Designer Brady Mathews Talks Incorporating Art Into Today’s Interiors

One of Texas’ most watched design talents, Austin-based Brady Mathews, owner/founder of Sojourn Design House in Austin, is the featured speaker this Thursday, March 31 from 2 to 4 pm at The Halles, in a special Designer Confidential. The designer, with projects in Austin and across the United States, began his career at Kelly Wearstler on the West Coast, then joined Restoration Hardware, where he rose to become senior design leader before opening his own firm in 2017.

Mathews’ appearance is sponsored by West Chelsea Contemporary in The Halles VIP Pavilion. His hot topic addresses how to incorporate important contemporary art — including works by cutting-edge artists — into today’s interiors. PaperCity‘s Catherine D. Anspon is set to moderate.

Designer Confidential: Brady Mathews x West Chelsea Contemporary is free, and open to both designers and the public. Please RSVP here. 

Who Let the Dogs Out: Gillie and Marc’s Canine Art Stars

West Chelsea also brings the much-buzzed-about bronze sculpture of Aussie duo, Sydney-based Gillie and Marc. The married collaborators, Gillie and Marc Schattner, are globally prolific sculptors with an environmental stance who often self fund their six-figure sculptural tableau to make public art available by enlivening streetscapes and bringing joy to passersby.

Their respective art doppelgängers, Rabbitgirl and Dogman, rendered in bronze, serve up a jolt of pop fervor wherever they appear, from Greenwich Village to Rockefeller Center. The most endearing of these creations may be the long-eared, human-sized Paparazzi Dogs — jauntily attired anthropomorphic canines who wield cameras.

Now members of Gillie and Marc’s Paparazzi Pack make appearances when a pair of sculptures pop up, courtesy of West Chelsea Contemporary, at The Halles.

No White Walls at The Halles

West Chelsea’s booth headlines a selection of international and national talents on the street art/graffiti scene, plus the addition of blue chip masters of significant pedigree sourced from the secondary market. Three Austin artists of national cred also make personal appearances, live-painting murals inside and outside the Art Halle: Mila Sketch, Cody Hooper and Ash Almonte.

A Concise History: A-Town to NYC

Founded in the Fall 2020 under the direction of longtime Austin gallerist Lisa Russell, West Chelsea Contemporary boasts plum spaces in the heart of the Texas and New York action. There is an enviable 7,800-square-foot white cube at 1009 West 6th Street in Austin and a 2,500-square-foot flagship at 231 Tenth Avenue in the heart of West Chelsea along the NYC High Line.

For the full lineup of West Chelsea Contemporary events in Round Top, head to The Halles’ website here. Find out more about West Chelsea Contemporary, here. 

All the images with this story come courtesy of the artists and West Chelsea Contemporary.