Weekend Art Roundup

From the Beard Photo Series by Corinne Loperfido, courtesy of BiRDHOUSE Gallery

On Saturday, two new exhibits open at the Austin Museum of Art Downtown. In A Couple Ways of Doing Something, renown artist Chuck Close displays his daguerreotype portraits of fellow influential contemporary artists. Many of the portraits are paired with a poem by Bob Holman, the founder of the Bowery Poetry Club in New York. To compliment A Couple Ways of Doing Something, AMOA has organized a exhibit with pieces from their permanent collection called Focus on Faces. Both exhibits open on Saturday at 10am, and AMOA Executive Director Dan Friis-Hansen will giving a your of the shows from 3pm to 4pm.

While you're in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by the Mexic-Arte Museum to see their latest exhibits, Young Latino Artists 14 and Serie XVI. YLA14's curator, Eduardo Xavier Garcia, came up with this year's theme for the exhibit, TARP ≠ lona. In the chaotic times of recession and troubled assets, artists find their lona, or cover, in the creative process. YLA14 features pieces in a wide range of mediums by Texas residents under the age of 35. The Serie Print Project XVI is on display in the museum's back gallery. The nonprofit artist in residency program pairs Latino artists with print studios to create limited edition fine art screenprints. This exhibition features work by ten artists who created prints at Austin's Coronado Studio.

On Sunday, wrap up the weekend right with yet another whimsical show at the BiRDHOUSE Gallery. In What Is Not But Could Be If Corinne Loperfido and Kevin C. Foote, Ausitnites by way of New York and Chicago, have collaborated to present an eclectic series of portraits. Loperfido's vibrant color photographs are portraits of people wearing beards of unlikely materials - think Rasin Bran, rose petals, and aluminum foil. Foote's complimentary back and white portrait series features pictures of people with cookies in their mouths. This tasty reception takes place on Sunday from 6-9pm.