No Pushing, Scratching, or Hair-Pulling: Arthouse's 5x7 Art Splurge

Since the orgy of destruction that was the 24 Hour Roman Reconstruction Project, Arthouse's downtown gallery space has been closed for extensive renovations. We've been inquisitively following the weekly construction updates on the Arthouse blog and are super excited by the progress. Curiously, we haven't missed Arthouse nearly as much as we thought we would. Now, don't take that the wrong way; not having a free contemporary art museum in the heart of downtown has been hard for our eager eyes and empty wallets to cope with, but Arthouse has done a fantastic job of staying active in the art scene despite having their brick and mortar establishment be, well, mostly brick and mortar. In the months that they've been closed, Arthouse has arranged for guest lectures to come to Austin, co-sponsored Fusebox Festival performances, put on their annual student exhibition at Pump Project, and generally remained an artistic force to be reckoned with. We also realize that good things are worth waiting for, and the new, expanded, improved Arthouse is certainly going to be a good thing.

Next week, Arthouse is continuing another annual art tradition by presenting this year's installment of their FIVE x SEVEN art show and sale. Each year, Arthouse asks hundreds of artists to contribute one (or more) pieces of art measuring five by seven inches to the exhibit. Each work is then sold for $100 - to keep the playing field level, and to assure that everyone is buying art because they like it (a novel idea, we know!), the artist's identity remains a secret until a purchaser has handed over a crisp Ben Franklin. Artists participating this year include Sterling Allen, Leah DeVun, Sam Sanford, Fritz Haeg, and nearly a thousand others. Although each artist is constrained by a small canvas size, many do amazing things and we've seen some amazing three dimensional and multi-media pieces at 5x7's past.

This year's FIVE x SEVEN exhibit and sale will be held at the Whitely Printing Building (at 301 Brazos St.). Art will be on display and for sale only on the weekend of May 13th through the 16th. Anyone interested in first dibs on this year's crop of art should plan to attend Thursday's Art Splurge, a ticketed party that will feature catering by Ranch 616, tunes by Lean & Bounce, and freely flowing drinks. Tickets to Thursday's Art Splurge cost $125; the party kicks off at 7:30pm and art goes on sale promptly at 9pm. Proceeds from 5x7 go to support the exhibitions and educational programs put on by the Arthouse, which are always free of charge. Attendees are reminded that this is a classy affair - please refrain from trampling anyone who's also looking longingly at your favorite piece of art.

Follow this post after the jump to hear about more 5x7 festivities.