While some of us prefer to repress memories of our teenage years, 30+ local artists choose to re-experience the angst and horrors of those formative years in Saturday’s Teenage Wasteland exhibition at Co-Lab. This installation, curated by Julia Hungerford and Lee Webster, will showcase paintings, drawings, zines, videos, and voodoo dolls created during the artists’ teen years. All unwanted works will be burnt in a bonfire during the closing reception on May 12th. We caught up with some of the participating artists to see what they were really like in high school. more ›

What’s great about being an art enthusiast in Austin is that multiple exhibition openings tend to occur on the same night. It’s entirely possible to do an art crawl across town in one evening, sipping chardonnay at West End fine art galleries before heading to Lone Star-flowing East Austin spaces. You’ll likely run into others following the same route. Here are three opening receptions occurring today, in west to east order. more ›

Miss the idyllic comforts of a sleepover party, where giddy sleep-deprived perspectives coalesce into a communal bond of the cocooning sort? If so, head over to Co-Lab tonight to take part in the sleepover opening of Katelena Hernandez's Comfort Sessions performance. more ›

Today we're talking to Sean Gaulager, one of the founders of Co-Lab, a community based art space in East Austin. Gaulager started Co-Lab in 2008 when he saw a void in gallery space for non-traditional artists. The focus here is on providing space for constantly rotating collaborations, screenings, performances and installations - and making it possible for new media artists to show their work more frequently. An on-site community garden furthers the connection to this East Austin community. Gaulager spoke with us about Co-Lab's current exhibitions (including an impressive miniature city contained within a sand box, installed in the main gallery), what excites him about the Austin art scene, how Co-Lab has changed in the short two years of its existence. We love that Co-Lab was inspired by creating a community space for Austin-based artists. Can you tell us a little about the history of Co-Lab - what was the catalyst for creation? Basically Co-Lab was created as an extremely accessible model for artists working in new media to engage and exercise their ideas and as a space that could facilitate other community oriented activities (i.e. community garden). We saw many artists (myself included) exploring non-traditional ways of art making and felt that a dedicated venue could really help these artists execute these projects. more ›

There are many spooky art events being held around town this weekend - here's a rundown of the highlights: Domy Books's 4th annual Monster Show opens with a reception on Saturday from 7-9pm. The packed group show will include the monstrous work of Sterling Allen, the Sumi Ink Club, Jenny Hart, Michael Sieben, and many others. Fair warning for the squeamish, Domy's Project Space will feature an installation by Dave Allen that will bring to life the crime scene of Jack the Ripper's final murder. If you'll be haunting Houston for the weekend, Domy's Westheimer store will also be holding their Monster Show opening on Saturday. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

It seems like people start talking about SXSW earlier every year, doesn’t it? Well, maybe that’s just because talk of free shows, possibly free booze and tons of interesting bands is just plain interesting. To that end, both Homeslice Pizza and the Colab Artspace have announced limited details about the day parties they’re planning on throwing during March. more ›

Are you a hipster? Or do you at least strive to be? Do you like the holidays? What about art? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you might want to check out the Hipster Holiday Snow-Ball Party and Fundraiser at Co-Lab in East Austin. more ›