The May Issue | Collective+
May 14th: Friends Fair VIP Opening Event
Join Nick for an invite-only evening on the Moody Rooftop at The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center to kick off Friends Fair Austin. This VIP launch event, curated by Co-Lab Projects, features video art by Jess Johnson, live poetry with Stephanie Yue Duhem and August Smith, and music by Hexpartner and p1nkstar. Held ahead of the fair’s public debut, this offers a first look at Austin’s newest contemporary art experience—an intimate, forward-thinking fair spotlighting top local galleries and national exhibitors.
Date | May 3 - June 1, 2025
Location | Wally Workman Gallery
Perception brings together three artists—Ashley Benton, Christopher Lee Gilmer, and Eric Varner—each exploring the limits of how we see and interpret the world. Gilmer uses AI-generated imagery as a starting point, drawing from concepts like string theory and chakra resonance to paint abstract forms that challenge traditional representation. Benton’s surreal ceramic figures reflect a blend of earthly and celestial forces, while Varner experiments with flat color and geometry to test the viewer’s visual expectations. The show runs through June 1 at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin. Learn More
Date | May 7 - January 18, 2026
Location | Dallas Museum of Art
Opening May 7, the Dallas Museum of Art reintroduces All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, Yayoi Kusama’s beloved Infinity Mirror Room. Featuring 62 glowing, polka-dotted pumpkins reflected endlessly in a mirrored chamber, the installation invites visitors to step inside Kusama’s surreal, immersive world. This is the first reinstallation of the work since its 2017 debut at the DMA and remains the only pumpkin infinity room visitors can fully walk into. Return to Infinity runs through January 18, 2026. Learn More
Date | March 9 - May 26, 2025
Location | Museum of Fine Arts Houston
On view through May 26 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Tamara de Lempicka: Icon of Art Deco showcases over 100 works by the iconic painter known for her stylized portraits, sensuous figures, and modern take on neoclassicism. Lempicka captured the glamour and dynamism of the early 20th century, portraying aristocrats, artists, and fashion-forward women and men. Alongside her most famous works, the exhibition includes early still lifes, rarely seen drawings, photographs, and fashion ephemera. See it before it closes. Learn More