West Chelsea Contemporary in Austin is preparing to open 'The Greatest Show on Earth', a duo exhibition featuring new works by the Connor Brothers. The gallery says the presentation brings together more than 100 artworks and spans iconic text paintings, editions, artist books, works on paper and a new body of bastardized oil paintings. An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, from 2 PM to 4 PM, with RSVP recommended and space limited.
The Connor Brothers are the collaborative practice of James Golding and Mike Snelle, who the gallery says have spent more than a decade “rearranging the things we think we know.” According to West Chelsea Contemporary’s exhibition materials, their work turns literary quotations into confessions and reworks familiar images into unexpected combinations. The gallery frames the show as an opportunity to see the breadth of that practice in one place, rather than through a single series or medium.
Among the works referenced in the exhibition announcement are 'I Fucking Love You' and 'Do Not Feed'. West Chelsea Contemporary also notes that the presentation includes exhibition-specific activations and that both artists are expected to attend the opening reception. The gallery describes the event as open to the public, with visitors encouraged to book ahead because of limited capacity.
The exhibition’s promotional text places humor at the center of the Connor Brothers’ approach, but not as an end in itself. In the Eventbrite listing for the opening and artist talk, the gallery describes scenes in which Darth Vader appears beneath a nineteenth-century sky, Godzilla wanders through romantic landscapes, and Victorian portraits are joined by unexpected companions. The gallery says these combinations initially read as absurd, but that their effect changes as the viewer looks longer.
West Chelsea Contemporary presents the show as part of a larger body of work in which the artists use recognizable imagery, altered books and text-based strategies to prompt new readings of familiar cultural material. The gallery’s materials emphasize contradiction, wordplay and the tension between the ridiculous and the serious, while also pointing to the wide range of formats included in the exhibition.
'The Greatest Show on Earth' is on view from August 20 through September 20 at West Chelsea Contemporary, which is located at 1009 West 6th Street, Suite 120, in Austin. The gallery lists public visiting hours Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM and Sunday from 12 PM to 6 PM, with private appointments also available.
