Since its inception, Austin’s Mondo Gallery has kept its focus on the forward movement of its brand. They brought classic gig poster artists into the world of film and pop culture for event posters, that begat the full-fledged birth of the alternative movie poster — a strange amalgam of modern illustration, limited edition screenprints, and contemporary takes on classic films. It didn’t take long before they pushed that formula into collectible toys, soundtracks, and board games and in recent years they have successfully moved into the realm of the high art gallery exhibit.
Mondo opened the doors on the group exhibition ‘The Silent Aviary II‘ on September 21st, 2018, the first Friday of the weeklong Fantastic Fest, the film festival put on by Mondo’s sister company Alamo Drafthouse. The exhibit had nothing to do with the festival or even cinema, outside of a bulk of the curated group of artists in the show being illustrators who have created film posters under the Mondo banner. ‘The Silent Aviary II’ was curated by art collective The Vacvvm, founded by Mondo co-founder and creative director Mitch Putnam and artist Aaron Horkey. Together they have turned The Vacvvm into everything Mondo is and isn’t — a successful name in the world of limited edition collectibles and a bastion for free-thinking artists in search of an outlet for their personal creative endeavors.
With ‘The Silent Aviary II’ (a continuation of The Silent Aviary show held at The Vacvvm headquarters in Minneapolis in 2016) Putnam, Horkey, and company gave the artists the topic Birds of Texas as a starting point, and from gig poster artist Ken Taylor and illustrator Tom Whalen to traditional fine artists Vanessa Foley and Ken Garduno the exhibit showed how a single reference point can be a tool to showcase the core of an individual artist.
The following set of photographs from The Silent Aviary II courtesy of Dylan Johnson Photography / @giantclick
Mondo Gallery | photo by Dylan Johnson
Mondo Gallery | photo by Dylan Johnson
The Vacvvm x Mondo Gallery presents ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
The Vacvvm x Mondo Gallery presents ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
The Vacvvm x Mondo Gallery presents ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
The Vacvvm x Mondo Gallery presents ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
The Vacvvm x Mondo Gallery presents ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Brandon Holt in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Eric Nyffeler in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Teagan White in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Diana Sudyka in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Aaron Horkey in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Randy Ortiz in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Kevin Boettcher in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Jonathan Burton in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Becky Cloonan in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Sonny Day in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Justin Erickson in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Ken Garduno in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Natalie Hall in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Jeremy Hush in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Zoe Keller in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Kikyz1313 in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Niky Motekallem in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Jay Ryan in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Ryan Duggan in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Rob Jones in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Sam Wolfe Connelly in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Jason Edmiston in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Jason Edmiston in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Vanessa Foley in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Anne Benjamin in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Jes Seamans in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Matthew Woodson in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Joao Ruas in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Ken Taylor in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Dan Black in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Erica Williams in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Sara Deck in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Nico Delort in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
AJ Frena in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
John Vogl in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Sonny Day in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Nicole Gustafsson in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Oliver Barrett in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Rory Kurtz in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Fumi Mini Nakamura in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Alex Louisa in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Paige Reynolds in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Justin Santora in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Mike Sutfin in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Richey Beckett in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
Tom Whalen in ‘The Silent Aviary II’ | photo by Dylan Johnson
