MAY 25, 2002

You’ll be baking in the sun soon enough even if you’re not a NASCAR fan. Why rush it? Memorial Day weekend the parks and pools are going to be overrun with white bellied, coconut oiled office larvae looking to get their first burn of the summer. If you could somehow drown the drunken rebel yells or calls of “Marco Polo,” you would hear the sound of skin sizzling like meat on a spit. Chill dawg. This weekend spend some quality time in the air-conditioned comfort of the Austin Museum of Art where you can enjoy the closing days of the “22 to Watch: New Art in Austin” exhibit. 22 to Watch provides an introduction to 22 new artists, all of whom live in or within a fifty mile radius of Austin (tough luck, Llano). Exhibiting artists were chosen not only by their geographical qualification, but by an exhaustive nine month curatorial selection process that reviewed the work of over seventy artists. All pieces in the exhibit were created within the last three years and represent a wide variety of artistic media and topics. If nothing else, this show promises to provide an interesting overview of what’s going on with visual art in the Austin area. Even if you didn’t have “visit an art gallery” on your Memorial Day to do list, this show is worth your time. Besides, you’ve got an extra day, live a little.