8.5″x11″; color photocopy with spray paint; c. late 1970s-1980s. Courtesy of Paul Polubinskas, Teddy Sandoval Estate.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Teddy Sandoval & the Butch Gardens School of Art
at The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center in Austin, Texas USA
12 September 2025–11 January 2026
“Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art” is the first museum retrospective dedicated to the inventive though overlooked artist Teddy Sandoval (1949–1995). A central figure in Los Angeles’s queer and Chicanx artistic circles, Sandoval was an active participant in both U.S. and international avant-garde movements. For twenty-five years, he produced subversive, yet playful artworks that explored the codes of gender and sexuality and continuously mined archetypes of masculinity in his work through his signature icon of a faceless man, often sporting a mustache.
39″x33.5″; acrylic, polymer clay, dried beans, metal belt buckle, and collage on cardboard; 1978. Courtesy of Paul Polubinskas, Teddy Sandoval Estate. Photo by Ian Byers-Gamber.
The exhibition’s title highlights Sandoval’s faux institution and artistic persona named after Butch Gardens, a gay bar in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles during the early 1970s that was frequented by the artist and other Chicanx clientele. He utilized this imprint to distribute his artworks and organize exhibitions with friends and collaborators. While the “school” designation invokes a group, the Butch Gardens School of Art only had one member: Sandoval.
(text adapted from material provided by the gallery)
INFORMATION
The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center
700 Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701 USA
(512) 453-5312
HOURS:
Saturday-Sunday, Noon–6PM
Monday-Tuesday, Closed
Wednesday, Noon–9PM
Thursday-Friday, Noon–6PM