"Jive Town"

A man of many wild, weird and wonderful hats, Agosto Cuellar has won over fans as a fashion designer, the producer/curator behind the Una Noche en la Gloria fan favorite Runway en la Calle, a refreshingly fun DJ, a regional visual merchandiser for Goodwill Industries and proprietor of Jive Refried — a bygone emporium he’s described as “a labor of love that encompassed everything I found beautiful: contemporary art, vintage clothing, DIY creations, curios and home décor.” A Southtown fixture from 1999 to 2011, the shop was an art installation in its own right — showcasing Cuellar’s rasquache design aesthetic as well as his talent for scavenging unusual treasures and artfully repurposing everyday items. Aiming to recreate some of the strange magic of Jive Refried, Cuellar’s new exhibition “Jive Town” takes shape in a six-week installation organized by Alejandro Diaz, the San Antonio-born, New York-based founder of Sala Diaz. Himself a fan of rasquache sensibilities, Diaz is the artist responsible for the plants potted in supersized, handpainted La Morena, Herdez and Jumex cans permanently installed at the San Antonio Airport and is represented in permanent collections ranging from the Smithsonian Museum of American Art to El Museo del Barrio. Essentially co-curated by Cuellar and Diaz, the gallery’s transformation into a “functioning boutique” also includes an array of related programming, including screenings of a web-based series conceived by Kimberly Suta, sewing circles, window displays and swap meets.