Julie Speed, based in Marfa, has delighted Austin and SA collectors (and artists) since she moved to Texas in 1978. Her expressive riffs on Renaissance-style painting have cast an acerbic glance on the qualms and quandaries of life for her viewers for awhile, and continue to do so in accelerating fashion. Southwest School of Art hosts a new exhibition of Speed’s work this Thursday with an opening that is sure to be an attractor for the knowing set, but you (and I) are welcome too. Painting (and drawing) with chops that are not used for mere self-aggrandizement, Speed gives us some humor in the midst of discovering that — no surprise — everything is not going ahead as well as planned. But enough of the social comment. These are truly wonderful pieces of work; stop on by, and find someone to talk to about those out-of-focus items on the fringe of your vision that bug you for awhile, before fading away. Speed will get you up to speed on the non-alignment we all try to forget. A Top-Pick. Free; 5-8pm, Russell Hill Rogers Gallery II, Navarro Campus, 1201 Navarro, (210) 224-1848, swschool.org. Through April 28. Check out our full online calendar of upcoming events here: calendar.sacurrent.com.
