All week long we’ll be telling you about the coolest stuff to do and see at SXSW 2012. Kicking off Monday, we present some wonderful info we just received about artist extraordinaire Wayne White.

There’s always so much to do and see at South by Southwest, but occasionally I get a press release that gets me genuinely excited.  If you’re not familiar with Wayne White, it’s okay, but you need to remedy that.  As an artist, in every sense of the word, he’s truly a jack of all trades – as a creative personality, he’s quite simply a wunderkind.  The funny thing is even if you’ve never heard of him, chances are you’ve absolutely seen his work, whether in designs for Pee Wee’s Playhouse, or music videos for Peter Gabriel and The Smashing Pumpkins.  White is this generation’s answer to Andy Warhol from an artistic sense, while so very different with his work.  It just so happens all the SXSW attendees will have a chance to meet Wayne in person on Sunday, as he’ll be signing copies of his book titled ‘Maybe Now I’ll Get the Respect I So Richly Deserve.’  Admission to the signing is FREE, though it’s a given the books are not.  But let’s face it, if you’re in town and have any sense whatsoever, you’d be wise to pick up a copy and get White’s signature on that bad boy. And since we’re plugging Wayne’s book, why not plug the documentary about him as well.  Beauty Is Embarrassing – The Wayne White Story, directed by Neil Berkeley, will be premiering Saturday, March 10th, 7pm at the Vimeo Theater.  Check out the trailer below, and I think you’ll start to understand why this is particularly exciting for me.  I’m hoping I get a chance to talk to the man in person, so check back here in a week or so and hopefully I’ll have some anecdotes to share from that experience.  Underneath the trailer, you can read the full press release I got in my e-mail, which tells you everything you need to know. One of these days I hope to own an original piece by Wayne in my collection of original art… though something tells me I’m nowhere near rich enough to live out that dream just yet. Wayne, if you’re reading this, and feel like doodling on a napkin – keep me in mind.

Domy Books, Brkly and Marty Walker Gallery are pleased to present
Beauty Is Embarrassing
The Art of Wayne White
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Domy Books – Austin
913 E Cesar Chavez, Austin, TX 78702
7-10pm, FREE http://j.mp/yT3jJT
Exhibition runs March 11–April 19, 2012

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The artist will be present and signing copies of his book,
Maybe Now I’ll Get the Respect I So Richly Deserve

Beauty Is Embarrassing – The Wayne White Story, directed by Neil Berkeley, will be premiering Saturday, March 10th, 7pm at the Vimeo Theater.

Browse some of Wayne’s work: http://j.mp/ABSemP

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Wayne White (http://waynewhiteart.com) is an American artist, art director, illustrator, puppeteer and much, much more. Born and raised in Chattanooga, Wayne has used his memories of the south to create inspired works for film, television and the fine art world. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University Wayne traveled to New York City where he worked as an illustrator for The East Village Eye, New York Times, Raw Magazine and the Village Voice. In 1986 Wayne became a designer for the hit television show Pee-wee’s Playhouse (http://www.peewee.com/) and his work was awarded with three Emmys. After traveling to Los Angeles with his wife, Mimi Pond, Wayne continued to work in television and designed sets and characters for shows such as Shining Time Station, Beakman’s World, Riders In The Sky and Bill & Willis. He also worked in the music video industry winning Billboard and MTV Music Video Awards as an art director for seminal music videos including The Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Tonight, Tonight’ (http://j.mp/x6u8CX) and Peter Gabriel’s ‘Big Time’(http://j.mp/AfgZVA).

More recently Wayne has had great success as a fine artist and has created paintings and public works that have been shown all over the world. His most successful works have been the word paintings featuring oversized, three dimensional text painstakingly integrated into vintage landscape reproductions. The message of the paintings is often thought provoking and almost always humorous with Wayne pointing a finger at vanity, ego and his memories of the South. Wayne has also received great praise for several public works he has created recently including a successful show at Rice University where he built the world’s largest George Jones puppet head for a piece called ‘Big Lectric Fan To Keep Me Cool While I Sleep’ (http://j.mp/xiQ5eU). In 2009 Wayne’s life and career were chronicled in an incredible 382 page monograph edited by Todd Oldham. The book features hundreds of images from Wayne’s earliest work as an illustrator all the way to his most recent fine art sculptures.

Wayne has an upcoming solo exhibition, ‘I Say A Lot of Things’, opening March 31 and running through May 5, 2012 at Marty Walker Gallery (http://www.martywalkergallery.com) in Dallas, TX. The artist will also have an art installation, Big Lick Boom, at The Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia which runs June–August 2012.

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