Celebrating Fusebox! An Opening & Anniversary Birthday

The Huxleys
Presented in partnership with The Contemporary Austin

The public is invited to a free two-for-one at the Jones Center on the opening night of HOST: Fusebox and Fusebox’s 20th anniversary birthday celebration! Be among the first to view the exhibition, which includes samplings of current and former Fusebox artists, then hurry to the rooftop for the birthday bash — including a few shiny, flashy, and sweet guests weaving through the crowd. Yes, there will be a birthday song. Yes, there will be cake.

Plus don’t miss out on The Huxleys gracing us with a fantastic sequined serenade of camp wizardry set to a disco beat around 8:15pm!

A detailed schedule of the night to come:

• 5:00-6:00pm Members & Friends Preview
• 6:00-9:15pm Celebrating Fusebox! Public Reception
• 6:30pm Remarks and Birthday Celebration
• 8:15pm Performance by The Huxleys

The 6:00-9:15pm portion of the evening is open for all to attend. Members and invited guests of the museum are encouraged to register for the Members & Friends reception from 5:00–6:00pm.

About HOST: Fusebox

This exhibition celebrates the 20th anniversary of Fusebox. The brainchild of a group of young artist-friends living in Austin in 2005, Fusebox began as a local festival for adventurous performance staged in various venues and alternative spaces around town. Since then—having presented hundreds of local, national, and international artists showcasing a wildly eclectic array of visual and performing arts—the organization has evolved to become not only a cornerstone for the arts in Austin but also a major presenter of live and interdisciplinary art worldwide.

HOST: Fusebox will present a sampling of works by current and former Fusebox artists as an immersive gallery display. The exhibition opens during the 20th annual Fusebox festival and includes celebratory events during the opening weekend, April 11-14. Other programs will include performances and events with featured artists throughout the exhibition.

HOST: Fusebox is curated by Robin K. Williams, Curator, The Contemporary Austin, with Ron Berry, Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director, Fusebox.

About the Performers

Will Huxley (AUS/UK) and Garrett Huxley (Yorta/Gumbaynggir/AUS) are Melbourne-based collaborative performance and visual artists. The Huxleys are a dynamic duo of cataclysmic proportions who present camp spectacle and disco enthused wizardry across the visual art, performance and entertainment worlds. Their photography and performance art traverses the classifications of costume, film and recording. A visual assault of sparkle, surrealism and the absurd, The Huxleys saturate their practice and projects with a glamorous, androgynous freedom which sets out to bring some escapism and magic to everyday life.

Since 2014 The Huxleys have performed, exhibited and participated in numerous exhibitions, projects and events in Australia, and internationally in London, Berlin, Moscow, New York and Hong Kong. Solo presentations, performances and commissions include the Melbourne International Arts Festival; Melbourne Fashion Week; Sydney Contemporary; Hong Kong Design Week; Heide Museum of Modern Art; Art Bank, Melbourne; NGV; AGNSW; QAGOMA; AGSA; AGWA; Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne; Sydney Festival; Carriageworks, Sydney; Sydney World Pride and the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; The Huxleys first came to prominence during the early years of MONA FOMA and Dark Mofo in Tasmania.

The Huxleys’ photographs are included in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; HOTA, Gold Coast; State Library of Victoria, Melbourne and The Besen Foundation, Melbourne. The Huxleys have been finalists in the National Portrait Prize in both 2022 and 2023 and finalists in Bowness Prize 2022. They were awarded the Wai Tang Commissioning Award, 2024 and the HIghly Commended Fashion Award at the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards, 2024

ABOUT HOST

HOST is an exhibition space and program series that amplifies The Contemporary Austin’s commitment to centering artists and welcoming publics. With each exhibition cycle, an artist will create a newly commissioned environment in the HOST gallery space at The Jones Center. Programming will accompany each work. Throughout the run of each exhibition, artists will invite visitors into their worlds.