SXSW: Mondo Gallery Opening

Everybody’s favorite source for alternative movie posters now has a new home! Moving from a small corner in the front of the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, Mondo now occupies a modest gallery space next to an upscale poster framing shop in midtown Austin. It should be noted that even though we’re filing this under “SXSW,” it doesn’t appear that this event is officially related to SXSW… but if something cool happens in Austin in the next two weeks, it counts in our book. :P

The new space at 4115 Guadalupe would have been pretty hard to find, if not for the long line of eager fans pouring from the entrance into a neighboring parking lot. There’s no physical sign on or above the front door indicating what the place is. Maybe they’re going to add one later… or maybe this place is supposed to be a secret. If you’re reading this, I guess you’re cool enough to know about it. :)

The actual space is pretty small and kind of underwhelming. We waited in line for more than an hour and a half as they quickly met the maximum number of occupants. Once we got in, we were able to check everything out in about 10 minutes. This would have been a letdown if it weren’t for the artwork itself.

To open the gallery, a sci-fi theme was chosen to decorate the walls. Pieces from The Wrath of Khan, The Man Who Fell To Earth, The Fly, Planet of the Apes, Dune, Akira, and even Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey were scattered about – each one just as impressive as the last. Plenty of Mondo’s limited run screen prints were present, but the real gems were the more ‘traditional’ pieces you might expect to find in a ‘real’ art gallery. Oil and paint on canvas and wood blocks complimented the framed poster prints very nicely, though they also come with a much heftier price tag (the small ‘Bill and Ted’ painting of William Sadler’s Death was priced over $600). Still… probably very cool to own if you have the money.

There weren’t any freebies/swag for the masses, but a few lucky folks were able to snatch up a rare Olly Moss Dr. Who print, though nobody was brave enough to show it off on their way out the door (with good reason, as some of these people would have thought about jumping them after hearing that they sold out).

All in all, the new gallery will make a really nice retail space (poster prints and t-shirts are sold in the back), but I definitely wouldn’t suggest making a trek to Austin just to check this place out. I’ll give you fair warning, though — I might be underselling this place juuusssssttt a bit in hopes of scaring other people away so I can be first in line when their upcoming Back to the Future and Ghostbusters prints come out. :)

More: Check out the Austin Chronicle’s profile on the new store!

Photo gallery!…