Donna Huanca in Austin

In her exhibition “Secret Museum of Mankind” at Women & Their Work, a popular Austin gallery and nonprofit organization dedicated to interdisciplinary, multicultural art by women, Donna Huanca materializes memories from her past and family history, while upending common art-world definitions. On opening night, a performance featuring drums, costumes, and incense brought the Houston-based artist’s work to life, making the occasion seem more mystical ritual than contemporary art event. Huanca’s colorful, crafty installations—like Memories/Past, which contains puppets that when previously shown at Chelsea's Susan Inglett gallery emitted sounds drawn from her everyday life, but here are silent—are a cross between life-size diorama and performance space. The standout piece at Women & Their Work is Papauly, a childlike felt mural that depicts her father’s stint in the Bolivian army, blurring sentiment and kitsch.

Huanca recommends the following five genre-bending exhibitions in Austin:

1. Jorge Macchi: The Anatomy of Melancholy at the Blanton Museum of Art, through March 16
“Macchi's melancholy work walks the line between minimal and Expressionist styles beautifully, confirming that Minimalism doesn't have to be devoid of emotion.”

2. Fritz Haeg: Attack on the Front Lawn at Arthouse, through March 16
“Transforming the gallery into a resource center, a school, and a greenhouse, this exhibit shows the Los Angeles–based artist and architect’s recent ecological initiatives and his site-specific creations related to gardening and sustainable food production in Austin."

3. Mads Lynnerup at Lora Reynolds Gallery, through March 1
“Lynnerup’s posters appearing in this show—which say, ‘If You See Anything Interesting Please Let Someone Know Immediately,’ riffing on New York City’s security posters—will also be pasted up around Austin. His whole body of work has a great sense of humor: The video Fountain transforms dirty dishes into a fountain, and bandages form a sculpture called Band-Aid.”

4. It's Gonna Be Everything at Creative Research Laboratory, through February 9
“This is the first time that the nine artists and founders of the collective Okay Mountain—Sterling Allen, Tim Brown, Peat Duggins, Justin Goldwater, Nathan Green, Ryan Hennessee, Josh Rios, Michael Sieben, and Corkey Sinks—have done a full collaborative exhibition. Installations, drawings, and videos here originated from games, challenges, or rules imposed on and by the group.”

5. Opportunity Knocks: Brad Tucker at Art Palace, through February 16
“‘Opportunity Knocks’ is an installation of sculpture, painting, video, and lino-prints that frame two text-based works. There is a little art history, a little music, and a lot of good sculpture.”