A pirate radio station broadcasting from inside an art gallery, a cowboy who refuses to be a conqueror, and mirrors positioned so carefully throughout the space that you can’t look at the work without looking at yourself.
That’s ‘The Neon Republic’ — and it might be the most urgent art show happening in Austin right now.
Opening on April 24 at The Cathedral, a Latina-artist owned multi-functional art gallery, this new exhibition brings together resident artist Autumn Mae and guest artist Chris Tobar in a show that doesn’t flinch. Not from politics. Not from history. Not from you.
Two Artists. One Charged Universe.
Autumn Mae’s work hits first. Using plastic, resin mirrors and reclaimed American iconography, Mae’s pieces dismantle the comfortable distance between “the system” and the rest of us. Familiar phrases and patriotic symbols are recontextualized to reveal what the language of freedom has always quietly been doing. In a moment of executive overreach, defunded art programs, and history being banned from classrooms, her work doesn’t rage. It simply holds up a light and asks you to look.
“Slavery never ended, it was simply rebranded for everyone. It can be seen in the patterns we so boldly use to decorate our homes, garments, cards, and pillows. A symbol dating arguably back thousands of years can be subverted into differing perspectives, new ideologies, and new iconographic impressions for an entire society. These symbols can represent and reflect religion, power, and ultimately war. What symbols do you carry, and how many thousands of years did OUR ancestors survive to behold an offering post mortem.” – Autumn Mae
Then there’s Chris Tobar’s ‘The Neon Rodeo.’ If you think you know what a cowboy represents, Tobar is here to complicate that beautifully. Through an Afro-Latino lens, the cowboy sheds his mythology of conquest and becomes something more truthful: a figure searching for identity, endurance, and belonging in a country that has never stopped deciding who deserves it. His immersive universe unfolds through storytelling and the live transmissions of K-RDEO 88.8 FM — a pirate radio station you can tune into inside the gallery. It feels like stumbling onto a frequency that’s been broadcasting the whole time, just waiting for someone to listen.
“The Neon Rodeo series reflects the wild, unpredictable journey of being a creator, using the spirit of the rodeo as a metaphor for navigating identity, ambition, and self-expression. Rooted in the rich history of Black and Brown cowboy culture, the work reclaims and reimagines that legacy through a personal lens—encouraging creators to move boldly, trust their voice, and create without waiting for permission.” – Chris Tobar
Why This Show? Why Now?
The Cathedral is home to atxGALS, an art collective that was built on a simple but radical idea: that women and underrepresented artists deserve not just a platform, but a stage. No corporate backing. No grants. Just a fiercely independent space committed to art that matters.
‘The Neon Republic’ embodies that mission in full force. At a time when the stories we’re allowed to tell are getting narrower, when entire communities are being legislated out of public life, this exhibition does the opposite — it expands. It reclaims. It imagines.
The show asks who gets to write the story of a nation, who gets remembered, and what becomes possible when artists refuse to wait for permission.
These are not rhetorical questions. Walk through this exhibition and they become very, very real.
Go See It. Bring Someone.
This is the kind of show that stays with you — not because it’s comfortable, but because it’s true. And right now, truth told through art is one of the most powerful things we have.
‘The Neon Republic’ runs through the end of April. Tickets to the open house are available now.
📅 Friday, April 24
📍 The Cathedral | 2403 East 16th Street, Austin TX
