Exhibitions
Tom Hoitsma: Sculptural Thinking in Paint
January 22 - March 14, 2026
72" x 48", acrylic & latex on canvas
78" x 58", aluminum sculpture, in- & outdoor
48" x 42", acrylic & latex on canvas
72" x 48", acrylic & latex on canvas
Tom Hoitsma: Sculptural Thinking in Paint, a solo exhibition showcasing new paintings alongside a focused selection of sculptures. The exhibition introduces ‘The Unknowable World’, a new body of work in which Hoitsma extends the structural intelligence of his sculptural practice into paint, where form loosens and gesture becomes a carrier of memory and motion.
Hoitsma’s work is rooted in lived experience. In 2019, a powerful tornado tore through his Dallas neighborhood, reducing homes to debris and reshaping the physical and emotional environment. The metal wall sculptures that followed, many constructed from neighborhood remnants, emerged as responses to chaos, reconstruction, human resilience, and an innate instinct to rebuild. Over time, this inquiry expanded into painting, where structure gives way to bloom, flow, and movement.
‘The Unknowable World’ traces an evolution in Hoitsma’s practice, where sculptural thinking remains the foundation, while painting becomes the primary site of exploration. Resilience emerges not as a fixed outcome, but as an ongoing process shaped by memory, material, and transformation.
Underlying this shift is the idea that nature is never experienced universally but filtered through individual reality and memory - an internal landscape that Hoitsma now translates through paint.
‘Each of us filters nature through our own experience,’ Hoitsma says. ‘That idea has become central to my work, shaping how resilience and renewal take form across both sculpture and painting.’
While distinct in material and gesture, the paintings and sculptures operate as two expressions of the same visual logic. Angular tension and structural balance in the metal works find their counterpart in the layered movement, compression, and release of paint. Nature is not treated as ornament or motif, but as an active force - persistent, unpredictable, and impossible to contain.
With this exhibition, Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery presents Hoitsma at a moment of expansion. Rooted in material exploration, the works balance conceptual rigor with strong visual presence, offering a practice that remains grounded while allowing form to evolve. ​
Capsule Exhibition
the things we carry
February 12 - March 14, 2026
British-born, Denmark-based artist Neil Tye presents a focused body of work centered on The Things We Carry, an ongoing exploration of inner burden, memory, and the emotional loads we carry through life. Through painting and newly introduced sculptural elements, Tye examines how the invisibly accumulated weight is held, shared, and released, both physically and emotionally.
Tye’s practice is intuitive and process driven. He does not begin with a fixed concept, instead allowing movement, gesture, and mark-making to guide each work as it develops. Forms accumulate and press against one another, finding balance through tension and restraint. Color carries emotional weight, while line functions as structure, rhythm and containment.
The Things We Carry builds on a body of work first presented in Houston and expands in Austin with new sculptures, smaller works alongside painting. These additions extend the language of accumulation and support into three dimensions, reinforcing the physical presence of weight and balance that runs through the work.
‘I don’t start with a plan. I follow the painting until it tells me what it wants to become,’ Tye says. ‘Every layer is a trace of movement, of energy, of where I’ve been and what I’ve felt.’
The exhibition is presented as part of Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery’s Artist in Focus series, a capsule format designed to allow for close engagement with a single artist’s evolving practice while running alongside the gallery’s broader program.
Neil Tye has exhibited widely across Europe, Brazil, the United States, and the UK. He holds an MA in Professional Practice from Middlesex University, London, and works from his studio in Vejle, Denmark
Upcoming Exhibition
favorite pieces: the artist's edit
March 26 - May 9, 2026
Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery presents favorite pieces: the artist’s edit, the gallery’s Annual Invitational bringing together artists from Austin and beyond in a personal and revealing look at what matters most within their practice.
In this exhibition, each artist presents one self-selected work, a piece they consider essential to their practice. Removed from external framing, the selection becomes personal and direct. What emerges is not a survey, but a concentrated view into what each artist believes holds weight within their body of work.
Spanning painting and sculpture, the exhibition reflects the evolving scope of the gallery’s program. Long-standing collaborators appear alongside newly introduced voices, creating a layered dialogue across material, gesture, and perspective. The result is expansive yet deliberate, unified by the act of selection itself.
“favorite pieces is about bringing people closer to the artists,” says Christina Hiltscher, Founder and Director of Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery. “When an artist chooses the one work that means the most to them, you see something different. You see what they return to, what they stand behind, and what feels essential from their own perspective.”
Each work is accompanied by the artist’s own words explaining why it matters. These statements open a more intimate layer of the exhibition, offering insight into process, memory, and intention. The result is not simply a presentation of artworks, but an opportunity to experience them through the artist’s lens.
Austin-based artist Via Boley reflects on her selection:
“Choosing a favorite piece required me to step outside the usual rhythm of the studio and look back across my practice. Each work is a fragment of where I was at that moment and evidence of what I had yet to understand. Looking back at the work reminded me how important it is to balance the past and the future in the studio.”
Boley’s selected work, Impermanent, marks a turning point in her practice, signaling her transition from observational imagery toward a more abstract visual language.
As Unchained.Art marks three years in Austin, favorite pieces underscores the gallery’s commitment to meaningful dialogue between artists and collectors. Founded in Zurich in 2020 and now based in a historic Beaux-Arts building in downtown Austin, Unchained.Art Contemporary presents a curated program connecting emerging and established artists from Europe, North America, and beyond. With exhibitions in Austin and internationally, the gallery brings an international perspective paired with strong local voices to Austin’s evolving art scene.
Program Highlights
• Opening Reception – March 26 | 5 – 8PM
• Sculpture Spotlight with Sonja Huebscher – March 28 | 4 – 6PM
• Artist Meet & Greet with Via Boley – April 2 | 5 – 7PM
• Painter Megan Jaster in Conversation – April 9 | 5 – 7PM
• Celebration of Art with Alli Suter – April 11 | 4 – 6PM
• Artist Conversation with Tom Hoitsma – April 29 | 5 – 7PM
• Metal and Abstract Sculptures with Vera Smiley and Jeff Bush – April 30 | 5 – 7PM
• Emerging Voice: Marcus Delzell – May 3 | 2 – 4PM
• Artist Talk with Hallie Rae Ward – May 6 | 5 – 7PM
• Artist Conversation with Erin Carle – May 9 | 4 – 6PM
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A full schedule of exhibition events will be available via the gallery’s website and social channels.