Warehouse Art Event in Austin – Sharp & Friends Part 2

Horseback riding, art, live music, dancing, a vintage clothing market and a petting zoo are not things you would expect to find in a warehouse in South Austin. But all these things were present at the Sharp & Friends Part 2 art event on November 9. 

It was a smash hit— drawing 500 people to appreciate art, shop and enjoy the animals. The event was the brainchild of Bertiny Dorismond and Gabe Sharp. 

Bertiny found the warehouse to rent, with the vision of throwing a photography related gallery event. However, he didn’t know enough artists to fill the space. Meanwhile, Gabe was in search of a space large enough to show both his art and all of his friends’.

“When you rent your own warehouse, you can do whatever you want in it,” Gabe explained, “versus waiting for the acceptance of a gallery in town—who might not have as much space to do what you want.” 

As chance would have it, Gabe contacted Bertiny asking if he knew of a warehouse to throw an event. That is when DorismondSharp, their curation group, was formed.

Preparing the warehouse for the events has not been easy. Gabe said he and Bertiny worked every week for two months fixing up the warehouse. They painted over murals, cleaned up pieces of a boat and did a lot of cleaning. 

Bertiny has a history of throwing creative parties that feature multiple components— art, music, dancing and games. He considers himself somewhat ADHD and finds it difficult to be entertained in one space for long. 

Bertiny’s first event was in his apartment featuring games, music, and an impromptu art gallery in his garage.

“I don’t want to just do a party [where] people just come and dance,” Bertiny said. “I had a game upstairs, and then people could go down and see the art. Then you can talk, have a conversation, and see art and stuff. And also allowed people that never showcased their art to showcase their art there— because it’s a safe space.”

Bertiny wanted to create something larger in a warehouse space with more art to see, someplace where people would be entertained for a long period of time. 

“[At Sharp & Friends,] if you want to dance, you can dance,” He said. “There’s music, and then there’s not [only] one room for art. There’s multiple rooms, and each room is kind of different. So you’re not stuck in just one room. Then you look at art, and then you’re not ready to go home— because there’s so much more to see.”

Gabe and Bertiny made the perfect team because they were focused on different components. 

“My goal and focus is the art that we were showing, and everything else is like an appetizer to that.” Gabe said. “I would say that I’m a figurative painter. I use humor, scale and color. I think I’m a pretty funny guy. I like to have some type of narrative in the painting, a little bit of a story going on between the figures. Human figures are my favorite thing to paint, and then animals, landscapes. I’ve done a few abstract paintings that I’m starting to enjoy creating, but for the most part, my bread and butter is people.”

Gabe has had almost weekly art showings in Austin but this hasn’t been an easy feat for him. 

“This whole year has been a year of rejection for me as well. So as many things that I participated in, three times as many I applied and didn’t get into.” Gabe said.

He is not one for the “pay-to-play” exclusive art gallery scene. He’s interested in throwing DIY art events, which is curating art in affordable non-traditional spaces, as a way of showcasing his friends’ work. 

Gabe was in charge of messaging all the artists, some of which he was friends with from the first Sharp & Friends event. Gabe made the flyer based upon a horse tattoo that he gave himself. 

“I thought it’d be fun to have a mysterious flyer invite. People were very confused though at first, so I didn’t send it to people I didn’t really know already. I got the feedback, like: “What the fuck is this?” And then I was like, wait… I need to send an invite that has more information.” 

Sharp & Friends Part 2 had 32 visual artists participate, filling the warehouse. There were also 14 live music performances and six vendors. 

“I’m not an artist. I just love bringing people together,” Bertiny said. “[At the end,] there were still some people there, sitting on the ground with their glass of wine, just like hanging out. That made me happy because I want that sense of community. I’m like, wow. It means the idea, the goal we had, is accomplished. Like, these people are really having fun. They came, they saw, and they stayed.”

The event flyer garnered 35,000 impressions on Instagram, showing a promising future for the curation team’s next endeavors. Bertiny plans on throwing more events in the future under the DorismondSharp brand. Gabe, however, would have to help with outreach remotely because he is moving to Paris to pursue art full time. He gave many of his sketches as “party favors” to people who attended Sharp and Friends 2 to lighten his load before moving abroad. 

Bertiny has many big dreams for upcoming events at the warehouse property. He is envisioning a make-your-own-art component— either live pottery or a t-shirt screen-printing station. He is also toying with the idea of incorporating a ferris wheel. 

Ethan Sleeper and Abbey Archer standing next to his work.
Lauren Sanders looking at Ali Simmel @ihavepaintonallmyclothes piece
Rando “swagged-out man” in front of Ali Simmel @ihavepaintonallmyclothes piece
“Tree of Life” by rahmon @alimialpha

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top