Jonathan Grado

Conceptual series Happy Hour, a photo series about a body with others expectations and a mind for more, debuted during SXSW 2025 at the Satellite Art Show in Austin, TX.

Exhibiting during SXSW

SXSW (South by Southwest) is an art and film festival that takes place across the city of Austin. I was honored to have the opportunity to show Happy Hour during SXSW, but I only found out I would be doing it two weeks before the Satellite Art Show started. There was a whole list of things to do: printing the photos, figuring out their sizes, planning the layout of the set, and more. Would 4,000 balls be enough? I'm genuinely asking because I had no idea.

Printing the Photos for Exhibition

My friend Penny De Los Santos introduced me to AgavePrint, a local print shop, a few years ago. Peter and Lauren there were great so I decided to reach out and have my selected photos printed there. Under the constraints of a short turnaround time the photos came out great. Beautiful prints and great craftsmanship. This is the first time I printed a portion of a series and I was pretty nervous to see how they would come out. It's also the first photos I printed taken with a medium format camera, and it did not dissapoint.

Building the Set for the Show

I knew I wanted to showcase the ball pit used in Happy Hour, but not only did I need to buy the right amount of balls but I  wasn't too sure of the size of my space until I got there. I ordered 4,000 balls and they fortunately arrived on time. I also ordered a few knee-high white picket fences which did not arrive on time (and as of this writing are still no where to be found). So this called for some last minute pivots. These pivots also lead to using office storage boxes as podiums at the front of the exhibit.

Showing at Satellite Ranch

The Satellite Art Show was on a large piece of land on the East Side of Austin at Satellite Ranch. Happy Hour was at the top of the room in "Willy's House" (after Willie Nelson) and I was grateful to be next to artists such as Phil Buehler, whose installation The Perils of Indifference was literally encapsulating. Even though there was more than expected running around in the few days leading up to the show (and the day-of) it all ended up coming out great. Below are some more photos of the finished set.