Heyd Fontenot was born in 1964 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He currently lives and works
in Austin, Texas.

In his long and vigorous career, Mr. Fontenot’s creative vision has found expression in many different artistic roles including designer, art director, producer, filmmaker and painter. Among his many clients are theater companies, retail businesses and media production companies.

In the 1990s, Fontenot produced a significant body of work as an experimental filmmaker. This period was crucial to his growth as an artist and continues to inform his work as a painter. Mr. Fontenot comments, "Filmmaking helped me craft a vocabulary that I continue to draw upon in painting, allowing a particular sensibility for assembling images and creating mise-en-scene"

Whatever medium he chooses, Fontenot usually revisits the themes of sexuality and morality producing joyful and playful works that nonetheless subtly undermine dominant cultural perceptions. In his own words, “If there is a radical nature to sexuality, it lies not in its ability to titillate, but rather in its inherent powers of spiritual transformation.”

Solo Exhibitions

2005 Inman Gallery, Houston, Texas

2004 North Cottage, Salon 2/04, Austin, Texas

2003 Lawndale Art Center, Suite Pink, Houston, Texas Disjecta, Blood Sugar of the      Lamb, Portland, Oregon

2002 Ninth Street Market, It Takes One To Know One, New York, New York
     Little City, Austin, Texas

2001

Studio 107, Flux, Austin, Texas

Ninth Street Market, Pink Figures, New York, New York

2000 John Henry Faulk Theater Center, Austin, Texas

1999 Brazos Valley Arts Council, Bryan/College Station, Texas

1986 Wylie Tower Gallery, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana

Group Exhibitions

2005

Diverse Works & The Aldridge Museum of Contemporary Art,
Erotic Drawings, Houston, Texas and Ridgefield, Connecticut (catalogue)

2004

Studio 107, Is a Theme Really Necessary?, Austin, Texas

The Stray Show/Fresh-Up Club, Chicago, Illinois

02: Space For Art/Flatbed Press, Drah-rins, Austin, Texas

2040 Gallery, Cicada Group: Collaborations, Austin, Texas


2003

Inman Gallery, The Company We Keep, Houston, Texas

NADA Artfair/Inman Gallery, Miami, Florida

Texas Tech School of Art, Recent Post-Pluralist Painting, Lubbock, Texas


2002

Gallery Lombardi, Electricity and Me and Hallowed Ground, Austin, Texas

2002 Bumberbiennale The Portrait Project, Seattle, Washington

Davis Gallery, Dumbo and Beyond, Austin, Texas

Momus Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia

Big Red Sun, Austin, Texas

The Nashoba Institute, Bear Icons, Washington D.C.

Studio 107, The Game Show, Austin, Texas


2001

St. Edward's University, Serie Print Project, Austin, Texas

Gallery Lombardi, Erotica, Austin, Texas


1998 Zachary Scott Theater Center, Austin, Texas

1994 Acme Art, Austin, Texas

1991 Mexicarte', Austin, Texas

1987 Franklin Gallery, Richmond, Virginia

Selected Exhibitions/Screenings

1998 Dallas Video Festival, Best of Texas, Dallas, Texas

1997 London International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, London, England

PBS, Free Speech TV, national broadcast

1996

The New Festival, New York, New York

Festival de Manifestacoes das Sexulaidades, (seven city tour) Brazil

San Antonio Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, San Antonio, Texas

1996

Frameline, San Francisco, California

Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Austin, Texas

South By Southwest, Austin, Texas

Dallas Video Festival, Dallas, Texas (Best of Texas retrospective)

New York Experimental Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, New York, New York

Chicago Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Chicago, Illinois

1995

Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Austin, Texas

Queer Film Festival, Eugene, Oregon (award)

National Poetry Association Film Festival, San Francisco, California

Chicago Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Chicago, Illinois

South By Southwest, Austin, Texas (award)

San Antonio Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, San Antonio, Texas

1994

USA Network, Nick at Nite, cable broadcast

Frameline, San Francisco, California

New York Experimental Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, New York, New York

Festival de Manifestacoes das Sexulaidades, (seven city tour) Brazil

Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Austin, Texas

The New Festival, New York, New York

1993

Big Muddy Film Festival, Carbondale, Illinois

Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Onion City Film Festival, Chicago, Illinois (audience award)

The New Festival, New York, New York

Third Coast Video Festival, Austin, Texas (award)

Frameline, San Francisco, California


1992

National Poetry Association Film Festival, San Francisco, California

Dallas Video Festival, Dallas, Texas

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, (regional finalist, student division)
Third Coast Video Festival, Austin, Texas (award)

Education

Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana, BFA, 1986

University of Texas, Austin, Texas, Radio-Television-Film Production, 1989-91

Residencies

2003 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont

2001 Serie Print Project, Coronado Studios, Austin, Texas

Selected Collections

Jennifer Chennowith, Austin, Texas
Dr. and Mrs. Ty Davidson, Austin, Texas
Paul and Cheryl Drown, Austin, Texas
Dana Friis-Hansen and Mark Holzbach, Austin, Texas
Karen Ruth Getchell, Los Angeles, California
Dr. Susan King, New York, New York
David McNidder and Lynn McCabe, Houston, Texas
Peter Occolowitz, New York, New York
Tamara Paris and Matt Fontaine, Seattle, Washington
Kevin Pruitt, Austin, Texas
Carole Raimer, New York, New York
E. Donna Shepherd, New York, New York
Yvonne Shafir, New York, New York
John Tevis, San Antonio, Texas
Kay Turner, Brooklyn, New York
Ralph Wyman, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Selected Bibliography

Bryant, Dave. “Heyd Fontenot”, VOA, Volume 12.2, July, 2004

May, Jacqueline. “Heyd Fontenot at North Cottage”, Glasstire.com, Spring 2004

Koper, Rachel. “Exhibitionism: Eileen w/ Deer Wallpaper”, Austin Chronicle,
      April 16, 2004

Bradshaw, Lisa. "I Hate To See a Grown Man So Desperate", Just Out,
     December 5, 2003

Klassmeyer, Kelly. "Body Art - Portraits and Figures Fashionable Again",
      Houston Press, July 24, 2003

Matusow, Cathy. "Night & Day", Houston Press, March 6, 2003

Rodriguez, Ariana. "Best Bets: Games Artists Play", Austin American-Statesman,
     October 4, 2002

Eight-page portfolio, Sulphur Springs Literary Review, Volume XVIIII, Fall 2002

Brenner, Wayne Allan. "Heyd in Plain Sight", The Austin Chronicle, December 14, 2001

LeBas, John. "Dual Memories", Spotlight, May 20, 1999

Salinas, Kristian. "Director Heyd Fontenot Wants a Kinder, Gentler Porn Industry", The      Daily Texan, October 2, 1996

Schrock, Todd. "Nobody's Children: Interview with a Homo Filmmaker", The Texas      Triangle, September, 29, 1993

Exhibitions Juried

2004 Is A Theme Really Necessary?, Studio 107, Austin, Texas
2002 The Game Show, Studio 107, Austin, Texas
1997 The Texas Show, Dallas Video Festival, Dallas, Texas
1996 Fifty Feet of Love, Insitu Film Collective, Austin, Texas