art shows & news

Living in the Pacific Northwest, one becomes used to rain and gloom, and after a while, it’s just a part of life and seasonal disorders seem nonexistent. Puddletown at Compound Gallery will feature artists’ takes on rain from Thursday, December 4th, 2008 (First Thursday) through December 24th, 2008. Here are some notable artists from this opening:

Robert Fayze Pellicer seems to combine equal parts surrealism, nature, and spirituality in his works, such as in this piece, entitled Food Web.

Timothy Karpinski must be the type who pays attention to details. Graphic, acrylic, and hand-sewn papers join forces in the elegant I Dream of the Forest.

Colors bleed, swirl, and transform to join forces with unpredictable shapes in Max Kauffman’s The Block Is Hot.

Elliott Wall makes the simple female form intoxicatingly haunting and fascinating with ease, such as in this piece, Moth.

In the case of Eli Effenberger and this piece, Over The Rainbow, digital paints are just as good as the real thing.

Eatcho seems to prefer painting and drawing on recycled papers and wood panels, and for good reason. His illustrations and exceptional compositions exclusively hold their own, with no need for detailed backgrounds.

Sophie Franz, shown in the post below, will also be showing her illustrations and drawings at this group show.

It’s hard to make an artist portfolio website that doesn’t look cookie-cutter and doesn’t feel mechanical. Luckily, Sophie Franz has managed to pull together a simple, effective website to showcase her paintings and drawings. It looks hand-made, but somehow it doesn’t compromise professionalism whatsoever.

No, that’s not a typo. Plasticgod’s newest rendering of a human’s film timeline finds itself focused on none other than Johnny Depp himself in Deppictions. An absolute must-have for every Johnny Depp fan who wants to follow his cute cartoon figure from Platoon through Sweeney Todd.

Arbito’s Cosmic Hobo toy!

Arbito and Snaggs will have a show at Schmancy (1932 2nd Ave, Seattle), this Friday, November 14th, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The husband-wife duo will have new works on display, and one can expect textile arts, paintings, sculptures, and plushes, all bursting with colors!

Snaggs

Myong Kurily has a whole lot of the world inside her, and it translates into her art. She’s an equal-opportunity artist who loves to paint on sheets of acrylic as much as she likes to paint on canvases. She likes incorporating Eastern-influenced animals as much as she likes using Victorian-styled female characters. Kurily might have gotten a name out for herself through crafting clothing and kicks for Grammy award-winning rapper Lupe Fiasco, but at her upcoming solo show, Utopist, she will prove that she is just as much a standalone artist as anyone. Utopist will also showcase Kurily’s first large-scale art installation, and judging by her other works, it should be worth checking out.

View the flyer below for more details about the show at Phaiz!

Calling all female designers!! Want to get your design printed on a t-shirt and receive a bunch of free schwag from Snowboard Connection? Now’s your chance. Check out the details above.

At Portland’s First Thursday Art Walk earlier this week, I came upon two artists who reminded me of one another.

While Theo Ellsworth’s pieces seem more tribally-influenced and Alec Neal’s seem more abstract, both artists combine a level of ornamentation and shape exploration to create intricate, moving pieces.

Alec Neal’s Sejour Vacation

Theo Ellsworth’s The Sacred Tree Relocation Project

Tomorrow, thirty-five artists will come together to Staver Locomotive to create art that will be auctioned off to benefit The Children’s Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to fund research to diagnose, prevent, and treat congenital heart defects. The event, called PULSE will start from 5:00pm. The artists will work side-by-side to create art pieces and sell them at 9:00pm’s silent auction.

At $100 a VIP ticket and $45 a normal ticket, one can expect that PULSE largely features the work of fine artists with styles that are relatively tame and house-friendly. Nonetheless, here are some artists who create pieces that are simultaneously edgy and accessible.

Robin Damore’s polaroid transfer, taken in Portland. On this piece, Damore says, ” At the top of the stairs in Pioneer Square is the statue of the man with the umbrella – I laid down, shot up at him with a fish-eye lens and when I did the transfer the emulsion pulled away leaving the patches of blue that looked like clouds – another lucky accident.”

Trish Grantham utilizes vintage paper, acrylic, ink, and watercolors in this cartoonishly cute La Familia.

Lorna Nakell’s Ghost Ship builds landscapes and silhouettes out of abstract backgrounds. Hand-cut paper, resin, pencil, charcoal, and acrylics all play a role in this piece that looks as complex as its materials.

A variety of shapes, colors, and treatments greet viewers in this piece by Meg Scheminske that knows no bounds.

Alisha Wessler knows how to send forth a solid message using abstract shapes in Maiden Voyage.

The Museum of Contemporary Craft doesn’t exactly sound like the most exciting museum in the world, but thanks to its current Manuf®actured exhibit, it just about is. The show contains the work of many artists from around the world, and it is a study on “the conspicuous transformation of everyday objects.” One can expect the manipulation of everything from plastic army soldiers to lipstick tubes. These brightly colored three-dimensional works are guaranteed to entertain even the most stoic of art critics.

Régis Mayot is a French artist who mines trash bins for plastic containers and rids them of everything not necessary for structural stability. The resulting shells are reognizably similar to their original forms, yet stand alone as oddly shaped turns and lines of plastic.

Harriette Estel Berman uses tin cans to craft sculptures resembling teacups. The final products, laden with Milky Way, M&M, and other food brands, are delicately stacked and cleverly magnetized to create visually appealing pieces that don’t stray too far from a tea party in Alice In Wonderland.

Livia Marin uses 2,214 tubes of lipstick to create spires of browns, reds, and pinks in Ficciones de un uso. This sprawling piece is immediately eye-catching upon one’s entrance into the Museum of Contemporary Craft, but fight your urge to take photos… they’re not allowed.

This piece is an ultimate example of “more than meets the eye.” Upon initial inspection, Devorah Sperber’s After Warhol is just a bunch of spools of multi-colored thread arranged on the wall. Closer inspection through an acrylic sphere shows the viewer that the piece is in fact a Campbell’s Soup can, reminiscent of Warhol’s work.

This show is now on display at the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft until January 4th, 2009. Want to see mass produced items turned on their heads? Look no further.