Halogen Gallery has paired up with The Greenwood Collective and Urban Light Studios to put together this really fun toy and paintingfinstallation show featuring some notable locals and non-locals. The show, entitled Thought Processor, is a rotating show. Here’s the Seattle round-up:
Untitled by Aaron Jasinki
Untitled by Augie Pagan
Now through March 4th, 2010!
In a couple days, street artist Aakash Nihalani will be featuring his tape art in an enclosed space (The Carmichael Gallery).
Nihalani will be creating site-specific installations using brightly-colored tape, proving that simple geometric 2-dimensional shapes, when placed into 3-dimensional settings, can challenge viewers’ perceptions and spatial understandings.
Below are examples of his non-gallery work:
BUT.
As if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, the show will also feature works from Mark Jenkins. Yes, MARK JENKINS!
“Who the hell is Mark Jenkins?” you ask? Maybe some photos will enlighten you, because chances are, you’ve seen his works on the internet a million times but never knew the name that went with them. Now, you do.
And now you know why you need to go if you live in the Los Angeles area. You’d be a fool not to.
These images by Gretchen Bennett, now on display at the Howard House in Seattle through the end of the month, definitely demand a double-take. For starters, ghosts of images are buried deep inside what initially looks like just a swamp of colors, but closer inspection reveals that the swamp is actually composed of Prismacolor colored pencils, making the images all the much more compelling. Colored pencils are already an underplayed medium these days, but to use them in such a manner is pretty much astounding.
Be
Ghost Dog
Bennett also has more installation and street art-oriented works, which you can see on her website.
Street art pioneer Dan Witz now has a show on display at Carmichael Gallery that might just get you respecting street art if you’re a skeptic.
Inspired by Amsterdam’s Red Light District, the works feature human and animal faces and figures trapped behind dirty, shoddily painted glass panes and window frames, looking out as if trapped or curious about the world outside.
Dark Doings, which will feature recreations of pieces Witz has done on the streets of Brooklyn and elsewhere, shows just how cleverly overlooked doors and windows in alleyways can be used.
www.carmichaelgallery.com
www.danwitzstreetart.com
We wrote about this more than two years ago, but it’s about time for a refresher!
Once upon a time, artist Camden Noir came up with a community street art idea. Dubbed the Label 228 Project, the idea encouraged any artist to draw, paint, sketch, collage, or otherwise put their imprint on the free priority mail stickers one can find at any local branch of the U.S. Post Office.
Street artists from around the world participated, and after months upon months of shopping around to look for an independent publisher, Noir and his project were finally picked up by Soft Skull Press. Full color and glossy from cover to cover, the book is like a street art rendition of PostSecret, featuring over 1,500 labels from over 500 artists — including Zoso, Matt Linares, Mecro, Mat Curran, and Daniel Fleres, to name a few. Artists formerly written about in REDEFINE who make an appearance in the book include Aaron Kraten, Max Kauffman, and Parskid. You can now buy the book on Amazon.com!
www.myspace.com/label228books
www.myspace.com/dancecamdendance
www.softskull.com
www.zoso1.com
www.myspace.com/kamikazecauser
www.mathewcurran.com
www.myspace.com/danielfleres
www.aaronkratenart.com
www.kauffmanartistry.com
www.parskid.com
One of Seattle’s newest galleries, Flatcolor Gallery, will be holding a monthly drawing event entitled Drum of the Draw, starting Saturday, August 22nd, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.
Drum of the Draw will be a live drawing event that brings artists into a public forum where passerbyers can witness works of art from beginning to end.
August’s event features well-known local artists like Joe McSween (2H), Warren Dykeman, Robert Hardgrave, Amy Huddleston, Sean Hurley, Jesse LeDoux, Parskid, Darin Shuler.
The event is the conception of artist Robert Hardgrave, who saw it as an idea to create an intimate art event that bridges the relationship between artists and the community. “I have always enjoyed watching others draw. This sort of event allows folks to take a peek at the creative process, something which is normally inaccessible.” says Hardgrave.
Drawings created during the event will be for sale from 8:00pm to 9:00pm, with low prices ranging from $40 to $200. It will truly be an event that tears down the walls and brings artists face-to-face with a curious community.
www.flatcolor.com
www.flatcolor.com/draw/
www.myspace.com/2hatred
www.warrendykeman.com
www.farmerbobsfarm.com
www.amyhuddleston.com
www.myspace.com/seanedwardhurley
www.ledouxville.com
www.parskid.com
www.darinshuler.com
Scion Installation Five: Self-Portrait Philadelphia Preview from Scion ART on Vimeo.
Whoever is Scion’s Art Director or Head of Marketing is a genius. They always manage to sponsor extremely innovative art events to appeal to an audience that, in my book, probably wouldn’t even be the ideal Scion-purchasing candidate, but what do I know? They’re obviously still alive and kicking. Showcasing artists like AJ Fosik, Patrick Martinez, and Christina M. Felice, their show, National Art Tour Installation 5: Self Portrait, will kick off in Philadelphia on Friday, July 3rd, from 7:00pm to 11:00pm at T&P Fine Art. This diverse mixed-media show will showcase self-portraits by artists from around the country, and will end at Scion’s 4,200 square foot Los Angeles installation space. Talk about epic. All of the artwork will be auctioned off there, with proceeds going to Creative Capital, an organization that helps artists thrive through grants, workshops, and more.
Watch the video above for a good sample, or hit up Scion’s website for more information.
www.myspace.com/aaaajaaaay
www.patrickmartinez.com
www.felicephotography.com
www.creative-capital.org
www.scion.com/installation
For a measly $60, you can now buy a limited edition Blaine Fontana “Fernwood Keeper” print. Limited to 250 copies, this signed and numbered giclee print is a fashionable square size of 24″ x 24″. It’s size, striking colors, and dramatic composition make it a perfect piece to make an impact on any wall.
Go to his store — http://www.blainefontana.com/storefront.html — ALL DAY today and get 20% off all prints, with the exception of a couple of pieces. It’s a good deal.
On a recent trip to Peru, I was keeping my eyes peeled for contemporary Peruvian art, and was lucky enough to stumble across Mullu, a boutique and art gallery in the towns of Cusco and Pisac. One particular artist, Eugenia Werner Muñoz, had some work showing at two of the Pisac shops and, I later found out, also designs most of the clothing found at the shop. Her newest series of works, pictured above, blend contemporary pop art with traditional Peruvian elements, including the local currency and women wearing traditional native dress. In a place like Peru, where traditional art and elaborate textiles seem to hold precedence over contemporary art, coming across the work of Muñoz and of Mullu was an exciting treat.
If you’re ever in Peru, they have two locations in Pisac and one in Cusco, and the Plaza De Armas branch in Pisac offers some very tasty food.
