Open Tuesday through Thursday & Sunday 4:00 PM until midnight,
4pm - 1am Friday/Saturday.
(Closed Monday)
Happy hour prices: 4-7pm.
$1 off all drinks. $3 Washington Wines. $3 Wells(!)
Some new food specials.
206/709.9797
Email: email@vermillionseattle.com
Raymond hails from the Northwest tradition of minimalism. His pieces include geometric bases with tangential, geometric flourishes highlighting the beauty and simplicity of objects that are often discarded. This series uses broken, acoustic musical instruments - Pianos, violins, etc...
About Brooke Weston:
Brooke started drawing and painting early in life. Her true passion for making mixed media sculptures came later and is now her primary focus. Her work is primarily made from old taxidermy and almost all recycled material. Almost all of her pieces share the concept of small worlds and dioramas situated in objects. She gathers inspiration from antique fairy tale illustrations, amusement parks and artists like Bosch and Joe Coleman.
Originally from Monterey California she is currently residing in Portland Oregon, Brooke spends her days addictively gluing, sawing and sewing any one of her many projects.
Brooke has had long term showings at local galleries and has regular shows in and around Portland as well as out of state.
Education – With parents that met in art school in the 60’s I have been making art since I could hold a crayon. I’m mostly self taught but have attended classes and work shops with artist friends and at the Gage Academy, Pratt, Cabrillo and North Seattle Community Colleges.
Residency - 2009 in Ascea, Italy.
Shows – Collusion Gallery, OK Hotel, TPN, Ascea, Italy, Auburn Court House, Vain Salon/Gallery and many bars and coffee houses in Seattle and Bainbridge Island.
Current Projects – In addition to two grown children and two music venues (Rendezvous & The Royal Room), I’m also working on a bird series for the Audubon Society at Seward Park and currently illustrating my first children’s book, “Buckeye and the Monsters”.
Previous Art Shows
May 18 - June 1, 2013
NIGHT TERRORS
Nick Bartoletti (Seattle)
Spencer Bewley (NewYork)
Laura Cassidy (Seattle)
Grady Gordon (Oakland)
Izzie Klingels (Seattle)
Amanda Manitach (Seattle)
Jeffrey Meyer (Bellingham)
Christian J Petersen & Dro Carey (Seattle)
Conny Prantera (London)
Ryan Riss (Denver)
(Curated by Izzie Klingels)
OPENING Thursday, April 11, 2013, 6-9pm. FREE
(show runs through May 11, 2013)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is
April 11, 2013.
Penetration will provide music/visuals in the bar from 9-11pm.
Night Terrors explores the relationship between creativity and terror through abnormal and unnatural behaviour in the night. Whether through sleep deprivation or a subconscious dream state, violent thoughts and dark urges grip us in the middle of the night and manifest themselves.
Nightmares, parasomnia, incubi, succubi, somnambulism, insomnia, hallucinations, malignant spirits, dystopian visions, dark places and nocturnal emissions. This show, curated by Izzie Klingels, exhibits works by artists from New York, London, Oakland, Bellingham, Denver and Seattle.
A fanzine will accompany the show featuring original writing by Laura Cassidy, Graham Bendel, Dina Seiden, Elissa Ball, Conny Prantera and Kara McMullen.
Rezene Tsegai has only been painting for three years. At 23 years old, this up and coming painter also happens to be self taught.
This short documentary by Futsum Tsegai captures Rezene while he works to master the art of portraiture and aspires to document those in his community who represent him.
Jeremy G. Bell is a West Seattle native. He is currently pursuing his masters in fine arts at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Jeremy's unique combination of abstraction and representation has been compared to the "neo soul" style of music by those eager to collect the art form. With a background in graphic design, his work clearly reflects the use of layering often associated with graphic design. He has been featured on the cover of Quilt Journal, and selected as an Emerging artist for Gasparilla Arts Festival.
Mandilla's statement, "I’m a figurative artist and graphic designer. I started out communicating my ideas via illustrations and freelancing as a designer. I’m a 25 year old. I was born in 1986 in Hood River, OR. I currently reside in Seattle, WA. In 2010, I received a BFA in painting, print-making and drawing from Cornish College of the Arts. And I’ve recently started attending classes at Seattle Central Creative Academy with a focus on graphic design."
OPENING Thursday, January 10, 2013, 6-10pm. FREE
(show runs through February 8, 2013)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is January 10.
Artists panel discussion on
Wednesday, Feb 6, 7:00-8:30pm.
This show celebrates the human capacity to manipulate light and electromagnetism to shape sensory experiences of movement.
Works from thirteen artists and technologists were selected to reflect playful, innovative trends that emerge as artists embrace technology, and technologists embrace art.
Projects include Anthrolume: a wearable, computer-controlled light suit with 250 LEDs, Meteoroleum: a window of programmable lights representing oscillations of Seattle weather, a Self-animating Seesaw, driven by hand-wound electromagnets controlled by a microcontroller, and Tesla’s corpse: a kinetic sculpture visualizing electromagnetic flux lines.
Briar Bates A Frock of Crows Doug Bell Fly Through a Fractal Michele Boland Particle Peter Divide SeeNoEvil Shelly Farnham Robot Marilyn Ben Flaster Tesla's Corpse Nadja Haldimann Gaps. Cracks. Revelations Jeff Larson & kEvin Friberg This is a Present from a Small Distant World Josh Lind Meteorolumen Shellee Miggins Light Emitting Diodes are Killing Me Mario Nima Self-animating Seesaw & Box with a Universal Connector Bryan Ressler Anthrolume Justin Rodda A Light Month
Curated by Shelly Farnham, Anne Blackburn, and friends of Dorkbot. Dorkbot showcases innovative trends in contemporary art by bringing together artists and technologists who work with electricity in a significant way either in their art or in its creation. Dorkbotsea.org
BUY ONE, GET NOTHING ELSE
Derek Erdman, Nikki Burch,
Brittany Kusa
OPENING Thursday, December 13, 2012, 6-10pm. FREE
(show runs through January 5, 2013)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is December 13.
Derek Erdman has been tracing projections of images onto wood with acrylic paint for 11 years.
"I went to seven different public schools before graduating from high school near Cleveland, Ohio. A strong but misguided work ethic of the rusting Midwest rubbed off on me, and I'm now in constant need to be doing something or face the overwhelming depression of inactivity, which is usually quelled by TV + bed. I live with my wife and a guinea pig a block away from a Safeway where I shop twice a day. I'm a painter, telephone rapper, gallery owner, writer and illustrator at the Stranger and the temporary secretary at Sub Pop Records. I've sold over 4,500 paintings since I began painting. I went to college for English but dropped out after two years, without obtaining a degree."
Nikki Burch loves to draw - illustration work and comics, generally.
"I utilize a range of materials, most often inks and paint, and computer when the necessary evils of modern illustration work call for it. I received my art training from pausing cartoons on VHS and attempting to recreate them on paper, as a child. I then sold the resulting bootleg Disney art to my classmates for 25 cents a page. So this is where I received my business training as well. I am working on my first-ever published comic book for Hic & Hoc Publications and it will be coming out in mid-2013."
"I work in accounting in a corporate law firm, though I'm not sure why, or how I even got the job. I love Seattle with all my heart and it is where I have lived for the entirety of my adult life, but some day I will move. Then I will come back. I draw something every single day and will do so until my hands wither and gnarl, or I go blind."
http://nikkiart.carbonmade.com/
Brittany Kusa is an illustration artist living in Seattle, WA. She has kept a sketchbook since she was ten. She is originally from Kalamazoo, MI, where she was raised by a hamburger, who taught her most of what she knows about art. The rest comes from hardly working, "dedication", and trying to draw all of the time.
http://brittanykusa.wordpress.com/
Nights of Serious Drinking
Amanda Manitach & Ryan Molenkamp
OPENING Thursday, November 8, 2012, 6-10pm. FREE
(show runs through December 8, 2012)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is November 8.
Amanda Manitach and Ryan Molenkamp have been spending nights in the studio together with lots of Radiohead and vodka, experimenting with mutual destruction, elaboration, and collaboration. They've been messing up each other's works. They climbed an island and a mountain in search of green gothic sublime and Northwest oil refineries lit up like Christmas trees.
Nights of Serious Drinking will show the fruits, for better or worse, of this long-term mashup of minds. Video, drawings, paintings, installation.
Two artists return from exploration with bones and beast.
OPENING Thursday, October 11, 2012, 6-9pm. FREE
(show runs through November 3, 2012)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is October 11, 2012.
Seattle’s Vermillion Gallery welcomes local artists Michael Alm and Robin Crookall after an exploration into a deep part of humanity: our obsession with capturing life from the wilderness in one frozen moment.
Working in a variety of mediums including sculpture, installation, and photography, Alm and Crookall use synthetic taxidermy to encourage onlookers to ask questions about our relationship with nature, and what it means to turn creatures into trophies.
The show combines the drama and keen eye of Crookall's photo installations, with the scale and beautified realism of Alm's sculptures. At the center of the show is a life-size polar bear surrounded by the remains of a grey whale a result of the two artist’s collaboration. The polar bear, whose image has become iconic for conservation, towers over viewers. “We wanted to match the magnitude of the issues at hand with a sculpture of similar proportion,” Crookall said. “The opportunity to stare face to face with an animal provides a remarkable opportunity for reflection. Sometimes we see fear, hunger, or aggression. Other times we may see playfulness, or even victory. Perhaps we just see ourselves.”
Indeed, Alm and Crookall’s work forces viewers to consider the tough questions that the two artists set out to answer. “This is truly something that must be seen in person to be appreciated,” said Alm. “This is supposed to be a fun show, but full of death, decay, preservation, and wildness!”
A photo documentation of the 30 retaliation installations on a public wall that has been monopolized by a for-hire poster company in Seattle WA. "Poster Giant is scum, but even scum breaks down over time."
OC NOTES Album RELEASE PARTY AFTER THE ART OPENINGS
CD Title: Pre Future Post Modern Love Songs AKA AlienBootyBass.
$3
Thursday, 10/11/12 10pm - Close.
Please join OCnotes and friends in celebrating the release of his new album, Pre Future Post Modern Love Songs AKA AlienBootyBass. Chill with us. Get comfortable. Enjoy art. Come hear the future.OCnotes, AKA Otis Calvin III, is a Seattle-based producer/singer/MC/multi/multi/instrumentalist (playing 12 instruments at last count)—in the past described in local press as a cross between Madlib and Mos Def, a reductive tag (you'd probably want to add equal parts Daedelus, Dungeon Family and Cody ChesnuTT to get closer to the fact) but a handy enough reference. His solo work and collaborations with such Seattle vibe-setters as THEESatisfaction have made him a darling of the Emerald City's most forward-listening. The latest (and greatest) addition to his already sizable, self released catalogue is Pre Future Post Modern Love Songs AKA AlienBootyBass.
The titular genre premise implied by AlienBootyBass is a playful jab at the minds that have to swaddle art in preconceptions and labels for them to feel comfortable around it in the first place. Far from such, OCnotes is in fact one of Seattle's most genre-flouting artists—and Pre Future Post Modern Love Songs ambitiously (not to mention credibly) weaves acid-house workouts ("Bayside Funk"), scratchy basement-demo alt-rock ("Red Alert Song"), and psilocybinized trip-pop ("The Science") into a cohesive, half-instrumental-mental headtrip straight to the depths of OC's innerspace. That's just scratching the surface—easily a half-dozen dizzying new dimensions are glimpsed throughout it's 32-minute running time.
The artist's yearning for connection and understanding is palpable,though, even through his music's obscurant waves of sweet, purplishhaze; "please get yourself together", he winsomely drags, over thehypnotic opener "A.S.P.O.W.T." It's in these smoky, freaky serenades("Morgan Free & ODB", "Why Do Birds") where OCnotes' fractured, dreamybrilliance is the most accessible, on this, his brightest and tightestwork yet.
Photography Show: People.
Kelly O, Timothy Rysdyke, Erin Shafkind, Jennifer Zwick, Dana Jonas & Dennis Turner.
OPENING Thursday, September 13, 2012, 6-10pm. FREE
(show runs through October 6, 2012)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is September 13.
This month, Vermillion is showing a wide range of photographic styles with a common theme: People.
Kelly O—Stranger staff photographer and columnist—finished school and a soul-crushing internship at a corporate advertising agency in Detroit, then fled the Midwest, landing in Seattle in 1998. Kelly’s photography has appeared in two solo gallery shows, "One Hundred Balls" at Sweatshop Inc. Gallery, and "BOYS" at Ghost Gallery. Her work has been published in Spin, The FADER, URB, Uncut, and Mojo Magazine; and also on Huffington Post, ABCNews.com, and CNN.com. She's gone on assignment to The Gathering of the Juggalos; interviewed Hugh Hefner on the telephone; and seen the band Slayer 19 times. Her contribution to the show is titled "People Are Strange."
Timothy Rysdyke, a nightlife photographer of the drunk and shameless, will be exhibiting photos from his series "Queers and Cheers!" As a self proclaimed Drag Queen enthusiast, he prefers his subjects to be glamorous, eccentric, and of course highly intoxicated.
Using bike boxes and other found materials, Will Gundy and Erin Shafkind made miniature barns for the Smoke Farm Lo-Fi Arts Festival during the summer of 2012. Erin began shooting portraits of people wearing them in what is the latest in a strange and compelling narrative. What is the world like through the windows of a mini-barn? Is the experience for the wearer, the observer or both? Erin Shafkind is curious about the awkward and odd connections that perhaps play between lines of fiction and reality.
Trained in photography, Jennifer Zwick works in a variety of media, preferring those with a fixed vantage point. She is the recipient of a 2008 Artist Trust Fellowship, a 2010 Artist Trust Jini Dellaccio GAP Grant, and a 2011 baby boy. Recent exhibitions include "Making Mends" at the Bellevue Arts Museum, and "Red Current" at Roq La Rue Gallery. For more information, visit http://jenniferzwick.com.
Dana Jonas and Dennis Turner have collaborated on a project entitled "Dumped." The project grew from the simple idea of putting a visual face on rejection. By obscuring the true identity of everyone in the photograph, the viewer must seek out their own identity within each piece. We are all guilty of making someone else feel pain and of feeling this pain ourselves. This project was created in hopes to bring those feelings to life. Dana Jonas is a commercial lifestyle photographer at Studio 3, Inc. with a passion for vibrant color, humor, and high-energy photography. Dennis Turner is the manager and lead designer at Frame Central on Capitol Hill, as well as being highly involved in many multi-media community projects.
Sponsored by:
Connors & Co.,
SuperGenius,
Sailor Jerry,
J&J Cigar,
Bio Clean Inc.,
King Pin,
Yelp,
United Repographics,
POPchips,
The Vera Project,
Fuzed Travel,
Caffe Vita,
T.A.T,
The Stranger,
Vermillion.
Flash Arcade!
"Flash Arcade, a "traveling arcade" made up of local enthusiasts Tim Uomoto and Sean Bray's personal collection of retro video game machines, is now on display at gallery/lounge Vermillion. Among the 18 games, all available for 50 cents or less per play, are five pinball machines, three shooting games complete with fake plastic guns, an old-school Street Fighter II and a new(er)-school Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (!!!), and classic multiplayer side-scrolling beat-em-ups like X-Men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Not too long ago these bulky things were everywhere: restaurants, laundromats, 7-11s, malls. Now there have been seven "console generations" and you can play Modern Warfare against someone from Russia without leaving your couch. The oversized, stubborn (Time Crisis II and T2: Judgment Day were broken, and Uomoto had to open up the X-Men machine to fix it at one point) machines are the definition of obsolete, making them the ultimate piece of nostalgia for a very specific age group. People who were older when these games were popular saw them as for kids, and anyone born after the introduction of 16- and 32-bit consoles—the same processing speed as most old arcade games—played them on a TV instead.
But for me, and probably anyone else who grew up in the '80s or '90s and spent a fair chunk of their youth feeding quarters into these giant boxes, the fun factor hasn't changed a bit. The difficulty levels of Flash Arcade's games seemed to be on a friendly setting to minimize frustration, and there are placards on top of the machines with interesting facts and anecdotes from video game history. The installation runs until August 4, and cover is free (unless the bar decides to charge $5 on a Friday or Saturday). Vermillion's regular music/DJ nights in the back bar are still going on, too. What's not to like here?
If anyone wants it in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, feel free to challenge me and get that ass whupped. Full list of all of Flash Arcade's games below:
X-Men (4-player version)
Badlands
Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
T2: Judgment Day
Time Crisis II
Area 51: Site 4
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Golden Axe
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
King of the Monsters 2
720
Twilight Zone (Pinball)
Johnny Mnemonic (Pinball)
Demolition Man (Pinball)
Seawitch (Pinball)
Striker Xtreme (Pinball)"
-- Mike Ramos,The Stranger. Photo by Chelsea Mannella
Ambiguous:
Jeff "Weirdo" Jacobson
OPENING Friday, June 1, 2012, 9pm-1am
(show runs through July 7, 2012)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk is June 14
Award-winning artist Jeff “Weirdo” Jacobson has exceeded expectations with his latest show, “Ambiguous," to be shown at the Vermillion Gallery in Seattle, opening June 1, 2012.
Jacobson's lavish array of subject matter, unique juxtapositions and rare moments are wrapped up in bittersweet concepts that deal with the balance of life and death. These refined urban contemporary works as well as a large scale installation will feel right at home at Vermillion, which is part art gallery, part restaurant and bar. His solo show will also feature an installation of his spray paint mural work that is not to be missed.
Jacobson's work has reached the next level with his photorealistic still lifes and portraiture that seamlessly flow into his signature Pacific Northwest-inspired coral and fungal creations. Even the self-critical painter says that he has finally captured the aesthetic that he has been striving for: “I’ve finally reached a point where there’s no filter between my imagination and the canvas," he says. His latest works honor the past with his classical compositions, masterful rendering, and Baroque style lighting while remaining fresh and contemporary with his inter-dimensional inserts of geometry and coral growth.
Jacobson’s exhibition opens on June 1st from 5pm to 10pm and is sure to have a diverse turnout ranging from fine art fans to gallery hoppers, graffiti writers and more. This diversity is a reflection of Jacobson’s varied range of influences that manifest into focused works that grab your attention and encourage further investigation.
Biography:
For the last decade, Jeff "Weirdo" Jacobson has been leading the urban contemporary scene in Seattle. From his awe-inspiring city block mural on 2nd Ave in Pioneer Square to his inclusion in Chase Jarvis' “Seattle 100" book of most influential people in Seattle, Jacobson has been making major wakes. He recently received the prestigious 4Culture/Artist Trust Conductive Garboil Grant with his partner Jen Vertz in 2011 for their community-oriented murals in the Pioneer Square area. In addition to his larger than life spray paint murals, Jeff is also known for his illusionistic gallery work. His solo exhibition “Diamond Minds” at the Flat Color Gallery this past April in Seattle was a huge success. There is always a high level of detail and finish in his work regardless of scale. Jacobson’s work often reflects his vision of a changing world where there is an undertone of darkness. Yet this darkness is balanced by a creative benevolent force that sprouts from his surrealist coral and fungal additions. His work skillfully juxtaposes hyper-realistic images with otherworldly creations that inspire you to question reality. More of his artwork can be seen on his website at WWW.WEIRDOCULT.COM.
MYTH&MURDER:
New Mystics
OPENING THURSDAY, April 12, 2012, 9pm-1am
(show runs through May 26, 2012)
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk
See the ArtZone profile:
New Mystics presents MYTH&MURDER, a comedic tragedy or a tragic comedy. Building on the collaborative show Book of Shadows: A Hidden Hagiography of New Mystics, the NM artists continue to expand their personal and collective histories within a mythical context
MYTH&MURDER features installation, signpainting, handpainted printed graphics, screenprinting, paintings, and performance.
As a body politic, New Mystics collects degenerates of diverse disciplines: sign painting, screen printing, graffiti, performance, photography, street art, fashion design, fabrication, tattooing, music production, art direction and painting among them. New Mystics has worked with groups like Free Sheep Foundation to produce large scale free commissioned and noncommissioned public art, including participating in the Seattle Street Biennale 2010(at Bumbershoot), the Seattle Street Biennale 2009 (at Free Sheep Foundation), Moore: Inside Out, the Bridge Motel, the Belmont, the TUBS Memorial, and other public installations and gallery exhibitions.
Join New Mystics for the Artist Reception on April 12 featuring live music by Specs Wizard, Aubrey Birdwell, Al Nightlong, and special uninvited guests.
"The manner of eating, of evacuating, the respect of sexual rules, the manner of giving, of dressing and of decorating one's home, the use of the most recent mechanical processes, constitute the immutable framework within which we place ourselves more or less high on the rungs of a ladder...
...the desire to outdo one’s rivals who don’t have the profound sense of dignity that is proper to man, is an opportunity to reveal, not the lack of dignity but the comedy of dignity, or the comic dignity of anyone who uses art without knowing what magnificence it calls into play." -- George Bataille, The Negative Sovereignty of Communism and the Unequal Humanity of Men, Accursed Share Vol. 2.
Luke Haynes creates scenes, images, portraits and environments out of fabric and thread. Drawing from a tradition of meditative American portraiture, with influences ranging from Chuck Close to Kehinde Wiley, Haynes depicts the images with which we find comfort, constructed within the traditional quilting process, layering found cloth pieces, inscribed by thread. With roots in the American South, and an architectural education at Cooper Union, his work lies within the juncture between form and function, art and craft, quilt tradition and contemporary design culture.
Quilting for 10 years, Haynes has completed well over 100 quilts, the largest to date reached 9x17 feet. His work has been showcased in exhibitions and installations in 14 states and 3 different countries. Haynes gives new life to the tactile American experience. His work is permanently on view at the Newark Museum, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Private collection of the Norton Family, and in the lobby of Duke University to name a few. He is coming up on his 40th exhibition and this will be the 10th just featuring his work.
Haynes was born In Colorado, but grew up primarily in the American South, which was the generative source of his craft and culture. He has lived in 15 States and attended 14 schools creating a foundation of knowledge and human interactions that is ripe within his work. He currently splits his time between New York and Seattle.
CLICK ON ANY OF THESE BELOW FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION VERSION FOR PUBLICATION.
Luke Haynes says, "The hundredth quilt was a huge marker for me in my career. I use it as the line in the sand at which point I gained mastery of my craft. The point of the show is a celebration of the art and object of quilts as well as of me making it in the world. I will curate the show from my works through out the years and fresh off the machine.
In an art form known for its History and linage the marking of time passing is an important datum and this show is to celebrate that in my works. I will fill the walls with works that show what can me made of quilts and how the method can push the viewer to re-understand what an object of use can become through the lens of a Designer.
The subjects range from political to personal always through the filter of being made of fabric and by me. Some pieces are parts of huge exhibitions and some are single investigations into method or image or iconography. All the pieces in this show are my quilt works. Walking through Vermillion Gallery you will see the method to my ownership of this media and my homage to the context in which I make images and objects. "
Conversations in Paint
Sue Danielson, Laura Hamje, Marie Gagnon
Curated by Marie Gagnon
February 9 - March 3 2012
Blitz! Second Thursday Artswalk
"Conversations in Paint" is curated by Marie Gagnon, who says, "I'm excited about all the art I see. The idea that people are creating is an energizing force, electrifying in its diversity."
"Within that, I still seek out the painters who enjoy figurative and abstract, fluidly working between both, not as an either/or, but as an and. I seek painters who paint for the sheer joy, because the act of laying thickly-laden brush to canvas is synonymous with breathing. Initially, it is painting because we must; we can't not paint."
"Once the painting begins, our hand brings forth our subconscious. The motion of moving the hand engages our inner world and shines light in dark corners.
Whether or not we are fully aware of this internal journey, the act of painting, alone and of itself, is an act of brilliance. It is as simple as our daring to make a mark with no agenda other than our need to breathe.
About Sue Danielson
Sue Danielson is a self-developed acrylic painter and mixed-media artist who lives and works in Seattle. She is a Western Washington native who has also resided in Alaska and California. Her work has exhibited at regional and national venues such as: Fine Art Museum at Florida State University, the Denver Biennial, Farmington Museum in New Mexico, and Arts Center of New Jersey where she was awarded an Honorable Mention by MOMA curator Susan Kismaric. Her current representation includes Core Gallery in Seattle where her show, The Truth of What I See, will be on exhibition during February 2012.
Danielson’s work has been published in Studio Visit Magazine, and will be included in the upcoming Manifest Gallery Painting International II (juried), to be published in summer of 2012.
For more information, please visit
www.coregallery.org
and
www.suedanielson.net.
About Laura Hamje
Laura Hamje's work has been included in juried exhibitions at Art/Not Terminal Gallery in Seattle (2011); the gallery at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon (2011); and Sixth Street Gallery in Vancouver, Washington (2009). Hamje, a 2008 graduate of the University of Washington, currently lives and works in Seattle. Her work is represented by
Prographica: http://www.prographicadrawings.com.
http://www.hamje.com
About Marie Gagnon
Marie Gagnon is a painter, sex activist and culture warrior. Born to a painter and a physician, her first art lessons came from her mom while growing up in Western MA. After far too much procrastination, Marie graduated summa cum laude with her BFA from the University of New Hampshire in 1996. She has had solo shows in Portsmouth NH, Springfield, MA and in Seattle at Burk Gallery and at Vermillion.
Marie’s work has also been included in shows at the Monya Rowe Gallery in New York City and the Frisbie St. Gallery in Oakland CA. A refugee of the 619 Western Arts building, and after enjoying Seattle for 13 years, Marie looks forward to returning to the New England coast in March where she will relocate to Providence RI.
www.mariegagnon.com
THIS ISLAND EARTH
Three interpretations of the UFO experience.
Artists Christian French, David Kane and Tim Marsden collaborate on an exhibition exploring the modern ailments of Alienation, Self Delusion and the Celebration of things beyond our control.
Tim Marsden: " My work in this show looks at anomalous experience and our collective desire to turn the difficult to explain into even greater mysteries."
Tim Marsden was born in England in 1964 and has traveled back and forth between Europe and North America ever since. He studied art in London, had a mural company in Glasgow, and showed with the British Council in Barcelona. Since moving to Seattle in 1997, he has been involved with the local arts community on many levels, as a member of SOIL Artist’s Cooperative, a contributing artist for The Horsehead Sculpture Project and has assisted in the installation of murals by Sol Lewitt and Shahzia Sikander at the Seattle Art Museum. He has also shown extensively in the area.
David C. Kane has long been considered the doyen of NW UFO painters. All he will own up to specifically on the subject is that "it's an excuse to do Romantic Landscapes." But it has always been suspected that there are deeper spiritual motives at play here as in all Kane's work. As usual, one is invited to read into these works whatever one wishes and to interpret them as best one can.
David C.Kane has long been a native of the Pacific Northwest. He was bitten by the Art Bug at an early age and showed a flair for drawing and painting since kindergarten. Since then, he has studied art in college and tried to make art whenever he can. He has even tried to teach it. He lives in Seattle where he has a studio where he makes art.
David C. Kane "Weather Balloon" oil/canvas 14 x 21 2011
Christian French: "I believe that all photography is self-portraiture. Then again, as a Buddhist, I think there is no self but Self, so it gets confusing. At first I thought the UFO was Los Angeles, a place I found alien and mystifying. Later on I realized that I was wrong. A lens is a window that hovers in space. Who’s doing the looking?"
Trained in photography and experimental cinema, French works with “Givens”: objects and concepts he finds and repurposes either through physical manipulation or contextual shifting to create new, performative, events. Having moved to Seattle in the early nineties, he has lived in New York, San Francisco, Tampa and Los Angeles. He likes sunshine, candle-lit dinners and long walks on the beach.
As a painter, culture warrior and avid observer, I paint in reaction to what captures my heart and eye. I’m moved by the way light plays with subjects that we tend to take for granted, or are so mundane they become invisible. I enjoy reworking the same view in different ways, ever curious as to how it can be transformed. Painting is my meditation; it contextualizes the journey of life’s constant change.
The Bleeding Vessels series, 2009 - 2010
Fifteen years ago I began immersing myself in still life painting. In working cups and bottles and jars and bowls, I became acutely aware that I was painting vessels and noted that we, as humans, are such vessels. Giving and taking. Holding and sharing. Relationships. How we position ourselves in a group or outside of it. With time, still life almost entirely disappeared from my work; in June of 2009, I began again. The Bleeding Vessels series embodies my efforts to marry raw, reactive painting with the accessibility of still life.
Healing from a life-rending breakup, my ongoing meditation was on relationships: transparency, walls, boundaries or lack thereof. How much of ourselves do we reveal to another, or when is it appropriate to hide? How do we relate to our deepest self or to the one we call intimate? How much of our history do we expose? What creates chaos? Drama? How do we fit? Where is the peace?
These paintings were born from my grief. In an attempt to reconcile the complicated and contradicting circumstances surrounding an exceptional relationship, I paint to try to make sense.
The Viaduct series, 2010 - 2011
I've loved the viaduct ever since I moved to Seattle and so explored it before it was gone forever. There is something intriguing in this solid structure that is disintegrating: a massive presence and the light that comes through the heaviness. It offers direction and yet, it's slowly crumbling.
The Studio Series, 2011
This series began in August after receiving the news from the city that we were required to evacuate the 619 Western building six months earlier than planned. I needed to honor what had become my haven. The Sophia Room has opened her arms and provided a sanctuary in a time when I desperately needed one. The studio has been a holding tank for creativity and for intimacy. It's been a safe place that offered healing and this series is an homage to such a sacred space.
These three local artists (two still living) have similar overlapping timelines but didn't meet each other at the time. This is a retrospective of how time and place influenced their styles and life decisions/philosophies.
Byron Randall: Hard Rock Painter, 1918 - 1999.
This work provides the opportunity to see through one man’s compelling lens on the world from a lifelong journey of artistic vision and devotion to the transformative power of creativity.
“I think that in time, my (and your) creative effort will overcome the forces of evil that menace peace-loving mankind." - Byron Randall, 1967
Born Oct 23, 1918, in Tacoma, Washington, Byron Randall was raised in Salem, Oregon where he worked as a waiter, harvest hand, boxer and county jail cook to finance his art studies which culminated in his first major show at the Whyte Gallery in DC at the age of 20 and a 1939 Newsweek article referring to him as the “ First discovery of the new art season.”
Randall vigorously recognized the influence his Oregon upbringing had on his artistic style. This important sense of “ place and self” —and the vibrant everyday lives he encountered throughout his life and extensive travels—would continue to inform his views of knowing the world, driving his professional, political, and personal, creative aesthetic.
An avowed Communist (cover illustrator for the 1948 Communist Manifesto), Randall joined the Merchant Marine’s, while being involved in the Communist inspired Marine Cooks and Stewards Union. Moved by shipboard scenes and travels to Hawaii, South Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand, Randall continued to paint in the early 1940’s before heading off to Eastern Europe in 1946, where he produced post-war paintings and prints of Jewish refugee children and the rebuilding of the Warsaw ghetto.
During this time he switched his alliance to socialism, providing Randall with a world-view that translated beautifully into the colorful expressionism that dominates all his mediums – oils watercolors, lino-cuts, prints – as he created imagery reflecting his love for landscapes and people, and his distrust for the capitalistic powers threatening the existence of both.
In 1967, Randall wrote “painting is a language and that language is a product of society, disturbed or healthy.” How fitting these words are for today, in a world that once again has been thrown into tumult, with protests filling the streets worldwide as the voices of the many attempt to drown out the power and greed of the few.
To call
Joe Reno
"eccentric" is an understatement. A self-proclaimed "genius" and highly prolific artist, Reno paints morning noon and night. He's lived in the same Sunset Hill house since 1950. His work has been widely published and reviewed, and can be found in the collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, the Henry Art Gallery, The Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, the Bellevue Art Museum and Ballard High School from which he graduated in 1962.
His paintings often feature galactic figures symbolizing the many people dying in wars, he said, “This way their souls aren’t diminished into nothing,” he said. “They’re in the moving vortexes, in the clouds and in the sky.”
Although he was much younger at its peak, Reno spent time with the artists involved in and inspired by the Northwest School and recounts numerous stories and anecdotes about Jay Steensma, Morris Graves, Guy Anderson and Wes Wehr.
“Each human being on this planet is my audience. When I paint, I’m writing a letter to every human being telling them to be happy and not be evil. When I hear of people dying I think I failed them because my art did not reach them.”
Joe Reno is basically an artistic documentary waiting to happen. He spends a lot of time thrift shopping and plays guitar for a project he calls "The Voomers." He's unashamedly on a quest for fame, perhaps in a maniacal sense.
Thanks to Anne-Marije Rook from Ballard News Tribune for photo, quotes and certain facts.
Ree Brown
is a self taught outsider artists who has shown at Vermillion in the past and he's such an guileless, gentle treasure that we wanted to invite him back.
To this day he is reluctant to call himself an artist, however, he has become a prominent figure in his own right after being encouraged by Jay Steensma, who took some simple sketches he'd drawn while working the cash register at their University District antique shop. Steensma brought the sketches to New York City in the late 80s, which led to a solid representation at MIA Gallery and Garde Rail Gallery in Seattle.
Ree has always been outspoken politically as can be seen in this short video documentary below:
San Judas Tadeo, for having saved my marriage with Viagra. I am finally able to please my woman who was about to leave me. Thanks for saving me from this difficult and shameful situation. Sr. Tomas, Mexico, D.F. June 30, 2003. Daniel Vilchis
La Condicion Humana
(The Human Condition)
Featuring work by Hugo Alfredo (MEX), Daniel Alonso (MEX), & Luis Angel Vilchis (MEX) & Kelly Lyles (SEA).
The Vilchis brothers, from Mexico, show a collection of oil on metal paintings inspired by the 500-year-old tradition of votive paintings, ex-votos or retablos.
A Retablo or lamina is a Latin American devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art.
Traditionally commissioned in trade for services to tell a miraculous story and give thanks to the intervening saint for answered prayers, they were taken to the church, or placed on an altar at home. They depict life's near-tragic stories and the realities of survival, with humor, honesty and charm.
In modern day Mexico, these thwarted mishaps might include bus accidents, street brawls, dog bites, runaway pigs, or diarrhea. Other contemporary issues are also addressed: emigration, terrorism, substance abuse, infidelity, jealousy, impotence and homosexuality.
These three brothers are the sons of contemporary painter Alfredo Vilchis Roque, a prolific self-taught artist whose work is well-known and commissioned throughout Mexico.Their paintings have been shown, along with their fathers, in Mexico City, Paris, Miami, Chicago, and Seattle. Their family’s paintings are also the subject of two books:
Infinite Gracias: Contemporary Mexican Votive Paintings, and Rue des Miracles.
This show has been curated by Sedora DeBondt. More images
HERE.
Local artist and all around character L. Kelly Lyles produces the "12 STEPS" series. These colorful paintings combine oils on canvas with Byzantine glitter providing a narrative element. As a recovering alcoholic/addict with over 25 years clean and sober, she combines humor and pathos to this personal theme of drunks and junkies.
These all-too-familiar scenarios of chaos and humiliations reinforce our commonalities (many from stories told in recovery meetings), whilst attempting to remove some of the stigma surrounding addiction. Subtitled, ‘STEP 1’, ‘STEP 2’, ‘STEP 3’ etc, each piece mimics the pretexts of 12 Steps (AA/NA) programs. A painting of a woman waking up next to a stranger is entitled, ”WHO ARE YOU?,” Another girl on a cell phone with a wrecked car in the background reads, “I’LL BE A LITTLE LATE...”.
Lyles' fantastical realism and bold glitter text brings a light hearted quality to sordid. They illustrate the illusory beauty, drama and escape promised - but rarely delivered- by drugs and alcohol.
Kelly's Web Site
"Over and Over: A Small Survey of Obsessive Drawing."
Whether visionary, systematic, minimal or playful, the drawings on show at "Over and Over" share a common compulsive thread, created through often repetitive and painstaking processes that speak to a lust for obsessive mark-making, lines, dots, and smudges. This show, curated by Amanda Manitach and Izzie Klingels, exhibits works by artists from LA, London, Portland, and Seattle.
Images: Derek Albeck, Cry Later Patrick Kelly, Carbon Trace Conny Prantera, Welcome to Nowhere
Also this month: Grand Cooley Showcase @ Decibel Festival. $5
Grand Cooley exists as a loose confederation of compadres stretching worldwide, with a density around the populated areas of Minnesota, Arizona, and Oregon, and involves paint & pen, MC culture, the art of turntables, and the combining of all three into recordings, primarily on cassette tapes.
For those in Seattle during the weekend of the DB fest, a taste of the GC will be in crew-up mode, riffing off each other in multiple 30... minute sets, pumping each other up along with the crowd.
Those who know will be there. Those who happen upon it, as with those who are curious, will surely witness something at once far and away from the rest of the DB offerings, live and direct on a way rarely heard.
Jon AD http://grandcooley.bandcamp.com/album/jon-ad-mega-plaskweeebo
Jusayn http://grandcooley.com/
Lordess http://grandcooley.com/
Strate Up Cheddar http://grandcooley.com/
Valvoline http://soundcloud.com/grandcooley
PS. Chopped and Screwed visuals provided Absolute Madman
"CARDS: James Deitz (LA)
ART OPENING THURSDAY, August 11
Also, "Emulate" - Matt Cosby (PDX)
w/ music by
RobZTV
(show runs through September 4, 2011)
Blitz! Artwalk is August 14, 6-9pm.
“Put simply, I am most interested in creating works that carry presence. Whether the imagery is narrative, abstract, simple representation, or any combination of these, form and content are given equal consideration. I use traditional materials because they remain the most immediate, most versatile, and the most personal of mediums.” - James Deitz.
Born in 1958 in Bismarck, ND, Deitz came to the University of Washington and received his MFA in 1986. Since 1983 he has exhibited regularly in the area, primarily represented by Francine Seders Gallery in Greenwood.
For the opening, the artist will be in attendance from California State University, Stanislaus, where he is an instructor.
Matt Cosby currently lives in Portland, OR, and will be showing at the Seattle Art Museum Gallery for the month of September. We have a small preview of his work that is described as having a lyrical and mathematical precision which resembles undulating bolts of patterned fabric. The works are impeccably framed in aluminum and polyurethane with industrial screws, complementing the works’ precision but contrasting with the creaminess of the paint application.
Richard Speer writes in the Willamette Week, "Matt Cosby's oil paintings are gemlike abstractions replete with sumptuous patterns and rich color. His new show, Peaks & Troughs, riffs on the motif of undulation, with swaths of rippling, fabriclike imagery swelling and ebbing as if windblown. Cosby is a formalist par excellence who can always be relied upon for delectable eye candy. In this show, he seems to be exploring more conceptual directions."
From Matt Cosby's Artist Statement: "I'm looking for a system, much like a sine wave, a mathematical construct used to predict cyles. Repetition and consistency tend to be my thing, so to intensify the grid, a smooth, repetitive oscillation was my aim in this set of artworks. With principles of math and pattern, I want to describe space and contradiction in a calculated fashion."
OLD FOOD is a collection of paintings focusing on vintage food packaging and outdated restaurant signs. There may also be paintings of food itself, but a majority of the work displayed will be of forgotten food related items; antiquated packaging and restaurant signs that are no longer in use. "There's a history of food packaging that is very important to remember," Erdman says. "Unfortunately, I can't give you the reasons why." Erdman admits that he sometimes gets a charge when stumbling upon photos of early food package designs or restaurant signs languishing on abandoned buildings. OLD FOOD
is not meant to be a nostalgic journey but more of an homage to things from an earlier time that people often overlook. For Erdman, sentimentality is perfectly acceptable when it comes to the past. "I have no desire for old food as a thing though," he adds. "That's gross."
The paintings for OLD FOOD will be out of the ordinary for Erdman in that most will not be reproduced or made available as replicas. Of the over 5,000 paintings that Erdman has sold in his eight year career as a painter, many of them have been duplicates. "I'd like for these paintings to be as special as I consider their subject matter," he added. A majority of these paintings will range in size from 24"x24" to 48"x48". Some will be cut-outs, some will have solid color background. Most will be on painted with latex and acrylic paint on wood and then covered in a thick and shiny epoxy resin mixture.
"Ultimately, I just want for people to be happy," says Erdman. "And I think that these paintings will make people happy."
About Derek Erdman
Derek Erdman can be considered a Pop Artist, with techniques that are influenced by the Factory tradition. Over the last decade, Erdman has developed an increasingly efficient method for producing batches of art that he can make quickly, duplicate easily, and sell cheaply. According to this method his energy is concentrated in the plan (selecting source materials from which he will ‘borrow’ imagery), and the execution of each piece becomes semi-automatic, a series of choreographed tasks that he can carry out much like an assembly liner or a tap dancer might perform his job. The subjects of his paintings (second-tier celebrities, flash-in-the-pan current events, obsolete advertisements) are almost always borrowed from the moving spotlight of popular attention, and so the pieces themselves take on the form of commercial debris, relics of the recent surface-past.
In addition to his fine art, he is also prone to hijinks and has become an expert at harnessing the special hype-magic of the Internet and the media, which he uses not only as a mass-marketplace, but also to cultivate his own semi-celebrity, which carries his work, infusing it with everyday myth. Derek Erdman is a telephone rapper/vigilante by the name of Rap Master Maurice and also operates a free psychic hotline as well as a pho delivery service. His work has been featured on the BBC's World News, KOMO 4 TV, ESPN, MTV, KIRO 710AM, WBEZ, Montreal's Wiretap, Chicago's CAN TV, WFMU as well as in the Utne Reader, Time Magazine, the Seattle Stranger, the Chicago Reader, books by Harper Collins, the Seattle Times, Seattle's City Arts Magazine, the Huffington Post, Roctober Magazine, the Los Angeles Free Times, the Village Voice, DailyCandy and other publications and websites.
As a bonus, Vermillion will be featuring drawings from New York's prolific Matt Volz. More information can be found at www.atticinthebasement.com.
Flourishing Remnants: Matthew Olds & Heather Joy
Flourishing Remnants is a collection of paintings, photography, drawings, and an installation, based on numerous greenhouses found on Vashon Island that date back to the turn of the century. The greenhouses are in various conditions and states of collapse, and some of them are being reclaimed by nature.
Vashon Island is a flourishing microcosm of farms that produce fruits, vegetables and other crops for the locals and beyond. Over a dozen self-serve farmstands dot the island and are open throughout the year. This is a continuation of a rich farming history on Vashon, including the Beall Greenhouses, which up until the 1970s was the nation’s largest grower of roses and also had an orchid establishment of world renown. The 25 acres of deteriorating structures are in such a state that their skeletal remains can hardly be seen from the road when the vegetation is at its thickest. Heather Joy photographically documents and exalts the dilapidation of the greenhouses and the reclamation of mother nature.
Matthew Olds says, "In creating this work, I had the realization that the greenhouse and the artist studio have a great deal in common. Both spaces are specifically designed for the sole purpose of growing and nurturing something small and vulnerable (seeds and ideas), until it is strong enough to survive on its own and in a new environment. I found that this connection increased my dedication and love of both the subject matter and my work."
Matthew Olds and Heather Joy have been collaborating for nearly 10 years on works that fall under the umbrella concept of Land/Structure/Impact. Here is a link to current and previous work on their website: www.HOLDstudios.com.
This project is made possible by a generous grant from 4Culture.
Paul Rucker's video depicting prison population proliferation since 1778.
Non-sufficient Funds: Art & the Prison Industrial Complex
Special Video Presentation of "When You Learn, You Don't Return." by Gilda Sheppard at 7:30pm
Non-Sufficient Funds brings together the work of twelve prison-artists from the University Beyond Bars program at Washington State Reformatory, Monroe, WA, with works by established artists Buddy Bunting and Paul Rucker.
This exhibition of more than 50 acrylic paintings, graphite drawings and one video installation address abstract, figurative, allegorical and spiritual concerns. Non-Sufficient Funds is the culmination of over a year’s worth of weekly studio sessions within the prison and the brainchild of Pete Brook, a dedicated volunteer and board member of the University Beyond Bars.
In addition to the artwork by the inmates at Monroe, Paul Rucker will be showing his video, "Proliferation", which documents the growth of the US Prison system over the past 200 years in an animated mapping of the US Prison system set to original music. Also, Buddy Bunting is presenting a 13 foot color painting of the stark facade of a prison at ground level.
The title of the show, Non-Sufficient Funds, has a few meanings: First, it refers to the stretched resources of volunteer-based rehabilitation programs within prisons across America, which is what this particular exhibit is advocating for. Research indicates that inmates who maintain contact with the outside world and who engage in educational and vocational programs experience a much lower rate of recidivism.
Second, it is a commentary on the financial burden the Prison-industrial Complex places on US society. Due to harsher sentencing laws and the war on drugs, the prison population has quadrupled since 1980. Now, in times of economic crisis, serious questions are being asked about the amount of tax dollars spent on prisons.
Finally, it refers to the scenario when a prisoner receives a letter or package has insufficient postage, and no funds available in their prison account fund to cover the difference. “Non-sufficient funds” is stamped upon the return correspondence. Many of us are unaware firsthand of the rigid structure the penal system requires. Mail sent to inmates in violation of policies can lead to punishment. Prison libraries and other media are also highly censored for various reasons.
Non-sufficient funds hopes to shed some light on the way art and education in institutions benefits society as a whole and we hope it encourages a dialogue and additional advocacy.
Helpful Links:
University Beyond Bars Website: http://www.universitybeyondbars.org/
Buddy Bunting Website: http://www.buddybunting.com
Paul Rucker Website: http://www.paulrucker.com
(Seattle, WA) – Strange Coupling, along with Vermillion, is excited to present an exhibition of new collaborative work by prominent local artists and current art students at the University of Washington. Strange Coupling IX will feature the following artist pairs working across all disciplines:
Monica Mata Gilliam + Max Kraushaar
Susan Parr + Rodrigo Valenzuela
Ben Waterman + Neal Fryett
Nicholas Nyland + Joshua Peterson
Eli Hansen + Natasha Lozanoff
Sharon Arnold + Stephen Sewell
Matt Browning + Leif Anderson + Ryan Mortensen
Klara Glosova + Leanne Grimes
The opening celebration will be on April 14 from 5:00 - 8:00 pm. All work will be silent auction at the opening, with bidding closing promptly at 8:00 pm. The exhibition will run April 4 - April 23.
This year's artists were paired by Scott Lawrimore, owner and curator of the Lawrimore Project, and Michael Van Horn, curator of The Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection.
About Strange Coupling Since 2002, Strange Coupling has created meaningful connections between established Seattle artists and current UW students. Strange Coupling is an independent, student-run art organization.
Ryan Molenkamp: Regrading
With Select works by Amanda Manitach
Art Opening: Ryan Molenkamp and Amanda Manitach with music by The Western Cup. After artwalk, live DJ and
RobZTV
Informal back bar screening of robZtv.
Watershed: Karen Hackenberg
w/ select works from Eddy Radar's Inclement Weather series.
Show runs 2/10/11-3/5/11
Beach-found detritus like plastic water bottles, toy animals, and consumer product packages, are the subject and medium of
Karen Hackenberg’s current artwork.
The first dark irony to serve as inspiration was an empty red-orange bottle of Tide detergent found during a low, red tide. She says, "Lots of washed-up water bottles, regardless of the brand, have a wave design on them. From one bottle label branded “Laughing Whale,” she learned that proceeds from the sales of that water go to the Whale Museum on San Juan Island. The irony there lies in the fact that studies show only 10 to 16 percent of all plastic water bottles get recycled. Where do the rest go? Most often into the landfills, of course. However, those fated for flotsam or jetsam can be ingested by whales and other forms of sea life, putting them at risk for death.
Painting traditionally with oil and gouache, she lovingly and meticulously crafts images of trashed commercial beach flotsam, creating a provocative visual juxtaposition of form and idea.
In the
Watershed
paintings, Hackenberg presents humorous and ironic images of our new, post-consumer creatures of the sea. Castaways from grocery shelf life, synthetic products proudly and cheerily proclaim their natural rights as they strand and break apart on intertidal coasts. As gyres of garbage swirl in the Pacific, plastic becomes the new sand.
http://www.karenhackenberg.com/
For
Eddy Radar, "weathering" happens to everything from the economy to relationships. The
Inclement Weather
series represents chaos in the universe and deals with the broader theme of searching for a path through the many impressive storms faced individually and collectively.
Eddy Radar, Inclement Weather
LEGO SPACESHIP FACE-OFF
On Friday, January 28th the members of SBC (John Sutton, Ben Beres and Zac Culler) go head to head with PDL (Jason Puccinelli, Jed Dunkerley and Greg Lundgren) for the ultimate head to head sculpture competition. Seattle has never seen such trash-talking, bet making, ego bashing, smack down fronting and chest puffing. The Lego Spaceship Contest might be the most intense battle of speed, wit and skill to hit a west coast gallery since Mark Pauline shot Chris Burden with a fire canon.
At high noon, each of the six artists (if you can call them that) will be handed a box of Legos and relegated to a corner of the gallery. For the next four hours they will construct the coolest, fastest, most kick-ass Lego Spaceships they can imagine, and place them on six unmarked pedestals. At 6:00 pm, the viewing public will be invited to judge these vehicles and vote for their favorite ship, using old poker chips. At 10:00 pm, SBC will gather their collective chips and PDL will gather theirs, and the group with the most chips will WIN the competition.
Set against the backdrop of Jesse Higman's exhibition Illuvium at Vermillion Gallery, the gallery will be the perfect outer space backdrop for Lego spaceships.
January 28th also marks the 25th anniversary of the tragic explosion of the spaceship Challenger, an event that shocked the world. To mark the anniversary of this tragic accident, we will be constructing six new spaceships (which won't do much, but the symbolism is nice).
Jesse Higman's Illuvium: The Wave and Animate Existence
December 16, 2010 - January 30, 2011
Opening Reception and Party
Thursday December 16, 5-9pm.
w/ DJ Chris Peterson of Dumbeyes
Jesse Higman has a long artistic resume of work he's done for some of the biggest bands in the world. After many years of designing album covers, he's moved on to another art form that is attracting the attention of everyone from the
Seattle Mayor's Office
to the Smithsonian Institution.
Higman might not have expanded on his artistic career if it weren't for an accident in his teens that left him a Quadriplegic. He says, "I have been impacted so undeniably by tragedy and great fortune that I began curiously studying the processes of life and how things happen. A disability necessitates mechanical adaptations, amplifying my natural desire to engineer."
Jesse describes his process this way: "I pour paintings on large, flat, black canvases. I call the technique "illuvium" for the geological term of particles settling on flood planes. The paint, which is colored mica flakes diluted in solutions of water, is poured from measuring cups."
The Smithsonian Institution S. Dillon Ripley Center International Gallery
writes, "Jesse Higman is an Action painter. He has devised ingenious methods of painting that combine performative and sculptural elements. Higman's Wave Table and its resulting paintings are produced with the aid of "mechanical adaptations, elaborate constructions, and a troupe of volunteers" that, working under his direction, perform the act of painting. Higman's work, with its communitarian and convivial ethos, exhibits many of the tendencies associated with Relational Aesthetics, a theory of art practices that takes the whole of human relations and social context into consideration as a point of departure for the production and presentation of the work of art."
Jesse was featured on Evening Magazine on Monday, November 1.
Tomiko Jones: Passage
November 24th - December 11th, 2010
Opening Reception: Wednesday, November 24th
Artist Gallery Talk, 6 - 6:30pm, reception follows until 9pm
Passage is a new work over twenty years in the making by Tomiko Jones. The first picture is taken in 1988, which is also the last picture she took of her grandmother living. This began a long cycle of return trips to her grandmotherʼs home; in Passage the images are gathered together as artifact. Arranged in an intimate taxonomy, Jones moves between chronology, typology and a simple intuition of how things belong together, reflecting an emotional connection to place. Fragments of video and broken conversation interrupt the flow of the pictures.
"This is very different than the way I usually work," says Jones, "I have these pictures not created with “art” in mind. I see repeated documentation of objects over the years... things I held onto as a way to comprehend my relationship with my grandmother and my struggles with identity."
Passage looks at how, through migration across continents and seas, things are lost along the way. It considers how we interpret the history we come from, despite lack of cultural knowledge, language and frame of mind.
This project is created in part by a grant from the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
People in Your Neighborhood
November 5 - November 21, 2010
Opening Reception and Party
Friday, November 5, 6-9pm.
The Blitz! Capitol Hill Arts Walk has become a mainstay for artists and venues like ours but we also get a chance to interact daily with plenty of artists who have studios within just a few feet of our front door. 11th Ave alone is home to an underground city block full of music recording studios while the fine artists tend to reside in the upper floors. Endless-seeming twisting and turning hallways lead to relatively non-descript doorways behind which creativity abounds.
We're dragging illustrators, painters and sculptors out of their studios and into the crisp, fall air for November.
Greg Boudreau
stencils large subject matter onto reclaimed wood and had a successful run at Grey Gallery and Lounge.
Marissa Cole
can be found many nights a week at Vermillion sipping a Guinness, working on watercolors.
Kevin Furiya
calls his work "painterly realism".
Rafael Gallardo
is an artist, educator and man of many talents.
Jonathan Junker
is one-third of Graypants studios and a photographer in his own right.
Mark Mueller
is a huge Vermillion supporter and a wealth of historic information. We think he's a little underrated.
Mike Regan
has been organizing a Tuesday night drawing session at
Trapeze
studios for years and is curating a selection of what is produced, as well as some of his own work.
Rebekah Slavin
is a self-proclaimed "painter by daily habit" and is tucked away in the same hallway as Greg Boudreau.
Mark VonRosenstiel
is a painter and muralist but has started doing sculpture and has invented a very neat
"drawing machine".
Cait Willis
is well-known in artistic circles as a painter and all around great gal, as well as a co-organizer/curator of
Ghost Gallery.
Photo Alchemy
Six local photographers use alternative presentations for their ideas.
Featuring: Daniel Carrillo, Daniel Hawkins, Ted Grudowski, Larry Larsen, Bailey Russel & Erin Shafkind.
September 23 - October 23, 2010
Opening Reception Thursday, September 23, 2010, 6-9pm
Daniel Carrillo
is documenting artistic notables with an 8x10 camera using an old technique called ‘wet-plate collodion’ on plates called ‘Ambrotypes’.
Daniel Hawkins
is researching uranium mining on Native American reservations and using a toning technique used prior to the 1940’s where uranium is used as the toning agent.
Ted Grudowski
has reimagined a trip to Egypt into surreal, interactive, 3D computer graphic prints on very large canvases.
Larry Larsen
finds hidden symbolism in the selective lighting of various alleys and neighborhoods in Seattle.
Bailey Russel
has converted an amazing room at the top of the old INS building into a life-sized camera obscura and shows us the negatives of the surrounding sports stadium neighborhood in large format.
Erin Shafkind
is creating tactile, wooden photographs with a lasercutter.
August/Sept 2010
Fort Branch: Zack Bent
August 12 - September 4, 2010
Opening Reception August 12, 6-11pm
Smoke Drill 2, 2010. photograph.
Zack Bent’s new mixed-media installation at Vermillion Art Gallery, Fort Branch, continues the tradition of his previous series at Gallery 4Culture, Buffalo Trace, where he and his family "appropriated scouting as a tribal play frame." Whereas his previous exhibition centered on social responsibility toward the conservation and preservation of nature while referencing the Boy Scouts of America, Zack describes Fort Branch as "less occupied with human figures in relationship to one another and more with the trace of their presence.
"In this series," Zack says, "many of the works walk the line between play and catastrophe in the face of an unwieldy natural order. The exhibit is filled with a series of artifacts, including a full-scale dilapidated Lincoln Log cabin, drawing on the nearly 100-year-old toy designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son John during the Progressive Era. The toy’s early packaging described the contents as ‘interesting playthings typifying the spirit of America.’ Also among the works are a mummy bag sarcophagus and a selection of photographic documents of modern survival."
Zack Bent was born in 1975 in Sunnyvale, California, but considers rural Indiana his formative homeland. He received a BARCH in Architecture and a B.S. in Environmental Design in 1999 from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. During this course of study, he became interested in the visual arts and through further study received an M.A. in Photography from Ball State in 2004 and an MFA from the University of Washington in 2008. He currently works collaboratively with his wife, Gala, and his two sons, Ezra and Solomon. Most recently they were Artists-in-Residence at Crawl Space Gallery, where they found a dead bird and slept in a covered wagon. Bent makes his home in Seattle, Washington.
Flambeau, 2010. photographic print.
This exhibition was sponsored in part thanks to generous grants from 4Culture and the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
Trannyshack (For Richard Prince), 2010 Collage 36.5x23.5
Mark Mueller has observed the detritus that results from layers upon layers of posters in the neighborhood and has decided to repurpose them in a way that redefines their meaning. Although the information on the posters is irrelevant, they remain cultural artifacts, with their colorful graphics, textures and evolving layers.
Mark says, "Constructing these collages caused a cascade of choices in order to determine the parameters and logic of each work. Many of these choices highlighted the differences between these new structures and their original context of their outside environment. These collages, found object sculptures and other studio productions are meant to be a reflection and celebration of this neighborhood where I have been lucky enough to be a participant over the last 20 years." Mueller appropriates street culture that is appropriating art culture which in turn appropriates commercial culture.
Additional large format images available at: http://www.vermillionseattle.com/images/mueller08_2010/mueller.html
By definition, the word Transillumination is the transmission of light through tissues of the body.
Transillumination is a series of work by Bette Burgoyne where she uses white Prismacolor pencil on black paper to create an ethereal landscape of shapes. She says, "Each drawing is a reinterpretation and combination of observations made from looking at many things; clouds, rocks, erosion, light, mammal ears, leaves, fur, waves, lichen and science illustrations of electromagnetic fields . The lighting in the drawings is oblique, like the light during sunset or moonrise. It is a time filled with portent and possibility, just before the night begins. Each new piece of black paper is a little dark night that I beam some light into."
Bette Burgoyne was born in Seattle in 1959. After graduating from Cornish College of the Arts in 1986, she moved to San Francisco and spent 10 years practicing and teaching art. Bette earned an MFA from Mills College, California. She taught at several places, including San Francisco Art Institute and California College of the Arts.
Bette's solo exhibitions at New Langton Arts, Southern Exposure, Mincher/Wilcox and Headlands Center for the Arts were reviewed positively by art critics Kenneth Baker and David Bonetti. Her work has been featured in many group exhibitions, including A Labor of Love at the New Museum NYC and the touring exhibition New World (Dis)Order. Among Bette's awards and residencies have been the Veronica di Rosa Residency Award at Headlands Center for the Arts CA, Tread of Angels Fellowship at Djerassi Foundation CA, Watkins Award at New Langton Arts SF, and the Boudreaux Cadogan Scholarship at Mills College.
After her return to Seattle, Bette purchased a giant roll of black Canson paper and has been cutting it and drawing on it ever since. The current exhibition at Vermillion, Transillumination, is a presentation of drawings made within the last 12 months.
Cryptomenagerie: Michael Alm, Jody Joldersma, Zoë Williams.
With select works by Keely Dolan
Opening Reception Thursday, June 10, 6-11pm
Show runs June 10 - July 3, 2010
Cryptomenagerie brings together three Seattle artists who have a fantastic interpretation of an imaginary animal world. For the title of this show, the Greek prefix "Crypto," meaning "secret or hidden," is morphed with the word "Menagerie," which is a form of collecting common and exotic animals.
Michael Alm is inspired by the impact that humans have on altering the biodiversity of the planet and natural world through population growth, over consumption and technology. He says, "The modern structure for protecting endangered animals is inherently synthetic. Many species are removed from their habitat, protected in simulated environments, and then reintroduced when mature." He exaggerates this point by creating creatures that appear normal at first, but on closer examination are composed of fake fur, PVC, clay and glass. They are displayed taxidermically as though they were skinned, stuffed, and mounted with expressions and gestures to imply that they might be aware of their state.
Jody Joldersma goes for dark themes with a twist of humor or cultural sarcasm. Hideous creatures cause the viewer to feel sympathy due to the implicit helplessness of their situation. Her dioramas occasionally have a "sideshow" aspect to them and explore the awkward interactions between humans and animals. Jody works in natural, found objects, Play-Doh, papier-mâché, and more.
Zoë Williams utilizes the imagination of the observer and the symbolic imagery of dream images, personal visions and abstract concepts to imply duality, multiplicity and opposite forces. Subjects can be simultaneously beautiful and horrible, cute and creepy, familiar and strange. Zoë works primarily in wool using a dry felting technique called needle felting. A barbed felting needle is used to shape and mold wool fibers into sculptural forms. It is a very slow and painstaking process; the carded wool is pierced hundreds, maybe even thousands of times to lock the fibers together and create a solid object. No armatures are used; each piece is solid wool with the exception of additions like glass eyes, lenses and beads, and the wood plaques/frames on which some pieces are mounted.
Keely Dolan deals with the symbolism of creatures as they apply to different archetypal emotions.
About the Artists:
Michael Alm: B.F.A., Sculpture, Washington University in St. Louis, 2006. Select exhibitions: Unnatural Selection, Some Space Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2009; The Artists, Wright Exhibition Space, Seattle, WA, 2009. http://www.michaelalm.com/
Zoë Williams: B.A., Digital Media, magna cum laude, University of New Orleans, 2005. Select exhibitions: Lost at Sea, Gallery Hanahou, New York, NY, 2010; Induced Epidemics, Chaos Gallery, Hollywood, CA, 2009. http://www.x03.org/
Keely Dolan: M.F.A., School of Visual Arts, New York.
May Art: "Backdrop"
Jed Dunkerley, Jason Puccinelli, Curtis Taylor
Thursday, May 13 6-9pm, FREE
Show runs through June 5, 2010
In art, as in life, things aren’t always what they seem.
Elements worth admiring are not always first noticed. In "BACKDROP," three artists use their abilities – subtle or obvious – to make us consider our awareness.
The scenarios Jed Dunkerley captures put into focus deep questions about human tendencies towards distraction, hobby, routine, competition, industry, technology, and notions of progress. Dunkerley exposes the mundane as occasionally surreal and ludicrous: Elementary school field trips go to sites so toxic that tiny hazmat suits are required; a man navigates a natural area, planting seemingly random, ominous orange flags; pet owners are reduced to bag-holding collectors of offal; high-capacity urban freeway interchanges become intertwined ribbons that defy logic and gravity. Humorous but not without subtlety, Dunkerley creates often dark narratives about the health of our modern society and entreats viewers to ponder the peripheral lunacy all around us that often escapes notice.
Jason Puccinelli masters the realism of the medium where the dialogue reveals itself in the background. Beautifully depicted birds distract the viewer from an event that is in progress, or is possibly going to happen: A loon is cannibalizing an egg – but is it the loon’s own young? Another bird majestically presents while an elephant slaughter takes place behind him. Two warblers seem enamored with each other in a world completely removed from the figure on top of the building behind them.
Curtis Taylor’s participation in "BACKDROP" depicts his work with two former muses: the Rollvulvas and Vodvil. Together they made stories about the past, the future, and how to better organize the mind.
About the artists: Jed Dunkerley and Jason Puccinelli are two-thirds of the conceptual art team PDL, who participated in installations at Bumbershoot, the Olympic Sculpture Park, and the Seattle Art Museum.
Jed Dunkerley has shown art at Vital 5, COCA, and the Hedreen Gallery (Seattle U.). He has been a full-time drawing instructor at Franklin High School for 6 years and hosts a life drawing session twice a month at the Canoe Social Club. For the last 10 years, Jason Puccinelli has focused his art career on creating experiences that encourage the audience to participate – and even complete – the art presented. Jason was the recipient of the Cultural Development Authority special projects grant in 2002 and a Paul G. Allen grant in 2007. He has had paintings and installations at Vital 5, Seattle Art Museum, Sound Transit’s STart program, and the Free Sheep Foundation. Both Jed and Jason presented "Standing Under Understanding" at Vermillion in January 2009.
Curtis Taylor is a Seattle filmmaker and theater artist who founded the performance-storefront Vodvil, a tiny Baptist church converted into a theater, art gallery, concert hall, scene shop, and pirate radio station where he created original folk operas. More recently he uses film to consider themes of art, life, and time. Currently Mr. Taylor is in residency at New City Theater/Seattle, at work on a magic show that explores flying dreams, work, and suicide.
Opening Night Gala Saturday, May 1, 2010 6-8pm FREE 21+
Posters up until May 7. All ages before 8pm any other day during exhibit (May 2 - May 7).
The Sasquatch Posters Exhibition features screen-printed posters created for acts performing at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. Those invited to participate range from world-renowned to burgeoning graphic designers and illustrators, all talented and all dedicated to the art of the poster.
Year after year, an eclectic and inspired group of work emerges, reflecting the unique collection of live performers this festival offers. We are pleased to announce that Vermillion in Seattle has been so kind as to provide gallery space to display the 2010 poster exhibit! For the first time in the history of the festival’s yearly design invitational, these posters will be up for the public to enjoy for over a week rather than one-night-only: April 28th – May 7th.
Aaron Bloom, Adam Zacks, Andre Martin, Andrew Vastagh, Andy Abero – 33 RPM, Bob Smith, Bobby Dixon, Brandon Bay, Bungaloo, Carisa G, Casey Burns, Chad Lundberg, Chelsea Conboy, Clay Nowak, Clint Wilson, Corianton Hale, Cricket Press, Dan Black, Dan D Schafer, Dan Paulus, Dan Stiles, Diana Sudyka, Dirk Fowler, Don Clark / Invisible Creature, Farley Bookout, Frida Clements, Furturtle Design, Garrett Karol, Gary Houston, Guy Burwell, Hero Design, Jannie Mercado, Jason Munn, Jay Ryan, Jeffery Everett, Joanna Wecht, Johann Gomez, John Foster, John Howard, Jon Smith, Joseph P. Markiewicz, Junichi Tsuneoka, Justin Hampton, Keith Whiteman, Kevin Mercer, Kevin Tong, Killorn O’Neil, Kim Mason, Lauren Jong, Lee Zeman, Lia Cerizo, Mark Pedini, Matt McCrakin, Michael Budai, Mig Kokinda, Mike King, Mike Klay, Modern Dog – Robynne Raye, Michael Strassburger, Shogo Ota, Molly Leonard, Nat Damm, Nate Duval, Nathan Goldman, Patent Pending – Jeff Kleinsmith and Jesse LeDoux, Rangotang, Rob Helmstetter, Rob Stanton, Robert Zwiebel, Ryan Clark/Invisible Creature, Ryan O’Niell, Sara Thompson, Sasha Barr, Scott Dalrymple, Sean Carroll, Seattle Show Posters, Shane Long, Shawn Wolfe, Small Horse Studio, Strawberry Luna, The Silent Giants, Two Rabbits, Victor Melendez, Zach Hobbs.
(Co-curated by Mark Mueller w/select works by Elizabeth Aurich)
March 11th – April 25th, 2010
Blitz! Capitol Hill Artwalk THIS THURSDAY, April 8th 6-9pm
Ree Brown in attendance (earlier in the evening).
Jay Steensma (1941-1994) is considered to be part of the second generation of the Morris Graves-founded "Northwest School," an art movement near Seattle that peaked in the 1930s and 1940s. Known primarily for his expressionistic, stark landscapes and sincere portraits, he incorporated mystical references of chalices, snakes, houses, clouds, and fish in his mixed media work. Occasionally using housepaint and mixing oils, acrylics, crayons and pencil, he painted on everything from scraps of paper bags the size of a postage stamp to large canvasses that he would partially deface out of frustration. He always had a sketchbook nearby and gifted many friends with his prolific work at random. It was known that he had struggled with manic-depression most of his life and was notoriously eccentric, complicated and passionate but found a way organize his life around his art and find peace before he passed away from a heart attack.
Ree Brown (1926- ) is a highly regarded "naive" or outsider artist without any formal training or degree, but with a charmingly awkward relationship to the formal qualities of painting. He paints delicate portraits of neighborhood cats, birds, dark-skinned children and women with colorful dress onto scraps of paper, cardboard, bits of matting and brown paper bags.
Later in life, these two artists became close friends and supportive partners who encouraged and influenced each other in many fascinating, intuitive ways. Vermillion is honored and excited to introduce these two highly regarded artists to a new demographic and neighborhood as well as invite longtime friends, collectors and admirers a chance to see some work that has not yet been seen. Special thanks to co-curator Mark Mueller.
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Slog Mention
1) There will be a list of songs. The songlist has been lobotomized of all the depressing, slow, ballads and dirges that bring down every Karaoke party, and contains only fun, upbeat, and caffeinated songs.
2) You can choose one of the songs to sing, live, in the room. Just like karaoke! Except -
3) You will be accompanied by a live human (i.e. Korby Sears) using his non-virtual, real-time hands and feet to play the mighty 1964 Conn Rhapsody Organ and whirling Leslie 51 cabinet
4) Lyrics will be performed from a book with all the printed lyrics. So no karaoke machine playing tracks, no karaoke monitor playing the lyrics. We're all analog, flying without a net, playing off each other. (Having backed up X mount of jazz singers in the past, I'm used to following singers off the cliff if they get off track - which is part of the fun of doing this).
5) Microphone or Megaphone? At FFOK you get to choose your Vocal Delivery System. There will be a megaphone on a stand, which you can sing into or grab and rock the room with it like Rudy Vallee. Or, be traditional and choose the mic (could use the vintage speaker I noticed you have. And I have several Shure 57 and 58 mics).
In addition to this basic concept, the songlist - which will be updated on a weekly basis (and with requests from the audience) - will contain unusual selections full of suprises, such as tracks by local bands (SATURDAY KNIGHTS, COMMON MARKET), poetry (William S Burrough's "Thanksgiving Prayer", Steven Jesse Bernstein's No No Man), and even film scenes (Darth Vader quotes they perform while I play The Imperial March behind them). So we're redefining what karaoke means here.
The overall effect of the night is very loose, warm, personal, on the fly - like a living room party.
"BFF: Excerpts From Friends of the Nib"
Feb 11th -March 7th, 2010
Reception Thursday, Feb. 11th 6-10pm
Meet the "Friends of the Nib*", a loose-knit group of Seattle-area cartoonists that meet weekly at Cafe Racer (5828 Roosevelt Way NE), to chew the fat and scratch the paper. Founded by artists Bob Rini, Tom Dougherty, David Lasky, Mark Campos, Dalton Webb, Scott Faulkner and Jim Woodring, the Friends have been producing and exhibiting volumes of work for at least three years, often based around a theme.
"BFF: Excerpts From Friends of the Nib" will throw wide the doors on their secret machinations and reveal to you select sketches, drawings, prints and more from their own portfolios, including a special preview of original artwork from the upcoming Friends of the Nib Playing Card Set!
This is a rare opportunity to see a vast cross section of the local cartooning scene, and to prepare yourself for their inevitable master plan.
Featuring original artwork and prints by: Aaron Bagley, Jessixa Bagley, DJ Bryant, Mark Campos, Kaia Chessen, Max Clotfelder, Tom Dougherty, Heidi Estey, Scott Faulkner, Ellen Forney, Noel Franklin, Kelly Froh, Billis Helig, Justin Ison, Sean Kent, Elizabeth Klein, David Lasky, Tim Miller, Sarah McIntyre, Pat Moriarity, Jonathan Morris, Aubrey Mysterious, Carl Nelson, Marc Palm, Helen Parson, Bob Rini, Sean Robinson, Stevie VanBronkhorst, Adam Watson, Dalton Webb and Cait Willis.
* A "Nib" is the sharpened end of a pen point used for illustration.
PREVIOUS ART SHOWS
This art show was mentioned on KUOW here:
WEEKDAY 1/21/10
Steve Scher interviews one of the current artists, Eric McNeill, and others for a show entitled, "The DIY Hacker Fest".
Winter Lights: Explorations in Self-Illuminated Art
Open Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 through Feb 7, 2010
Opening night party, 5 - 8pm, Jan 14th
Artists panel discussion on Wed, Jan 20th, 7:30 - 8:30pm.
As winter nights become long and dark, we rely on electricity to lighten our spirits. This show reflects the human fascination with manipulating light and electricity to shape sensory experience. Works from eight artists and art groups will both delight the senses through self-illumination, and intrigue the mind through their exploration of technology as a creative medium. You'll find projects ranging from small animated light sculptures, to large scale, interactive computer vision and laser displays.
Curated by Shelly Farnham, Eric McNeill, and friends of Dorkbot. Shelly Farnham and Eric McNeill have been on the
Dorkbot-Seattle
committee since 2005. Dorkbot-Seattle showcases innovative trends in contemporary art by bringing together artists and technologists who work with electricity in a significant way either in their art or in its creation.
About Brooke Weston: 
About Tia Matthies:
