Some Saturday openings

Ukranian shirt, 2001 by Lisa Yuskavage
image courtesy of Greg Kucera Gallery

Today at noon, master printer Bill Goldtson will be doing an informal walk-through of Greg's Recent Selections from ULAE, including prints by Helen Frankenthaler, Bill Jensen, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and more. 

Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) was the vision of Tatyana Grosman, a Russian émigré who had settled in New York with her husband Maurice, an artist with printmaking skills. In 1957, through connections with other artists, the Grosmans began inviting painters, poets and printmakers to create limited edition artist’s books in their modest garage studio on Long Island. These first intimate collaborations set the tone for the quality of work to be produced at ULAE in the decades to follow.

Gravediggers, 2010 by Kimberly Trowbridge
oil on canvas, 78" x 162", image courtesy of the artist

Today, from 5-8pm, Kimberly Trowbridge will host the opening reception for Dystopia at Plasteel Frames. Finally, we'll be able see Gravediggers in the flesh, all 13+ feet of it!

Employees of Seattle Art Museum are opening their group show at Art/Not Terminal Gallery tonight from 7-10pm. Intrigue will include work by Allison Manch, Sarah Hollingsworth, Thomas Kruger, and over 30 more artists.

The Rainbow Connection / NEPO House

"This ain't my first rodeo, fellas!", 2010 by Joey Veltkamp
oil and rainbow on canvas, 48" x 48"

It's kind of like Groundhog Week over here because I'm opening another show this Saturday. Klara and I hung the The Rainbow Connection yesterday and I'm real happy with how everything turned out. 

I was one of those kids that was obviously born gay. My mother was just as confused as I was at our neighbor's concern for me playing out in the forest in my mother's discarded pink velour bathrobe. What? It's cold out there and a boy needs to keep warm. I had plenty of coats but none were soft and pink. 

I remember feeling so proud when kids used to say, "Joe's different from the other boys.". And then I remember that pit in my stomach when I realized, "Oh shit...different is bad?" My debut junior high outfit (only a gay boy could have a debut junior high outfit) of purple jeans, knee-high fringed leather moccasins with a furry blue sweater on top basically outed me years before I admitted it to myself. 

Ghosts (seeking comfort), 2012 by Joey Veltkamp
colored pencil, acrylic and rainbows on canvas. 22" x 22"

When the Wojnarowicz censorship happened, it kind of ignited the anger that was there post-Prop 8. Overnight, rainbows started inserting themselves into all my work, as if to yell, "Being gay is what made him good! You don't get to deny him that!" Which, of course, is exactly what I would go back in time and want to tell the 10 year old me. Keep being yourself, it will serve you well later in life. Because at the end of it all, our best attribute is our authenticity. 

Lighten Up, 2012 by Joey Veltkamp
bisque ceramic, enamel and acrylic, rainbows

I asked my friend Amanda Manitach, who shares my love of the rainbow/glitter, if she'd write an essay for the show. I think it's perfect and you can read it here. And thanks to Amanda and Artdish for being kind enough to reprint (pre-print?) it. And I'd like to thank Klara for allowing me to do a more personal, more experimental show.

The Rainbow Connection celebrates the weirdo in all of us. So this Saturday put on your pink coat, have a Jell-o shot (in rainbow flavors) and come dancing at NEPO House from 6-10pm. Or sit in the corner and be spellbound by Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, David Lynch's much maligned deconstruction of Twin Peaks.

Shaun's Daydream by Shaun Scott

by Shaun Scott

"Try as we might to lose ourselves in the temporary winds of sensory experience, in groupthink’s sedative waves, or in the seductive flame of romantic attraction, artists can know no real respite from the first person imperative; from ongoing dialogue with that old internal daemon who moves us to create competitively, and to present our crafts as objects to be consumed on the cultural marketplace. While some have—through their inactivity—ceded the title of “artist” to cynics who suggest the occupation is simply a matter of sitting and waiting for inspiration to strike, those of us who make it a daily duty to live up to the title know that projecting our innermost visions is arduous, and fraught with anxiety at every step of the way.

“Shaun’s Daydream” is a short-film featuring the filmmakers’ imagination, a simulation of introspection in which the subject 1) observes, 2) signifies, and 3) recalls, expresses, and judges. In the film, the moves are expressed in 3 corresponding movements, where the stuff of my imagination—historical images of black life in the 1960s and 1970s—is represented as a working-class drama with slogans that eventually form the backbone of the last and most crucial step in the process:--when we move ourselves to externalize, in words and in creative deeds, what was previously only internal. Not everyone may be as infatuated with the same content as I once was—to say the least, archival documentary footage is the most benign retrospective b-roll that plays in the movie house of my mind’s eye, and I’ve since explored similar themes with more contemporary imagery in my forthcoming “100% OFF: A Recession-Era Romance”—but I do think the form is transcendent. 

“Shaun’s Daydream” is the very last short I made before embarking on a career as a director of narratives and documentaries in 2008, at age 24. Looking at it again—3 years and 3 feature length films later—this short is still a creative vow that, come what may, I absolutely cannot allow myself to betray. Just as the many creative collaborations it takes to make a film are infinitely nourishing and without a doubt necessary, a director has to constantly answer to the same self that dreamed and willed the creation into being in the first place. Lovers leave each other if love changes, friends grow or force each other apart, families may give with one hand but take with the other; budgets evaporate, key collaborators flake, technical challenges, inevitable trials-by-error, and learning curves loom; through it all—and at all costs—the vision must come into being."
- Shaun Scott

Some things to do on Feb 1

The Blanket Show at Cupcake Royale

Tomorrow is the opening for The Blanket Show. I've been busy getting things ready and will install the show tonight. It'd be great to see you if you're around tomorrow from 5-8pm. Hopefully parking won't be too bad on a Wednesday. 

Dori Rainey by NTG
LxWxH (xSA) launch at Vermillion

Around the corner at Vermillion it's the launch party from 6-9pm for LxWxH (xSA) - "SacredAnimals", with No Touching Ground, Baso Fibonacci, and writing by NKO.

Kurt Timmermeister reads at Elliott Bay Book Company

My friend Kurt Timmermeister will be doing a reading from the new paperback version of Growing a Farmer, over at Elliott Bay Book Company starting at 7pm.

Prince by Troy Gua

Prince by Troy Gua (click to animate)

I'm just in love with Troy Gua's Prince figurine. At 1/6 scale, it has a surprisingly amount of detail.

Prince by Troy Gua

The finishes such as his mirrored sunglasses, Cloud guitar, and Swarovski crystal cufflinks are all hand-made.

Prince by Troy Gua

 Check out Le Petit Prince in all his glory over here.

Recent paintings by Deborah Scott

Bitter Seduction by Deborah Scott
oil and mixed media on canvas, 40" x 24"

I just wanted to post a couple of new paintings by Deborah Scott. I love her modern takes on classic stories. In Bitter Seduction, Daniel Carrillo stands in for King Midas at a Starbucks.

Postnuptial by Deborah Scott
oil and mixed media on canvas, 40" x 24"

Here's one of me as Bluebeard, an aristocrat known for killing his wives. I've tried to draw this silk smoking jacket repeatedly and always abandon it. Of course, Deborah nailed it--in oil paint no less!

Path with Art Showcase / Henry Art Gallery

image via Henry Art Gallery

Path with Art is one of my favorite local organizations in Seattle. If you're unfamiliar with them, their mission is to give, "...marginalized adults the opportunity to engage in the creative process as a unique means to improve and rebuild their lives." But what ends up happening is so much bigger than just making art.

This Saturday from 2-4pm, The Henry will be hosting a showcase which, "...celebrates the energy and creative output of 40 Path with Art poetry, creative writing, and performance class participants." You should really check it out if you want to be inspired!