Artoleptic Urban Arts & Music Festival 2008

Artoleptic threw its first event last year, in the parking lot adjacent to the 619 Building and the Snowboard Connection. Some decent art pieces were created, but the sense of community was lacking, partially due to the fact that the event was barely publicized.

Earlier this month was year two of the Artoleptic urban arts and music festival. The non-profit rented out the same space but gave out free booth space to artists, got sponsored by Glaceau, enlisted the participation of many more mural artists, chose a much more diverse selection of music, and brought on Skate Like A Girl for girl skate workshops.

Here were some of the highlights from the event:

Ego and 179 join hands for a mural.

Ten Hundred, who was covered in the Spring 2008 Issue of REDEFINE, gives away free drawings at his well-stocked, colorful booth.

First Thursday, Pioneer Square, July 2008

Alright, this is a bit late, but a late post is better than a non-post, correct?
Here are some of our favorites from the July 2008 First Thursday Art Walk! Enjoy!

Bryan Mandronico’s kooky, sci-fi inspired paintings aren’t just expertly colored; his use of clean lines, abstract shapes, and negative space make well-balanced, powerful pieces.

Bryan Mandronico shows with a little gold leaf and acrylic paint that sea creatures, popes, and aliens can hang out together without a hitch.

Erin Kendig, also known as Little Red Girl, didn’t have many pieces for sale on this day. Nonetheless, her space, which was shared with previously covered Ryan Molenkamp, was one of the hits of the 619 Building.

Two tree lovers embrace in Erin Kendig’s beautifully inked and intricately plotted drawings. (Note the little red girl in the lower left, watching the lovers.)

Stacey Rozich’s Birdhaus Complete is a colorful display of different birds. Watercolors on paper.

Stacey Rozich’s Problems at Sea offers a new take on seafaring. Watercolors on paper.

Jason Sho Green’s Work Faces Transformations

Jason Sho Green has long been a buddy of REDEFINE; we interviewed him in 2005 for what what might’ve been his first interview, and he was extremely bashful about talking about himself then.

When I saw that his work was on display on the top floor of the 619 Building, I had to check it out. It’d effectively been a year since I’d really seen any of his work (since his 2007 Seattle International Film Festival campaign). Fresh off a one year stint taking art classes (as he was previously untrained), Green says that his current works are a more accurate reflection of his desires. Whereas he previously felt like he had to compromise his artistic vision in his final products, he now seems more confident in his technical abilities, and the results show a noticeable departure from his previous work. It is quite clear that Green has newfound technical abilities and more of a fine art side to him, but I’m interested in seeing what the future will bring for his pieces, how these changes will change his fanbase, and whether it will take him from the Seattle scene to elsewhere. Don’t worry, though… as evidenced by his awesome Threadless Tee (which I’ll have to buy since I’m a Sagittarius), Green still has a sense of humor.

Click here to read his post about this piece or here to see how the piece has evolved.

Christopher McManus Makes Monster Masks

Christopher McManus crafts monster masks with more personality than any monster masks I’ve seen before. Nearly missed this guy’s work, but I’m wholly glad I did not! No doubt painstakingly hand-crafted using finicky materials like feathers and sunglasses. See here for his descriptions of his work.

Gas mask meets alien? Look closer, though… it’s made of used sunglasses!

Chewbacca meets crabb0rts?

Monster fight! ATTAAACK!

First Thursday, Downtown Seattle, May 2008

After going to the THAW Fashion Show in Seattle’s SoDo district this evening and being slightly disappointed, I headed on over to Pioneer Square to the 619 Building. The ever fun 619 Building.

CARRY5 SHOW
First off, to the 5th floor to the Carry5 show, which took place in my buddy Jen’s space. Carry5 is dedicated to helping people across the world gain access to clean water. For this show, artists were invited to decorate their own water jugs.

PGEE! Not sure why he gets a white water jug, but that is pretty much a good deal.

Keith Noordzy jug has sleeping alligators. Or crocodiles.

Jeff Jacobson’s oil bucket with… clay items… which represent ____________.

Ego’s black face of doom.

Aaron Kraten is a Los Angeles artist who we love here at REDEFINE.

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What else have we got in the 619 Building?

Amusing portrait photos by Lucien Knuteson.

Chris Sheridan skateboard decks! Click here to read an interview we did with him recently!

Kate Protage’s contemporary renditions of cityscapes.

Weston Jandacka, photographer and mixed media artist. Solo show called “Within Your Blinking Eye” in the 619 Building, at the Blank Space Gallery. He had many pieces from his Literary Series, which featured a lot of paper collage and paint and old quotes from people like Ralph Waldo Emerson. But personally, I liked his photography best. You can see some samples on his website. Just click on his name.

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CANVAS GALLERY

Kim Lavarello. Drapes are one of the first things you learn to do in art class, but this piece seems to rehash the age old idea. It comes from a series of similar works by Kim Lavarello, and it quite simply captures both emotion and movement quite excellently.

Robin Harlow is a local mixed media artist from Seattle. She previously had some collage pieces up at Canvas as well, but those were not quite as impressive; they felt a bit incomplete, to say the least. This 3D chess board made out of painted baby doll heads is definitely worth a mention. It’s creepy and leaves people chatting about which kind of baby head is what kind of chess piece. Is there a correlation? Not a freaking clue.

Margot Lovinger. Second time seeing these pieces at the Canvas Gallery, and they are just as striking the second time as they were the first time. Initially, this piece might just look like some topless chick having the time of her life. But there’s more. IT’S TEXTILE. It is absolutely mind-boggling in real life when you consider how long this must take her. And what does she do to create this? View this detail photo and a pic from her website:

“I begin with a cotton canvas base, to which all the successive layers are sewn. The first layers are usually cottons and silks. In these early layers, I rough out the composition and establish the major shapes and colors of the work. Next, the subtle modulation of color and tone are achieved by the layering of sheer fabrics, such as tulle, netting, organza and chiffon. Each successive layer changes the hue of the layers beneath it, much the way a transparent color wash changes the layers underneath it in watercolor painting. Stitching in cotton, silk, or rayon thread or embroidery floss is added to create texture and define shapes. Finally, each piece is stretched over a wooden frame.” – Margot Lovinger

Oh, and… did I mention? ALL SEWING IS DONE BY HAND…!!! !! !

First Thursday, Downtown Seattle, April 2008

Every first Thursday of the month, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, downtown Seattle has an art walk aptly called… First Thursday. Tonight, we decided to scope out the infamous 619 Building.

For the uninitiated, the 619 Building is a building crammed chock full of artist lofts. Mixed media artists, painters, photographers… all types of artists. Out of all of the places one can go to during the art walk, the 619 Building is probably the most lively. Other places might have wine and cheese, but the 619 Building has that too. And they also have live music and way more people. So if it is your first time to an art walk, the 619 Building is NOT a bad bet.

In one of the corridors, there were 3D books designed by different artists. Some were great and some were mediocre. It just so happened that every book I deemed as great happened to have been created by Mark M. Magill. I can’t seem to find much more information about him online, but if anyone knows about him, speak up!

Community participation projects are always good. On these clipboards, passerbyers are asked to draw in the blank boxes their rendition of the shown photo. It’s a great project with amazing results. Check them out.

Ryan Molenkamp is a Seattle artist who explores shape and colors through his paintings that manage to be interesting despite their simplicity.

Installation by an artist I did not quite catch the name of. Can anyone help?

There was an Underground Magazine (formerly known as the Exotic Underground) party, and one entire floor was dedicated to sex art. It was one giant party, chock full of people, latex-suit-clad women, and lots of nudity. These pieces, a collaboration between local artists Redd and Carl Faulkner, are a part of their “Tibetan Hentai” series, which turns Japanese hentai into an even more beautiful and wondrous thing (an arguable point, certainly). The scroll-type framing adds 100 points as well. Apologies for the subpar photo; it was nearly impossible to find room in this corridor, and these pieces did receive a lot of attention by passerbyers.

And, to finish off the night, I present you with the penis lamp. This is a table-size one, but there was a 6 foot tall one in the middle of Johnny Wow’s room as well. I don’t think Johnny Wow made it, but I’m not sure who did. Sorry! If you know, please let me know.