This Ain't Your Gran-Pappy's Blog!

 

Welcome to my new Art Blog, well, actually not so much welcome as, hello–what have we here. Chances are if you’re reading this blog of your own volition, you probably think you know a thing or two about art. In fact, you probably think you know something about art in Seattle–well, I’m here to tell you you don’t know poop.

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In fact, while you may get all hot and bothered and tell all your friends that you know that it was Jonathan Borofsky who made that big black sculpture that looms over First Avenue just outside SAM and you may coo to all of your friends that you got to ask Paul McCarthy just what kind of an influence Walt Disney has had on him and feel all smug that you have been a fan of Lisa Yuskavage’s bodacious nymphettes since at least 1998, or you can brag that you own something by nearly all the artists on the Funky Northern California Ceramics floor at SAM (Oh, wait that’s me I’m talking about here), you are more than likely quite unaware that there is an active, vibrant underground art world here in Seattle that owes nothing to the Seattle Art Museum (until recently,) has never been covered by the Stranger (also until very recently, anyway) and which you know not one single thing about. But that’s where we part company and that’s why you need to be reading this column to get your fill of what is really happening and what’s truly important in this city by the sound.

To begin with, however, except for a few slagging here and there, you will never read the name Dale Chihuly in my blog, you will not read about Brock Huard making art “safe” for “dudes” and I will not be writing about crystal-coated nut-crackers or glow-in-the-dark pigs (well, maybe if they glow really nicely). So, if you really, truly want any of that, save yourself some time and aggravation and just go to a different blog, because you ain’t going to find any of that here. This ain’t the Art Blog for Uptight Seattleites, but fear not, I am quite certain that there are others who will be more than willing to cater to your tastes. Instead, this blog will continually aspire to be the “alternative to the alternative,” and while it will also force me to get out and go to some art openings and interview some artists, you can be sure that this will never include any of the galleries that you are likely to have ever already heard of.

What we will do is interview artists like Ryan “Henry” Ward–in fact, he will be our first interview as soon as I get a chance to corner him and cover everything from his humble, yet amazing background to dealing with the eccentricities of making art in a city as whacky as ours is. We will review openings at galleries like the “City Hostel” and hang out to talk late at night with the likes of Andy Miller, Narboo and Starhead Boy. We will also wax philosophical about the complexities of beauty and make associations between the highest and lowest aspects of life and art, we will break the rules and piss nearly everybody off–but we will always remain true and committed to our craft.

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(Originally Posted on the PI Arts & Culture Blog April 1st, 2010)