Friday, October 26, 2007

Real Art in Seattle

This is from my 'other 'blog but I thought it worth repeating because the artist is worthy of mention and the experience was great. (from 2 weeks ago)

So ....I finally had a positive 'Art' experience in Seattle. After months of traipsing around galleries and weaving through the crowds at Pioneer Square to get nothing more for my troubles than a faceful of pretentious overproduced, too-slick PAP.....I found real art and a real artist. Kevin Higginbottom ,an artist who works on sheet metal canvases had a one-night showing of his amazing work in the old beat-up warehouse/shop off of Spokane and 1st ave in the SODO district. I could go on for pages about his technique,(never once did he answer a question about his work with a snotty 'Its Alchemy") composition and aesthetic. He shares this enormous falling-down space ( actually it just looks like that from the outside....inside it looks pretty good , due to all the work the collective has put in building walls and putting in almost impenetrable doors) with other artists, a band, sound technicians and last night a biker club. The drive-in shop area was separated from the road by a mere chain link fence. Outside the fence the biker club was signing up folks for a Seattle City timed run........."Legal".......of course. Across the street , under the bridge were dozens of bikes, their riders milling about casually a few feet away from parked cars and campers of some of Seattles homeless. None present at this showing would have been allowed in Pioneer Square......Not the artist, not the bikers, not the homeless..... But here we all were, gathered together in a surreal comaraderie that would make even Jodorowski blink twice. The gathering itself was high art and I felt privelaged to be present. I learned something of great value last night.......The best Art in Seattle is NOT in Pioneer Square. HALLELUJA!

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