GREENWOOD: Tasty, Pretty, Sexy, Dirty, Girly

*WARNING - Mature Content*

Art Up! The art walk in the Greenwood-Phinney Ridge neighbourhood spans over 20 blocks and includes more than 40 galleries, studios, and cafes. I'd love to hit them all, but that's a tall order for a single night. 

I'm wandering with friends this eve, and one of them has work in a couple different art spaces, so our mission begins with Tasty, a gallery of 'delectable collectibles'. Regularly featured are selections of crazy-beautiful creations by local artists and craft masters. This month the collection is "Girls Gone Wild", cutting-edge art by inventive women artists.

Redd Walitzki's new work is an ethereal melding of watercolour and sparkle dreams. She captures waif-like figures emerging from delicate bits of foliage, and bugs made somehow adorable.
 

Redd Walitzki @ Tasty

Redd Walitzki @ Tasty

The sparkle stencil pop art paintings of Glitter Mortis glimmer from across the room, and the surreal stylings of Patricia Ariel intrigue and beguile.

Patricia Ariel @ Tasty

Glitter Mortis @ Tasty

Would that I could spend the entire evening sipping champagne surrounded by cupcake clocks, fuzzy monster puppets and tiny top hats, but there is yet more art to see!

Tasty has teamed up with Bherd Studios for their second annual joint art walk exhibition. "Pretty, Sexy, Dirty, Girly" is a collection of works by female artists portraying aspects of feminine sexuality. This month the Bherd Studios boast a wide variety of media and performance art - dance, burlesque and a live DJ flavour this evening with awesome! The exhibit challenges viewers to consider not only their initial reaction to the subject matter, but also the ways in which it affects their interaction with the work, the artists, and the performers.

I've always been intrigued by the many facets of the human form. Finding myself suddenly confronted with and surrounded by femininity is both fascinating and inspiring. My paint brushes are going to get a work out to-night.

Crystal Barbre @ Bherd Studios

In her series "Magnetisme Animal", Crystal Barbre depicts provocative forms of human-animal fusion. Deftly rendered, her oils contain a hint of humour and a healthy dose of symbolism.


Siolo Thompson, curator of the "Pretty, Sexy, Dirty, Girly" exhibit, is displaying her "Naked Alphabet" drawings, deliciously scintillating with a Victorian flair.

Siolo Thompson @ Bherd Studios

Bherd Studios is part of the Greenwood Collective, an art space shared with Echo Echo, Home Suite Home, and Urban Light Studios. As a nod to the upcoming romantic holiday, "Sadie Hawkins" at Home Suite Home features collaborative works by female and male artists.

"Sadie Hawkins" @ Home Suite Home

Redd Walitzki and Carl Faulkner co-created a piece that speaks to both of their styles: Redd's muted watercolour palette and distinctive otherworldly figures, and Carl's colourfully abject 'visual taffy', in this case, bits of string ooze from the model's mouth.

Redd Walitzki (collaboration with Carl Faulkner) & her model Fox @ Home Suite Home

Next door to the Sadie Hawkins show, oil painter Iris Scott is exhibiting some of her newest works. Her impressionistic pieces are vibrant, textural, and painted by hand. Literally. Eschewing traditional technique, Iris prefers to paint with her finger tips. When I ask her about her process, she laughs and replies that finger painting is far more fun than cleaning brushes.

Iris Scott @ Greenwood Collective

Other notable art nooks in the Greenwood Collective include the spray paint/acrylic steampunk birds of CASH (Curtis Ashby), the MantisArt grafitti wall, and Nicole Dinardo's custom couture kitchen mixers.

CASH @ Greenwood Collective

MantisArt @ Greenwood Collective

Nicole Dinardo @ Greenwood Collective

The community of artists at the Greenwood Collective is imaginative, controversial, and compelling. The only down-side to the evening is that by the time I've finished exploring Bherd, Echo Echo, Home Suite Home, and Urban Light, the majority of the studios along the Greenwood-Phinney art walk have closed. I'll have to work on being in multiple places at once next time around...

I'll definitely be back next month for Bherd Studios' five-year anniversary show. "Look Up Here" celebrates five years of Northwest urban and contemporary art, and features artists who have made an impact in the Seattle art community by promoting and supporting other artists.

Come out and support your local art scene! Cheers.

~ BCDuncan