Vee Hua 華婷婷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.
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Navi Esparza
Appreciate the mention of my studio, and the 619 Artwalk. The 6′ Penis in the studio was created by Karen Miner. Her work is in several NW galleries. She has a large sculptural head, “Kiss” in the Canvas gallery presently.
Come by again sometime, introduce yourself. I’ll give copies of my books to anyone that mentions this listing.
Dr. JohnnyWow!