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Here is the direct link to the story (that’s my photo!!) on NPR’s music blog, “The Record” : http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2010/08/20/129326440/olympia-wash-why-here-why-now

Northern opened unofficially in April, 2009 just in time for Arts Walk and officially hosted its first shows in mid-May. The project has been a huge undertaking and I think it’s safe to say it has been extremely rewarding for everyone involved, even through shows where no one showed up, volunteers flaked out and people accidentally destroyed art on the walls.

I’m proud to be a part of the project and my teenaged self thanks me, even if no one else does.

Partial screen shot:

I’m finally uploading images of the opening for Better Place Than Now from a little over a month ago. The show was a total success and it’s just the beginning for the body of work I’m currently researching, “Dead Wrestlers.” The awesome Conor Peterson also showed his large format photographs of quiet, desolate yet developed landscapes.

Me: Digital prints and drawing. The prints are highly pixelated, online video grabs, so they look slightly out of focused when photographed. The drawing of Miss Elizabeth is the first layer of a hand-drawn CMYK pattern. The image is from wrestling trading cards I collected as a kid in the mid 80s – early 90s. You can read more from an earlier post.

Conor Peterson: archival inkjet prints from large format negatives.

The Opening: Friends, food and fun!

Conor, gesticulating wildly with a snappy red tie.

Sarah and Kira, and Brian mid-chew.

More on Northern’s march show, From, Johnson

Artists included in From, Johnson:

Daniel Arlein, Brooklyn, NY
Avantika Bawa, Portland, Oregon
Jenny Buffington, Shorewood, IL
Ingrid Burrington, Baltimore, MD
Scott Marvel Cassidy, Los Angeles, CA
Ariel Churnin, Johnson, VT
Thomas Cummins, San Antonio, TX
Janet Hassinger, Houston, TX
Harrison Haynes, Durham, NC
James Horgan, Cambridge, MA
Laura Kaufman, Hudson Valley, NY
Ji Eun Kim, Cheyenne, WY
Jong Sun Lee, Rockville, MD
Caitlin MacBride, Brooklyn, NY
Sharon Madanes, Chicago, IL
Rose Nestler, Brooklyn, NY
Ruben Quesada, Lubbock, TX, in collaboration with Jonathan Bohr Heinen
Nathan Rayman, Kentfield, CA
Alexis Semtner, Brooklyn, NY

More photos of pieces below:

Thomas Cummins‘ beautiful photo of bustling Johnson, Vermont on a snowy night.

Caitlin MacBride

Ingrid Burrington

Janet Hassinger

Ariel Churnin

Scott Marvel Cassidy

Avantika Bawa

Rose Nestler

Jong Sun Lee

Sharon Madanes

Ji Eun Kim

Ruben Quesada in collaboration with Jonathan Bohr Heinen

Since December, I’ve been hard at work organizing and curating this month’s group show at Northern. I met all the artists during my stay at The Vermont Studio Center this past November and December. From the Press Release:

For the month of March, Northern is pleased to present, From, Johnson, a group show exhibiting the works of 19 artists from across the country.

Each of the 19 artists included in From, Johnson met for the first time this past November at The Vermont Studio Center, a residency for visual artists and writers located in Johnson, Vermont. A play on words between the name of the small town where the artists lived and worked for a month and the influential Pop-Artist and ‘Father of Mail Art,’ Ray Edward Johnson, From, Johnson is about making connections — connections between artists, connections through the act of sending art via the United States Postal Service, and connections between the disparate works themselves.

Images of the show:

Nathan Rayman

Laura Kaufman

Harrison Haynes

Jenny Buffington

Daniel Arlein (This photo only shows the landscape painting partially extended)

Alexis Semtner

James Horgan

Sometimes it’s hard to hear the Universe talking to you above the din that is your day to day life. As someone who already has bad hearing from an ungodly amount of hardcore and emo shows attended as a teenager, sometimes it’s difficult to hear anything at all (I escaped the alterna-90s and all I got was partial hearing loss). However, when the same sentiment is repeated over and over from the mouths of unrelated people in my life, I can’t help but acknowledge larger forces at work and stop to listen.

I found out Thursday that I didn’t get a job I was actually (for once) holding out a fair amount of hope for – I had even been informally told to expect a phone interview, so I’m not placing all blame on my overactive imagination. As a direct result of this revelation, I have been listening to Kate Bush non-stop.

Recent insight via electronic correspondence with thoughtful Nora, brunch with the inimitable Brian Jones, and a phone call from always encouraging Kai, however, have left me with renewed faith (or at least a feeling of contentment) with my current lot in life.  Like Kai said, I live in a cool house, I teach at a rad liberal arts institution, and I have a cat and a blog. What more could I want?

While life is never as simple as a single catchy sentence, I recognize the truth in those words… even though I wish that sentence was somewhat longer. If it comes down to it, what’s another year in Olympia?

Where else could I have caught Calvin Johnson reading the entirety of the “O” section from Dan Nelson’s (somewhat problematic) book  All Known Metal Bands on Saturday night? AMAZING. Then, the following evening, where else could I have caught Wynne Greenwood and K8 Hardy personally screening their collaborative video projects via data projector beamed onto old sheets in a hip local thrift store? Jesus. I mean, how fucking awesome is my life?

(Right…?)

Photos via my shitty cell phone.

Northern hosted an amazing show of two young, local artists this past month. The opening was truly an event to behold with costumed creatures drumming in circles (think Show Biz comes alive) as well as a lot of attractive, hip kids. The information from the press release is pasted below along with some photos of the opening for your enjoyment.

For the month of January, Northern is pleased to exhibit the work of two Olympia based artists, Joel Allen Davenport and Ryan Converse. The opening reception for the artists was Sunday, January 10 from 4p -7pm. The show ran through January.

Statements provided by the artists:

Joel Allen Davenport

Warm Ghosts is a on-going project of former Denver, CO resident and more recently Olympia, WA space cadet, Joel Davenport. Mostly working in watercolor and ink mediums, he has been meditatively crafting psychedelic, visceral pieces that inhabit their own dimension with their own set of rules, unique characters, waveform patterns, and inspirations while still existing on the same plane.

Inspired by all things obsolete, living or dead, and especially cultural, occult, and religious transcending experiences, Warm Ghosts embraces all forms and spectrum of conversation with the artwork from intricate doodles, a trip that explores earth’s culture through flowing black lines and bursts of color or simply being cute. Warm Ghosts’ goal is to unconditionally love, converse, collaborate or, at the very least, interact with you.

Ryan Converse

I have begun to think of my work as an act of mythopoeia.  I think of each piece I create in relation to my body of work as a whole. With this show I present maps, photos, scaled models and artifacts from a place I call the Valley of the Leafling. Each piece is a viewing portal, which I use to look through to this world and understand it more completely. I choose to work in a variety of mediums to represent this place through as many viewpoints as possible. I have found many old mythologies that match with my subconscious creations, most notably the archetype of the green man, or the foliate head, a figure that represents rebirth, which has appeared in many cultures throughout the ages. I hope that for a time you can suspend your disbelief and gaze upon this valley with unclouded eyes.

Joel Allen Davenport:

Ryan Converse (creature costumes also by Ryan):

This is embarrassingly late. November ran away with me to Johnson, Vermont while an outstanding print show by University of Tennessee graduate students and friends decked the walls at Northern. The show, titled “Furhaus” featured the work of printmakers Veronica Siehl, Daniel Maw, Ben Fox-McCord and Caitlin Wheeler. “Furhaus” presented various approaches to contemporary print, from ethereal to ephemeral, tied together by the use of screen-printing techniques, craftsmanship and attention to detail. Photos of the show are below! Be sure to check out the artists’ websites too!

Veronica Siehl:

Daniel Maw:

Ben Fox-McCord:

Caitlin Wheeler:

The night after I returned from Vermont, The ABC House hosted a show for Olympia All Ages in the basement featuring Broken Water, Sic Alps and Magik Markers. Holy shit, this was a good show. About 75 people turned out to sweat and dance away the night. It was great to have a rock show at the house again; it’s been too long. I implore you to check out all three of these bands.  Photos below are of Broken Water and Sic Alps. Sic Alps were recently invited by Pavement to play at this year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties.

October 2 marked the annual fall ArtsWalk in downtown Olympia, Washington. Northern exhibited a group show featuring the work of six local, regional and international artists. Greg Lukens displayed multiple drawings and paintings, Audrey Sande showed a lovely series of screen-printed portraits of Burlesque show-girls, Caleb Goodaker-Craig exhibited recent photography, and photographer Rachael Lang unveiled an entirely new body of work. In the green room, Rodrigo Valenzuela Varela projected his recent forays into film along with the video work of international artist Joaquin Luzoro.

The gallery was literally packed from 5pm – 10pm and I would estimate that easily over 500 people came through the doors. Greg Lukens sold several pieces, Northern’s first official gallery sales! I even purchased one of his small framed pen and ink drawings. I’ll take a photo of it at some point soon. I love it! It depicts a pair of riot gear clad police officers beating back a grove of birch trees. The perspective is that of a camera-person belonging to the local news crew, seemingly shaky and full of adrenaline.

Some photos of the show before the doors opened and during ArtsWalk:

Greg Lukens’ work to the left and Caleb Goodaker-Craig’s photo work on the far and back wall.

Rachael Lang’s work to the right and Audrey Sande’s prints on the far right.

Audrey Sande’s screen prints.

Caleb and his work.

Rachael Lang’s work based on Craigslist missed connection ads.

Vanessa, Rodrigo Valenzuela Varela and Joaquin Luzoro. Vanessa exhibited at a local tea room down the street!

Vanessa, Rodrigo, Joaquin and Rachael strike a pose but I snap it a second too late. However, I think this photo adequately sums up the night.

For the month of September, Northern is hosting an amazing photography exhibit featuring hundreds of images by artists Aylin Güngör, Tara Jane ONeil and Themba Lewis. The opening was a couple weeks ago and was very well attended. We’re having a closing reception this Friday with musical guests Mt. Erie, Karl Blau, Tara Jane O’Neil (one of the featured artists) and No Kids. Should be an amazing event. Biographies of September’s artists are found below along with photos of the install!

Aylin Güngör (Istanbul)
Aylin Güngör lives on the Asian side of Istanbul, where she is editor-in-chief of BANT Magazine (http://bant.tv/) and a radio host. Her photography combines documentation of Istanbul’s punk arts and music scene (including photos of foreign musicians like Marnie Stern, Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, Gang Gang Dance, etc) with candid portraiture and blown-out landscapes. Forgoing digital cameras for the light play of film, Alyin’s photos appear almost as if shot in slow motion. This is her first exhibition in the USA.

Tara Jane ONeil (Portland)
Tara Jane ONeil is an accomplished visual artist whose paintings and drawings have exhibited worldwide, and appeared on several record covers and in numerous publications; two books of her artwork have been published, Who Takes A Feather (Map Press, Japan, 2003) and Wings. Strings. Meridians: A Blighted Bestiary (Yeti, 2007). She recently completed her 5th full-length album, A Ways Away, released on K Records. Over the course of the past many years and numerous continents TJO has photographically recorded scenes and absurdities with no real intention of exhibiting them. Now is the time.

Themba Lewis (Olympia)
Themba Lewis started taking pictures of his friends skateboarding in the late 1980’s in Indonesia. Since that time he has struggled to combine disparate interests, resulting in an incomprehensible life-plan. His photographs document the last few years, including scenes from post-communist Eastern Europe, Sudanese refugee gang life in Cairo, music festivals in England, recording sessions, arson and global industrial decline. This is Themba’s first photo show in Olympia since 2003.