♪♪
-Hi, and welcome to the show.
I'm Nancy Guppy, coming to you from Foster/White Gallery,
where I am surrounded by a spectacular exhibit
of sculptures by George Rodriguez called --
and this is based on an "SNL" sketch --
"CLAP CLAP Clap Clap Clap
clap clap clap clap
DOG SHOW!"
[ Jazz music plays ]
Guaranteed to put a smile on your face
and a spring in your step,
George describes his marvelous collection of ceramic creatures
as, quote, "Celebrating the complexity,
wisdom and cuteness of our longtime allies."
From the domesticated pooch to the wild canine,
"...the human fascination with dogs
transcends time and geography."
By referencing historical and contemporary depictions of dogs,
"...I aim to show their deep connections to our lives."
The dogs will be here
through May 24th.
Hours and location
are at fosterwhite.com.
We've got a terrific lineup, including...
[Film projector clicking]
the Seattle International Film Festival turns 51...
an Ai Weiwei highlight
at Seattle Art Museum...
♪♪
...and the groovy groove of Hockey Teeth.
♪♪
And we'll begin with a visit to AMGRAF,
the American Graffiti & Urban Art Conservation Project
in Everett,
dedicated to celebrating and preserving
The DogTown Collection of graffiti art
and the legacy of its artists.
♪♪
-If I'm talking to my friends, yeah, it's graffiti,
but if it's a client that's got some money,
then yeah, it's mural art.
When I touch an aerosol can, I'm on fire.
It doesn't matter if I'm painting on a canvas,
if I'm painting on a train, if I'm painting on a wall --
whatever I'm painting, I'm on fire.
[ Can rattling ]
♪♪
-Graffiti is names -- writing your name,
getting it as many places as you could.
You've hit the walls.
You've hit the overpasses, trains, or buses.
That was originally what graffiti is.
♪♪
-A lot of people see a lot of garbage in the streets,
and it's just little stupid kids going around
without any direction.
When I was younger, I'd go out and do stupid things
'cause, you know, kids do stupid things.
But as I got older, I found that this is a sacred art form.
I specialize in burners.
I do stuff that is big, vibrant,
and is eye candy to the community.
I feel like my art is medicine to the community.
-It started in the '60s from a guy named Cornbread.
He started writing his name all over Philadelphia
to impress a girl.
Very, very quickly, at that point,
it also hit in New York,
but I think it really hit its prime time
on the elevated subway platform.
They risked life, limb, and freedom
to do what they did.
-I am at the APEX Gallery, and it is an amazing gallery.
[ Can rattling ]
Today, I am painting a portrait of Sid Vicious.
[ Can spraying ]
♪♪
-I'm John Carswell, and I'm the owner
of the APEX Everett and The DogTown Collection.
The DogTown Collection now
is the most historically complete collection
of graffiti and urban art in the world.
It started out preserving the very early guys
that first started this art genre in '69, '70,
and then it grew from there,
and as it covered the rest of the United States
and -- and the West Coast.
-So this here is a piece by Pryer One.
This is the first piece that Pryer ever did
for The DogTown Collection.
He's a huge Los Angeles legend, with Pryer's name being as big
as it was throughout the city of Los Angeles.
Those are the historical pieces that we want to collect.
-One day, I was reading an article
that had talked about New York whitewashing
a very, very famous part of a tunnel
very, very early artists had -- had done.
And it was a real time capsule, and it got whitewashed.
[ Can shaking ]
We've had to take what these guys were able to do
in the streets, on walls, subways, et cetera,
and preserve them onto canvas.
And we typically try to get something that's very historical
for the writer that's doing the piece for us,
and we get it on canvas,
and that's what we're seeing today.
-While I'm painting, I am meditating.
I lift off.
I'm in a different -- different place, different time.
This is sacred grounds for me,
'cause you see it on the poles, you see it on garbage cans,
and you know it's just a mess to the city.
But when it comes down to skill and professionalism,
this is where it's at.
-This is the only offering to the art world
from North America, modern North America,
from the United States.
Everything else came from somewhere else.
This is our contribution to the art world,
and we were whitewashing it as fast as it was going up.
And so I decided to try to get
as many of those real early pioneer guys,
the guys that started this --
just exactly what they were doing in the tunnels
or what they were doing
on the elevated subway platforms in New York.
Get it on a canvas before we lost them.
-So this here is an Ichabod piece.
Ichabod is one of the most prolific freight painters
that there is.
He is a total phantom --
has nothing online, has no online presence.
Nobody knows who he is or, like, anything about him.
Over here, we have Sane Smith.
They were two brothers off of the East Coast.
They are most famous for painting the Brooklyn Bridge.
-We lose these guys -- constantly throughout the year,
we're getting notified of another one that's passed away.
For so many of these guys,
the only last living example of what they did
is part of this collection.
And that's just -- that's the whole point
in what it is we're trying to do.
-This is a piece by my best friend Miles.
Miles was known for his incredible,
almost cartoony-looking characters.
Unfortunately, Miles passed away unexpectedly in August of 2021.
There's a very good chance that someday this will be
his only artwork that's left.
[ Can spraying ]
-Yeah. -That's cool.
-Cool. Nice to meet you, man. Yeah. Peace.
-Have a good day. -You, too. Thanks.
You know, I like to teach kids
and show them direction on how to make something beautiful,
rather than make some garbage that has to, you know,
that takes the city millions of dollars a year to paint over.
You know, I like to teach kids how to be respected,
how to work with style, how to get good
because this is sacred to me.
♪♪
-Learn more about AMGRAF
and their ongoing schedule of events at
amgraf-everett.com.
Our band this week is Hockey Teeth,
comprised of the excellent
Joey Boone, Zach Grande,
Riley Adair, and Owen Rollison.
And here they are, performing "Food for Thought"
from the Sunset Tavern stage.
♪♪
[ Hockey Teeth's "Food for Thought" plays ]
♪♪
-♪ Bells on towers ♪
♪ Mark quarter hours ♪
♪ Hearing time as it rolls past ♪
♪♪
♪ Led astray ♪
♪ And then tossed away ♪
♪ Your eyes shine like an empty glass ♪
♪♪
♪ And when you see me, it's like New Year's Day ♪
♪ In a dreadful way ♪
♪ Count me down and start again ♪
♪ Splitting up is a solution ♪
♪ For some people, but not for us ♪
♪♪
♪ I'd prefer a resolution ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ It's food for thought, I guess ♪
♪ Food for thought, I guess ♪
♪♪
♪ Runny yolks ♪
♪ And holes in toast ♪
♪ Slipping into your routine ♪
♪ Your ballroom eyes ♪
♪ They are my demise ♪
♪ Loving you like a machine ♪
♪♪
♪ 'Cause you're a woman who knows what she likes ♪
♪ And I do not suffice ♪
♪ I know you need more than this ♪
♪ Splitting up is a solution ♪
♪ For some people, but not for us ♪
♪♪
♪ I prefer a resolution ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ It's food for thought, I guess ♪
♪ Food for thought, I guess ♪
[ Guitar solo ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-Hockey Teeth's new album, "Cut Your Teeth,"
drops on Friday, May 30th, with a live record release show
that very same night at Conor Byrne in Ballard.
♪♪
-We are in part one of two parts of the exhibition "Ai, Rebel."
I wanted to show you a very important work by Ai Weiwei.
It's one of his most famous.
It's titled "Sunflower Seeds," and you can see a pile here.
It actually is 2,000 pounds' worth of sunflower seeds.
That is one ton of it.
You might ask, how can sunflower seeds be so heavy?
Well, these ones are actually made out of porcelain.
Every single one of them was molded
and then hand-painted by artisans in China.
In fact, Ai Weiwei had employed 1,600 painters, skilled hands
to help him paint every single one of these.
They were all women --
all 1,600 of these skilled artisans were women.
And they brought them back in bags
to their homes and as piecemeal work
so that, in between childcare
and cooking meals for the family,
they would take them out and sit around the table,
mom and aunties and grandmas all sitting around
and painting these things.
Then, 100 million of them were produced to lay on the ground
of Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern in London
when they were originally created.
But very excitingly for Seattle,
is that we have this world debut of the part two
of the "Sunflower Seeds" project, titled "Shells."
Shells -- that is, eaten sunflower seeds.
They look so realistic, they're almost as if you can feel
that they have actually been eaten,
but they're actually porcelain.
And I had a chance to play with them
on Ai Weiwei's dining-room table.
I ran my hands through them, and they actually,
because they're porcelain, they tinkle like bells.
♪♪
-"Ai, Rebel: The Art and
Activism of Ai Weiwei"
at Seattle Art Museum
runs now through September 7th.
Reserve your ticket at
seattleartmuseum.org.
The 51st Seattle International Film Festival
has officially launched,
and over the next 10 days,
will be screening 245 films in 6 venues
throughout our fair city.
So here is a teaser of what we can look forward to.
Ready?
♪♪
[ Wind rushing ]
♪♪
[ Film projector clicking ]
SIFF 2025 runs now through May 25th,
with select encores streaming on the SIFF Channel
May 26th through June 1st.
The full schedule, along with pass and ticket information,
is on their website.
And that's a wrap!
Big thanks to Foster/White Gallery
and especially owner Phen Huang for hosting us.
And a reminder that
"CLAP CLAP Clap Clap Clap
clap clap clap clap DOG SHOW!"
runs now through Saturday, May 24th.
And we're going to leave you with highlights
from a recent special event here at the gallery
called "Best in Show Dog Show."
This delightful afternoon
of dog owners and their beloved companions
turned out to be less of a competition
and more of a wildly fun playdate.
So enjoy, and we'll see you soon.
[ Rhythmic clapping ]
-Dog show!
[ Rhythmic clapping ]
Dog show!
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Oh. -It's so cute!
♪♪
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ]
[ Laughter and applause ]
♪♪
-He wants to lick that box.
[ Laughter ]
-All right!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
[ Laughter ]
♪♪
-Ready?
[ Applause ]
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ]
-We've come up with a decision.
And we came up with this decision
with the help of our canine friends.
So we're voting for Cordelia.
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Dog barking ]
[ Laughter ]
[ Barking continues ]
♪♪
[ Applause ]
♪♪