♪♪
-Hi everyone, and welcome to The Big Show.
I'm Nancy Guppy and we are coming to you
this week from the super groovy,
and always free, Henry Art Gallery.
Located on the University of Washington campus,
the Henry is a museum for contemporary art and ideas,
with the deeply held belief
that art has the power to challenge norms,
inspire change, and create a more equitable world.
Amen to that.
Featuring groundbreaking exhibitions, dynamic programs,
and a long standing commitment to elevating artists
at every stage of their careers,
The Henry is a cornerstone of Seattle's art and culture scene.
Current exhibits include --
"Kameelah Janan Rasheed: we leak, we exceed,"
"Rodney McMillian: Neighbors,"
"Spirit house,"
"Charlene Liu: Scallion,"
and "Light Reign," James Turrell Skyspace.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For the full scope of what's happening at the Henry,
go to henryart.org.
We've got a terrific lineup for you, including
ceramicist Debra Broz.
-It's really important to me that you look at it
and your first thought is,
"That's a figurine I've seen before,"
and then your second thought is,
"Wait, that's something I've never seen before."
-I had always been the "sick kid" in school.
-Brendan Healy takes center stage...
-It's not a spoiler to say that
it's about my life experience with cystic fibrosis.
-...and music from Downpilot.
♪♪
And we'll begin with a vibrant member of Seattle's art scene
for over four decades.
He's the one and only Larry Reid.
-I want visitors to be able to experience comics
in a sort of a different environment,
with a different approach to the medium.
Comics have been sort of stigmatized,
and the work that we show is more based in reality
to appeal to adults,
and my goal is to have people come visit the store
and leave with an appreciation of comics on a different level.
I'm the curator and manager at
Fantagraphics Bookstore in Georgetown.
♪♪
Fantagraphics Books is a publisher
of alternative comics and graphic novels
aimed at adult audiences.
We based in Seattle since 1989.
Here's a recent work we published by Charles Burns.
Imaginary comic book covers of comics
that were never actually existed.
That covers themselves, sort of tell a story.
One of my personal favorites is Peter Bagge.
Peter Bagge is known for chronicling
the grunge phenomenon in the '80s in his comic serial "Hate."
This is Peter Bagge's earlier work, "The Bradleys."
It was sort of a story of a dysfunctional family,
sort of maybe loosely based on his own upbringing.
I've been a comics fan since since I was a child.
Let me rewind back to the beginning.
[ Tape whirrs ]
I started my career in 1978
after graduating with a degree in art history.
I opened an art gallery
in Pioneer Square called "Rosco Louie."
Interestingly enough, that gallery opened
at the same time as three very gifted artists
from The Evergreen State College.
Lynda Barry, Charles Burns, and particularly Matt Groening,
who was later the creator of "The Simpsons,"
and it had just started my gallery
as those artists were entering the field
and I was able to exhibit their work.
♪♪
In addition to showing visual art at my gallery,
I also started booking alternative music.
One of the earlier bands that I embraced was The U-Men,
described as being somewhere between punk rock
and performance art that included a number of
really gifted musicians, among them, Tom price.
And I developed a close relationship with them,
eventually managing the band.
[ Music plays ]
[ Tape whirrs ]
Fast forward to 2006,
when Fantagraphics opened the showroom here in Georgetown,
I became the curator and manager and the first employee.
There's your books.
-It's a foreign edition? -I have no idea what it is.
-The bookstore here is showroom
for all of Fantagraphics Publications,
but our mission has expanded
to support local independent artists,
and I'm the curator of that selection.
♪♪
We host hundreds of art exhibitions,
artist talks, workshops, concerts.
[ Music plays ]
My name is Larry Reid.
I've been a cultural worker and advocate
for experimental art in Seattle since 1978.
My thought is to just make it a punk rock, you know,
like something that would have come out in 1981 or 1982.
You know, don't feel pressured to be like the U-Men, you know?
It's not... That's not what this is.
♪♪
"Hot Off The Press Books Fair" started 12 years ago
as an opportunity for local artists
to expose their work to broader audiences.
This year, we are paying homage to some of the past artists
that helped create the environment we enjoy now --
among them, the U-Men.
Tribute to one of the great proto-grunge bands
in the Pacific Northwest.
[ U-Men's "They!" plays ]
♪♪
-♪ Stare at the shadow of myself [indistinct] ♪
♪ Turned 18 and [indistinct] ♪
♪ Said it was a shame the way that poor boy died ♪
♪ When he hit the wall he lost his mind ♪
♪ Woahhh, whooooo ♪
♪ The winner was human ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-My presence in Georgetown predates the bookstore here.
I began working with artists and doing productions in here.
I'd like to think that residents here
consider me a cultural asset.
-Some people think Larry is the mayor of Georgetown,
which he may be reluctant to express himself,
but I do believe that is an apt description.
-He always has his ear to the ground with
either the coolest old thing or the coolest new thing.
-It would be tough to replace Larry.
He's really, he's one of a kind.
-At 72 years old, I'm not quite ready to retire yet.
I still have things to say.
You know Al Williamson? This is early stuff.
Really an important artist
and that's a great book.
I'm really pleased that I was able to
make a living working in my chosen field of visual art.
It's not easy.
I guess I'm proud that
I was able to stick with it
through lean times,
and establish a reputation for being a subversive element
of Seattle's art community.
♪♪
-Fantagraphics is open for business seven days a week.
Hours and location are on their website.
Our musical guest is the stellar band Downpilot,
featuring Paul Hiraga, Jeff Brown,
Anne Marie Ruljancich, and Rob Dent.
Well, here they are from The Sunset Tavern stage
performing "Balancer."
[ Applause ]
[ Downpilot's "Balancer" plays ]
♪♪
-♪ If you call ♪
♪ I will answer ♪
♪♪
♪ And if you fall ♪
♪ I am the balancer ♪
♪♪
♪ If everything leaves ♪
♪ Your love in vain ♪
♪♪
♪ You speak to the fields ♪
♪ Call out my name ♪
♪♪
♪ Just tell me what to say ♪
♪ Tell me what to do ♪
♪ You ask my name ♪
♪ And where you going to? ♪
♪ It doesn't mean to me what it means to you ♪
♪ This questioning ♪
♪ Where's it going to ♪
♪ Just tell me what to say ♪
♪♪
♪ You live in a tree ♪
♪ To look out over ♪
♪♪
♪ Whenever you leave ♪
♪ Four leaf clover ♪
♪♪
♪ And for a while ♪
♪ You were like rain ♪
♪♪
♪ You fell every day ♪
♪ In my ground again ♪
♪♪
♪ Just tell me what to say ♪
♪ Tell me what to do ♪
♪ You ask my name ♪
♪ Where you going to ♪
♪ It doesn't mean to me what it means to you ♪
♪ This questioning ♪
♪ Where's it going to ♪
♪ Just tell me what to say ♪
♪♪
-Oh, yeah! -Woo-hoo.
-Listen to More Downpilot on your favorite online platform.
The song "Balancer" is available on their album "The Forecast,"
and catch the band playing a rare live
and local show on Saturday, November 1st
at Conor Byrne in Ballard.
Ceramic objects can be functional,
they can be decorative.
But in the case of Debra Broz,
they can be downright spectacular.
♪♪
-He'll be cut in half somehow, or maybe bisected.
[ Dremel buzzing ]
♪♪
And you'll see half of him over here
and then one on the other side.
I think a lot of times when I look at them,
I think about like, if they were alive, like,
how would they move and how would they operate?
And to me, I can see it all in my head.
Like, it all just feels like it makes sense.
♪♪
The kind of work that I do is essentially ceramic collage.
So I find pre-existing pieces,
and then I take those and cut them apart and reassemble them,
because I want the work to all look like it was born that way.
It's really important to me that you look at it
and your first thought is,
"That's a figurine I've seen before."
And then your second thought is,
"Wait, that's something I've never seen before."
And so there's a puzzle in doing that.
And like making that sort of perfect born-that-way moment.
[ Objects clatter ]
I was out thrifting and I saw these two little vintage lambs,
and they were so adorable.
And I just remember looking at them
on the shelf in the thrift store
and just sort of having this vision in my mind
that I could take them apart and put them back together
and make them something different.
And that sort of started the whole thing.
Using a Dremel tool to cut things is a little hit or miss.
Sometimes it works beautifully
and sometimes it does not work at all.
Once I have the cuts made,
we'll either glue the two pieces together
or mix up the epoxy sculpting compound to do a big fill
to stick the pieces together.
Then I will get the paints out,
do all the color matching that I need to do.
I'll airbrush those on, then I'll do final brush work.
Put gloss coats on, polish it, sign the bottom.
Done.
[ Laughs ]
When I look at my work, I see humor mostly.
I just, I see this world
where things are funny and strange,
but they're nice.
It's sort of just this reflection of an unusual world
that we can have.
I like just opening that window of like...
Look at this thing you never thought of and now it's here.
♪♪
-Debra currently has sculpture in two local shows
at Orcas Paley in downtown Seattle
and at studio e gallery in Georgetown.
Learn more about Debra on her website
and follow her on Instagram.
Finally, we have a behind-the-scenes look
look at a recent rehearsal for playwright Brendan Healy's
brand new and deeply personal play,
"Eulogy or How to Plan Your Own Funeral (and have fun doing it)"
-Here's what we're going to do.
In just a moment, we're going to run one of the cappers.
I'm going to choose which one in a second,
and then we'll do a quick vocal warm up led by Nathan
and maybe like a shakeout.
And then we will set for top of show
and we'll just do a run through.
[ Group breathing ]
[ Group humming ]
-Lovely.
-My name is Brendan Healy and I am a playwright primarily,
but I'm working on a new piece
where I'm both playwright and performer.
Double tall Americano.
That has been my drink my whole life.
Double tall Americano.
Now, have you noticed the last couple of years
you go into a coffee shop and they don't know what a tall is.
You say a tall, and they say, okay,
but how many ounces?
It's like it's a double tall Americano.
I will not give up the tall. I gave up the shots.
I will not give up the tall. I will die on that hill.
I have not been on stage since college.
When I did it as a requirement for a course credit.
So this is very much outside my comfort zone.
I had always been the "sick kid" in school.
[ Laughs ]
-He wants you to really work for it.
-I'm in the wrong place
or the chair's in the wrong place,
or something's in the wrong place.
-Directing a non-performer is amazing,
and one of the reasons is
because he has no bad habits
as a performer.
There's so many things I don't have to say.
"Don't do that." [ Laughs ] "That's too much."
But I love that he is so honest in his performance.
There's nothing put on and there's nothing fake about it.
It's all very real.
-We are gathered here to say goodbye to Brendan Healy.
He is survived by his... No, that's not it.
It's he is survived by his mom, his dad, his brother,
two aunts, two uncles, and several cousins.
It is a core, fundamental part of the storytelling.
So it's not a spoiler to say that it's about
my life experience with cystic fibrosis,
which is a incurable terminal genetic disorder,
and I'm of a particular generation of CF patients
a few generations before me,
and almost all of those people died as children.
Now CF people being born generations after me
have so much better lives and lifespans.
I'm in that middle where we expected a very young demise.
But thankfully the medical science kept getting better.
So we kept getting a few extra years here
and a few extra years there.
I was never without that looming deadline
that hovered over everything I did in my life,
but I was lucky enough to still have this extra time.
In trying to make sense of this loss,
really, the only thing we can say is...
"Thank God," right?
Oh, this is what we wanted, all right?
It's okay to feel good about this.
We can feel good about it.
This is some good times.
And I pull out a party popper, and I [ pew! ]
We all have to take that march to the grave eventually.
Hopefully for everybody listening or watching this,
it will be a long, long, slow march,
with very little pain along the way.
You know, I've often thought
that New Orleans would be a great place to die.
In New Orleans,
the bereaved marched down city streets with brass bands.
The dead are deposited in stone tombs above ground
so that the jealous floodwaters can't steal them away.
-I think we need theater more than ever right now,
and I think it's really important that humans continue
to gather to watch humanity unfold on stage.
I think it teaches us how to be human.
It teaches us about empathy and patience,
what we need most in this world right now,
which is love for our neighbor.
-Is it truly a celebration of a life
if there is not a sense of bereavement over the loss?
We should be bereaved.
There's a Buddhist saying to the effect of
"There will always be pain in life,
but there doesn't have to be suffering."
And I think that is the spirit of this show.
And what else would a funeral be without
drinks and toasts and memories
and someone playing music in the corner and more drinks.
Life is going to have its miseries, right?
It should also, it needs to have its levity and its joy.
And I think the play actually
it's structure tries to match that.
It goes to sad places,
but then it goes to fun, silly places.
And it's quite irreverent in a few parts
when it comes to our approach to death.
-Rest [indistinct]
-At my Grandma Kay's very Catholic funeral,
the priest almost died at the altar.
-Brendan's working so hard, the whole team is working.
The designers, the production, the ensemble.
-If you're on the fence and you're not sure if
this is the right show for you,
or if maybe you're just not a regular theater goer.
Well, first off, it's short.
This is not going to be a three hour Shakespearean melodrama.
No, we're going to get in 75 to 80 minutes.
In and out. No intermission. There's beer in the lobby.
I mean, come on. Plus the story.
I really hope the story is meaningful
and resonates and is joyful.
-Six, seven, now.
-Woo-hoo!
♪♪
-Pony World Theater's production of "Eulogy"
runs through November 15th
at 12th Avenue Arts on Capitol Hill.
Ticket information is at ponyworld.org
♪♪
And that's a wrap.
Thanks to the Henry Art Gallery for letting us in the door.
And a reminder that the Henry is admission free.
So plan your multiple visits soon
and thanks to you for tuning in.
Until next time, we hope you get out there,
try something new and experience the awesome power of art.
Have fun.
♪♪
-You guys come on through.
-Yeah? [ Laughs ]
-I'm really trying to do a little endurance test, here.
-You're doing great. -Thank you.
-[ Laughs ]
♪♪