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BLVD Gallery (pronounced "boulevard") is a new gallery devoted to the Urban Contemporary aesthetic and the rise of street art and graffiti culture, located in Seattle's hip Belltown neighborhood. Noticing a lack of venues for Seattle's vibrant urban art scene, gallerist Kirsten Anderson and curator Damion Hayes along with partners Brian Rauchenbach and Marcus Lalario, decided to join forces and create a full fledged gallery devoted to the burgeoning underground scene, and are dedicated to bringing national and international talent to the city as well as fostering the talented local artists working within the genre. About the gallery: BLVD will be the only gallery in Seattle that exhibits Urban Contemporary. Our goal is to bring the movement's art heavyweights to the Northwest as well as build up the Northwest's own vital street art scene. We believe the artists working in the Northwest show tremendous promise and exceptional skill and vision and we aim to make the Northwest a hotspot for the Urban Contemporary scene. BLVD will open as a 900 square foot storefront space in Seattle's hip and rapidly growing Belltown neighborhood. The gallery will be right next to Roq La Rue Gallery, which has become the premiere destination in the Northwest for counterculture art. The space will feature clean white 20ft tall walls and a small merchandise area, which will feature rare art books, prints, and other collectables. What Is "Urban Contemporary"? Urban Contemporary is a term for work that is also acknowledged as "Street Art" or "Urban Art", and cites Graffiti, Hip Hop, D.I.Y. and Skateboard culture as its genesis. This art movement has grown from being an illicit, underground cult-ish art scene through the incorporation of more mainstream commercial elements, such as fine illustration and graphic design, to create a vital and exciting hybrid that art collectors and art establishments respond enthusiastically to, as witnessed, for example, by the phenomenal success of the "Beautiful Losers" museum exhibit, and the worldwide demand for work by artists such as Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, and the late Margaret Kilgallen, who have all conquered the high art scene. Who We Are: Damion Hayes is the Editor of the Artstash Blog as well as a founding member of Cut Kulture United, a Seattle based art collective established in 1998. With a stated mission to increase awareness and appreciation of the Urban/Street art and culture, Damion has been curating and producing art events since 1993 beginning with a loft viewing of a 16mm print of the Hip hop classic Style Wars in Atlanta, Ga. Damion has more recently curated "Living Hybrids", the visual arts component to the 2005 Red Bull Music Academy, as well as "Beyond Fresh-The Urban Art Exhibition" at Seattle's 2004 Bumbershoot Arts Festival. Damion Hayes brings to BLVD Gallery an understanding of the needs of the artists as well as an immense respect for the culture from which the Urban Art community is based. Kirsten Anderson is the founder and owner of Roq La Rue Gallery, an internationally known gallery focusing on the Pop Surrealism/Lowbrow art movement. Roq la Rue is considered on of the top galleries in its genre by collectors and artists and has been profiled countless times in Juxtapoz magazine (The 2 nd most popular art magazine in the U.S.) as well as other publications ranging from Japan's Huge and Burnout, to Conde Nast Traveller. Anderson also compiled and edited the successful book Pop Surrealism with her book company Ignition Publishing. Already in it's 3 rd printing, Pop Surrealism is the first survey of the Pop Surrealism/Lowbrow art movement and is called the "essential reference for the art movement" by Juxtapoz magazine. Anderson also acts as a freelance curator, and curated the museum show "Pop Surrealism" in 2005 at the Sangre De Christo Art Center in Colorado, and occasionally will give lectures on underground art, and most recently lectured at Mark Ryden's "Wondertoonel" exhibit at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. Brian Rauschenbach is a co-founder of Graylife, a Seattle based group that organizes and promotes events focused around fusing fashion, art and music, as well as running an online interactive advertising agency, Don't Blink Agency as his day job. Recently nominated as one of "The Most Influential People of 2005" by Seattle Magazine's Power 25, Brian keeps himself busy planting seeds in the local Seattle arts & culture community. He has also recently launched an urban social networking project: Hip-Hop.net to allow artists and musicians the ability to network and showcase their art. He is also a co-owner, with Marcus Lalario, of The War Room, Sal's Pike Street Barbers, and Viceroy Lounge. Marcus Lalario is co-owner of popular Seattle nightclub destination, The War Room, co-owns Sal's Pike Street Barbers, and is a partner in the Viceroy Lounge, all in addition to his main gig, which is owner of Jasiri Artist Management who carries such notables on his roster as "Band Of Horses" (currently on Sub Pop). |