The clear and not-too-cold first Thursday of the month brought out a bevy of art supporters. Spring was in the air, and also evident in playful works by Baso Fibonacci, Suzanne Tidwell, Joe Page and Justin Colt Beckman.
Baso Fibonacci at The Belfry
In his show Dead Eyes, Baso Fibonacci brings his street style to the walls of the gallery and storefront, The Belfry. The artist’s work often focuses on animals and as The Belfry states, “All of the paintings in this show were inspired by current and past pieces of taxidermy in the shop,” creating a unity in the presentation of art, artifact and decoration. Fibonacci’s Technicolor dashes of color unite to form radiant creatures filled with a sense of life. The quick brushtrokes of luminious color, heightened by the glossy black background, lend a softness to creatures both stately and delicate, individual wisps of fur in lush, unnatural color that bring taxidermy…to life.
Suzanne Tidwell at the TK Building
You may have noticed the “sweater trees” that dapple the neighborhoods of Seattle. One of these urban knitters is Suzanne Tidwell—currently working and displaying pieces in the Tashiro Kaplan building. These works by Tidwell are more graphic, covering metal framework in knit fabric to form letters—and she is pretty close to wrapping the entire alphabet. The letters are playful and bold, mixing a unique medium with immediately recognizable forms. On display during March’s Art Walk were “HEY” and “TK,” a fun and playful welcome into the art-centric building.
Joe Page at Method Gallery
Joe Page’s exhibition at Method Gallery is a playful exploration of shapes and space. The show, Flow Chart, uses brightly colored lines that form a pathway for the viewer to follow through the space. Page also uses cartoonish, bulbous clouds along the walls. Some are round and white, others thick, flat, and pink. Page’s Flow Chart is reminiscent of a platform video game world—perhaps Super Mario Brothers—but the interactivity of objects and the exploration of space does not merely borrow another fictional world for the artist and visitors to inhabit. As Method Gallery describes it, “Each site specific work within the Flow Chart series is simultaneously an environment to be navigated physically and a cartographical map to be interpreted from a distance.” Page is worldbuilding on his own terms but using a visual language that is appealing and familiar to audiences of many generations.
Justin Colt Beckman
Justin Colt Beckman’s Cabin Fever transforms PUNCH Gallery into an immersive space, beginning with a “pop-up” shop environment. Small posters, handkerchiefs, postcards, and skateboards are displayed for purchase. PUNCH states, “While [our] mission remains to exhibit work free from the constraints of commercialism, Beckman turns that notion on its head.” Cabin Fever attempts to capture and harness the associations of summertime and camping for each viewer. The view from the “window”, though, steals the show. Beckman has created an illusionistic exterior beyond the cabin. A dark forest landscape fills the space—along with an eerie, glowing projection of a wolf. The delicate blowing of the wolf’s fur brings life to a clearly constructed realm.