This Saturday, the cool art crowd will be hanging out on Barret Avenue, as two young annual art shows pop up for their second and third iterations.
Double billing themselves as “A Night of Naughty and Nice,” Revelry Boutique and Ultra Pop will host a who’s who of my favorite local painters, sculptors, mixed media-ers, and — best of all for the budget-conscious art fiend — print makers.
The “nice” will be located at Revelry as “Cuteopia” hits us in the sweet spot with its sophomore outing. Revelry’s website promises the works (by an all-female roster of local artists) are “so cute you’ll puke.”
Last year the entries struck a balance between the ironically saccharine, the weirdly chibli, and the sincerely sweet.
I’ll personally be on the look out for affordable works by co-curator Lindy Lou (of Zombie Attack birthday fame) or Miss Happy Pink, who sold me my two new favorite T-shirts back in December.
After you’ve cuted yourself into an art-induced sugar high, you can head over to Ultra Pop for something salty, as the third annual XXX Art show hopefully lives up to its name and reputation.
In previous years art has run the gamut from racy to downright graphic, so much so that Ultra Pop owner (and righteous local DJ) Paul LePree felt it prudent to black out the windows.
Because think of the children.
Mo McKnight Howe, co-owner of Revelry and co-curator of Cuteopia, points out that it’s “a great way to buy something for a significant other that’s going to be different, something really unique.”
Could the same be said for the XXX Art Show? Hopefully you know your significant other well enough to judge if your gifts to them should be nice or naughty.
Paul LePree knows the pearl-clutchers out there might not be lining up to buy at this show. He notes that “it’s not a brisk sellable show because of it’s nature,” but cites how much the artists love it, and asks, “If I’m not going to do it, who is?”
Because of the edgier subject matter, LePree is able to lure regional artists to Ultra Pop, like the HAND group from Detroit and Matt Barnes from Cincinnati.
Local artists contributing include Robby Davis, Gerald Tidwell, and Vinnie Kochert, among others.
Cuteopia hangs until Feb. 28, but it is a “buy and take show,” according to McKnight Howe. If you buy it, it goes home with you right away. The artists will replenish some of the pieces as they find homes, so there should be some great pieces available through the month.
The XXX Art show will also hang until the end of February.
But the artists and the cool kids will be on hand Saturday night at 7 p.m., and the absolute best pieces may be snapped up early at both shows.
Ultra Pop and Revelry both keep shops full of excellent items in addition to the art shows they host. Stop by and buy something fun.
amanwalksintoablog 