Sasquatch! Festival announces FREE Poster Art Exhibition & Gala!
I was in attendance at Sasquatch! for the very first year of the festival, but haven’t returned since. That was a long time ago and a lot has changed. First of all, the promoters were House of Blues (they’ve since been purchased by Live Nation). Second, it was primarily a one day hippie festival. On the bill… String Cheese Incident, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, etc. Blackalicious canceled. It was mostly terrible, but I walked in for free with a photo pass that I laminated at my friend Lars‘ house/gas station (he lived in an Exxon in Tumwater, Wa) and I got really spun out on some LSD, so it didn’t really matter anyway. It isn’t that the acts haven’t been getting any better, because they definitely have, but I’ve just never cared enough about the lineup to actually trek out there for 3 days of blazing heat, 7 dollar beers, piss soaked grass, and a bunch of hassle. Either the acts didn’t do enough for me or the one’s that I loved I had already seen a million times anyway. This year it looks like they’ve put something together so good that even I’m gonna have to drag my lazy ass out there.
This year I’ve found the festival to be much more intriguing and the folks that run Sasquatch! appear to be making even more of a concerted effort to really present the yearly event as a well-rounded entity, even beyond the musical acts. Some of the amazing performers on the lineup are Pavement, Ween, Aziz Ansari, Public Enemy, Mayer Hawthorne, Quasi, Dr. Dog, and Todd Barry. Comedians have been part of Sasquatch! for a while now, so that isn’t new, but the way that the promoters chose to announce the lineup this year is. A “launch party”, featuring performances by Surfer Blood and Atlas Sounds was held at Seattle‘s Crocodile Cafe on Feb. 15th and the full lineup for the festival was announced that night. Now another event is taking place to showcase the poster artwork that was created specifically to commemorate the appearances by each one of those individual acts which were announced. Just like the launch party, this event is absolutely free.
One odd thing relating to Sasquatch! is that, although I haven’t attended it in years, I’ve actually acquired a handful of festival posters from some of the acts. What’s great about the individual posters is that they are focused on the artists and not the overall weekend. Festivals work by packing a bunch of performers (aka: options) onto the bill and rarely anybody likes all of them. Just because I love Pavement, it doesn’t mean that I like OK GO or necessarily want them listed on a poster in a frame on my wall. Festival posters, like the one created above by Invisible Creatures, are alright for some but a WEEN silkscreen is actually worth my money whenever. If you are a fan of silk screen work and poster art, then the Sasquatch! poster event is a great opportunity to see the work that each of the artists has created and even meet them in person. It’s a free exhibit with free music, so it’s worth checking out.
Plus, I feel really good about promoting this event for one other reason: I was supposed to post a review of a documentary on poster art and, while I respect the artform and many of the artists in the film, the filmmaker was acting like a fucking wingnut, emailing me all of the time, and bugging out because I thought that her work was terrible and contrived. I bagged the entire article so as not to provide her with any additional hype, but I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to help promote the actual art movement. It definitely deserves your attention and could actually use it. Full details below and remember, this shit is FREE!
TO VIEW LAST YEARS POSTER ART CLICK HERE!
Event Details:
Sasquatch! Posters! Exhibition and Gala
Vermillion Art Gallery & Wine Bar
1508 11th Ave, Seattle WAOpening Gala (open to the public / free admission!)
May 1 | 6-10 PM Featuring DJ Darwin of Mad Rad @ 8 PM
Exhibit open to the public April 28- May 8Show Bio:
The Sasquatch! Posters! Exhibition features screen-printed posters created for acts performing at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. Those invited to participate range from world-renowned to burgeoning graphic designers and illustrators, all talented and all dedicated to the art of the poster.Year after year an eclectic and inspired group of work emerges, reflecting the unique collection of live performers this festival offers. We are pleased to announce that Vermillion in Seattle has been so kind as to provide gallery space to display the 2010 poster exhibit! For the first time in the history of the festival’s yearly design invitational, these posters will be up for the public
to enjoy, April 28th – May 8th.
COMPLETE LIST OF ARTISTS
Aaron Bloom
Adam Zacks
Andre Martin
Andrew Vastagh
Andy Abero – 33 RPM
Bob Smith
Bobby Dixon
Bungaloo
Carisa G
Casey Burns
Chad Lundberg
Chelsea Conboy
Clay Nowak
Clint Wilson
Corianton Hale
Cricket Press
Dan Black
Dan D Schafer
Dan Paulus
Dan Stiles
Diana Sudyka
Dirk Fowler
Don Clark / Invisible Creature
Farley Bookout
Frida Clements
Furturtle Design
Garrett Karol
Gary Houston
Guy Burwell
Hero Design
Jannie Mercado
Jason Munn
Jay Ryan
Jeffery Everett
Joanna Wecht
Johann Gomez
John Foster
John Howard
Jon Smith
Joseph P. Markiewicz
Junichi Tsuneoka
Justin Hampton
Keith Whiteman
Kevin Mercer
Kevin Tong
Killorn O’Neil
Kim Mason
Lauren Jong
Lee Zeman
Lia Cerizo
Mark Pedini
Matt McCrakin
Michael Budai
Mig Kokinda
Mike Grigg
Mike King
Mike Klay
Modern Dog – Robynne Raye, Michael Strassburger, Shogo Ota
Molly Leonard
Nat Damm
Nate Duval
Nathan Goldman
Patent Pending – Jeff Kleinsmith and Jesse LeDoux
Rob Helmstetter
Rob Stanton
Robert Zwiebel
Ryan Clark/Invisible Creature
Ryan O’Niell
Sara Thompson
Sasha Barr
Scott Dalrymple
Sean Carroll
Seattle Show Posters
Shane Long
Shawn Wolfe
Small Horse Studio
Strawberry Luna
The Silent Giants
Two Rabbits
Victor Melendez
Zach Hobbs
Pubic Enemy sucks. I went to see them at Bonnaroo last year (my first PE show) and they were headlining. They came out, Flava Flav acted like a buffoon, people ate it up, and they announced they were going to have a special treat for the audience and were going to perform the album “It Takes A Nation of Millions” from beginning to end. Everyone went nuts. The DJ put on the CD and they proceeded to lipsynch the whole CD in sequence, poorly. There were angry looking black militants on stage in fatigues pretending to point guns and mean mug the crowd of white redneck junkies. I was really fucking high so I was not having any of that nonsense, I started booing hissing and eventually walked away, telling anyone that was bumping too hard that they were lipsynching really poorly. As soon as the track was over Chuck Ds voice would change back into an old man who smokes too much coke-blunts. Worst Show Ever, so disappointed, fuck Pubic Enemy.
Too bad it’s Dr. Dog and not Dre Dog, muthafucka