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In 1996, Kirsten Anderson opened an issue of Juxtapoz and fell for an art movement. Two years later, she founded Roq La Rue, Seattle’s first art gallery devoted to Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism. Last year Anderson literally wrote (and edited) the book on Pop Surrealism, sensically titled Pop Surrealism. And last month Roq La Rue moved into its fourth space -- the largest yet -- just in time for its annual Halloween group exhibit and a book signing by Robert "godfather of Lowbrow" Williams. (You're invited. This Friday evening. We'll remind you.) Seattlest has enjoyed every show we’ve seen at Roq La Rue -- and Anderson's blog, Thumbmonkey -- so we were very pleased when she agreed to let us interview her.
Let's say you're on an airplane, sitting next to someone completely unfamiliar with Pop Surrealism or Lowbrow, but who's curious about what you do. Without using any visual aids, how do you explain the movements to her -- in such a way that the Lowbrow fan sitting across the aisle learns something, too?
The Pop Surrealism/Lowbrow movement was spawned in the 60's, with the rise of the underground comix scene as well as the outlaw biker/hotrod scene. Robert Williams was an artist working within both genres as well as doing "fine art" -- paintings that were shown in galleries and being taken seriously as "art". A generation of mainly southern california artists became inspired by him and started painting things that were in their personal experience -- usually relating to subcultural lifestyles such as hot rod, tattoo, tiki,lounge and kitsch nostalgia. A magazine called Juxtapoz (founded by Williams) was started and showcased the work of these artists and the mantle of "Lowbrow" was adopted.
Later, as more and more artists came into the fold and started becoming successful, the term "Lowbrow" became less than desirable. When I decided to do the book Pop Surrealism -- I was going to originally call it Lowbrow, but several key artists in the book didn't want to be in a book called that. So I had to come up with a name and that was the one. It was a term that had been loosely floating around and everyone could get behind it. To me though, Lowbrow is work inspired by people like Williams, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Coop, and Von Dutch, and is grittier, more dangerous, more offensive and provocative, and less understandable to art academia. Pop Surrealism is what this movement has now become as more artists, many former professional illustrators and animators, have expanded the visual vocabulary. Pop Surrealism is mainly technical craftsmanship combined with an imaginative pop sensibility and usually a dose of wry humor.
Do you consider Lowbrow a waning genre, and Pop Surrealism the next stage in the movement's evolution? Or is the difference between the two essentially one of sensibility, with new Lowbrow and Pop Surrealist artists coming on the scene and taking different approaches to the material?
I think Lowbrow will always be around in some form. Pop Surrealism is just more accessable I think. I should add that I don't think these two movements are totally different...I think that what is now commonly known as Pop Surrealism sprang forth from the opportunities that the blossoming Lowbrow art movement created -- but the artists are all sort of in the same group. The terms are still used interchangeably.
You discovered Lowbrow in '96 and opened Roq La Rue in '98. What inspired you to go beyond appreciating or collecting art to opening a gallery?
I had been curating shows and really liked it. I decided to try to open a gallery. I had very little clue what I was doing but pretty quickly figured it out. It was also a way for me to be involved in art without having to make it myself, which I found to be a torturous affair. Basically it came down to being passionate about the Lowbrow art movement and wanting it to be here, so I just decided I'd do it because no one else was going to. At the time I didn't know anyone else who was even aware of this art movement until I met Larry Reid right when I decided to open a gallery... Now there is a pretty big local group of collectors and aficionados and even places like the Frye are cluing into it. The same thing happened with the book "Pop Surrealism"...I was surprised there wasn't a book like that so I thought I'd just go ahead and do it.
Unless I'm misreading your blog, you were born in Canada and spent a lot of your pre-adult years in places like Macon, Georgia. What brought you to Seattle, and did you consider opening Roq La Rue anywhere else?
I moved to Seattle with my family as a kid. My mother wanted us to move somewhere where there was "culture" (we were living in Macon at the time) and she thought Seattle seemed progressive and arty. I've been here almost 20 years so I never thought about opening the gallery anywhere else, I wasn't even sure if it was going to work or not at the time. I have currently thought about opening outposts elsewhere though.
Where did you come up with the name "Roq La Rue"?
To make a looooong story short, I didn't want to call the gallery "Kirsten Anderson Gallery" because that sounded boring. My coworkers and I used to make up names when calling our workplaces clients, and whoever got away with having the most improbable name won. Roq La Rue was one of those names and when it came to name the gallery -- it was the one most people I asked liked. It's snappy. The kids like it. It's sounds like Rock and Roll.
Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism have obviously become more popular in the years since Roq La Rue opened. Will they remain outsider art, or do you see them eventually being co-opted by the culture at large? Do you have any predictions about their future?
It's definitely being embraced by a wider audience. I don't see it as Outsider, but then I'm immersed in it. Museums are becoming receptive to it and the more forward-thinking design companies have definitely tapped into it. I think Pop Surrealism will continue to bloom and expand its audience. Then, eventually, people will want to see a different kind of art and some new movement will come along and shake things up.
Many Lowbrow and Pop Surrealist artists borrow many elements from other media, from TV commercials to country music to film noir. Do you see other media picking up Lowbrow influences in turn -- music, film, comic books, television, etc.?
I love the idea of Pop Surrealist cinema! Well -- there was a wave of children's cartoons that were influenced by illustrators from the 40's-60's and had that look, but the people animating them then became artists in the Lowbrow scene (Glenn Barr, Tim Biskup, Seonna Hong) so there is a very amorphous line. Jon Langford uses old timey country music imagery -- but then he is also a musician. And Gary Baseman ("Teacher's Pet") has infiltrated TV and film.
You regularly feature Seattle and northwest artists at Roq La Rue. How is your gallery particularly suited to the Seattle art scene, as opposed to other cities?
I don't know that it is, quite frankly. I'm better suited I guess just because I'm willing to show Northwest artists! I might have more interest in Japanese Pop than other Pop Surrealism galleries in the US might...but I feel Roq La Rue is a bit of an anomaly in the Seattle art scene. I think it's accorded respect, but not seen as "part" of the general Seattle art community like say, Howard House or places like Soil are. I actually get way more press nationally and internationally than I do locally.
You've said that Roq La Rue attracts a wide range of people. Do you feel any tension between representing outsider art while selling it to "insider" people?
Anyone who makes or digs this art is part of the "club".
Looking back, which Roq La Rue shows stand out as your favorites -- or do you love them all equally?
My favorite shows that I can think of offhand are the Camille Rose Garcia/Marion Peck show, any of the October Monster shows, the Lori Earley show, and the Ray Caesar shows.
Do you still paint, and if so, so you ever display your work?
I haven't painted since the gallery opened. I don't really have inspiration to paint anymore...my energy is now routed into the gallery and doing books. Plus, I wasn't really that great of a painter anyway.
Finally, you are a self-proclaimed doughnut fan. Where do you go for doughnuts in Seattle, and does any doughnut in the city hold a candle to Tim Hortons?
I'm having a Homer Simpson moment just thinking about it. I'm afraid I am a Krispy Kreme fan. Top Pot Doughnuts makes a superior Pumpkin old fashioned doughnut as well.
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