BLVD is—make that was—the urban contemporary younger sibling conjoined (they share a wall) with Roq La Rue, Seattle's pop surrealist institution. (Which is, thankfully, staying put.) more ›

Roq La Rue remains our favorite local gallery, still going strong after 10 years in business. They were closed all last month after their anniversary show, undergoing some remodeling and giving owner Kirsten Anderson time to relax (and travel to Amsterdam). Tomorrow, though, the gallery reopens with a new show: the return of Roq regular Brian Despain and the debut of Victor Castillo. In honor of the occasion, we interviewed her (again) about lessons learned and what's new. more ›

"Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis. So that's kinda cool." We've known for a while (thanks to Kirsten Anderson) that the naked baby on the cover of Nevermind is all grown up and basically normal. But last night, NPR's All Things Considered aired an interview with the now-17-year-old Spencer Elden, sharing his story with comfortable liberals nationwide. Spencer still seems like a normal high school kid, and, as seen above, is perfectly willing to deploy the best conversational icebreaker we can imagine. (Seattlest Clint's alternate suggestion: "The penis that gave international rise to the Seattle Sound.") He's officially eclipsed Dolores Erickson (the woman slathered in whipped cream on Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream and Other Delights) as the northwest's most famous album cover model, even if he is from California. more ›

Nothing says "Happy anniversary" like a group show, so that's how Kirsten Anderson and Roq La Rue are celebrating the gallery turning 10. Anderson didn't have any experience running a gallery when she started Roq La Rue, but she loved lowbrow (we don't think she'd coined "pop surrealism" yet) and thought it deserved an awesome venue. more ›

Seattlest was in Vancouver this weekend, and, on a whim, made our first foray into a Tim Hortons. We'd heard good things -- "the apex of Canadian cuisine," for example -- and as lifelong doughnut fans we were happy to test that claim. more ›

The fact that Shag's one of the best known artists Roq la Rue has shown makes it a slightly less adventurous show, since everyone already knows what they'll get. But at the same time, what you get is an awesomely glitzy redux of mid-1960s cocktail culture that's blissfully ambivalent about whether it's kitsch or swank. more ›

Tonight's three-man show at Roq La Rue brings three quintessential pop surrealists to town. more ›

We've been delinquent. more ›

"Pretty," she said of Joshua Petker's "There Is a Light that Will Never Go Out." more ›

Much as we'd like to, we don't always (or even usually) attend opening nights at BLVD and Roq La Rue, so we stopped by both galleries Saturday afternoon. The piece in the video is indeed painted directly on the gallery wall -- and after April 7, it'll be painted over. more ›

We've been following brand-spankin'-new art blog That Ain't Art, a collaboration between Kirsten Anderson and Celeste Fuechsel of Roq La Rue, Damion Hayes of BLVD, and Larry Reid of the Fantagraphics store. With that lineup, it's no surprise that That Ain't Art's focuses on lowbrow and pop surrealism -- "the alternative art scene in the Northwest," as their about section says. In their first couple of weeks, they've talked up artists and exhibitions, noted with... more ›

Seattlest's wife used to work with Warren Dykeman before he moved to a less corporate position. So we had an early sneak preview at his style, having seen a couple of pieces he hung in their office. more ›

If you think it's too early to talk Halloween, you must really hate those Xmas tchotchkes that have shown up in major retailers near you. We, on the other hand, think Friday the 13th is the perfect day to start celebrating. more ›

Kirsten Anderson emailed Seattlest to remind us that Tales of the Rat Fink, the new film about hot rod legend Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, opened tonight at the Grand Illusion. From their website:

From the award-winning director of Comic Book Confidential and Grass comes Tales Of The Rat Fink, Ron Mann’s wildly inventive biopic about influential Renaissance man Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, who engineered a shift in mid-twentieth century culture with his customized cars, “monster” T-shirts and America’s alternative rodent – “Rat Fink.” Ed Roth helped fuel the “Kustom Kulture” / Hot Rod movement of the 1960s in Southern California and Hot Rodding grew from crude backyard engineering where performance was the bottom line into a refined artform where aesthetics were equally important. Mann’s largely animated documentary features the voice talents of John Goodman, Ann-Margret, Brian Wilson, Tom Wolfe, Matt Groening, Robert Williams, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the ever lovable Smothers Brothers.

And by "streets," we mean Roq La Rue and BLVD. Stop by Belltown tonight and you can catch two art openings within 20 feet of each other -- it's the opening of a three-person show at each place. more ›

Seattlest didn't get a chance to attend the BLVD/Roq La Rue openings on Friday night -- we plan on swinging by within the next couple of weekends. more ›

When it comes to art, Seattlest is in the "we know what we like" camp. We're not unversed in art theory or history, but when you cut to the chase, we want to look at pretty pictures. That's one reason we're so fond of Roq La Rue and now BLVD -- Kirsten Anderson and her cohorts have an eye for pretty that resonates with us. more ›

Friday night Seattle gets a new art gallery -- BLVD, dedicated to urban contemporary art. (Note to the uninitiated: that's "boulevard," not "beloved.") We talked with gallerist Kirsten Anderson, who also owns Roq La Rue, the neighboring lowbrow/pop surrealism gallery, about urban contemporary art and what to expect from BLVD. more ›

Kirsten Anderson, owner of Roq La Rue and all-around supreme being, is lecturing on Pop Surealism and the rise of tonight at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art. Lectures are what made me drop out of school, you say. But this lecture is about Lowbrow art which you love, we respond. Pop art is for freaks and the Academy of Fine Art is not the right venue to talk about it, you say. "The movement is now getting grudging, if bewildered, respect from the 'High Art World,' and while it remains slightly vilified, is voraciously collected by forward-thinking collectors," the Academy says. I'm deaf, you say, what good is a kick ass lecture going to do me? There are slides, we say. more ›

A few weeks ago Seattlest mentioned the incredibly lackluster Scion:Installation exhibit at Roq La Rue. While the potential was high, the showing failed to resonate on an artistic level. Standing in stark contrast to that show is Roq La Rue's latest offering, "Sweetest Taboo." It hits the notes that Installation failed to, and provides an opportunity to see work from fifteen up-and-coming artists. more ›

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? more ›

Roq la Rue, Seattlest's favorite purveyor of lowbrow art and pop surrealism, is opening its new gallery space tonight with "Bad Moon Rising," their annual Halloween group show. Stop by and ogle artwork by Ojimbo, Jim Blanchard, Lisa Petrucci, Pooch, Mike Leavitt, Mike Curato, James McLeod, Travis Louie, Ryan Bubnis, Joshua Petker, Brian Despain, Anthony Ausgang, Johnny Crap, Nicole Steen, Yo Ueno, Joe Vollan, Amanda Wachob, Jason D’Aquino, David Rauschenberg, Chuck Demorat, Justin Hampton, Quintin Gonzalez, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, and Luke Chueh. more ›