Max and Lucia come in for a safe landing at Seattle’s Art-obsessed Hotel Max after a visit to Popland.
During the “Pop Departures” exhibition at Seattle Art Museum, Hotel Max is displaying its own Pop Up Pop Art Show featuring Pop Art masters from the show at SAM. To book your own Pop Art Getaway, visit our friends at Hotel Max right here.
Filed under Andy Warhol, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Hotels, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Pop Art, SAM, SEA/PDX, Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Travel
Seattle Art Museum is a veritable Popland for its show, POP DEPARTURES, OCT 9 2014 – JAN 11 2015. For more details, visit our friends at SAM right here.
What follows are field notes from the current show. Consider it a review, a guide, a friendly tour. When it comes to reviewing a show like SAM’s exploration of Pop Art, it’s a brave new world. Today, a handful of local art critics no longer command public opinion as much as make a noble contribution. No sooner have they done that, in a poetic, or quirky, or straightforward fashion, than a babble of reactions shoot out from below in the comment section. And that’s exactly what Andy Warhol would have wholeheartedly approved of!
As much as can be said for Pop Art shedding a light on a dead end, Pop Art is full of life. It’s our world, made up of mass media galore and celebrity worship. Let’s do something about it. Since it’s not going away, engage it. Make art. The babble in the comment section can rage on and on and on. Some of us learned how to love the bomb, so to speak. That is the overriding sensibility to be found here. There’s social commentary, critique, and satire, of course. But, ultimately, when Warhol suggested that everyone would get their fifteen minutes of fame, it wasn’t a barb but a realization.
SAM provides a refreshing look at Pop Art byway of where it came from and how it continues to reverberate to this very day. You may even see such familiar figures as Warhol and Lichtenstein in a new light. What this exhibit does so well is demonstrate how, as time progressed, and consumer culture became more complex, so did contemporary art. Layer upon layer, extended the bright and bold message of consumerism. As the landscape of pop culture evolved, and devolved, art responded and collaborated.
Art and its subject end up doing a dance together. And the most subversive work will find its way into the mainstream. Consider the cacophonous video on display by Ryan Trecartin. You may find that you got the joke and want to walk out as soon as you walked in. But stay a while. Wait a minute, something about these vacuous characters spouting gibberish and thinking themselves profound is very familiar. Compare this to the mainstream co-opting (or is it stealing?) by Saturday Night Live with their popular ongoing skit, “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party.”
As we view the Warhols and Lichtensteins, we don’t need to see them as only a part of art history. They continue to breathe life. They continue to provide a road map (sorry, no GPS) for making sense of the landscape.
“Pop Departures” is on view from October 9, 2014 thru January 11, 2015. Visit our friends at SAM right here.
Filed under Comics, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, SEA/PDX, Webcomics
Filed under Comics, Comix, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Portland, SEA/PDX, Seattle, Webcomics
Someone in the front row just asked, “Is this ‘SEA/PDX: MAX AT HOTEL MAX: Getting to Know Max, Part 1?'” The answer is, “Yes. Please sit down.” I just trimmed back the title a bit for brevity and style sense. Anyway, everyone is welcome. You’re in the right place. Have a seat. Remain seated, it will be better that way.
You will now see what my 24HCD activity last week has set in motion.
As I had mentioned last week, we are rolling out a new webcomic here at Comics Grinder. You can find it right here and we’ll try to keep to a weekly schedule, like posting Sunday into Monday, for the foreseeable future.
So, welcome to SEA/PDX. In this comic, you will get to know Max. He attaches himself to various interesting places and things. He finds himself attached to Hotel Max, a unique hotel in Seattle, a one-of-kind venue that showcases original art. Of course, this appeals to the artistic Max. He loves art and he loves adventure. That has brought him to Hotel Max.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll settle in and see what makes Max tick. There’s a mystery woman in his life, Lucia, and so we’ll see a lot of her too.
For now, I hope you enjoy this nice helping of comics directly linked to my 24HCD and under the subtitle, “Max at Hotel Max.”
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, SEA/PDX, Seattle
A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories
