"EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL BE SURE TO TELL THEM"

Table drawings from The Portrait Challenge at Bumbershoot.

Pigs and pics

Molorazzi was out, briefly, for the opening of Photo Alchemy at Vermillion and Amanda Manitach's This Little Pig Went to Market.  I very much enjoyed those gold flecked pig heads, and the photo show in Vermillion, featuring strong works by Erin Shafkind, Dan Hawkins, Ted Grudowski, Daniel Carrillo, Larry Larson, and Bailey Russell.  I didn't get too many pics, but here's a few Molorazzi shots -

 We have a bar!  And great art. 

 one of Erin Shafkind's lazer-cut photos.  Very lovely. 

 Photography Dan Hawkins and Artist Troy Gua next to Dan's shot of an abandoned uranium mine in WA. 

 Detail of Amanda Manitach's piece This Little Pig Went To Market

Gallery 40 is always full of surprises!   I would have loved to see this piece in the snow, to really tie in to the photo...

The Portrait Challenge Press, Blogs, and Video

I'm so happy to see The Portrait Challenge showing up in so many blogs, press, etc.  I'm only somewhat happy to see my mug show up in videos....

Here's links to a selection of items (more are coming in all the time):

VIDEO: 
City Arts Blog
Pangeality

BLOGS:
Randomville
Best Of
Ireland's King
City Arts Blog (look for all 3 posts on this subject by on the CAB),
Seattle Met Magazine (in the slideshow)
Carol Tompkins
Seattle Weekly
Neil Davidson
Jacquiescence
Speak & Bherd
another Seattle Weekly

Vito's Grand Opening this Thursday

Follow up to my blog post back in April....

I'm sure you all have heard by now, but Jeff Scott and Greg Lundgren are finished with the Vito's remodel and the grand opening is this Thursday, September 16th!

I was lucky to be able to sneak in yesterday for a quick little soft test run of the place and it looks GREAT!  The bar is lovely, and bar manager Justin has hired a great crew.  Jeff and Greg were on hand to say hello.  The whole staff looked excited and rearing to go.  Chef Bruno (formally from Tango Tapas) has put together what looks like a great meal; I tried the Calamari appetizer which was enjoyable.  I'm excited to head back and have a proper meal, plus with things on the lounge menu like a Philly Cheese steak sandwich and pulled-pork sliders along with all the more traditional Italian style fare, well it just all looks really tasty. 

The mural that Warren Dykeman's 35' mural gives Vito's a hipness but does not take away from the classy lounge feel of the place.  The grand piano is shiny and just looking for some sexy lady to be laying across it...check out the website for all the scheduled acts!.  .I suspect a giant brandy glass show up on it soon.  The whole place just seems to be coming together perfectly!  Plus the men's room still has ice in the urinals. 

Props to Jeff, Greg, Justin and Bruno for pulling it all together, it was fun to watch this project take shape over the last few months.  There is finally another restaurant on First Hill other than the Sorrento Hotel, and this one still has that lovely mural in the bathroom!

(sorry no photos)

MOLORAZZI at BLITZ - September Edition

Last night I joined Joey Veltkamp and Troy Gua as judges for the City Arts Art Walk Awards on a whirlwind tour of all the art we could find on Capitol Hill.  It was a blast!  Joey recapped the night very nicely on his blog, Best of, here - check it out. Despite being seriously involved judging art, I was able to snap some MOLORAZZI shots!

Here ya go:

Joey and Troy!

Artist Kimberly Trowbridge and Todd Jannausch (Gallery 40 Owner) setting up Kimberely's show

Curater Amanda Manitach

Jason Hirata shinning a lazer on himself

this one is for Erin Shafkind

A love letter to Robert Rodriguez

Dear Robert,


Thank you so much for making Machete and saving this woefully disappointing summer of would-be action films.  Thank you for doing what Stallone tried to do, but failed, with The Expendables - making a fun, silly, bloody, amazingly over the top, campy and sexy action movie.  Sure, Machete stalls on occasion between action and "love" scenes, but it always revs back up with a new surprising character or crazy scenario (like the hospital sequence??!!) !  Thank you for casting Steven Seagal, and for writing the line "This, this aint nothin'" [gestures to the giant knife in his torso] "i could kill you so easy right now"... and all the other choice bits! 

Machete is everything the adolescent boy in me wants from a movie, (including Lindsay Lohan, topless).  4 Molos!

Thank you so much Robert,

-Ryan Gifford Molenkamp

PS  I can't wait for the sequels, Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again!

MOLORAZZI at FIRST THURSDAY - September 2010

Here's a bunch of photos I managed to snap in my quick tour of shows on Thursday.  Enjoy!

Artist Randy Wood inspecting Nola Avienne's work

Artists Gretchen Bennett and Margie Livingston are only kind of okay with having their photo taken by the Molorazzi.  But that's what the MOLORAZZI does!  Makes ya uncomfortable! 

 Jennifer Zwick's Self-Portrait as an Effing Cheetah  She rocks!

More Zwick images.  Preggers belly. 

Painting by Maija Fiebig at G. Gibson Gallery
 

Saya Moriyasu

Saya's work needs to be appreciated in person

Tim Bavington's show at Greg Kucera was oddly underwhelming in person.  They seem to look better in reproduction.  Strange.  Maybe the Kenneth Noland/Morris Louis references hang to heavy. 

Lynn Yamamoto I enjoyed much more (also at Kucera)

Scott Lawrimore (on the right) outside of his new project space at 117 Main

Isaac Layman's project and Catalogs above.

Ball Point Ink Spill

Margot "Bird" Peterson is putting together a little zine that will be composed of ball point pen drawings that are a response to the oil spill in the gulf.  I had a little bit of time while sitting at press preview for The Portrait Challenge and was able to get this little drawing done for the project.  Ball point pen is not my medium of choice, but I still enjoyed making this drawing.