Ledger

Art galleries have historically scared the hell out of me.

To me, art galleries always conjured up an image of overly hip artists swilling merlot, talking about a bunch of stuff I don’t understand, and stroking each others egos while some talentless DJ spins house music. I’m also very self-conscious around creative people, since I have an artistic skill set akin to that of a caveman. Therefore, attending an uber-cool gallery opening was definitely out of the realm of possibilities of how to spend a Saturday night, until a few weeks ago.

When the Ledger’s Tim Kapler, the man behind Pointless, told me how his work would be showing at Kulture Lab’s opening night Nov. 18, I was a bit intrigued. Maybe I’d actually show up to one of these things.

You see, Kapler doesn’t exactly fit the mold of a stereotypical artist. Well, he is a bit thin and sports an obnoxiously large goatee. But he doesn’t get all emotional over things, or brood, or have crazy Robert Smith hair. I like Tim, so maybe I wouldn’t feel too much like an outcast showing up and supporting his work.

And I’m glad I did.

Walking through Kulture Lab’s doors, I immediately noticed how wrong my prejudices were. More people were drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon than merlot. There was no ostentatious butt-kissing, but there was a robot. This was home.

As things turn out, it wasn’t a real robot. The man inside the silver box with drying machine tubes for arms turned out to be Rob Anderson, part of the five-artist strong Dead Artists collective. The other four members are Tacoma artists James Hume, Jeff Olson, Jim Price and James Bender. Sharing their own gallery for the first time, the collective will be holding events over the next six months and potentially longer if things go as well as opening night.

The art on Kulture Lab’s walls was as equally unpretentious as the artists who created it or the people who mingled throughout the gallery. Paintings ranged from Seattle artist Jesse Edward’s racy (and at times, racist) still-lifes to W.R. Sears’ freakish, vividly colored acrylics.

The connoisseurs in the crowd were impressed, judging by what got sold. Edwards sold one piece – a still life featuring a tube sock, jar of Vaseline and an issue of Playboy – for $1,800. However, what got him the most notoriety was the controversy surrounding another one of his stills, "Chicken," which featured a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a basketball and a huge slice of watermelon.

Hume nearly sold out his paintings, Bauhaus- inspired pieces that incorporate poetry and the written word. Kapler had a few bites, but "ultimately blew it," as he put it. The hot market is great news for the Dead Artists, as they are mostly self-sufficient.

"We’re mostly self-funded, but we do get a few small donations from local businesses," said Olson.

Kulture Lab’s next event is the Satan Clause Holiday Hell Party on Dec. 16. "We hope to plaster the walls with as much art as possible, but still keep it aesthetically pleasing," Olson said.

They plan to feature Tacoman artists for the next two months, then infuse the works off more prolific regional artists beginning with their political show in January and continue from there. "We’re really going to put a lot into the street art show in March. I want to book artists from Portland to Vancouver and really make a statement," Olson said.

You can check out Kulture Lab for yourself by visiting the gallery at 608 South Fawcett Street, next to the Grand Cinema. However, there really aren’t any set hours yet, as all the artists work day jobs. "We kind of have a running joke among us that our hours are ‘open occasionally,’" Olson said.

Kulture Lab doesn’t have a phone yet, so don’t bother looking up a number. Instead, Olson doesn’t mind if you give him a call on his own personal phone to see when someone will be there. You can reach him at (253) 906-3458.

Talk about unpretentious.