Artist Reception and Opening Gala – Thursday, April 23rd.
Come meet the artists and be among the first to see the art! Art Activist Society members get early admission for first dibs on purchasing art.
Our Juries and Curators will host a panel discussion on the art selection process at 8pm. Find out how the Festival chooses the art to be in this year’s exhibition and show cases.
At 9pm, artist will be battling artist in the newest edition of “Face Off” presented by Bherd Studios! Artists, many of whom are Invited Artists in the Festival Exhibition, will have 15 minutes to create work in each battle. Winner of each match will be determined by who generated the most for their piece in the live auction which happens after each match. All proceeds go directly to the artist. Be sure to come out to root for and to bid on your favorite artist and your favorite pieces. (Cash preferred for live auction purchases.)
Buy your Thursday Opening Gala tickets online now at our Stranger Tickets page!
Face Off Line-up for Seattle Erotic Art Festival
Nude Model Round
Alan Fulle : I am a Maximalist and materials oriented abstract artist. I am excited by the alchemical, physical, and emotive nature of paint itself as a subject, and its interplay with other materials I use in my work – resin, glass, wood, metals and concrete. My work documents and expresses emotional states through forms within structures or zones of abstraction. Since narrative exists within the material context, it is the exploration of physical interplay of materials that allows me to express emotion, spirituality, impermanence, and other human conditions.
I consider maximalism a product of minimalism and abstract expressionism, with a focus on architecture, materials, process of transformation, decay and change, influenced by the depth of a human experience. Working with paint as a sculptural tool, I enjoy experiencing its viscosity and gravity. Each type of paint and artistic material is an alchemical ingredient that transforms when brought into concert with another.
I use oil paints and washes, oil and water based polyurethanes, resins, acrylics and enamels to suggest change and decay. These organic processes married with architectural forms and subtle pallets of color create a moving, restive balance of forms.
I try to present a global perspective on contemporary abstract art, blending together art and industry, and minimalism with passion as they relate to the emotional perception of color, texture and light. By using varied materials and deep optical juxtapositions, I give the viewer a reason to pause, consider different points of contrast, and bond with the surroundings.
Seb Barnett
: Some say that Seb was not born, but came out of a tree.
Seb grew up on the edge of the Olympic National Forest in the Pacific Northwest, on a farm but spent most of the time in the forest; climbing trees, tracking, building forts. fishing and exploring. Botany, entomology, ecology and the natural world in general was a great source of fascination, and is tightly woven into Seb’s art. As an adult Seb left the forest and went to the “Emerald City” of Seattle and became a student at Cornish College of the arts. After graduating in 2006, Seb crept back out to the valleys and woodlands of the Snoqualmie Valley to reside, and to continue playing in wooded places, foraging, climbing trees and practicing archery.
Close enough to the city to interact with the art community of Seattle and yet out in the country far enough to fuel the love of the wild, Seb continues to forge a connection between the human condition and the natural world through art.
Lady Parts Round
Michelle Anderst
: Anderst’s oil paintings feature biological structures which serve as both works of art as well as aesthetic statements on ecological consciousness in the modern world. Through her vibrant use of color and organic subject matter Anderst continues to symbolize decomposition, and the inter-species, cross-domain symbioses that recycle all of life’s sculpture and ornament back to the palette of organic materials, ready to paint life anew.
Anderst studied classical painting and drawing at Southern Oregon Art Academy and Gage Academy and continues to utilize her Scientific Illustration education from the University of Washington to illustrate the evolution and unseen energy which exists between all organisms.
Zach Bohnenkamp : Zach was born beside the railroad tracks in Iowa City. He spent most of his childhood in a tunnel beneath the very tracks upon which his first blood spilled. An adventurer by birth rite, he first reached the Gulf of Mexico at age 7 on a raft he fashioned from lilac branches. For the last 14 years he has called Seattle home but the rich black soil of his homeland still remains between his toes, where morel mushrooms grow to this day. He remains committed to putting art in public for everyone to share and is currently making murals with the crew Matamuros in Seattle.
Still Life with Sex Toys Round
Sensei 23 : I am a self taught artist born and raised on Cape Cod Massachusetts. Cartoons, comics, graffiti, movies, music and sports were some of my many inspirations growing up. I received my Associates degree in Fine Art and continued my education at the School of Museum of Fine Arts Boston. I now reside in Seattle, WA with my lovely wife and our beautiful daughter while mastering my mutant artistic abilities in my art dojo.
Adam Valmassoi : Valmassoi’s work derives from a deep understanding of form and function, and an active interest in the questions of human existence and spiritual evolution. His pieces are born from the subconscious and are extremely chaotic amalgamations of subjects and stories. Meant to be ever changing and revealing, these pieces beckon one’s mind to question the world around them, and to look at everything with a new perspective. Professionally trained and currently working in Product Design, Adam’s expansive skill set spans from Digital Imaging and 3d Modeling / Manufacturing to traditional Fine Art with a focus on Illustration.
Fetish Wildcard Round
John Osgood
: My current work features multi-faceted interpretations of emotion and perception by utilizing shared lines, forms and color. I worked diligently to create pieces that the viewer can study and be able to see new perspectives each time they go back. I purposefully play with the subconscious mind, attempting to direct the audience both literally and figuratively. A lot of my work features a complex level of layering colors, strokes and drips to create what I like to think of visual sound representing a myriad of atmospheres from that of nature to the noise of city life.
Braden Duncan
: Braden Duncan is an artist and curator by trade, imperfect by choice, and a cog in the machine of human mythology by default. She draws her inspiration from the peculiar 
minutiae of the human form, symbolism and mythology, the empty spaces left by missing friends, and the intricate elegance created by the convergence of biological and mechanical elements. She is the co-founder of the Seattle Arts Coalition, writer of Art Scene Seattle, a resident artist at Echo Echo Gallery, and a member of the international Red Siren Artist Collective. She lives and works in Seattle; and regularly assists with curating, art installation, event coordination, and marketing for a number of art spaces around the Northwest.