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Queer Pride and art go well together...

QArts Seattle presents Nudes in Red Rooms by Ted Axe
See Axe perform with The Bratz at Seattle Pride Rally, June 26 Opens Friday, July 1, 2005 Closes Sunday, July 31, 2005 Seattle LGBT Community Center (1115 E Pike St.) Artists Reception: Saturday, July 9, 2005, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served Cost: The show and reception are free although donations are gratefully accepted If the term Renaissance Man applies to anyone, it applies to Ted Axe. He is not only a painter but also a sculptor, musician, performer, poet and political cartoonist. He is truly a citizen of the world. Born in England, he lived in Mexico, Canada, The United States and Switzerland as he followed his British diplomat father around the globe. Ted studied art in such varied places as The Academy of Fine Arts in Malaga, Spain, The University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico and Los Angeles City College where he won a scholarship in 2002. He draws from the expressionistic school and his artistic mentors include early Picasso, Klee, Rodin and Toulouse-Lautrec. Today he thrives on three drawing workshops a week as he hones a dark animated style all his own. He is the outspoken lead singer of the controversial punk rock band The Bratz, a group he describes as old school punk meets old school glam. They will be performing at this years Pride on Sunday, June 26 at 2:30 p.m. Ted has also been drawing a political cartoon strip for over two years. He frequently skewers the administration of George W Bush with deft and bold cross-hatching strokes reminiscent of the style of R. Crumb. His work can be seen in the local newspaper The Seattle Sinner. He has exhibited internationally and his paintings hang in many private collections. A featured artist in the Seattle Erotic Art Festival for the last two years, his painting The Devils Daughter was featured in this years review in The Stranger. In 2004, Ted mounted a show entitled Head, a series of portraits of skinheads from Los Angeles who, as it happened, were his neighbors. His current show, Nudes in Red Rooms, is the product of his life drawing workshops. Believing that all creativity stems from the sex drive, this latest series of paintings is erotic, seductive and provocative. The subjects are not the virtual women of popular advertising. They are ordinary women, drawn to expose both their flaws and the extraordinary sensuality inherent in each of them. In this exhibit Ted is calling us to claim that mystical, sex driven creature in each of us that holds the reins of our creativity. Nudes in Red Rooms will be on display throughout the month of July. For additional information, please see the LGBT Center website, www.seattlelgbt.org or contact QArts at artgallery@seattlelgbt.org. The mission of Q Arts Seattle is to provide a forum for the education, appreciation and preservation of the fine arts as they pertain to the LGBT community of Seattle. The Gallery within the Seattle LGBT Community Center is a unique art space devoted to promoting and exhibiting the works of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender artists. The Seattle LGBT Community Center is located at 1115 E. Pike St. Hours of the Gallery are noon till 9:00 p.m. everyday, given volunteer staffing.