Teeny is Big

Oh, it just never ends, but we never mind it either... the Seattle Weekly named us the "Best Teeny Tacoma Art Space - 2010".

"Small is good, when you can get to it. At 12.5 square feet, The Telephone Room occupies a closet-sized space in a Dutch Colonial home that since 1930 had been occupied by nothing more than a black rotary-dial telephone. But in May 2009, this tiny room began housing artist-led installations by the likes of Blake Haygood, Ben Hirschkoff, Nicholas Nyland, and Kristen Ramirez. One exhibit featured floor-to-ceiling drawings, another was inspired by episodes of drunk dialing, and a third riffed on brass chandeliers. Directed by artists Heide Fernandez-Llamazares and Ellen Ito, the space is available to visitors by appointment and at monthly art openings." —Adriana Grant

I'd like to point out that Blake, Ben, Nicholas and Kristen aren't the only artists we've hosted. We also loved showing Tacoma a teeny bit of (in order of my memory) Shannon Eakins, Marc Dombrosky, Lisa Kinoshita, Matt Johnson, Jennifer Peters, Chris Sharp, Zack Bent and Gala Bent, Peter Lynch, Allison Hyde, Jeremy Mangan, Laura Komada and Paul Komada, Elise Richman, James Porter, Saya Moriyasu, Pei Pei Sung, Randy Wood, Jessica Bender, Noal Nyland, Julie Rivera, Jessica Balsom, and Ellen Ito.

Here's what the Telephone Room Gallery looks like when none of the above artists are showing in it:

Thanks Adriana!

"I don't hate anyone" by Chris Sharp will be on view at the Telephone Room Gallery from August 6 - 29, 2010, with an open house on the evening of August 6. Viewable by appointment almost anytime -- email us at thetelephoneroom@gmail.com.

Chris Sharp: "I don't hate anyone"

The Telephone Room Gallery is pleased to present "I don't hate anyone" by Chris Sharp, featuring painting and a whole mess of letterpress for the month of August. Open house and whirligig-making on Friday, August 6, 2010 from 6-9 pm.

Chris Sharp's beautiful hand-lettering adorns many of his canvases, and can also be seen all around Tacoma via his commercial sign-painting at Satellite Coffee, Infinite Soups, and The Rosewood Cafe, among others. He has most recently had solo exhibitions at Mineral and at the Pacific Lutheran University Gallery. He has an MFA in painting from Washington State University, and he was the recipient of the 2008 Greater Tacoma Community Foundation's Annual Foundation of Art Award.


Chris Sharp's old studio in the Merlino Building, circa 2006.
Photo courtesy of Chris Sharp.

 

Chris Sharp, Let It Roll, enamel on canvas, 2007.
Photo courtesy of Chris Sharp.

 

Chris Sharp and Beautiful Angle, Parking, letterpress, March 2007.
Photo courtesy of Beautiful Angle.

"Our friend Chris Sharp created this great broadside using a combination of vintage wood and lead type, original cuts and 70's era engravings with words by Tom. The muscle car engravings were part of a collection that was donated to Beautiful Angle by the good folks at Clinton Hull Printing when they moved from their location on Commerce in downtown Tacoma." --Beautiful Angle

Chris Sharp, Rainier, linocut, produced at the King's Books Wayzgoose 2009.
Photo courtesy of Anagram Press.  

Chris Sharp, PLU Gallery (installation in progress), September 2009.
Photo courtesy of Chris Sharp.



Chris Sharp, Satellite Coffee, mural, 2009.
Photo courtesy of Weekly Volcano.



Chris Sharp, City, watercolor and ink on paper, 2009.
Photo courtesy of Mineral.


You can read more about Chris Sharp on Exit133's A Conversation with Chris Sharp and in the May/June 2008 City Arts Magazine if you can find an old copy (it's not online).

"I don't hate anyone" by Chris Sharp will be on view at the Telephone Room Gallery from August 6 - 29, 2010. Viewable by appointment almost anytime -- email us at thetelephoneroom@gmail.com.