Arts, Beats + Lyrics provides to Seattle its celebration of urban artwork, new music — and cocktails

Ora Sawyers

The persons driving Arts, Beats + Lyrics know that an artificial distinction between significant artwork and pop culture makes limitations for nontraditional artists. So they established an urban art and new music exhibition to join an appreciative viewers with innovative, individualistic artists whose function seldom seems in museums.  

“It’s not only the visual artwork, it’s a total thing in and of alone. It is a celebratory vibe, specially as a Black artist, to see oneself represented. In a city like Seattle, it is necessary that these tales are becoming explained to,” mentioned Tariqa Waters, operator of Martyr Sauce Gallery and Pop Art Museum in Pioneer Sq..

Waters is one of various community visual artists whose work will be revealed in an worldwide assortment of city artwork when Arts, Beats + Lyrics comes to Seattle for the very first time in its 17-yr background. Held Feb. 5 in the Seattle Centre Armory, the no cost, 21+ party combines visual arts, electronic illustrations or photos, interactive installations, are living music and complimentary cocktails courtesy of function sponsor Jack Daniels.

Some of the items at Arts, Beats + Lyrics are expensive — if you have $20,000 to shell out on artwork, you can obtain a portrait of Prince as Dr. Unusual — but none of them are cherished. 

“The only criterion is dope do the job, due to the fact that is what connects with the viewers,” explained AB+L curator and co-founder Dwayne “Dubelyoo” Wright about the art picked for the exhibit. “Our job is to acquire the artist’s get the job done and show it in the ideal, most compelling way feasible. When men and women appear to the display, they’re receiving an knowledge that’s a lot more than just the common white walls that you see in a gallery. It’s extra of an surroundings and the audio is made to go together with that expertise and continue to keep the electrical power likely.”

Producer and co-founder Jabari Graham elaborates. “From lo-fi to hip-hop to funk and house, we are likely to play the B-aspect of items.” He says you will not listen to this new music on commercial radio but could on a station like Seattle’s KEXP. “That style of vibe, which is what we like to give off,” he stated. 

At AB+L, 8-foot-tall LED gentle bins share place with paintings on the practically 100 yards of wall area. These electronic displays enable the participation of artists as considerably away as Serbia and South Africa. Interactive three-dimensional installations are an additional vital component of the display. This calendar year, Waters will produce one of them. Another will be a large ice product cone, in honor of musical headliner Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon.

“When we 1st started out, there truly was not a place the place a good deal of these artists could clearly show. Which is been our focal level considering the fact that we commenced: to showcase people today in the city art community as very well as musicians,” explained Wright. “Back in 2004, a lot of artists who did paintings and also tattoos or graffiti, there definitely was not an open up lane for them.”

Initially a regional party in Atlanta, AB+L has evolved into an yearly tour traveling to nearly a dozen cities throughout the nation. They keep on to aid the group-based lifestyle of urban artwork by dedicating wall area and established moments to nearby artists in every single metropolis. In Seattle, local DJs Lady CoCo and Arel will join the lineup with Raekwon and Atlanta’s Wally Sparks.  

“We want to emphasize nearby artists, like Martyr Sauce’s Tariqa. I really do not want us to be that kind of output exactly where we go into a town and we’re just a silo, not touching base with persons,” claimed Graham. 

Waters’ link with the event goes way again: “Arts, Beats + Lyrics is a person of the to start with exhibitions that I showed in back again when I lived in Atlanta.” 

Waters reported Wright was “a great comrade” on the Atlanta art scene who gave superior information and linked artists with methods and just about every other. They reconnected when Graham noticed Waters on the protect of an artwork magazine although exploring Seattle for AB+L.

“Jabari preferred to achieve out to me,” Waters said, “and Dubelyoo was like, ‘I know Tariqa! What is she carrying out in Seattle?’” Now Waters is acting as a community liaison for AB+L, “connecting them to a variety of artists or group organizers and persons who enjoy a significant component in the arts scene here in Seattle. It is been really enjoyment, variety of a whole circle moment for me.”    

Even though the roster of area visible artists experienced nevertheless to be finalized as of this producing, Waters claims they are “artists that you may perhaps or may perhaps not have listened to of, but you’re likely to be blown away by each and every single one particular of them.” 

Arts, Beats + Lyrics

Feb. 5 Seattle Center Armory, 305 Harrison St., Seattle absolutely free with on the internet registration, area is constrained masks and proof of vaccination or detrimental coronavirus take a look at demanded artbeatsandlyrics.com

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