SEAF Press Release

Seattle Erotic Art Festival Presents

World-Class Visual and Interactive Art

SEATTLE –Thousands of patrons and attendees will enjoy a world-class visual art exhibition at the eighth annual Seattle Erotic Art Festival, April 30 to May 2.

Festival jurors selected a wide variety of art from the over 1,600 entries submitted by more than 400 artists from around the word.  The jurors this year are Jen Graves, Daniel Carrillo, Dianne Elliott and Sharon Arnold. Artists selected include photographers Jim Duvall (Seattle, WA) and Phoenix Voltaire (Houston, TX); illustrator Wendy Ding (Toronto, ON); painters B.T. Borchard (Oceanside, CA) and Christopher North (Vancouver, BC). International artists include Gert-Jan Van den Bemd (Breda, the Netherlands) and Von Victor (São Paulo, Brazil).

Guest curator Chris Crites invited local favorites Troy Gua, Sara Lanzillotta, Shaun Kardinal, and Charles Krafft, among others. Festival invited artists include David Steinberg (San Francisco, CA), Michele Serchuk (New York, NY), Michael Rosen (San Francisco, CA), and Michael Manning (Los Angeles, CA).

This year the Festival offered its first grant to artists to create interactive installations. Grantees include Nancy Peach (San Francisco, CA) who will invite the audience to paint one of her massive canvases with her; six teams of local metalworkers, spearheaded by Kevin MacDonald, who will showcase luxurious beds for lounging; and local luminary Ellen Forney, with her partner Jacob Peter Fennell, who will encourage participants to write and receive love letters.

The Festival is still seeking submissions. Jason Plourde, programming director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema, is creating a program of short erotic films and is accepting entries through April 4. The museum-quality Festival Store will present about 4,000 small works of art from 100 artists.  The Call for Store Merchandise is also open through April 4. Entry forms and guidelines are available at www.SEAFArtist.com.

The Festival will be held at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.  It runs Friday, April 30, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., Saturday, May 1, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.  Returning this year is the popular Sunday open house, May 2, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., where admission is free.  18+ until 6:00 p.m., 21+ after.

Tickets (1-Day $25 advance/$30 door, 2-Day $40 advance/$50 door, Velvet Package $500) may be purchased at BrownPaperTickets (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/1659).

The Seattle Erotic Art Festival supports a vibrant creative community, promotes freedom of expression, and fosters sex-positive culture through public celebration of the arts.