One Night Only
presents Sam Trout
Fri, July 12, 7-11pm
321 Third Ave S (between Seattle Lighting and King Street Station; look for signs)

Talking to Randy Wood is a lot like being overcaffeinated. Everything about him suggests something about to burst: He's frenetic and wiry, with big eyes that hold your gaze, and he rarely sits down. In fact he all but dances in place. Following him is both exciting and exhausting. He talks very fast, and with a great deal of energy and optimism--the kind that makes those of us who are not yet old but thinking about getting old a mite... suspicious.

I have lately been feeling that there is only so far that artists in Seattle can go, this the result of watching approximately two waves of artists believe and then give up the idea that through sheer effort this city can be dragged into some kind of national standing. Wood doesn't buy into my world-weariness, but rather thinks that Seattle is about to hit the radar of the rest of the world. "People sell everything to move to Seattle, the way they do to move to New York," he says. "There's a lot of talent here."

Certainly his own accomplishments might be argument enough. He's a cartoonist, with a regular comic called Randy Would in Tablet. He's an illustrator as well, and is working very hard on becoming a painter. He's very active in SOIL, and is planning a history of the artist's cooperative at some point down the line. And the outside world is noticing: Wood's work was recently featured in Roq la Rue's Draw, alongside the likes of Charles Burns and Mark Ryden.

More to the point, Wood is the force behind One Night Only: 11 Shows in 11 Months. There have been five of these nights so far; they took place until recently in a web design studio in Belltown, and were begun in order to pose questions about new ways to show two-dimensional art. In one edition, the art was shifted around every hour or so, some added and some taken away, in essence offering a new show a few times over the course of the night.

The artists Wood features are young and underground and often include himself. "It's partially self-promotion--I'm not gonna lie about that," he says. "I wanted to make my own circuit. If you're annoyed by the gallery scene, you start your own. No one owes you anything." Nonetheless, One Night Only has proved very popular indeed--crowded, talked about, and with artists Wood hasn't heard of calling to inquire about being included. The show's latest installment departed drastically from two dimensions, with a rowdy, slightly crazy, utterly hilarious performance piece by Juniper Shuey (another young man who has promoted himself remarkably well, coming out of the University of Washington last year with a few non-university shows already under his belt). Next month's show features Sam Trout, who began his art career selling coasters in Pioneer Square.

So all this talk about DIY is not a lot of hooey. Wood is exactly the kind of hyperactive kid who would go and buy himself a cartooning desk when he was 12 and then teach himself how to draw. He moved to Seattle from Ohio to intern at Fantagraphics, and debuted in the comics world by selling handmade coloring books at Confounded Books. But for all his certainty, there is something curiously egoless about him. Indeed, he is still in a phase where he solicits and gladly accepts editing and feedback. When I mention this willingness to be criticized, he laughs. "If I'd been a success right away, I would have been a prick," he says. His painting is not quite there yet (and he knows it), but on a recent studio visit, I found a couple of paintings that draw neatly from comics and graffiti while still being paintings first and foremost. One of them, something about a cat and a hammer, though I saw neither cat nor hammer, was downright compelling and invigorating to look at.

He is not interested, for all his energy and integrity, in toiling in obscurity. "This time is like graduate school for me," he says. "I'll try different things, listen to what people say. I don't know exactly what I'm doing, but at some point it will all converge and make sense. I believe I can be a success at this. I know I can."