Esther Pearl Watson
Gallery Talk

Visions of the Future
View the exhibit

LECTURE
DATE: Tuesday, February 3, 2009
TIME: 7:45pm
LOCATION: Billy Shire Fine Arts
5790 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA

Admission is free!
Exhibition continues through February 10, 2009.

Esther Pearl Watson
UNLOVABLE
Opening reception and book signing Saturday, February 7, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues through March 4, 2009
(more event info)

HUMBUG
Original art, artifacts and ephemera from Harvey Kurtzman's classic humor magazine.
Public preview Saturday, March 7, 11:30 to 8:00 PM
Exhibition continues through April Fools Day, 2009
(more about Humbug)

Dame Darcy
Music performance and book signing
Saturday, March 14, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
(more about Dame Darcy)

Jaime Hernandez and Stan Sakai
Original art by two masters of the medium.
Opening reception and book signing Saturday, April 4, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues through May 6, 2009
(more about Jaime Hernandez and Stan Sakai)

Tony Millionaire
DRINKY CROW
Opening reception and book signing Saturday, May 9, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues through June 10, 2009
(more about Tony Millionaire)

JASON
Opening reception and book signing Saturday, June 13, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues through July 8, 2009
(more about Jason)

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at the corner of Airport Way S.) in Seattle's Georgetown arts community. Phone 206.658.0110. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.

Sweet baby Jane! We just barely got Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable Vol. 1 out the door, and now we've got the cover for Vol. 2 to show you! This one will feature pink glitter and I'm guessing that the orange is going to be day-glo like the hot pink of Vol. 1. I'm betting that Vol. 2 will be out early next year -- Eric can correct me in the comments if I'm wrong.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents Esther Pearl Watson’s UNLOVABLE art exhibition and book launch on Saturday, February 7.

With Valentine’s sentiments in mind, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle is pleased to present UNLOVABLE, an exhibition of original art and book launch celebration by Esther Pearl Watson on Saturday, February 7 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.  Watson’s visual interpretations of the diary entries of teenager Tammy Pierce will resonate with everyone once afflicted by the eccentricities of adolescent isolation, unrequited love, and other torments of teen angst. The revealing narrative of the protagonist is perfectly suited to the artist’s endearing and empathetic renderings.

Los Angeles-based artist Esther Pearl Watson has exhibited work in prestigious galleries throughout the U. S. and Canada. Her recent paintings are currently featured in a solo exhibition, “Visions of the Future,” at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Los Angeles. She is author of The Adventures of Jules and Gertie (Harcourt Children’s Books, 1999) and The Pain Tree and Other Teenage Angst-Ridden Poetry (Houghton Mifflin, 2000). Watson is co-author of What'Cha Mean, What’s a Zine? (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) with her artist husband Mark Todd. Her latest book, UNLOVABLE, published by Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books, is loosely based on a teenager’s diary from 1985 found in a gas-station bathroom, detailing the sometimes ordinary, sometimes humiliating, often poignant and frequently hilarious exploits of underdog Tammy Pierce. Laurie Henzel, creative director at Bust magazine, which serialized portions of the book, observes, “No matter how cool or smart you may be as a grown up, I think there is a little Tammy in all of us.”

Esther Pearl Watson’s first exhibition in Seattle will include original drawings related to the book, which will debut at the event on February 7. The artist will be present to sign copies of the book. Musical entertainment will be provided by Rusty Willoughby, performing a solo serenade arranged for the occasion. Willoughby, currently fronting Llama and a former member of seminal Seattle bands Pure Joy and Flop, has countless recordings on Sub Pop, Frontier, Sony Music and other labels.

Please join us on Saturday, February 7 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM to welcome this remarkable artist to Seattle. The exhibition remains on view through March 4, 2009. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street (at the corner of Airport Way S.) in Seattle’s Georgetown arts community. Phone 206.658.0110. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM.

Listing Information

Esther Pearl Watson
UNLOVABLE
Art Exhibition and Book Signing
Saturday, February 7, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Serenade by Rusty Willoughby
Exhibition continues through March 4, 2009

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

Glamour shot! Now you can be greeted by Tammy Pierce from Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable every time you start up your computer (or iPhone) with this spiffy, sparkly desktop wallpaper! Just select your resolution below to open the corresponding size image in a new window. And click here for more desktop decorating selections. Oh yeah!

800 x 600 | 1024 x 768 | 1152 x 864 | 1280 x 960 | 1280 x 720 | iPhone

• Profile: Meathaus presents a feature article on Dash Shaw

• Blurb: Welcome Friend or Foe gives a nod to Unlovable by Esther Pearl Watson

• Blurb: Irregular Orbit takes a quick look at Krazy and Ignatz 1943-1944 by George Herriman

• Things to hear: The Inkstuds radio programme hosts a 4-way roundtable on the best comics of the year with über-critics Paul Gravett, Tom Spurgeon, Douglas Wolk and host Robin McConnell, with much discussion of Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw

• Oddity: Courtesy Paul Di Filippo (Jim Woodring's Cosmocopia collaborator), "Life Imitates Jules Feiffer"

From start to finish. Currently on display for UNLOVABLE author Esther Pearl Watson's exhibition at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City, CA. Bonus Matt Groening cameo at end.

• Things to see: Check out the illustrations by Esther Pearl Watson and some other folks we like in this New York Times article from a couple of weeks ago about the economic meltdown

• Review: Le Visage Vert looks at the Monte Beauchamp-edited Devilish Greetings: original en Français; Google translation

• List: Our pal Bully puts Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw at #25 on his annual "Fun Fifty" list

• Things to see: Kevin Huizenga draws in Douglas Wolk's sketchbook

• List: On the Forbidden Planet International blog, Chris Marshall puts Willie & Joe: The WWII Years by Bill Mauldin at #2 on his Best of the Year list

• Things to see: Laura Park reveals her cover for the new Vice

Scheduled to arrive around the end of this month, Esther Pearl Watson's Unlovable is a glitter-encrusted, hot pink hunk of high school humiliation, heartbreak, halitosis, hairspray and hilarity from the pages of Bust magazine. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

Esther Pearl Waston - "Visons of the Future"
Exhibition: January 10 - February 7, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 10th, 7-10 pm
with a performance by Party People. 

"Visions of the Future" opens January 10, 2009 with a performance by the "Party People; " space-themed music will play through a Commodore computer-the perfect complement to Watson's father's futuristic visions using outdated engines and computers.

Of particular interest to comics fans: the opening reception will include the world premiere of Esther's new book, UNLOVABLE, in limited quantities! I love this book so much and hope you will, too.

"GOOD!!!" - Lynda Barry

"From the moment I laid eyes on Unlovable, I knew immediately that I had to run it as a series in BUST. Tammy Pierce is such an endearing underdog, and her teen-loser ways keep me coming back. No matter how cool or smart you may be as a grown up, I think there is a little Tammy in all of us." - Laurie Henzel, BUST magazine Creative Director

"Unlovable is why we all want to forget about our high school years, but we just can't help but reliving parts again to feel the pain." - Eric Nakamura, GIANT ROBOT Co-Founder

"I laugh and laugh and laugh, then I feel bad about reading someone's diary. This would be a horribly mean book if Esther didn't love everyone in it so much.... So I keep reading. And I laugh and laugh and laugh."            - Jordan Crane

"This book reminds me of my life. It's like looking in a mirror and the mirror has stickers and tooth brush splashes on it." - Leslie Hall