FLOATING WORLD COMICS PRESENTS: TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY!

NEW ART BY: JOSEPH CROSS, EVAN MEISTER & BLAISE LARMEE
DIAMOND COMICS 2 RELEASE PARTY!
50% OFF REMODELING SALE!

Wow has it been two years already? In that time Floating World has successfully become a part of the art community in Portland and established it’s niche as a “curated” comic book store, the “record store” of comic stores, if you will. It’s very rewarding to witness the transition from dream, to vision, to shared reality – the dream became real when customers came in and made the store part of their lives. Thank you! To make room for some remodeling and expansion we’re having a big 50% sale to coincide with this show.

Let’s celebrate the good times next 1st Thursday, July 3rd. I’ve invited three artists whom I strongly associate with the formation of Floating World: Joseph Cross, who designed our original logo and postcard images, Evan Meister, our “house artist” who just designed our latest t-shirt, and Blaise Larmee, a local artist who recently moved to NY but will be visiting for the show.

I’m also proud to announce that the 2nd issue of Floating World’s experimental comics tabloid DIAMOND COMICS will debut at the show.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Joseph Cross, Evan Meister & Blaise Larmee
WHAT: 2 year anniversary, gallery show and opening reception
WHAT: Comic release party – DIAMOND COMICS 2 and Blaise Larmee’s comic debut
WHEN: Thursday, July. 3rd, 6-10PM

Show runs through June. 31st

BIO INFO:

JOSEPH CROSS – Between teaching gigs at PNCA and freelance graphic design work for Nike, Joseph Cross has been building a unique portfolio of branding images for Floating World Comics, Supertrash film fest and also illustrating his first comic book with writer Morgan Clark. A brief synopsis of Topless Nomad:

“Topless Nomad is a Manga influenced political sci-fi thriller that exploits and explodes the modern folklore surrounding the US government’s top secret psychological warfare units, and the legendary warriors who founded them. When, bystander, Robin Fitzgerald is targeted by a mercenary psy-ops firm, he must open his mind to master
the art of metaphysical combat and uncover a conspiracy that could unravel the fabric of Human civilization.”

In addition to pages from this gorgeous production, we will also present an amazing selection of poster images that Joseph has designed for the store over the past 2 years.

EVAN MEISTER – Evan Meister recently moved from Eugene to Portland to go to school and be closer to the art scene here. The art scene should consider itself lucky. Evan’s super fun style mixes heavy metal notebook cartoons with Where’s Waldo like miniature details. This is his 3rd show at Floating World and he’s resident artist as far as I’m concerned. His artwork will also be seen in the new issue of DIAMOND COMICS and on the latest Floating World t-shirt design, both of which debut at the show.

BLAISE LARMEE – Blaise Larmee recently moved to New York City but will be returning to visit Portland for this show. His comics have appeared in the You Ain’t No Dancer comics anthology and his new self published zine will be available at the show. On his blog he admits that he is fascinated with dreams and how the storytelling structure of dreams fits with comics so well. Blaise is developing a unique aesthetic that can be described as experimental, almost sketchy or unfinished in some places. It’s likely that we’re witnessing the formation of an amazing new comics illustrator.

DIAMOND COMICS 2 – The second issue of Floating World Comics experimental comics tabloid will also debut at this show. Maybe you were lucky enough to find a copy of the first issue around town. They’re free at cafes, bars, and shops all over Portland. Issue 2 features more incredible work from Luke Ramsey, Evan Meister, Barnaby Ward, Bald Eagles, Kevin Hooyman and more.

Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave 101, Portland, OR 97209
(503)241-0227
jason@floatingworldcomics.com
Store hours: Everyday 11-7pm

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Peter Bagge is coming to Portland to participate in PNCA’s Graphic Novel Intensive, a nine-day study of comics writing and publishing. Saturday June 28th, he will stop by the Someday Lounge at 5pm to discuss “Comics and the Internet” with fellow comic creators Daniel Duford and Neal Skorpen.

Then they’ll come over to Floating World from 7-9pm for a closing party with fellow artists J.R. Williams and David Chelsea. Come see and purchase original artwork from all the artists and pick up copies of Peter’s new book ‘Apocalypse Nerd’.

Also coinciding with the closing party will be a magazine release party, Lord Haywire presents: Ash Magazine Release Party. Featuring literary and visual work by Christopher Bowers, Sean Christensen Awesome But True, Michelle Chorwat, Evan Cooper, M.M. Garcia, E.C. Hilty, Joseph Kersian, Alan ORR, Stefan Saito, Vanya Schroeder, M.S. Smith, Brandon S. Wright, and our host Lord Haywire.

http://auniversalis.com

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Christophe Blain’s presentation and reading was incredible. He spoke for about 30 minutes about his career, his writing process, and his creative goals. He was very charismatic and funny and his english was actually quite good. Hope you can make it back next year Christophe!

Jason Leivian, Christophe Blain, Stephanie (translator)

Some highlights from memory:

On storytelling - “Good stories are about asking questions. It is not enough to just have a good idea. If you say, ah I have a good idea… this would be a good idea for a story, bad start.”

“Sometimes people like to act smart when writing a story. If you act smart, in fact you are stupid.”

photos here by Linda Witt and Brandon Seifert:
http://picasaweb. google. com/lindawitt1/May2008ChristopheBlainVisit

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FLOATING WORLD COMICS PRESENTS:

CHRISTOPHE BLAIN & T. EDWARD BAK
IN STORE READING AND SLIDE SHOW PRESENTATION

May First Thursday, Christophe Blain visits from France to read from his award winning graphic novel, Isaac the Pirate. This is an amazing opportunity to meet one of France’s most brilliant new comic creators.

T. Edward Bak returns to Portland from his residency at the Savannah College of Art to read from his long awaited comic, Service Industry.

TRIPLE BOOK RELEASE PARTY

Floating World Comics is proud to present its debut publication, Diamond Comics. This newsprint anthology features mind blowing experimental comics and art from around the world.

Brandon Siefert and artist Lukas Ketner deliver the first issue of their cutting edge, medical horror comic, Witch Doctor: First Incision.

Capture Release is a new publisher in Portland that features avant garde gallery artists as well as undiscovered artists on the rise. The first issue of their eponymous magazine features Jason Traeger and Peter Lavigne-Chalek.

WHEN: Thursday, May. 1st, 6-10PM

WHERE: Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave 101
Portland, OR 97209
(503)241-0227

Show runs through May. 31st

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March 1st Thursday at Floating World welcomes back Sean Christensen, founder of the Awesome But True Electric Institute, an art collective that includes artists from Portland and a growing global network of artists from all over the world. For this group show he is joined by two longtime friends and art collaborators, Catherine Peach and Stefan Saito.

For the show “Repeat After Me”, the three friends produced an original series of works that flows like an illustrated game of telephone. One artist starts with an image of any kind, and then they pass it on to the next artist who interprets it with their own personal style and attention to detail. Then the 3rd artist just gets to see the 2nd illustration so their final drawing could be totally different than the original. The artists themselves are keeping the finished illustrations secret until the night of the show so even they don’t know what the results will be. See each artist’s interpretation of themes like space station inspectors, international bicycle races, ‘Weekend At Bernies’ themed dance parties, made up gods, and other electric awesomeness.

(poster by Stefan Saito, Sean Christensen, and Catherine Peach)

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