Media

 Check out www.badartforbadpeople.com for info on an upcoming show.

Tiki Madness

Bad Art for Bad People puts a spell on you.

By Cory Casciato, Westword

Published on August 14, 2008

As landlocked Denver swelters under the oppressive, dry heat of summer, my fantasies begin to turn ever more frequently to white-sand beaches cooled by an ocean breeze and frozen drinks served in a coconut shell. I don’t have the means to make that real, but the Voodoo Spells and Tiki Curses art show should provide a decent substitute. This latest installment in the Bad Art for Bad People series features the work of nearly two dozen artists creating lots of tropical-, voodoo- and tiki-themed and artwork. “It’s mostly a theme for the party, but I think a lot of the artists are taking the bait on it and doing the voodoo, tiki theme,” says Bob White, the man behind BABP.

Put on your grass skirt, grab your shrunken skull and head down to the Continental Club, 475 Santa Fe Drive, to join in the fun. The art stays on display and for sale through September 6. For more information, including a full list of artists, bands and performers, visit www.badartforbadpeople.com.

Betsy White Solo Exhibition

She does nature photos, bizarre and interesting places and, my favorite, cute characters (like SanRio's Deery Lou) in nature settings!

She has a solo show in conjunction with the South Broadway Art Walk Friday July 11th, from  6-9 p.m. at Rock the Cradle, 18 S. Broadway.

   By, Andrew Novick, Denver Events Examiner

Prom Night

The Bad Girls of Bad Art for Bad People get psychedelic.

By Amber Taufen, Westword

Published on May 22, 2008

About two years ago, Bad Art for Bad People put together a show in Tampa, Florida. "We didn't really have a theme for it," Bad Art's Bob White remembers, "and at the last minute, we decided to make it a prom theme." Although none of the exhibit guests were notified of the theme, the Bad Artists donned their prom finest for the opening reception.

Something similar is going on with Bad Girls of Bad Art: Psychedelic Prom. "We just decided that the bands we wanted to have play were kind of garage and psychedelic," notes White, who curated Psychedelic Prom. "We just put the two together. It doesn't really make sense."

So take note: Psychedelic Prom is a reference to tonight's opening reception — taking place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Continental Club, 475 Santa Fe Drive, and featuring music by the Omens, Dario Rosa and Dead Bubbles, plus between-set acts by Ooh La La! Burlesque — and is not really a reference to the actual exhibit, which comprises photography, painting, mixed-media work, illustration and more by Anne Zeiler, Betsy White, Brianna Martray, Jennifer Swanson, Karena Conley, Kelly Bearden, Laurie Maves, Marie Vlasic, Sweetpea and Tami McKenney. Psychedelic Prom hangs through June 14; visit www.badartforbadpeople.com or call 720-524-6904 for more.

Screaming Banshee Ball

By Kity Ironton, Westword

Published on October 11, 2007

Stitched up and spurting, the dancing dead will come alive as Bad Art for Bad People digs up some fiendish fun at its pre-holiday spookfest, the Zombie Dance Party. The two-night phantasmal prom hangs over forty local and national artists, conjures live magic by Phelyx, features the haunted honeys of Burlesque As It Was and is hosted by that terror-titillating puppet philanderer, Naughty Pierre.

DJ Frank will drop the ghastly beats with Get Your Going, Gina Go Faster, Get 3 Coffins Ready, Tard, Dario Rosa, Whiskey Throttle, the Dropskots and Red Stinger splitting the macabre marquee over two nights of the living zombie boogie.

Flying Dog Brewery, 2407 Blake Street, is the haunted host house, where the frights will delight from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. and the cover is ten bones for each cadaver, both nights. Frayed flesh and deathly duds are encouraged. For more dreadful details, visit www.badartforbadpeople.com.

I Drink, Therefore I Am

By Patricia Calhoun, Westword

Published on June 07, 2007

Surprisingly, the brainstorm that led to this weekend's The Art of Drinking wasn't fueled by alcohol. "Actually, when we moved to Denver, I was kind of astounded at how important alcohol was to people," says organizer Bob White. "So I thought it was a good theme for what we were going to do here." He found a good place to do it: Flying Dog Brewery, at 2407 Blake Street.

White, a photographer and the person behind Bad Art for Bad People (a group whose name was inspired by the Cramps' Bad Music for Bad People), moved here from Tampa eight months ago and loves Denver, but was surprised to find the art scene "so low-key." Which may seem like an odd description of First Fridays on Santa Fe Drive — but after hearing so much about it, White saw the night as a wasted opportunity. "They have this audience," he says. "Why are they not capitalizing on it?" Even if they don't want to offer live entertainment, he notes, the galleries could work harder to push the sale of art.

White plans to do plenty of that at The Art of Drinking, since several hundred pieces — by national and local artists alike, and all for sale — will go on display at the brewery at 4 p.m. today and stay up through 6 p.m. Sunday, June 10, unless they're purchased in the interim. Say, at tomorrow night's reception, which runs from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. and features not just visual art, but music from Little Fyodor, Ralph Gean and Get Three Coffins Ready; free beer and a ten-buck cover. "I'm really kind of against charging for going into an art gallery — you don't pay to go buy things at a grocery store — but we have enough entertainment that it's going to be well worth the $10 to get in the door," says White.

Visit www.badartforbadpeople.com for more information.

And don't exit through that door without a piece of art.

                            But will Santa wear a thong?

                                                -Julie Garisto Tampa Bay Times 7/7/06

          Christmas in July?  It’s a silly notion championed by heat-fatigued victims of summer. Art collective Bad Art for Bad People thought it would be a fun concept for its upcoming art event,” Christmas on the Island of Misfit Art.”

          Not only is the theme whimsical and humorous, it’s romantic. The Christmas in July idea first came about on one of Bob and Betsy White’s first dates.

          “He came over for dinner one night, and I pulled out every Christmas decoration I had,” Betsy Says. “ Had the whole place decorated, right down to the fire on the television. So when we were thinking about a theme for this summer’s show, I said, ‘Why don’t we do Christmas in July?’ He added the Island of Misfit Art instead of Island of Misfit Toys( featured in the famous Rankin-Bass animated show Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer).

          The Bad Art honchos have enlisted big-name talent like Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo and Rugrats-theme fame and Jeff Gaither. Local stalwarts Oscar Beauchamp, Cat Thompson and Hugh T. Williams will be showing, along with dozens of other Tampa Bay and Florida artists.

          Food and drinks will be available. Entertainers haven’t been announced- a surprise, the Whites say, and they assure us that though performers will be off the wall, they won’t be obtrusive to art viewing.

                                      The Power of Fusion

                                                            -Julie Garisto TBT 7/7/06

       Gallery openings can be as fun and inclusive as a dry office party thrown by people you don’t work for.

          The stuffiness of traditional openings wore on Tampa artists Bob and Betsy White, the married couple who founded Bad Art for Bad People.

         “We’re not art school graduates,” Bob says. “We weren’t trained that this is the proper way and you don’t go outside these bounds.”

          In 2004, the couple, both in their mid 30’s, began presenting seasonal shows in unlikely venues with unlikely entertainment, drawing on their DIY, irreverent punk rock background for inspiration.

          “We start out by finding a place and how many artists we need,” Bob says. “A lot of people in our shows are our friends. Even the big-name people we work with become friends. We maintain relationships, like with Stephen Blickenstaff, whose claim to fame is the Cramps album Bad Music for Bad People, where we got our name for the group. He’s out in Baltimore and doesn’t always come to the shows, but his artwork does.”

          The Whites, who live in Hyde Park, have presented shindigs at a movie theater, an Ybor City bar and the Club Underground nightclub. They’ve thrown a Halloween costume party in August and have featured belly dancers, kung fu demonstrations and other miscellaneous spectacles. Punk rock bands have played and DJ’s have spun far-out techno.

          The events have gone off well with rave reviews, but the couple still run into resistance and challenges.

          “I think there’s a lot of people in the art world- in the conventional art world- who are a little put off,” Bob says. “ They don’t respect us because we do these kind of antics.”

          The Whites rely on artists to roll up their sleeves and do some work, but many opt not to help or send their work in on time. These artists typically fall by the wayside and don’t get asked to return.

          A lot of time, thought and planning go into putting on the shows while they’re in progress, the Whites say.

          “We’ve gone through this learning curve,” Bob says. “We’ve had the wrong type of live bands that were too loud and brought in the wrong crowd. It took us a couple of shows to learn how to mix the elements,”

          Despite all the challenges and defeating moments, the Whites seem proud of what Bad Art for Bad People has accomplished.

          Bob White says art lovers have been coming around too.

          “When the momentum starts growing and we get bigger-name artists, then people start to perk up and say, ‘Maybe they are doing something right.’”

Excerpt from South Tampa News- March 22, 2006 " The Prom Queens of Hip" 

by, Esther Hammer

... It was a mainly young, vibrant, excited-about-art crowd. The prom theme was evident in balloons and crepe paper decorations, and in the  tiaras and gowns sported by artists and some guests. But this did not restrict the eclectic art on the wall. Work was not gender-specific or related in any way to prom night. It was exciting and engaging, and it all had the liberating feel that self- expression brings, at prices that make buying almost painless.

South Tampa artist and promoter Bob White put the show together. Two or three times a year White sponsors events like "Bad Girls," often mixing new artists with established artists. White explained the all women show to me. "'Bad Art' is a code word for cool art, hip art," he said. "And 'Bad Girls' has a sort of edginess to it without going over the top."

His wife, Betsy, owns Play Haven Preschool in South Tampa and is also a painter and photographer. She exhibited whimsical photographs of troll dolls in the snow, and had a terrific photo of an iconic female doll titled "Portrait." " I've owned a preschool for 15 years now, so most of my photography is very child-like," she said.

So if you get a chance go see "Bad Girls of Bad Art." Who knows, you might find something that grabs you and decide you just have to have it. I did.   

(she purchased one of my troll prints!)