The Soft Museum

The Soft Museum

The Soft Museum – gallery exchange with Seattle’s Milky World gallery

MAY 1999

“It was “Carry On,” a presentation by the Lump Gallery in Raleigh, N.C. Kwok encountered the work of Team Lump through cartoonist Paul Friedrich, whose art he exhibited last summer at Milky World.

Friedrich introduced him to the Lump Web site. Through the extended e-mail correspondence that developed, the two galleries decided they shared tastes and fans. So Kwok proposed a modest “art exchange”: If Team Lump would come to Seattle, he would allow them a month at his gallery.

Milky World would do all the press and house the artists, taking only its usual 40 percent of any sale. But in return, Lump had to reciprocate: mount and duly publicize a show of Seattle artists.

There was one other requirement: All the art would be ‘carry-on,’ able to fit inside the overhead luggage compartment of an airplane. Neither gallery had the money to foot shipping bills.

Lump’s show featured assemblage, sculpture, paintings and mixed media. Of the nine artists involved, seven flew out to Seattle. Mixed-media artist Bill Thelen, who manages Lump Gallery, says he was stunned by the young arts landscape they found. ‘When I was there two years back, that scene was sparse. Now it seems incredibly vibrant; there’s just a ton of stuff happening.'”

Excerpt from the Seattle Times by Cynthia Rose


Lump is located at 505 S. Blount St, Raleigh, NC. More information about our mission and exhibition programs can be found at lumpprojects.org.