deviantART Summit 2005: June 17, 18 @ The Hollywood Palladium

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In an effort to please your baby, you agree to go to an art gallery with said significant other. You grab your glass of wine and a few hors d’oeuvres, trying not to get crumbs on your new outfit. Lots of stuffy old people are saying lots of stuffy old things that go completely over your head and, in the midst of the confusion of thoughts in your head, you spill that glass of wine that’s older than you are on the exhibitor’s white shirt. Major faux pas. Mortification ensues. Bad times for all.

Lucky for you, you uncultured troglodyte, art exhibits don’t have to be for the highfalutin hipsters with paintbrushes jammed up their back ends anymore.

For the modern artistic spirit in all of us, Internet-based artist community deviantART is having its first official deviantART Summit at the Hollywood Palladium June 17 and 18. Anime lovers, graphic designers, taggers, poets, writers and traditional artists will all find exhibits and activities of interest to them at the event, which is geared toward being exactly what its attendees make it – much as the deviantART Web site is what its users make and require of it.

"We run an online society with deviantART. There’s a lot of community, a lot of discussion, and we wanted to make that in a physical space so people can see what takes place on deviantART every day," says Angelo Sotira, the entrepreneur behind deviantART, on the necessity of having the summit. "‘Deviant meets’ currently and have always happened, so having a huge summit, the biggest ‘deviant meet’ we’ve ever had, was an inevitable thing for a community this large," Sotira adds.

Regardless of whether you’re an artist yourself or just an enthusiast, interaction is encouraged and emphasized above all else, unlike at the typical art gallery. Anyone who purchases a two-day pass to the event is invited to have their own booth to display their own work, and discussion forums will be open for attendees to schedule times to talk about whatever artsy-fartsy things they want to talk about.

Celebrities (to us art-geeks, that is) and general cool people like Marvel Comics artist Mark Brooks of Spider-Man, entertainment photographer Chris Weeks, and many others who are themselves all "deviants," will be offering classes on everything from photography lighting on a budget, to comic and anime illustration, to Photoshop and Illustrator usage.

Artists can also come prepared to show off their skills at the summit with blank canvases waiting to be splashed, sprayed, marked and colored in the giant Creation Station. There will also be live nude figure drawing sessions both days.

"You’re going to come and experience an incredibly talented community of people," says Sotira about what summit attendees can expect. "It’s going to be a fun gallery exhibition if nothing else, but it’s an experience."

So what are you waiting for? GET UP AND GET OUT!

The Hollywood Palladium is located 6215 Sunset Blvd., in Hollywood, www.hollywoodpalladium.com. Show hours: 9:30 a.m.- 6 p.m. both days; registration opens at 9 a.m. To register for the summit online, visit www.deviantartsummit.com. Price: $55 for a two-day all access pass through June 15, $70 at the door.