December 4th Art Auction at Cannabis Culture HQ!
By David Malmo-Levine on
CANNABIS CULTURE – “There is no must in art because art is free.”
– Wassily Kandinsky
On Sunday, December 4 th , 2022, on the new main floor lounge of Cannabis Culture Headquarters at 307 West Hastings St., there will be a Drug Peace Art Auction from 7PM to 10PM. Both prints and originals will be available – priced to move – for all budgets. Expect to pay anything from a dollar all the way up to a thousand dollars, depending on quality and demand. More than half of the originals will be available for 100 dollars or less.
All the art is sourced from local artists, and most but not all have a drug peace theme. These are from the collections of drug art dealer David Malmo-Levine and drug peace artist Signe Knutson. Much of the proceeds from the sale of the Malmo-Levine collection will go towards maintaining a massive drug peace library and the dogged pursuit of turning shitty pot legalization/cartelization into dignified and inclusive pot legalization.
Signe Knutson
Signe Knutson was the driving force that recently put “coffee bean regulations” for cannabis into the Federal Green Party platform.
Signe was also interviewed for CBC when they did a story on cannabis-using parents.
Signe has been active in the art scene for many years, and has been prolific in the local drug peace art scene in since 2015, creating among other things, colouring books, tote bags, unique flags for the rallies, blacklight sensitive shower curtains, and illustrations of various types. Much of her art is blacklight sensitive, but all of it is original, amazing, and leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.
Some of it even glows in the dark. Signe developed a technique of making paintings glow different colours, and has made much of her brilliant work serve double-duty as décor and as a five-minute night-light to help both inspire people and make sure they don’t stub their toes when getting into bed.
You can find some of Signe’s work online by searching for “PsychoActivist Studios” on Facebook.
Check out Signe’s Made in Canada Wearable Art.
Many cannabis and mushroom related prints and household goods on RedBubble.
Dozens of prints and original works by Signe will be available for sale at the auction. Signe will probably be at the auction for a short time near the beginning.
Bob High
Bob High worked with Cannabis Culture for many years, and collaborated with Malmo-Levine
on Vansterdam Comix and other projects. His cartoon style harkens back to the underground
cartoon scene and the psychedelic art movement of the west coast in the 1960s and 1970s. Bob
could also do classic art and photo-realism, or anything else. Sadly, Bob has retired from making
artwork, making the demand for his stuff even greater than usual.
Bob had the unique ability to create a hallucinatory effect, both in his subjects and in those who
view his art. Some of Bob’s work has blacklight sensitivity and glow-in-the-dark features.
You can view Bob High’s work by looking at old issues of Cannabis Culture, or looking carefully
in the stairwell at Cannabis Culture, or searching for him with the word “cannabis” in the search
engine:
Protecting the young and The Poor from Prohibition
The Potblock the Could
Bob High Science Guy
Bob High Grandma
Instagram
Vansterdam Comix is available through Weeds, and Bob’s art is promoted by Weeds:
Vansterdam Comix
Artist Profile
Grow Street Journal
Autographed copies – Vansterdam Comix
Dozens of prints and original works of Bob will be available for sale at the auction. Bob might
even make an appearance at the auction.
Dave Douglas
Dave Douglas has been active in the local art scene for many years, and was involved with the
Herb School between 2006 and 2008. His art is very trippy, often involving trichomes, mushrooms and pot plants, but also involving cosmic elements such as suns, stars and the Mandelbrot set.
Dave can be reached through Linked In.
About 10 works by Dave are available for sale at the auction.
John Walkus Green
John Walkus Green is an Indigenous carver. John has taken the traditional medium of carving
and added some local drug peace themes. Some of his work can be seen in various dispensaries
around town, including Cannabis Culture H.Q., The Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary at 1182
Thurlow St., and Auntie and Uncle’s Place (formerly the Stalk Market) at 3175 West Broadway.
John’s art is also available online in various places.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304079078510
A documentary was made about John which can be found online here,
https://maureenkelleherproductions.com/production/to-return-the-john-walkus-story
and
Several carvings by John will be available for sale at the auction.
Ken Foster
Ken Foster is a world-famous artist who often uses found materials for his canvases. Ken is a
very busy artist, and his art is quite prolific, with nearly every art lover in East Vancouver having
at least one Ken Foster original hanging in their home.
Searching for “Ken Foster” in any search engine will reveal dozens of images, and at least one
book and two documentaries have been made by/about him.
Ken Foster’s Vancouver -Hardcover
About a dozen originals by Ken will be available for sale at the auction.
Megan Allard
Megan Allard is a professional tattoo artist who has also done some stunning paintings. Megan
Allard studied at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, and she specializes in
realism and ornamental styles.
Her website features some of her amazing designs.
https://meganallard.com/
Many prints and a few originals by Megan will be available for sale at the auction.
Alan Sayers
Alan Sayers was a local artist who specialized in photorealistic portraits of various drug peace
advocates, with trippy, colourful backgrounds. His prints and originals have been distributed all
over Vancouver.
Sadly, Alan passed away last year from smoking crack contaminated with fentanyl and
carfentanil. He died on March 10 th , 2021 at the age of 63.
If you use hard drugs or someone you love uses hard drugs, Vancouver has a free service to
have them tested for purity, adulterants and/or contaminants: Get Your Drugs Tested at 880
East Hastings St.
Dozens of originals and a few prints of Alan’s will be available for sale at the auction.
