Non-asexuals with cars—the Sex Workers’ Art Show is coming to Portland tonight and Oly tomorrow (no Seattle date), with burlesque, spoken-word, music, multimedia performance art, and visual art. The idea is to “dispel the myth that (sex workers) are anything short of artists, innovators, and geniuses!” Performers include Whitney Biennial artist and burlesque performer Julie Atlas Muz, queer author Michelle Tea, hip-hop poet Juba Kalamka, prostitutes’ rights mama Scarlot Harlot, Olympia filmmaker Bridget Irish, y mucho mas.

This from the orgasmic promo:

The show includes people from all areas of the sex industry: strippers, prostitutes, dommes, film stars, phone sex operators, internet models, etc. It smashes traditional stereotypes and  moves beyond “positive” and “negative” into a fuller articulation of the complicated ways sex workers experience their jobs and their lives. The Sex Workers’ Art Show entertains, arouses, and amazes while simultaneously offering scathing and insightful commentary on notions of class, gender, labor, and sexuality!

For more information, visit www.sexworkersartshow.com.

2/10 Portland, OR   Reed College
2/11 Olympia, WA   The Capitol Theatre

One other thing: I’ve no idea how I left Viveza Gallery off of the vis art calendar this week, since I received the press release for its opening tonight several dozen times, so here’s the info, with an apology. Sorry.

VIVEZA Gallery, 2604 Western Ave., welcomes the work of figurative painter Doug Smithenry Feb. 10 to March 19. Smithenry will be at the opening reception from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10. This is a rare chance to meet this breakthrough figurative painter. Smithenry proves that art is indestructible. He culls images of people and landscapes from the Internet as his only source for generating art. The outcome is often an intentionally flighty collection of paintings that mirror the arbitrary nature of search engine results.