Opening Sept. 16 and running through Oct. 18, Old Town’s Sandpiper Gallery will host a show of works on canvas by area artist James Hume. The show title, “Not Painting Flowers,” refers to the fact that Hume’s father has long been (and continues to be) a fixture of Northwest gardening with television and radio shows and a flourishing seed company. Show curator Lynn Di Nino wanted to capitalize on the contrast between the genteel world of gardening (of Hume the elder) and the kind of bare knuckles and edgy type of artwork that Hume the younger has produced for this show.

This current body of work was inspired by street art that Hume witnessed while using the Parisian subway system. “My new paintings celebrate what I saw and what I felt from these underground artists’ fleeting masterpieces,” Hume asserted.

The pieces are mixed media. Much of it is done with Hume’s iPhone. He shoots images and tweaks them with various iPhone applications. A local print shop then prints the images out to fit whatever size canvas Hume is working with. “They think I’m crazy over there,” Hume commented.

Next the sheets are pasted to the canvas and Hume lifts the corners and edges, allowing them to tear wherever they want to. The resulting effect is that of layers of old posters on an urban surface such as Hume encountered in the Paris subway system. “When I start ripping I never know what I’m going to keep and what I’m going to lose,” Hume said. “What rips rips and what stays stays. I’ve been pretty lucky.”

The paper collage is then enhanced and colorized by hand painting in acrylic. Finally each piece is coated in layer after layer of a clear coating that gives the surface a rubbery quality. “I think it does add a certain weirdness to the work,” Hume noted, “almost like a placemat. You could spill red wine all over it and it’ll wipe right off.”

Hume also utilizes stencils and spray paint on a number of the works. Overall, the paintings for the show are in muted tones and possess a surreal and foreboding quality akin to the collages of Max Ernst. There are also homages to writers and Hollywood actors of the ‘50s and ‘60s. The likes of Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers and Jack Kerouac peer out from some of the compositions.

Hume has long been a supporter and promoter of Tacoma’s underground arts scene, having been a major player in the art happenings at the now defunct Panimonica’s (a Tacoma Avenue club where artists, musicians and poets found a welcome venue to spotlight their talents during an all-too-brief belle epoch).

He was also the driving force behind a series of art events called Kulture Lab, during which Hume functioned as a de facto master of ceremonies for the Tacoma underground art world.

His work is found in private collections and in business establishments all over town. The Crown Bar’s iconic image of Steve McQueen wearing a crown is one of Hume’s pieces.

The upcoming show at Sandpiper Gallery is a rare moment in which Hume’s work is exposed to the light of a more traditional gallery. Rumor has it that Di Nino is slated to bring a series of more “edgy” shows to the hallowed walls of the Sandpiper Gallery.

“Not Painting Flowers” opens Sept. 16 in conjunction with Tacoma’s Third Thursday Art Walk. The Sandpiper Gallery is located at 2221 N. 30th St. in the heart of Old Town.

Contact the writer at dave@tacomaweekly.com.