First Friday
On the first Friday of every month there’s an art gallery walk near Chinatown in Honolulu. After hearing great things about the monthly event, Jana and I finally went.
Maybe our expectations were too high, it was an “off” Friday or we just missed the great galleries, but I wasn’t very impressed with the work. When I look for great artwork a few factors really stand out: imagination, detail, skill and orginality. Unfortunately, nothing I saw met those standards. It wasn’t bad, but nothing succeeded in grabbing my attention and giving me an emotional response the way I feel great art should. Much of it felt like calendar art that I would find in a Hilo Hatties store, and that’s just not my cup of tea — the presentation of the work was lacking as well.
I was hoping for a New York gallery — or even Key West. I was surprised to find that the artwork I enjoyed the most were in the Tattoo parlors, but maybe that says something about my taste.
Regardless, we had a great time and will probably go again. It’s more than worth it for the atmosphere, food and drinks and hanging out with friends. I just hope in the future the quality of the artwork and galleries increase. In the meantime, for artistic inspiration I’ll stick to Lewers Street.
Aloha, You spoke about Honolulu Art Walk and caught my eye. I agree with you and maybe I missed the Galleries…Anyway it’s good to have this kind of event and it’s a good way to walk in Chinatown… Maybe the Art Walk is a quite new event in the city and need our support (visitors and artists) to grow and make it. I went twice since I moved in Honolulu in September and will go back again just to be a part of the event. Please forgive my poor english.Mahalo.