#joenix

Despite his prep-school upbringing in the suburbs of Seattle, and widespread criticism of a variety of business practices, Ian Eisenberg—he prefers to be called Ike—has gone onto run Washington's busiest pot shop business with what @SeattleTimes calls "the audacity of a circus master." In 2015 the @UncleIkesPotShop location at Union St and 23rd Ave invited celebrated local muralist Joe Nix to paint this wall between its parking lot and @TheNeighborLady206 bar next door. With his usual attention to detail Nix staged a photo shoot of Uncle Ike's 'budtender' Amanya wearing a t-shirt which reads 'Uhuru'—the Swahili word for freedom.  @joe.nix/  @uncleikesglassandgoods/

Prolific artist Joe Nix, labeled by @TreasonGallery as “one of Seattle’s most celebrated muralists,” paints realistic subjects in settings that combine the local and the imaginative. While an increasing amount of Nix’s work is being done for the gallery setting, in summer 2017 he was busy painting this large work near the south end of SODO Track, Seattle’s transit corridor running between Spokane St and the Mariner and Seahawk stadiums. With Seattle topping the nation in large crane construction projects for several years in a row Nix’s figure, confronting a wolf fleeing a burning background in the neighboring mural by Baso Fibonacci and Jean Nagai, confronts commuters with the dilemma increasingly faced by artists—whether to stay and adapt to a rapidly changing landscape and culture, or move elsewhere.  @joe.nix  @sodotrack