Dougieland 60
2009
No cake for you
Doug Padilla's shindig Saturday night will have all the usual hoopla that party animals expect from the Minneapolis artist's extravaganzas -- 80-some paintings, dancers, choreographers, scenesters, fashionistas and assorted hangers-on. But despite its billing as "Dougieland 60," there will be no birthday cake.
"I turned 60 a year and a half ago," Padilla said during a break from pounding nails. "It took me three or four years to do it. I got morose and did the whole turning-60-cliché thing, but now I'm a happy man." That shows in the "completely new direction" of his art: "There's a Norwegian in me screaming to get out," he said.
As for the party at California Gallery (7-11 p.m. Sat., 2205 NE. California St.), "I've been encouraging people came to art openings in their own costumes, dressed up or down. I'm expecting 700."
MARY ABBE
Minneapolis Star-Tribune