Drawing Line into Form is an exhibition of 2-D objects by artists who usually make 3-D objects. The pieces, from the Bank of New York Mellon collection, are by Sol LeWitt, Maya Lin, Jim Dine, William Kentridge, Anish Kapoor, Huma Bhabha, Louise Bourgeois—the list goes on. There is also a sketch by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist, whose psychadelic video installation, A la belle étoile, is currently disorienting audiences at the Henry Art Gallery.
$10.
Love Me Tender: Punny! James Charles, Maximo Gonzales, Barton Lidicé Benes and Mark Wagner, and others use money as both a medium and a symbol to ask questions about value, commodity, and identity. $10.
Mosaic Arts International 2013: Nearly 50 artists working with materials ranging from glass and ceramic to dinosaur bones display their work in this juried exhibition. $12.
Plastics Unwrapped expands upon the prescient sentiment of Mr. McGuire in The Graduate: plastics. Unwrapped acknowledges that this prevalent and troublingly useful substance is thoroughly integrated into every aspect of our lives, and asks us—through works presented in a variety of mediums—to make thoughtful choices. $10.
Sean Scully: Passages/Impressions/Surfaces: A portfolio of a dozen photographs from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland will be paired with a large-scale oil painting by the artist—who's far better known for his paintings. This time, we'll get to see what he brings to photography.
$10 suggested.
Nichole Rathburn's hand drawn animations in 1000 Ports and Ron Lambert's overlapping urban grids in City Order and his fragmented landscapes in Land Slices.
Free.
CO-MIX: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics and Scraps made by Art Spiegelman, the legendary comic artist whose graphic novel, Maus, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Free.
Paper Unbound: Horiuchi and Beyond: Work by the acclaimed Japanese collage artist Paul Horiuchi and the contemporary artists he’s inspired.
$12.95.
Maneki Neko: Japan’s Beckoning Cats—From Talisman to Pop Icon: So. Many. Little. Waving. Kitty. Paws. One hundred and fifty five of them, to be precise, in mediums ranging from stone to papier-mâché. This exhibition traces the Maneki Neko’s evolution from source of luck and protection to something more readily recognized as the door greeter to Japanese restaurants. $10.
Bearing Witness from Another Place marks the 25th anniversary of James Baldwin's death with an exhibit of Sedat Pakay's photographs of the social critic's self-imposed exile in Turkey.
$6.
Northwest Artists Collect: The culmination of a year-long collaboration between UW-Tacoma students and the Museum, this exhibition showcases the original work of 7 Pacific Northwest glass artists-including Martin Blank, Joseph Gregory Rossano, and Richard Royal-alongside pieces from their personal collections. $12.
Ellen Dicola's trippy Arborealis video of found Northern Lights images overlaid with footage of steam, alternating with Dakota Gearhart's Odes to Me, which involves a small singing fish with a large eyeball.
Free.
This monthly screening series seeks submissions of feminist and queer video from the Northwest. Contact Stranger Genius Wynne Greenwood for info. Free.
In 2010, Storefronts Seattle started matching empty commercial spaces in Belltown, Chinatown, and Pioneer Square with local artists. The project has since expanded to Bellevue, Auburn, and Mount Vernon. Storefronts Seattle starts off 2013 with new installations by Meghan Trainor, RSVR visual research, and Ryan Everson.
Free.
Opening ceremony for Elizabeth Connor's rain garden/water feature with plants, Painting and Sculpting the Land, and her rows of colored concrete contour lines that indicate the depth of the original reservoir, Drawing the Land. Free.
James Turrell’s “skyspace” Light Reign is the only thing that’s really on always-and-forever display at the Henry. It’s an outdoor room that lives like a barnacle on the side of the museum, with an opening in the ceiling so that you can sit and watch the sky go by. The experience is mind bogglingly more fascinating than you’d think, which is why Turrell has “skyspaces” all over the world. The Henry’s is furniturey, ringed with wooden bench seating. $10 suggested.
Artful Reproductions: The permanent collection is full of treasures to be discovered for a first time or rediscovered anew. The wall of diminutive snuffboxes—each one delicately painted with a scene that draws you into its tiny alternate reality—is in itself enough to warrant multiple visits. $7 suggested.
Seattle's oldest non-profit gallery is always recruiting. Artists who pay the monthly hanging fee may display their work in this non-juried, all-volunteer space.
Fluent Steps: An installation by Martin Blank of four water-filled glass sculptures suspended above water.
$12.
Gathering Light: Seattle artist Cappy Thompson's painted stories on glass in the Grand Hall.
$12.
The history and culture of Northwest African Americans in art, photos, and documents.
$6.
Permanent collections in African, Asian, Native American, early American, European, modernism, decorative arts, and contemporary arts. $15 suggested.
The title Memories and Meditations: A Retrospective of Michael Kenna's Photography provides a decent indication of the serenity that's come to be expected in Kenna's pristine visions. $10.