VISUAL ART

FRYE ART MUSEUM

701 Terry Ave, 622-9250.

HELEN LOGGIE

Tree drawings so intricate that each work takes the artist months to complete--a kind of obsessiveness that's hard to argue with. Through Oct 8.

HENRY ART GALLERY

15th Ave NE at NE 41st St, 543-2280.

*ANDY WARHOL DRAWINGS, 1942-1987

That slightly arch, calligraphic style that's everywhere in graphic design these days--you know where it comes from? Warhol's drawings from the '50s, when he was a commercial artist raking in the dough (as opposed to a pop artist raking in the dough). Then there are the more famous works on paper from his celebrity days, and a self-portrait he drew at 14, long before his self-allotted 15 minutes began to tick away. Through Oct 8.

*FRANK O. GEHRY: THE ARCHITECT'S STUDIO

An exhibition of drawings and maquettes of Gehry's projects, including our own dear smashed jewel, the EMP. The idea is to give us a window into the genius' process; mostly, though, it's proof that he gets to play with cool little models. Through Nov 12.

MUSEUM OF NORTHWEST ART

121 S First St, La Conner, 360-466-4446.

KAIT RHOADS

Rhoads, who shows at the William Traver Gallery, fashions structures out of glass, like architects' models of hives and domes and other shelters. Their shapes are undeniably sexy, another step along the continuum that connects female imagery with vessels. Through Oct 2.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

100 University St, 654-3100.

*LANGUAGE LET LOOSE

A tiny little exhibition on the incorporation of text into the visual world. The show's centerpiece is Gary Hill's installation House of Cards: a stack of video monitors that reveals, foot by foot, the interior of a house, while two monitors on either side show a man and a woman, softly saying (almost chanting) strings of non-sequiturs. There's also work by Walker Evans, Ed Ruscha, Alice Wheeler, and a set of Robert Heinecken's Recto/Verso pieces, complete with intelligent but unrelated commentary. Through April 29.

20th-CENTURY AMERICAN ART: THE EBSWORTH COLLECTION

Over 70 works, mostly modernist, collected by Barney A. Ebsworth, who started out collecting 16th- and 17th-century Dutch paintings, but got discouraged when he realized that all "the great pictures [were] gone." There must have been some goodies left from the postwar era; Ebsworth acquired a nifty set of works--no real masterpieces, though--by (among others) de Kooning, Sheeler, and Hockney. Through Nov 12.

SEATTLE ASIAN ART MUSEUM

1400 E Prospect St, Volunteer Park, 654-3100.

THE ART OF PROTEST

Social and political issues addressed through a variety of media, including the photography of Walker Evans and the mordant commentary of Jenny Holzer. Fang Lijun's enormous woodcut, No. 19, dominates the exhibition. Through Jan 21.

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1123 Pacific Ave, 253-272-4258.

*ALMOST WARM AND FUZZY: CHILDHOOD AND CONTEMPORARY ART

All the art references childhood in some manner, whether nostalgic or ironic or simply fun. The aim was a show for children as well as adults; grab your favorite eight-year-old and see if it works. Through Sept 17.

WING LUKE ASIAN MUSEUM

407 Seventh Ave S, 623-5124.

THROUGH OUR EYES

An extensive exhibition of Asian American photography of the Northwest, from journalism to fine art. It includes the photography of Frank Matsura--who emigrated from Japan at the turn of the century (the last one) and documented the Okanogan frontier--through the contemporary work of Dean Wong and Jessica Kim. Through April 8.

WRIGHT EXHIBITION SPACE

407 Dexter Ave N, 264-8200.

*THE WRIGHT COLLECTION

Virginia and Bagley Wright have rehung their foundation's exhibit space, devoting one gallery entirely to their great collection of '60s and '70s color field paintings, and introducing a large David Salle oil and the John Baldessari piece Two Onlookers and Tragedy to the mix. Other highlights include a Robert Longo, Eric Fischl, a huge Warhol Rorschach, and Jules Olitski's Thigh Smoke. Open-ended run.

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

*CONSTRUCTED REALITIES

A rich assortment of the better younger photographers of Seattle: Todd Kephart, Susan Robb, Eva Skold Westerlind, and Benjamin Wilkins--future dragon slayers all. See Stranger Suggests. Opening reception Thurs Sept 14, 5-7 pm. Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, Suite 140, 654-3240. Through Oct 14.

*DONNABELLE CASIS

Donnabelle Casis' work is a familiar sight at Howard House. Her paintings mostly build on abstract painting techniques, although they're clearly representational. Representational of what is another question. Tumorous growths, skin and hair, orifices and extremities--bodies reduced to indistinct biological forms, with some breathtaking color combinations and brushwork. Opening reception Sat Sept 16, 6-8 pm. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Oct 21.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

A.K.A. PHOTOGRAPHY

See what photographers all over the country are doing with Polaroid film--that most versatile of media. Benham Photography Studio/Gallery, 1216 First Ave, 622-2480. Through Sept 30.

TOM BARIL

Baril trains his lens on the floral world, in a way that's not entirely new--the suggestive nature of flowers has been documented to death by Georgia O'Keeffe, and also by Robert Mapplethorpe, with whom Baril collaborated. The prints are pretty, though: clear and pure, and tinted in a bath of tea. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through Oct 7.

GEOFFREY CHADSEY

Boys, boys, boys. Chadsey's got a shirtless, Elvis-inspired guy, he's got a young man reclining on a bed. He's flirting dangerously with a less primitivist version of Elizabeth Peyton (Chadsey, unlike Peyton, can actually draw), leaving his drawings no ironic or naive veils to hide behind. Those boys are cute, though. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Sept 30.

DAVID DEVLEESCHOUWER

The paintings are abstract--layers of paint that alternately merge and resist each other--but there's a pleasant suggestion of the world, a whiff of Gerhard Richter's blurred landscapes. Trapeze Gallery, 1130 34th Ave, 329-3363. Through Oct 6.

*THE EL CAMINO EFFECT

A new space opens in Ballard, run by and featuring a collective drawn largely from the remains of Pioneer Square's Project 416. Leslie Clague, Patrick Holderfield, Steve Veatch, Blair Wilson, and others examine the mysterious El Camino Effect, wherein new objects are created through the juxtaposition of two existing objects. Fuzzy Engine, 2801 Market St, 720-1767. Through Oct 28.

FOURTH ANNUAL POUND GALLERY MEMBERS SHOW

See the spread of work at one of the last good alternative spaces around. Art by Gary Smoot, Susan Robb, Laura Jean Cronin, Penny Jerome, Owen Cornell, Christine Taylor, Katrina Santore, and Kevin Willis. See Bio Box. Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through Sept 24.

CARYN FRIEDLANDER, ED MUSANTE

Friedlander shows oil pastel on paper, Musante shows birds and small mammals painted on cigar boxes and bird covers. Cute? Yes. Meaningful? Dunno. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through Oct 1.

*MANDY GREER

Take a stroll through Greer's landscape of animals, re-upholstered trees, and rich colors. It's part Frankenstein, part petting zoo. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 1205 Pike St, 264-8061. Through Sept 24.

TIM GREYHAVENS

Digital prints of figures and natural things, meant to suggest, by their distortion, ancient runes. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Sept 29.

EVAN HECOX

San Francisco artist and graphic designer Hecox's preoccupations--iconic graphic representations, graffiti, Asian urban landscapes--make him a tight fit with the Houston crowd; what sets his work apart is its odd sense of quiet and restraint. Hecox's images of S.F.'s Chinatown or graffiti-covered vans set exactingly reproduced details against simplified background forms, mixing the strategies of direct street documentation and graphic or commercial abstraction. The effect is subtle and sharp. Houston, 907 E Pike St, 860-7820. Through Oct 31.

ELIZABETH JAMESON

In Fear and Sartorial Isolation, Jameson works with clothing forms, then massively tweaks them: Forty-foot-long sleeves, media like crystallized sugar, and so on. It's meant to explore clothing's relationship with fear and self-protection. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave #200, 296-7580. Through Sept 29.

CARA JAYE

The photos are female nudes, the embroidery over them is insects. The last touch of color is Jaye's own blood. It's about female body modification, it's about entomology, and there seems to be a reference to the wounds inflicted by traditional women's work. Mixed bag. FotoCircle Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 624-2645. Through Sept 30.

MICHAEL KENNA, ROCKY SCHENCK

Two photographers working in low-light situations. Kenna's here to show prints from his new book, Nightwork, including a stunning night image of a pair of fountains in Russia, the water plumes glowing in the long-exposure blur. Schenck's photos are interiors--family scenes, to be precise. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson #200, 587-4033. Through Oct 21.

*PETER LUCAS

In his first Seattle show, WigglyWorld's Lucas gives us images of airplanes and aerial photography, intending to "create a multiple-perspective sense of movement and transition." Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 329-2629. Through Oct 15.

RANDY MCCOY

Bright new paintings, in a series called Butterfly Jokes. Two Bells Tavern, 2313 Fourth Ave, 441-3050. Through Oct 5.

*ROBERT MOTHERWELL, ROBERT HELM

Two Bobs: one local, one dead. Motherwell's colossal output of collage prints is sampled, giving us a taste for his intuitive grasp of abstract composition. Helm's prints gather 16 of the dream-symbol images that much of the artist's landscape paintings draw on. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Sept 30.

MOTION MAYHEM

Rock music photography by Diona J. Mavis and C. Taylor. Mavis is the seasoned professional with work represented in the EMP collection; Taylor is the young avant-garde upstart, and between them they've covered a good deal of territory. And they're in exactly the right venue. Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 448-2114. Through Sept 30.

GARY NISBET, RANDY HAYES

Nisbet's collage-on-canvas works are a familiar sight, flirting perilously close to the decorative, but often turning up a few exciting juxtapositions. Randy Hayes' technique of painting over groups of snapshots from his travels has a similar hit-miss ratio, but his hits are home runs. Grover/Thurston Gallery, 309 Occidental Ave S, 223-0816. Through Sept 30.

NO BOUNDARIES X

This is the 10th anniversary of this juried show featuring work by artists with disabilities. The show will be traveling to other cities in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska. Harrison Street Gallery, Center House, Seattle Center, 443-1843. Through Oct 31.

NORTHWEST MASTERS

You should at least know what their work looks like. A show of works by Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Paul Horiuchi, Morris Graves, Guy Anderson, William Ivey, and James Washington, Jr. Kurt Lidtke Gallery, 318 Second Ave S, 623-5082. Through Sept 30.

*ROBERT ORTBAL

Assembling hundreds of anything in one space can either change the space entirely, or simply be a lame shorthand for installation. Ortbal's work looks to be the former; in this case he's put hundreds of tin cans, opened at both ends, in a window at 911. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave N, 682-6552. Through Sept 17.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST NEEDLE ART GUILD

With so much talk about women's work and the use of sewing in fine art, it's probably not a bad idea to spend some time looking at the real thing. The Guild members are showing all manner of needlework, from quilts to rugs to machine embroidery. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, 425-822-7161. Through Oct 27.

HENK PANDER

In The Wreck of the New Carissa, painter Pander shows off a series of seven large canvases that read like modern updates of Gericault or Turner. Limning his skies in pinks and blues, lighting the metal hulk dramatically, he ironically deploys the full arsenal of Romantic tricks to make disturbingly beautiful scenes from a sordid disaster. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684. Through Sept 30.

KAZUTAKA UCHIDA

The sculptor once worked with Isamu Noguchi, and the influence is readily apparent. Still, Uchida's work with marble and granite, with its precise compositions and rough/smooth juxtapositions, has enough grace to stand alone. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 155 S Main, 667-9572. Through Oct 7.

VARIETY OF LIFE

Work by photographers associated with the Reach project--an association supporting homeless and formerly homeless artists. Boomtown Cafe, 513 Third Ave, 625-2989. Through Sept 30.

EVENTS

*THEY SHOOT PAINTERS, DON'T THEY?

Local painters match their talent and brains against an unforgiving 24-hour work shift, turning out painting after painting under the eyes of the public. At the end, the stuff gets sold to the highest bidder, and the painters and CoCA split the proceeds. See Stranger Suggests. CoCA, 65 Cedar St, 728-1980. Fri-Sat Sept 15-16.

STEVEN SHAVIRO

UW English prof Shaviro gives a talk on selected works from the Henry's current delightful show of Andy Warhol drawings. Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE at NE 41st St, 543-2280. Thurs Sept 14, 7 pm.