510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, 425-454-3322

* DUANE HANSON

Hanson's sculptures are the original double-take experience: Cast from human models and dressed in actual clothes, they are almost always mistaken for real people in a crowd until the rest of the crowd moves away. BAM is fortunate to have 15 of Hanson's works for mindfuck purposes. Through Sept 30.

* MARY HENRY

Quietly, gradually, Whidbey Island-artist Henry has gained a following in Seattle with her geometric abstract paintings. She's been working in the Northwest for 25 years without much fanfare, and this summer there will be three major exhibitions of her work--including the North Slope Series at BAM--which have never been shown in public before. Through Sept 9, with an additional exhibition from Aug 15-Nov 25.

* TWIN

A set of six multi-media installations by Wendy Hanson, each exploring ideas about identity and shared experience. Hanson has based these works on the excellently flamboyant sisters Annette Cohn and Florine Falk, longtime volunteers at BAM and a lot of fun to have at art openings. Through Oct 14.

BURKE MUSEUM

University of Washington, 543-5590

THE ENDURANCE: SHACKLETON'S LEGENDARY ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

The adventure story that should have ended adventure travel forever: Ernest Shackleton's ship was trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea, and he and his crew survived two polar winters (freezing cold and night all the time) and a rescue mission in a tiny open boat. The miracle? No one died. Makes you feel kind of wimpy, eh? This is the exhibition that opened at the Museum of Natural History in New York--stark, amazing photographs, plus film footage and journal excerpts. Through Dec 31.

CENTER ON CONTEMPORARY ART (CoCA)

410 Terry Ave N (inside Consolidated Works), 728-1980

NORTHWEST ANNUAL 2001

The show the provides the grist for the yearly gripe-fest. Come see what Michael Sweney (director of the Charles Cowles Gallery in New York) thinks is the best we have to offer. Through July 31.

FRYE ART MUSEUM

704 Terry Ave, 622-9250

TREASURES TO GO: SCENES OF AMERICAN LIFE

Selections from the Smithsonian's American art collection, on tour while the D.C. museum undergoes renovation. This is the only West Coast venue for the traveling show, which includes 500 works by artists such as Edward Hopper, Paul Cadmus, Reginald Marsh, and our own Jacob Lawrence. Through Sept 9.

HENRY ART GALLERY

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

ALEXIS ROCKMAN: FUTURE EVOLUTION

What happens when the natural is subject to continual and careless tinkering? New York artist Rockman puts genetic engineering in the crosshairs, and his aim is dead-on. Part meticulous Audubon illustration, part horror show, these paintings show us what kinds of flora and fauna might evolve (and therefore survive) in the terribly compromised circumstances we're creating on Earth. Through August 19.

* SHORT STORIES

A series of rotating exhibitions that includes work from the permanent collection commissioned projects, and installations. Over the course of the next year, the North Galleries will feature art by Ernesto Neto, George Stoll, Chris Finley, and other recognized and under-known artists. Through May 12, 2002.

* SUMMER OF SOUND

The focus here is on sound art, and the centerpiece is Volume: Bed of Sound, an exhibition that comes to us from P.S. 1 in New York. It's a huge futon with 58 listening stations, each of which features audio work from artists all along the sound art continuum, from Vito Acconci to Laurie Anderson to Sonic Youth. In addition to the big lie-down, there's art from two of my personal favorite local artists, Susan Robb and Jesse Paul Miller, both of whom investigate, in different ways, the sounds that objects we think are inanimate make. AND Rodney Graham's Listening Lounge AND Bill Fontana's Spatial Concept/Sound. See Stranger Suggests. Opening party Fri July 13, 6-9 pm. Through Sept 30.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

100 University St, 654-3100

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR

Works that feature a lone figure, with contributions from Chuck Close, Catherine Opie, and Anselm Kiefer (from the museum's permanent collection) as well as John Currin and Francesco Clemente (on loan). Neat idea. Through Jan 2.

SEWN

Sculpture by six local artists (Rachel Brumer, David Chatt, Alison Gates, Wendy Hanson, Sara Lanzillotta, and Keith Yurdana) who work with textiles and sewing. Through July 22.

TREASURES FROM A LOST CIVILIZATION: ANCIENT CHINESE ART FROM SICHUAN

These are wondrous, mysterious pieces--weapons, totems, vessels--the uses for which are still mostly unknown. The show is the culmination of five years' work by Jay Xu, SAM's Foster Foundation Curator of Chinese Art, and is the first large-scale U.S. exhibition of the archaeological finds (it goes on to the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas and the Metropolitan in New York). The patient anthropological guesswork goes on. Through Aug 12.

WRIGHT EXHIBITION SPACE

407 Dexter Ave N, 264-8200

* THE WRIGHT COLLECTION

Robin Wright Moll has selected works from all her family members' collections to ruminate on the idea of the Duchampian destabilization of art. Some of the high points include Andy Warhol's Oxidation (in which unspecified persons urinated on a canvas covered in metallic paint), an enormous Sol LeWitt wall drawing, and a set of Carlos Mollura's plastic pillows. Through August 11.

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

ANN FERNALD BORWICK

Sculpture about home and community. Opening reception Sat July 14, 7 pm. Victrola Coffee and Art, 411 15th Ave E, 325-6520. Through July 31.

DEAN KARR, YUMIKO KAYUKAWA

Kayukawa's illustrations blend pop-Japanese culture with traditional Japanese style (get ready for Superflat!). Karr shows rock photography from this last decade. Opening reception Fri July 13, 6-10 pm. Roq la Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through Aug 10.

JEFF MIHALYO

New work from Mihalyo, a solid figurative painter. Opening reception Sat July 14, 7-10 pm. Black Lab Gallery, 5208 Ballard Ave NW, 781-2392. Through Aug 9.

CHRIS THOMPSON

Dark, dark humor. In Thompson's paintings, a lighter moment might be a Twinkie barbecue. Opening reception Fri July 13, 7-11 pm. Vital 5 Productions, 2200 Westlake Ave, 254-0475. Through Aug 8.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

LARRY BEMM

Bemm's signature paintings: bright, free-floating, abstract. Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through July 18.

BENEATH THE SURFACE

Also known as the Sixth Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition--juried this year by Chien-Chi Chang of Magnum Photos. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Aug 14.

BOX

This show features work about "box" in every sense of the word; curated by Kathleen McKeever. Art/Not Terminal Gallery, 2045 Westlake Ave, 233-0680. Through Aug 2.

WELDON BUTLER

Prints, drawings, and projects in Butler's aptly named new space. Visual Abstractions, 1130 34th Ave. Through July 28.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

A stable of Butterfield's famous and imposing horses, cast from found wood and metals, some cast in bronze. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Sept 1.

DECEIT OF THE INTELLECT

An exhibition featuring work from all over the world on one subject: portraiture. Benham Photography, 1216 First Ave, 622-6383. Through July 27.

DOG IS GOD SPELLED BACKWARDS

Dog photography! G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson St, Suite 200, 587-4033. Through Aug 31.

MAR GORMAN, SPIKE MAFFORD

Through a disciplined regimen of drawing every day, Gorman created the two series on exhibition. One is a kind of log of images, and the other features fetish-type dolls with a distinct Day of the Dead feel. Mafford shows interior and landscape photography from his travels around the world, with a mural-sized projection on the outside of the gallery. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through Aug 5.

MORRIS GRAVES MEMORIAL EXHIBITIONS

There are three, so far. One at the Henry Art Gallery (15th Ave NE and NE 41st, through Aug 12); one at SAM (First and University, through October 20, 2002); and one at Woodside/Braseth (1533 Ninth Ave, 622-7243, through July 20). If you didn't know anything about his work, now you have no excuse.

* WENDY HANSON

A window installation by Hanson, whose work is featured in SAM's Sewn show. Entitled Horn of Plenty--Memorial for a Weary Economy, this work uses discarded clothing and thread to meditate on things lost and changed. SAM Rental Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3183. Through July 15.

* JENNIFER HEISHMAN

Don't underestimate Heishman's ability to radically change a space you thought you knew. In The Big Picture, she does so with strips of vinyl and colored stickers. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, room 200, 296-7580. Through July 27.

* MARY HENRY

The summer of Mary continues. Check out the painting in the gallery window--coolness itself. See the Bellevue Art Museum listing above for more information and another exhibition. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 155 S Main St, 667-9572. Through July 29.

* JAMES LAVADOUR

Hallucinatory landscape painting that is anything but static. Somehow Lavadour manages to produce work that is both photographic and surreal. Trust me. Grover/Thurston Gallery, 309 Occidental Ave S, 223-0816. Through Aug 11.

RICHARD MARQUIS

In a show called Whole Elk Theory, Marquis creates assemblages of glass and pop-icon elements that are a few steps removed from the technique-obsessed glass you usually see around town. Elliott Brown Gallery, 215 Westlake Ave N, 340-8000. Through July 28.

CHRIS McMULLEN

Big kinetic sculpture, powered by a V-8 motor. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880. Through July 26

* JESSE PAUL MILLER

Miller is unmatched in making something out of nothing--whether its discarded technology, other people's photographs, his own drawings and paintings, even leftover food. He's one of those people who thinks in all directions at once, but usually makes perfect sense--if you are open to it. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through July 28.

YUNHEE MIN

Min's paintings explore space through color--a kind of subtle mindfuck of slight variations in tone and unexpectedly shaped canvases. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through July 21.

THOMAS MÜLLER

New sculpture in a show called Savannah. Timothy B. McCormack Gallery, 1000 Union St, #315, 381-8888 (by appointment only). Through July 16.

* BRIAN MURPHY, AYUMI HORIE

Watercolor may be the most dissed of media, but Murphy takes it and makes it new, with large-scale self-portraits that are fleshy and disembodied and bleed off into nothingness. Since Horie's deceptively pillowy sculptures in the UW MFA show last year, we've been anxiously awaiting her first solo show; here it is. Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through July 28.

* NEW DIRECTIONS IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Hooray! The big pictures are here! This nod to the newest trend in photography is an opportunity for us to see work by Shirin Neshat--who makes those gorgeous black and white films about Muslim women--Candida Höfer, Vik Muniz, Paul Seawright, and Seton Smith. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through Aug 18.

RENE PENA

Cuban artist Pena has "wrapped" this gorgeous space with his photographic installation, Manmade Materials. Suyama Space, 2324 Second Ave, 256-0809. Through Aug 24.

PHENOMANON

Guerrilla art from the past 20 years. Independent Media Center, 1415 Third Ave, 262-0721. Through July 31.

REX RAY

Abstract, organic, and stylish collages by San Francisco artist and designer Ray. Velocity Art and Design, 2206 Queen Anne Ave N, #201, 781-9494. Through Aug 15.

JACK SHIELDS

Painting, sculpture, and photographs with an interior/exterior house and garden theme. Shown with the New York-based Visual AIDS traveling lightbox show. Artemis Gallery, 1400 31st Ave S, 323-0562. Through July 31.

* SOURCE

What loosely ties this show together is a sense of the image in space--its authority, density, and delicacy--approached by four very different artists. With video projected on and through drywall by Rachel Johnston; deceptively sturdy porcelain furniture by Sarah Lindley; buildings made of paper by Carrie Scanga; and antique glass objects re-thought in plastic by Norwood Viviano. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 1205 E Pike, 264-8061. Through July 29.

FRED STONEHOUSE

Innocent-seeming images twisted into the kind of sly menace of carnival side-show posters. Eyre/Moore Gallery, 913 Western Ave, 624-5596. Through July 28.

SURROGATES

Paintings with dolls, puppets, and toys from artists including Marion Peck, David Laurence, and Angela Anderson. SAM Rental Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3240. Through July 21.

KATHLEEN SWEENEY

As part of 911's Reel Grrls program, Sweeney--an award-winning New York video artist--created Maiden USA in collaboration with 20 teenage girls. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave N, 682-6552. Through July 22.

GRAHAM SYED

New gallery! Featuring Syed's photographs of the Oregon Coast. Kalo Gallery, 214 First Ave S, lower level, 781-7786. Through Aug 31.

JOHN TAYLOR

For his sculptures of ships, Taylor uses photographs of real vessels as inspiration and then interprets the image in found materials. New location! Garde Rail Gallery, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 760-3720. Through July 31.

EVENTS

* THE LIVING TREASURES PROJECT

A screening of two videos from an ongoing project to document the lives of the Northwest's master craftsmen (and women). The subjects on this particular night are the late ceramic artist Robert Sperry and jeweler Ramona Solberg, both of whom have not only reached a high level of achievement but also have taught and influenced countless artists working today. You might not love their work--the emphasis here is on artisans and crafts, rather than what we typically think of as fine arts--but they are artists we should know about, people who have spent a lifetime in pursuit of something beyond the usual. Solberg is especially engaging, a Julia Child-like presence of humor and smarts. Tues July 17 at Bellevue Regional Library, 1111 110th Ave NE, Meeting Room 1, 6:30 pm. Call Susan Purves at 324-3719 for info.