BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM
510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, (425) 454-3322
* SHAPING STORIES
An odd and oddly beautiful little show about narrative, with work by some good local artists (R. Eugene Parnell, Phil Roach) and some tremendously good artists from elsewhere (Paul Pfieffer, Bill Viola), and a brand-new installation from the Typing Explosion. Through March 10.
* ROGER SHIMOMURA: AN AMERICAN DIARY
The subject of the World War II-era internment of Japanese Americans is one that Shimomura has visited time and time again. In An American Diary, and another series, Memories of Childhood, he discards his references to traditional Japanese prints and opts for a comic-book format that is at the same time more accessible and more eerie. Through March 24. A selection of newer works will be shown through March 10.
HENRY ART GALLERY
15th Ave NE at NE 41st St, 543-2280
* JEFFRY MITCHELL: HANABUKI
In Hanabuki, ideas abound: contemplation vs. participation, fragments vs. whole, East vs. West, puns, bears, movement. It's a two-level installation loosely tied to ideas of heaven and earth, with a fur-lined cave below and clean white ikebana above. Through Jan 6.
* SHORT STORIES
A series of staggered rotating exhibitions that includes work from the Henry's permanent collection, commissioned projects, and installations. Work currently featured includes photographed drawings in sugar, chocolate, and dirt by Vik Muniz. Through May 12.
* SUPERFLAT
Contemporary Japanese art in the pop art vein, from work influenced by comics culture (manga and anime) to erotic doodles and weirdly blank photography. Through March 3.
WING LUKE ASIAN MUSEUM
407 Seventh Ave S, 623-5124
IF TIRED HANDS COULD TALK: STORIES OF ASIAN GARMENT WORKERS
Tired hands can't talk, but a series of videos, oral history interviews, and an installation re-creating the working conditions of Asian immigrant workers can. Through Feb 2002.
WRIGHT EXHIBITION SPACE
407 Dexter Ave N, 264-8200
A CELEBRATION OF ABSTRACT ART
From the Wrights' collection, with work by Sol Le Witt, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Gerhard Richter, and others. Ongoing run.
OPENING EXHIBITONS
CRAIG POZZI
Reflections on the bounty, excess, and capitalistic scourge of the American mall. Opening reception Tues Dec 18, 6-8 pm. The Little Theatre Gallery, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055. Through Jan 26.
JUNIPER SHUEY
This boy gets around (SOIL, ConWorks, Sand Point)--and he's only just finished his BFA at UW!--but that's not the reason to keep an eye on him. Here, he shows documentation of his performances, which seem at times designed for maximum discomfort, both for artist and audience. Opening reception Thurs Dec 13, 8-10 pm. Nation Gallery, 1921 Fifth Ave, 374-9492. Through Jan 6.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
* IOLE ALESSANDRINI
Alessandrini is 911 Media Arts Center's current Artist in Residence, and her stay culminates in an installation in First Christian Church's sanctuary. Known for installations that create light fields in odd places, Alessandrini here concentrates on the equation of light and revelation. First Christian Church, 1632 Broadway. Call 682-6552 for viewing hours. Through Dec 15.
* GARTH AMUNDSON
In this window installation are a couple of dozen cameras outfitted with hand-sewn plastic-bottle lenses--some more emphatically telephoto than others, if you get my drift. The prevailing idea here is how lenses distort vision, how vision distorts reality, and how debatable reality actually is. It's a bit tantalizingly painful that none of the resultant photographs are shown; the imagination reels. Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 748-9282. Through Jan 7.
LISA BUCHANAN
Buchanan's paintings are both patterned and chaotic, giving the unusual impression of movement and stillness at the same time. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 155 S Main St, 667-9572. Through Dec 22.
* THE BUNNY CHRONICLES
Hooray! It's back! Don't miss Tomiko Jones' adventures of the lonely, angry, wistful bunny-girl. Glazer's Camera Rental & Lighting, 517 Dexter Ave N, 233-0211. Through Jan 12.
COLOR
Artists who... use it. A rotating exhibit with Rich Morhous, Jan Erion, Fulgencio Lazo Amaya, Joe Max Emminger, Ben Darby, Matthew Dennison, and Lois Silver. Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, suite 140, 654-3240. Through Jan 5.
MARK DITZLER, BILL AND DONITA DAVIES, DEBORAH BIGELOW-JOHNSON
Glass and more glass. Columbia City Gallery, 4916 Rainier Ave S, 760-9843. Through Jan 15.
ELLIOT ERWITT
Erwitt's photographs fall into that interesting space between art and kitsch: They're so familiar that they seem like advertisements for themselves. You'll recognize many of the images by this Magnum photographer. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Dec 21.
FAMILIAR
I have no idea what this show is about, and there was another Familiar about a month ago--no relation, I think. Intriguing manifesto, though, including the sincere sentiment, "Our hypocrisy doesn't escape us (often)." What the hell--try it out. Cut Kulture Gallery, 2018 First Ave, 374-8753. Through Dec 15.
DONALD FELS
Audio memoirs of growing up with plywood, plus a big ol' installation. Jack Straw Productions, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE, 634-0919. Through Feb 28.
SIMONA FOGGITT
New mixed-media works with lots of newspaper. Nico Gallery, 619 Western Ave, 2nd floor, 264-1710. Through Feb 2.
ANNIE GRGICH
Twelve years of Grgich's work--intensely layered, intensely personal--which has its roots in the punk scenes and zines of Portland and San Francisco. Garde Rail Gallery, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 721-0107. Through Jan 26.
GARY GRENELL
Photographs of a specific ecosystem: the people of Green Lake. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, 296-7580. Through Dec 28.
ELIZABETH HAIDLE
New work from the artist who created the cover of Stone Gossard's new CD. Victrola, 411 15th Ave E, 325-6520. Through Dec 31.
GAYLEN HANSEN
New work by the renowned Eastern Washington painter. Linda Hodges Gallery, 316 First Ave S, 624-3034. Through Dec 22.
DEBORAH HORRELL
An exploration of vessels as metaphors. Elliott Brown Gallery, 215 Westlake Ave N, 340-8000. Through Jan 26.
IT'S JUST LIKE THE MOVIES
Except when it isn't. Reactions to 9/11. Li'l Red Shack Gallery, 1020 First Ave S, 621-7807. Through Feb 3.
MICHAEL KENNA, RUTH BERNHARD
Bodies, landscapes, and landscape-bodies. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson St, #200, 587-4033. Through Dec 31.
DIANN KNEZOVICH
New spaces created by altering photographs of architectural and landscape elements. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through Jan 13.
* KUSTOM PURSE
Retail: the new future of art galleries. This show, curated by artist Elizabeth Jameson, features purses created by 30 of my favorite artists. These are not your average accessories: prepare to have your mind bent, at least a little. Kuhlman Clothing, 2419 First Ave, 441-1999. Through Dec 31.
LOOK
All right, strictly speaking it's a store and not an exhibition. But we could argue semantics all day. This is former gallery owner Linda Farris' holiday enterprise, and it's a very, very dangerous place--filled with the newest, hippest art, clothing, and beautifully designed objects. Linda Farris LOOK, 3425 E Denny Way, 322-0994. Through Dec 30.
* NIKKI McCLURE AND BEATRICE CORON
See Stranger Suggests. If you've never seen McClure's intricate cut-paper works, I implore you, once again, to go. Here, she's also showing two books that she collaborated on with Coron, mailing them back and forth between coasts, building on each other's work. Wessel and Leiberman Booksellers, 208 First Ave S, 682-3545. Through Jan 31.
DEBORAH MERSKY
Clay block prints that recall a more restrictive time--Victorian, maybe, definitely pre-genome--when nature meant something else entirely, a kind of snaky other relegated to patterns on the sofa. Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through Dec 29.
JOE H. MOORE
Photographs taken with thrift-store cameras. The Little Theatre Gallery, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055. Through Dec 15.
ERIN NORLIN
New design and illustration in Ptolomy's Girlfriend. Chrissa's Wine Bar, 1013 E Pike St, 726-3422. Through Dec 16.
FRANK OKADA
An exhibition of the works remaining in Okada's estate when he died last year. His last works combine the strictness of geometric abstraction with a detailed brushwork and attention to paint-handling that brings them to life. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Feb 2.
CHRISTOPHER PALMS
Photographs from over 15 years of shooting. KALO Gallery, 214 First Ave S, #B8, 781-7786. Through Jan 27.
BERKELEY PARKS
A window installation that meditates on guns--called, appropriately, Going Ballistic. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave N, 682-6552. Through Dec 15.
* PAUSE
A sound and video installation by Heather Dew Oaksen and Norie Sato, who investigated through film simultaneous 10-second pockets of time at opposite ends of the world. Suyama Space, 2324 Second Ave, 256-0809. Through Jan 4.
THE POUND GALLERY ART AND GIFT SHOW
Best Christmas shopping around! The Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through Dec 23.
* MICHAEL SCHULTHEIS
In White Matrix, Schultheis continues his visual exploration of mathematics. Patricia Cameron Fine Art, 108 S Jackson St, #207, 343-9647. Through Dec 20.
SEATTLE COLLECTS 2001
The Seattle Arts Commission's Seattle Collects program acquires work for the city's portable works collection. This year's honorees are Jennifer Dixon, Dai Giang, Tom Hall, Mary Iverson, Joel Lee, Victoria Haven, Blake Haygood, and Glenn Rudolph. The Gallery, Key Tower Building (Cherry St and Fifth Ave), 3rd floor, 684-7312. Through Jan 11.
* SHOPPING
In the spirit of the holidays, an oblique take on stuff and its acquisition. With work by Christian French, Dylan Neuwirth, and Jennifer McNeely, all three of whose work incorporates the double take, the huh?, the slippery wicket. (Also featured: Rich American Brand, Christine Taylor, P.A.N.-Lab Industries, and not bad for a girl productions.) Reception Sat Dec 15, 5-10 pm. Vital 5 Productions, 2200 Westlake Ave, 254-0475. Through Dec 23.
TAMMY SPEARS
One-a-day paintings from her father's history with cancer. Artemis Gallery, 3107 S Day St, 323-0562. Through Dec 29.
STEPPING FROM THE SHADOWS
IMC's latest art venture brings graffiti artists from around the country inside--with works on canvas and installation projects by PARS (of the sad children in the scary and carnivorous urban landscapes), Cause-B (of the revolutionary heroes and sexy kittens), and Amir H. Fallah (a writer whose graffiti is in Farsi), among others. Independent Media Center Gallery, 1415 Third Ave, 262-0721. Through Jan 31.
STEPHEN STOLEE
Photographs of random street graphics. Zeitgeist, 171 S Jackson St, 583-0497. Through Jan 2.
* TRANSMOGRIFIED
Other curators have meditated on the intersection of science and art, the Benjamin-esque implications of mechanical reproduction, and the through-the-looking-glass world of things that were formerly too small (or too hidden) to see. Here is Jim Harris' take, with the work of four exceptional Seattle artists (Claire Cowie, Patrick Holderfield, Susan Robb, and Ephraim Russell) and Stephanie Syjuco from San Francisco. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Jan 19 (closed Dec 16 through Jan 3).
THOMAS WORKMAN
New encaustic paintings, asymmetrically patterned. Lisa Harris Gallery, 1922 Pike Place, 443-3315. Through Dec 30.
* PATTI WARASHINA
This is Warashina's first solo show in Seattle in a decade; here, she focuses on the human body as seen in ancient history with sculptures that create a point on a visual timeline. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Jan 2.
EVENTS
HATCH SHOW PRINTS
A lecture and party with Jim Sherraden, artist-in-residence at Nashville's century-old Hatch Show Prints. You know what these are--the Grand Ol' Opry-style posters of yore, now a cultural mine for graphic design and advertising. Presented by the Seattle Chapter of AIGA on Thurs Dec 13 at the Showbox Theater (1426 First Ave, 628-3151). The lecture begins at 6:30 pm; party and book signing at 8 pm. For ticket information call 362-4007.
* MARK RYDEN
Have you seen Ryden's gorgeous new book, Anima Mundi? His work mines the world of preciousness and quote-unquote enchantment to tremendously creepy effect. He'll be signing copies on Sat Dec 15 at 4 pm at Roq La Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977.
* MICHAEL LEAVITT
Contraptions and otherwise interactive art like the Piano Massager, the Finger Puppet Beat Street, and the Improvisation Station will be featured, along with Leavitt's artist trading cards. Tues Dec 18, Pike Place Market Theater, 5-midnight. For more information call 568-8292.
