Detail of Kick Ass by Robert Hardgrave.

Detail of Kick Ass by Robert Hardgrave. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND CULLOM GALLERY

At the big local show responding to the big Seattle Art Fair earlier this month, there was a big work of art named Kick Ass. Just like it sounded, it was ambitious; it stretched 12 feet long and stood 6 feet tall, swallowing an entire wall. But it was also attractively subtle. It was a picture of various things, but you couldn’t quite make out what they were, or how exactly they appeared there. It was like an archaeological discovery. The medium, listed on the wall label, was “collage, toner transfer on panel.”

This did not answer many questions…

Jen Graves (The Stranger’s former arts critic) mostly writes about things you approach with your eyeballs. But she’s also a history nerd interested in anything that needs more talking about, from male...