BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM
510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, 425-519-0770.
LEO SAUL BERK
Opening. Bellevue Art Museum’s library space hosts Nest, a small-budget installation series that asks artists to convert the area into an “ideal living room.” This installment reveals Berk’s wood-worn vision. Opening reception Thurs July 17, 6-8 pm. Through Sept 7.
CENTER ON CONTEMPORARY ART
1420 11th Ave, 728-1980.
PILCHUCK GLASS SCHOOL EXHIBITION
Final week. “Pilchuck artists manage to think around the school’s infamous founder with the ugly-duckling quality of Stuart Keeler’s stacked pile of wood pallets topped with a cast-glass pallet. A series of glass bells by Timothy Ringsmuth contain memento-mori-style hair sculptures, twisted into loosely botanical shapes, and Mark Zirpel’s sculpture fills a set of rubber lungs inside a delicately notched glass container. ” (Emily Hall) Through July 18.
HENRY ART GALLERY
15th Ave NE & NE 41st St, 543-2280.
* CLAIRE COWIE
Exhausted by the barrage of adoring fans at her private studio, Cowie takes it to the people with a residency at the Henry. This means you get the chance to watch her new work from conception to completion. Through Sept 28.
CROSSCURRENTS AT CENTURY’S END
Premiering its national tour in our little corner of America, the Crosscurrents exhibition milks the Neuberger Berman collection for a look at emerging and contemporary figures in photography and painting, including James Casebere, Vic Muniz, Mary Heilman, and Ingrid Calame. Through Sept 21.
TOM KNECHTEL
The claustrophobic works of Los Angeles’ Knechtel, in a career retrospective titled On Wanting to Grow Horns. Through Sept 21.
* JAMES TURRELL
Finally premiering the long-awaited skyspace addition to the Henry, Turrell continues his current exhibitions of new light installations, with models and drawings from his literally monumental Roden Crater–a volcano in Arizona he is resculpting in order to, in his words, “reshape the sky.” Through Oct 5.
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
100 University St, 654-3100.
* CHARLES LeDRAY
“LeDray flirts with a number of what could broadly be called themes: the miniature, the multiple, sewn objects, objects made from unusual materials. What it adds up to, while elusive, is a sense of being off-kilter, of proportions gone awry, of instability among familiar-seeming things. “ (Emily Hall) Through July 27.
NICOLA VRUWINK
Sculptor Vruwink teases the palette with an array of 70 birthday cakes–one for every year of SAM’s existence–each a specific reference to works in the museum’s collection. Please don’t lick the plaster. Through Aug 24.
PRESTON SINGLETARY
Glass artist Singletary borrows liberally from traditional Native American design for his contemporary works. Through Nov 30.
OPENINGS
COLE CASE, SEAN DUFFY
See Stranger Suggests. Opening reception Sat July 19, 6-8 pm. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Aug 23.
PRESSURE
The usual suspects (Sam Trout, WantBuyHave, et al.) come together to welcome the advent of print work in Bluebottle’s retail space with a group show of some unexplained weight. Opening reception Sat July 19, 7-11 pm. Bluebottle Art Gallery, 415 E Pine St, 325-1592. Through Aug 14.
JAVIER LOPEZ ROTELLA, LUIS GONZALEZ PALMA, ARIEL RUIZ I ALTABA
Renowned Guatemalan photographer Palma is joined by Argentinean artist Rotella and molecular-biologist-turned-photographer Altaba for a group show titled Identities. Benham Gallery, 1216 First Ave, 622-2480. Through Aug 30.
SUMMER GROUP SHOW
It’s hot, it’s summer, and it’s time for some group shows, goddammit. Featuring works by Fetherston affiliates like Elizabeth Jameson, Blake Haygood, Deborah Bell, and David Konigsberg. Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through Aug 16.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
14.15 ART
A show dedicated to the wide amalgam of local artists composing 14.15 Art, a group of disparate craftspeople united by the monthly critique they’ve shared for the past nine years. Washington State Convention & Trade Center West Galleria, 800 Convention Pl, 694-5000. Through Sept 28.
DAN AYALA, MARY GROSS
Individual and collaborative paintings. Wallingford Chamber of Commerce, 2100 N 45th St, 632-0645. Through July 31.
* BOOMBOX
“My radio, believe me, I like it loud/I’m the man with a box that can rock the crowd/Walkin’ down the street, to the hardcore beat/While my JVC vibrates the concrete/I’m sorry if you can’t understand/But I need a radio inside my hand/Don’t mean to offend other citizens/But I kick my volume way past 10. ” (LL Cool J) Vera Project, 1916 Fourth Ave, 956-8372. Through July 31.
DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD
Evocative, equine metal constructions. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Aug 2.
KEITH CARTER
Atmospheric photographer Carter presents his latest set–a series titled Dancing Bear and Other Daydreams. G. Gibson Gallery, 514 E Pike St, 587-4033. Through July 26.
FRANKIE CHAN
Poster/comic-book artist Chan adorns the walls of Lipstick Traces with ink and watercolor portraits of Seattle city life. Lipstick Traces, 500 E Pine St, 329-2813. Through July 30.
DARK FAIRYTALES
From manipulative wolves to bloodthirsty witches, fairy tales are undeniably fucked. With the help of such artists as Glenn Barr, Kipling West, Ana Bagayan, and Joe Newton, Roq la Rue explores our history in the macabre with Dark Fairytales. Roq la Rue Gallery, 2316 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through Aug 8.
JESSICA DODGE, YVETTE FRANZ
Allegory for the modern age: Dodge’s oils on glass. With Franz’s Iraqi War reflection, The Link’s Debt to the Chain. Gallery 110, 110 S Washington St, 624-9336. Through July 31.
KAMALA DOLPHIN-KINGSLEY
Worlds dense with dark foliage and crawling with cool critters–like walks through gothic fairy tales. King County Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Suite 200, 296-7580. Through Aug 1.
* LIAM EVERETT
Everett’s beautiful, subdued watercolors are stretched portraits of the impossible–funhouse-mirror contortions of animals and machinery in empty space. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through Aug 3.
TIMOTHY FOSS
With a hodgepodge of vaguely Eastern themes (lotus-petal-shaped ceramics, translucent scroll illustrations, sage, etc.) Foss takes a stab at conceptual unity with Internment. SAW Gallery, 113 12th Ave, 652-5867. Through July 31.
CLINT AND SCOTT GRIFFIN
In the third and final installment of Garde Rail’s great white curatorial series Blame Canada, the Toronto-based brothers Griffin present their photographic paintings and metal assemblages. Garde Rail Gallery, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 721-0107. Through July 26.
* MIRANDA JULY
Reviewed this issue. Tom Landowski Gallery, 403 Cedar St, 448-0284. Through Aug 14.
* SPEAK ‘N’ SPELL
Taking language away from us professionals and putting it in the hands of artists, SOIL and Pound team up to explore the root of all misunderstanding: words. Featuring Sam Trout, Flatchestedmama, Cathy McClure, and others. SOIL, 1317 E Pine St, 264-8061, and Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through July 27.
ASHLEY THORNER
Abstract sculpture the way it should be–big, sparkly, and inflatable, that is. Thorner’s vinyl and plastic works of Hooked on Lemon Drops. Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3240.
* CLAUDE ZERVAS
The false light of fluorescence–more specifically, the fluorescent tubes in scanners–and how that light translates other lights, and becomes a landscape. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Aug 14.