CONSOLIDATED WORKS

410 Terry Ave N, 381-3218.

*IMAGINED LANDSCAPES

Curator Meg Shiffler's take on the imagined landscape incorporates the language of dreams--fantasy, aspirations, and escapism--to explore the idea of space, both real and inner. Featured artists include Henry Darger, the late outsider artist whose fascination with little girls is still seen as both heroic and creepy, and Mariko Mori, whose video Kumano is the centerpiece of this smart, dreamy exhibition. Through Dec 17.

HENRY ART GALLERY

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

BEYOND NOVELTY: NEW DIGITAL IMAGERY

An interesting little one-room show featuring artists who work with digitally manipulated images, some of them quite stunning. This is the logical extension to the question that photography poses about truth-telling, and about trusting what you see. Through Feb 4.

*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 Dec 31.

GRAPHIC DESIGN IN THE MECHANICAL AGE: SELECTIONS FROM THE MERRILL C. BERMAN COLLECTION

Covering the years around and between the World Wars, a time when design as we know it was born and really began to influence the way important information was seen; the styles that developed during that period still have currency today. Everything--the posters, the books, the ephemera--seems so elegant, and so powerful. Through Feb 18.

*UTA BARTH: IN BETWEEN PLACES

Barth is the best thing ever to happen to the still life. She returned the truth to the phrase, highlighting both stillness and life in her photographs of the places people tend to ignore. Corners, door frames, fields, light moving across the floor--these peripheral areas are events in Barth's eye. This, the first museum survey of her work, features photographs from her famously blurred series Ground and Field, as well as her latest projects, nowhere near and ...and of time. Through Jan 21. See review this issue.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

100 University St, 654-3100.

CREATING PERFECTION: SHAKER OBJECTS AND THEIR AFFINITIES

An exhibition examining the Shaker culture through its furniture, textiles, and tools, as well as photographs, prints, and drawings. A selection of non-Shaker objects shows the influences absorbed, and rejected, by this simplicity-embracing group; an adjacent display of modern works traces a similarly strict formalism that artists use to create structure in the chaotic modern world. Through April 29.

*LANGUAGE LET LOOSE

A tiny little exhibition on the incorporation of text into the visual world. The show's centerpiece is Gary Hill's video installation House of Cards; 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.

GINNY RUFFNER: MIND GARDEN

As part of the Documents Northwest/PONCHO Series, Ruffner has transformed a gallery into a metaphorical map of the brain, using dried rose petals, steel, and glass. Through Feb 25.

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, Tacoma, 253-272-4258.

CLEARLY BRILLIANT: A DECADE OF PILCHUCK GLASS SCHOOL'S EMERGING ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

There's some work here that might make the argument that this medium has moved beyond the Studio Glass movement dullness: Lise Autogena's bolted spine, Mitchell Gaudet's fetishistic objects (his chandelier-type sculpture of repeating Christ figures hangs at Lead Gallery, right over the wine bar), and Deborah Dohne's neon-adorned engine. Through Jan 1.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE: NORTHWEST JEWELRY AND ETHNOGRAPHIC OBJECTS

This show, presented in conjunction with Metal-Urge, Tacoma's citywide celebration of metal arts, pairs the work of Northwest jewelers with the objects that inspire them. Through Jan 1.

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC, 604-662-4700.

PICTURES, POSITIONS AND PLACES

The idea of place continues to fascinate artists, no matter how much it's been done, and done, and done. This exhibition explores that idea using work that's mostly photography, video, and installation, and draws from the gallery's permanent collection. The show includes work by major Canadian artists such as Stan Douglas and Jeff Wall. Through Feb 18.

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, including the photography of Frank Matsura and 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 devoted one gallery entirely to their great collection of '60s and '70s color field paintings, and introduced 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

CHARLES PETERSON

New photographs from Vietnam, by the photographer best known for his local music-scene images. Opening reception Tues Nov 28, 6-9 pm (catered by Monsoon!). Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055. Through mid-January.

SKIN

Fine art by tattoo artists: A simple change of substrate, or another animal altogether? Opening reception Thurs Nov 30, 6-9 pm. Mary Vitold Gallery, 110 S Washington St, 624-9336. Through Dec 5.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

LINDSEY ADELMAN, JAMES DYKES

Art for the new age, on either end of the technological continuum: Adelman creates "drawings" out of hair bent, curved, and twisted into patterns and taped to white paper; Dykes creates digital photo montages, making narrative as flexible and manipulatable as imagination allows. Houston, 907 E Pike St, 860-7820. Through Dec 2.

NICOLAS AFRICANO

New painting and sculpture from Africano, who reaches back to the spare style and high sheen of Greek statues, and then (it seems) can't resist the postmodern twist. His figures always seem rather lost in time. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through Jan 10.

STEFANIE ASHBY-DIRICCO

These installations are always worth a look, and another look. Ashby-DiRicco uses string and wood to great effect, whether she's filling the room or redefining a corner. Oculus Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 366-2108. Through Dec 2.

AS YET UNTITLED

New work by Jeff Miller, Margaret Meehan, Noah Simblist, and Sean Vale, plus architectural proposals for their new gallery. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 12th and Pike, 264-8061. Through Nov 26.

*LYNDA BENGLIS

Lynda Benglis was among the forward-thinking process artists of the late '60s, and was a bit of a feminist provocateur as well. Her work always insists on its own physicality, from her famous Adhesive Products (polyurethane poured over wire armatures and mounted to the wall, looking like nothing so much as giant crustaceans trying to burrow through to the other side) to her current work. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 155 S Main St, 667-9572. Through Dec 2.

DECOYS: CONTEMPORARY WOOD CARVING

Twelve artists' takes on one of the oldest of artistic traditions. The group includes John Buck and Dan Webb, both of whose work acknowledges the craft of woodcarving without being utterly beholden to it. Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N Warner, Tacoma, 253-879-2806. Through Nov 26.

CHRISTEL DILLBOHNER

Two installations in two spaces by Dillbohner, who has been working and showing internationally in this genre since the '70s. At Suyama Space (2324 Second Ave, 256-0809, through Jan 19), About Sippwells and Other Places is an earthy reconstruction of the process of imagination and drawing on the unconscious; Sedimentation, at Eyre/Moore (913 Western Ave, 624-5596, through Dec 2), explores landscape and time (geologic time, that is).

DITTO: THE REPEATED GESTURE

Susan Dory, Richard Hutter, and Jaq Chartier, among others, explore ideas of repetition and patterning. The gallery window contains an installation by Kamla Kakaria, and features a series of paper casts. Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3240. Through Dec 9.

THE ELLWOOD COLLECTION

Works from the collection, donated to WSU, of Sean Ellwood. The show includes pieces by Rauchenberg, Komar, and Melamid (the court jesters of contemporary art), and local artists Jeffry Mitchell, Fay Jones, and Michael Spafford. Bank of America Gallery, 701 Fifth Ave, Third Floor, 585-3200. Through Dec 15.

ELLEN FORNEY

Posters by The Stranger's own cartoonist and documentarian of the strange and underground. Glo's Diner, 1621 E Olive Way, 324-2577. Through Jan 6.

SALLY GALL, LEN JENSHEL, & DIANE COOK

Photographic images of water--with an emphasis on bodies in relation to it--by three artists. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S. Jackson St, 587-4033. Through Dec 2.

PAM GAZAL:, EDUARDO CALDER"N

With traditional woodworking tools, Gazalé creates sculpture from blocks of salt; the transformation from something so utilitarian into richly textured objects seems nothing less than miraculous. With Eduardo Calderón's black-and-white photography. Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through Dec 2.

JESSICA GEIGER

Using paper clay, Geiger creates doll-like images of the marginalized and desperate, with a great deal of convincing detail. Trapeze Gallery, 1130 34th Ave, 329-3363. Through Dec 1.

*JOHN GRADE

The artist's explanation for these wood and resin sculptures is that they explore ideas of death and decay. But what Grade does so well is more physical and intuitive than his painstaking art-making implies. The feeling of motion, of a function you can't quite grasp, is what you walk away with. See Bio Box. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684. Through Dec 2.

ANNIE GRGICH

Puzzle paintings, tiny drawings, and Braille books. Garde Rail Gallery, 4750 35th Ave S, 760-3720. Through Nov 29.

JANE HAMMOND

Mixed-media work on panels, paper, and unusually shaped canvases, all of which draw on Hammond's characteristic symbolic (and cryptic) vocabulary. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Dec 2.

*C. BLAKE HAYGOOD

In both sculpture and drypoint, Haygood's machines are inscrutable: vague enough to puzzle, specific enough in their detail to be slightly menacing. Are they obscure, archaic, or imagined? Are they toys? Instruments of torture? Few artists so deftly mix charm and fear. Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through Dec 2.

FAY JONES

A series of watercolors based on Goya's allegorical Caprichos by this popular artist. Grover/Thurston Gallery, 309 Occidental Ave S, 223-0816. Through Dec 15.

PETER KALBFLEISCH

With reassembled cameras and from unusual perspectives (including through a broken 25-cents-a-minute telescope), Kalbfleisch re-sees familiar territory. His photographs of the shipping cranes on Harbor Island are beautiful, jarring, and displayed with the camera that created them. FotoCircle Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 624-2645. Through Dec 2.

*LOOK BOTH WAYS

The Fuzzy Engine folks are back, this time exploring themes of safety and the ways we've chosen to insulate ourselves from danger. The works include a loaded gun encased in cement, and "unsafe toilet paper." Fuzzy Engine, 2801 NW Market St, 720-1767. Through Jan 7.

MIKE MACDONALD

Two video installations, entitled Medicine Tent and Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly. Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art, Daybreak Star Arts Center, Discovery Park, 285-4425. Through Dec 31.

SULTAN MOHAMED

The Ethiopian-born, Seattle-residing Mohamed investigates living between two cultures in his paintings, which are inspired by Ethiopian frescoes and panel painting. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Room 200, 296-7580. Through Dec 1.

MULTIPLE EXPOSURE

This group show celebrating Lipstick Traces' one-year anniversary asks the question: "Is photography art?" Lipstick Traces, 500 E Pine, 329-2813. Through Nov 30.

EUGENE PARNELL, SARA EGERER, JENNIFER ADAMS

The main draw here is in the small video room in back: a CD-ROM by Parnell called Lost Naturalists of the Pacific, a self-conscious electronic narrative examining issues of exoticism and authenticity. In the front gallery, photography by Adams and Egerer. Commencement Art Gallery, 902 Commerce St, Tacoma, 253-591-5341. Through Dec 21.

VICTORIA RENARD

Stranger photographer Renard displays her "low-fi, sci-fi sexploitation and calendar girls," plus a couple of rock and roll shots "for the kids." Fallout Records, 1506 E Olive Way, 323-2662. Through Dec 1.

SHRINKY-DINKS

In praise of working small, very small. This popular show very nearly sold out last year, and this year's list of participating artists is long and glamorous: Robert Yoder, Jeffry Mitchell, James Jaxxa, Claudia Fitch, Ken Kelly, Leslie Clague, Laura Cronin... and on and on. Zeitgeist, 171 S Jackson St, 583-0497. Through Dec 1.

*GARY SMOOT

An installation of pure silliness tinged with sadness--a roomful of balloon dachshunds floating and gradually deflating. Opening night was a performance in which the freshly inflated dogs were set to roam in an artificial sky; the rest of the month will feature documentation of and debris from the event. Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through Nov 26.

STEPHANIE SYJUCO

If you didn't already know that the most surreal landscapes are found in offices, now you do. Syjuco re-creates--not quite faithfully--office furniture and objects, and through them raises questions about appearance and use, looking and seeing. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Dec 2.

*DAN WEBB

There's a lot of bravado in Webb's work--his sculptures have both weight and polish, so that it's odd to think of them hewn from wood. Appropriately enough, this show explores themes of exterior strategy--veiling and protection, visible and not--including an entire suit of armor fashioned from duct tape. See Stranger Suggests. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Nov 25.

*JENNIFER WEST

In a version of the Skin So Thick series that West showed earlier this year at Tacoma's Commencement Gallery, five video screens show a colony of coils pushing their way through a layer of latex. The 911 storefront can't possibly be as satisfying as one of her walk-through installations, but even held at arm's length her work's visual puzzles are worth a second and third look. Runs from about 9 pm every night through dawn. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave N, 682-6552. Through Dec 17.