BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM
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.
MEDIA ARTS HISTORIES NORTHWEST: THE BELLEVUE FILM FESTIVAL HISTORY
Timeline, artifacts, and film from the fifteen-year-old festival. Through Sept 23.
* 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
GARY FAIGIN: TRADITION & CONTRADICTION
Kinetic still lifes, billboards, and impossible space in 25 paintings from the co-founder of the Seattle Academy of Fine Art. Through Sept 2.
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. 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, 2002.
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.
WHATCOM MUSEUM
121 Prospect St, Bellingham, 360-676-6981
DONUT SHOP FOUR
The donut shop folks from Portland have taken their concept on the road. Each show is in a different location, a kind of hit-and-run approach that we thoroughly approve of. This show, the fourth, features video, installation, and sculpture by Seoungho Cho, James Hegge, Susan Hornbeak-Ortiz, Michael O'Malley (the UW professor who has created great spatial/sculptural installations), John Torreano, and Cris Moss. Through Aug 19.
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
RAY CAROFANO, HAL GAGE, KEN SMITH
All bases covered this month: Gage photographs the human figure (specifically, his wife's), Carofano turns his attention to landscapes, and Smith's still lifes look like objects from the past. Opening reception next week. Benham Gallery, 1216 First Ave, 622-6383. Through Sept 15.
* PATRICK HOLDERFIELD
In his sculptures--some made of melted plastic toys, others piñatas recreated in archival paper--Holderfield complicates the idea of toys. What are they when degraded, subjected to architecture, to the gallery's white cube? Shown with his layered, sometimes chaotic drawings. Opening reception next week. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Aug 30.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
ASS 'N' TITTIES
Hooray for Houston! The gallery has lasted two whole years in our backwater scene. They're celebrating with big, glossy, sexy photos by Jamil GS; drawings and paintings by REAS. Houston, 907 E Pike St, 860-7820. Through Sept 12.
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.
CAROL BOLT
In Summertime Pop-up, Bolt has created, in the gallery's window, an origami garden that will evolve over the course of the installation. SAM Rental/Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3240. Through Sept 9.
ANN FERNALD BORWICK
Sculpture about home and community. Victrola Coffee and Art, 411 15th Ave E, 325-6520. Through July 31.
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.
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.
ISA D'ARLEANS
New paintings, in a show titled Love, Play, and Enjoy Yourself. Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through Sept 2.
DOG IS GOD SPELLED BACKWARDS
Dog photography! G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson St, Suite 200, 587-4033. Through Aug 31.
ALBERT FISHER
Work from the last 10 years. i Capolavori, 2519 Fifth Ave, 448-2825. Through Sept 9.
FROM SOWETO TO SEATTLE
Contemporary art from South Africa. Mwoyo Arts, 1125 Pike St, 223-0908. Through Aug 26.
* EVA GOODMAN
Eyeballs, ivy, and ice--in an installation by the multi-skilled Goodman, who can blow glass, weld, and cut topiary. Bubba-Mavis Gallery, 1158 Eastlake Ave E, 405-3223 (by appointment). Through Aug 17.
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 two. One at the Henry Art Gallery (15th Ave NE and NE 41st, through Aug 12), and one at SAM (First and University, through October 20, 2002). If you didn't know anything about his work, now you have no excuse.
* 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.
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. Roq la Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through Aug 10.
* 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.
JEFF MIHALYO
New work from Mihalyo, a solid figurative painter. Black Lab Gallery, 5208 Ballard Ave NW, 781-2392. Through Aug 9.
* 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.
* 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.
YUKI NAKAMURA, ANNE DUFFY
If you missed Nakamura's neat new ceramics last month, you've got another chance to see them. With paintings by Duffy, and Tim Sullivan and Lauren Steinhardt in the video room. Commencement Art Gallery, 902 Commerce St, Tacoma, 253-591-5341. Through Aug 9.
* 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.
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
With work by 11 artists. Phinney Center Gallery, 6532 Phinney Ave, 783-2244. Through Aug 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.
JANICE TOULOUSE SHINGWAAK, LEONARD BEAM
In The Traveling Alter Native Medicine Show, Toulouse Shingwaak and Beam document their journey to sacred and historical sites across Canada and the United States with rubbings of objects from those sites. Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art, Daybreak Star Arts Center, Discovery Park, 285-4425. Through Aug 14.
* 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.
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.
CHRIS THOMPSON
Dark, dark humor. In Thompson's paintings, a lighter moment might be a Twinkie barbecue. Vital 5 Productions, 2200 Westlake Ave, 254-0475. Through Aug 8.
EVENTS
* DIMENSION ELEVATOR
The Dandelion Collective (a group of artists, programmers, and aficionados of new media) presents a one-night-only installation in surround-sound environments: four walls of synchronized video, with 10 works by 17 artists. Only eight bodies at a time fit in the screen-defined space, so come early. Presented by Spaceboat.TV's new media cyberlounge: MEETSPACE. Tues July 31 at Consolidated Works, 410 Terry Ave N, every 15 minutes on the quarter hour. For more info, check out www.dandelion.org/events/dimensionelevator.
