Roq La Rue gallery opened in the summer of 1998. Since then it has
made many sales, many Stranger covers, and many big claims
for itself. It’s supposedly the Seattle outpost for a national
“movement” named “pop surrealism” by the gallery’s powerhouse
dealer, Kirsten Anderson. All these scare quotes are my response
to the gallery’s boasts and throw-downs over the years about being an
“art outsider.” Go judge for yourself. (Roq La Rue, 2312 Second Ave,
374-8977. 6–9 pm, free.)

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...