Our music critics have already chosen the 24 best music shows this week, but now it's our arts critics' turn. Here are their picks for the best events in every genre—from the first week of the Seattle Design Festival to Cinerama's 70mm Film Festival, and from the Cider Summit to the beginning of Jet City's Indie Month improv comedy festival. See them all below, and find even more events on our complete Things To Do calendar.

Stay in the know! Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile app (available for iOS and Android), or delivered to your inbox.


Jump to: Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday

TUESDAY

READINGS & TALKS

Seanan McGuire: Night and Silence
Washington author Seanan McGuire, who has appeared on the Hugo Award ballot five times in one year and has also won Campbell and Nebula awards, will share Night and Silence, the fifth installment of her acclaimed fantasy series revolving around October Daye, a private investigator who handles cases related to the land of Faerie.

TUESDAY-THURSDAY

ART

Joseph Goldberg: The Earth is a Lamp: Memorial Survey
Commemorate the Seattle artist at a posthumous exhibition following his tragic death in an automobile accident last year. It's an occasion to celebrate the mourned painter's creativity: He fused sculpture and painting in unusual ways, like working with encaustic on unusual linen shapes or stringing a nexus of coke cinders within a square frame. With these gentle subversions, his work invites you to examine your own expectations of symmetry and form.
Closing Thursday

FILM

Summer Rewind Film Festival
If you missed some of the best and most blockbusting movies of the year—from Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs to the star-studded heist flick Ocean's 8 to the absolutely traumatizing Hereditary—catch them on an overwhelmingly big screen. Even if you have seen all these films, consider going again.

TUESDAY-SUNDAY

ART

Double Exposure: Edward S. Curtis, Marianne Nicolson, Tracy Rector, Will Wilson
In the late 19th and early 20th century, ethnologist Edward S. Curtis took more than 40,000 photographs of members of more than 80 indigenous North American tribes. Today, it's a controversial body of work due to the romanticized white gaze Curtis imposed on his subjects. In Double Exposure, the Seattle Art Museum follows a precedent set by the Portland Art Museum of hosting Curtis's photographs alongside three contemporary indigenous artists who respond to that gaze: Dzawada̱’enux̱w linguist and installation artist Marianne Nicolson, Seminole/Choctaw filmmaker Tracy Rector, and Navajo/Diné photographer Will Wilson, whose large-scale tintypes speak to the audience through an app that plays video content of the subjects. EMILY POTHAST
Closing Sunday

Snack Attack!
These snacks, depicted by artists like Seth Goodkind (Push/Pull), Valerie Niemeyer, Zac Boetes, Genevieve St. Charles-Monet, Rich Stevens, and others, might entice you or creep you out a little. Find yourself among anthropomorphic burgers, silly cupcake dogs, giggling ice cream cones, and other denizens of the plate.
Closing Sunday

FESTIVALS

MEXAM Northwest Festival
Guys, despite what the President and Republicans say nearly every single day, Mexico is our friend! The U.S.'s longstanding, mutually beneficial, and rich relationship with our southern neighbors is so strong that it continues regardless of the current political climate. The monthlong MEX AM Festival, presented by the Consulate of Mexico, is here to celebrate all that. Watch contemporary and classic Mexican films, attend lectures about identity in contemporary Latinx art, catch up on the innovations emerging from Mexico's burgeoning tech sectors, and jam out to one of Mexico’s legendary rock bands, Café Tacvba. And, for the sake of a little friendly competition, don’t miss the three Mexican Wine-Offs, which pit Mexican wines against US wines in a competition sure to put a goofy wine smile on everyone's face. RICH SMITH

PERFORMANCE

Cirque du Soleil VOLTA
Every Cirque show I’ve experienced has abounded with breathtaking, eye-popping visuals as well as awe-inspiring feats of movement by Cirque’s cast of dancers, physical actors, athletes, acrobats, contortionists, aerialists, and other circus performers. The subject matter of Volta, Cirque’s 41st production, involves extreme sports, touching on (but not limited to) shape diving, BMX, and rope skipping. LEILANI POLK

Native Gardens
Though Latina playwright Karen Zacarías hails from Washington, DC, her well-received comedy Native Gardens sounds like the most Seattle shit ever. An impending barbecue party ignites a property-line dispute between two neighbors. One couple—a Chilean lawyer named Pablo and his Ph.D.-candidate wife Tania—likes their garden overgrown with native plants. The other couple—Republicans Frank and Virginia Butley—keeps a prim English garden. As the two couples battle over how their gardens grow, a bunch of economic and racial tensions rise to the surface and boil over. Arlene Martínez-Vázquez directs. RICH SMITH

WEDNESDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Author Talk: Basque Country by Marti Buckley
Located in Northern Spain, Basque Country is a utopia for food lovers: It’s home to more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere else in the world. And with an abundance of seafood on one side and rich, fertile land for produce and livestock on the other, it’s no surprise that Basque cuisine greatly emphasizes the quality of ingredients. In her new book, Basque Country: A Culinary Journey Through a Food Lover’s Paradise, American chef, journalist, and Basque transplant Marti Buckley provides a glimpse into the world of Basque cuisine, from pintxos (Basque tapas), to tortilla española, to grilled meats and fish stews. At this event, Buckley will chat with local author and Basque native Aran Goyoaga of the blog Cannelle et Vanille and sign copies of her book purchased onsite. JULIANNE BELL

Side Hustle Doughnites Pop-Up
Partake in the Homer Simpson-approved combination, but with slightly more sophisticated flavor pairings, including Brown Ale and coffee cream, ESB and s'mores, and Witbier and blackberry. Eight bucks buys you a special tasting flight with three beers and three doughnuts.

READINGS & TALKS

Drew Collins: Puget Sound Underwater
When you think of the aquatic animals that typify the Pacific Northwest, you think of orcas, salmon, and harbor seals. They're our unofficial mascots. And rightfully so! Local diver and photographer Drew Collins loves those animals just as much as anyone else, but he says there are all kinds of other fascinating creatures swimming around Puget Sound—ones more indicative of the kind of life that flourishes in our especially cold, greenish, murky, and generally inhospitable waters. The giant Pacific octopus, the wolf eel, and the Pacific spiny lumpsucker are three of Collins's favorites. In his first book of photography, Puget Sound Underwater, he champions these and other unjustly unacknowledged critters. Collins says he's done dives all over the world, but the waters of Puget Sound bring him back every time. RICH SMITH

Mark Anderson: We Are the Clash
There is no shortage of books about “the only band that matters,” but this one zeroes in on the Clash’s final years, as they grappled with internal tensions, even as their massive pop success threatened to devalue the primacy of the struggle and resistance at the heart of their identity. The result of all this wrangling was Cut the Crap, an album as divisive as all their other divisive albums. SEAN NELSON

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY

ART

Endangered Species: Artists on the Front Line of Biodiversity
With 80 works by 52 artists, this exhibition explores the full spectrum of our natural environment with art that addresses everything from anthropogenic climate disruption to habitat restoration projects. Pieces in the show date back as far as the early 1800s (George Catlin’s striking and strange 1832 oil painting Buffalo Bull, Grazing on the Prairie has a contemporary feel to it), on through to the present (Michael Felber’s colored pencil Arctic Father from 2017 provides the requisite polar bear image). Also included is Andy Warhol’s Endangered Species series, 10 silk-screen prints from 1983, with each featuring a different endangered animal, like the bald eagle that was on the list 40 years ago due to habitat destruction. The bald eagle is now in the "Least Concern" column of the endangered species list maintained by the EPA, but with the EPA itself now in "Threatened" status, that could easily change. KATIE KURTZ
Opening Thursday

WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY

ART

The Brink: Demian DinéYazhi´
Established in 2009, the Brink is a biennial award that honors a Northwest artist under the age of 35 with a cash prize and an exhibition at the Henry. The fifth and final Brink recipient is Demian DinéYazhi´, an indigenous Diné (Navajo) transdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Portland. DinéYazhi´'s work in text and image traces the entangled relationships between the land, Native cultures, and colonial, capitalist, and patriarchal economic, political, and social systems, imagining a future where these structures have lost their power. EMILY POTHAST
Closing Sunday

JoEllen Wang: Disembodying Women
Seattle artist JoEllen Wang examines feminine, pregnancy, motherhood, and gender norms through detailed gouache and watercolor paintings of lovely textile patterns and more figurative subjects.
Closing Sunday

Sam Wolfe Connelly: Underbrush
This New York-based charcoal-lover sensitively depicts nocturnal animals and other sinister sights in eerie shades.
Closing Sunday

PERFORMANCE

Femme Fatale
A Prom Queen and Can Can collab!? Yes, please! The Can Can culinary cabaret, which serves up some of the best butts and beignets in town, is partnering with rising music star Prom Queen for their summer show, and it's a safe bet that it will be a hit. That said, the team could have chosen a better subject than Mata Hari, who catapulted to fame using an outsider's vision of Indonesia. Hopefully their adaptation will avoid Hari's pitfalls by doing more than just simply reproducing the Dutch dancer's problematic early-20th-century Orientalist style. Otherwise, this will be a spectacular shitshow. CHASE BURNS

THURSDAY

ART

Pioneer Square Art Walk
Once a month, Seattleites flock to the streets in Pioneer Square for a chance to stroll, sip on booze, and attend as many art openings as possible at First Thursday. It's the city's central and oldest art walk, and takes place in a historic neighborhood known for its abundance of galleries. Wine and hobnobbing will steal the scene for some, but at its core, it's an impressive communal unveiling of new artwork. In September, don't miss opening receptions for The Drawnk Show: ArtCade, Lawrence Pitre: We Are One, David Haughton: Angry White Men, Eunice Kim: Nature Stories, large scale mixed media works by Janna Watson, sculptures and drawings by Phillip Levine and Dale Lindman, Sister Mary Corita Kent: Selected Works, watercolors by Ursula Rose, the Louder in the dark group show, and one of the last opportunities to see Natalie Ball: Grab a Plate. Plus, check out performances by Cold Cube Press co-founder Aiden Fitzgerald.

PERFORMANCE

Seattle Psychedelic Circus with Caela Bailey and General Mojo's
Full disclosure: I am recommending this because it sounds intriguing, not because I’ve ever seen the Seattle Psychedelic Circus (it’s brand-new and showing for one night only), or even know exactly what’s in it (the description says it features “a mishmash collaboration of Seattle-based musicians, burlesque and circus performers, and dancers”), but because of the woman who’s heading it up: Seattle chanteuse Caela Bailey. You may remember her from that “Belltown Crawl” video, which was shot in the hood of its title. Girl can sing, she’s fresh off producing her own autobiographical show, Who in the World Are You? at the Triple Door, and she’s teamed up with some pretty cool collaborators for the circus—namely, psych-pop band General Mojo’s and classy yet kinky woman-run cabaret and burlesque production company Valtesse Productions. LEILANI POLK

READINGS & TALKS

Emerald Street: Race, Class, Culture, and the History of Hip Hop in the Northwest
Professor/writer/historian Daudi Abe (a past Stranger contributor) will trace the history of Northwest hiphop music and culture, including not only big stars like Sir Mix-a-lot and Macklemore but also the shapers of culture and politics who may be less well known.

Maya Rao: The Making of an Oil Frontier
Minneapolis journalist Maya Rao chronicles the "modern day gold rush" of North Dakota’s oil fields in Great American Outpost: Dreamers, Mavericks, and the Making of an Oil Frontier, which features her interviews with drifters, fortune-seekers, and unlucky entrepreneurs alike who "embodied the region’s culture of reckless greed."

Patrick deWitt: French Exit
The (former Seattleite) author of Booker Prize shortlister The Sisters Brothers and the excellent Undermajordomo Minor returns with the story of a proper NYC socialite facing financial ruin and public scandal who seeks solace in Paris, and instead finds chaos. According to Publishers Weekly, “DeWitt’s novel is full of vibrant characters taking good-natured jabs at cultural tropes; readers will be delighted.” SEAN NELSON

THURSDAY-FRIDAY

ART

[Rem]ember
This arts event draws a connection between sleep and anti-racist resistance, asking "What happens when the protesters have become tired of being sedentary? What happens when a community is tired of being tired? In sleep, we are able to resolve the trauma of our everyday lives? Why can’t this tactic be used to heal the past/present/future at the same time?" Come for a multimedia performance in a retro-boudoir and see footage of an August 4 sleep-in protest.
Closing Friday

COMEDY

Indie Month
I started taking improv classes at Jet City in January and in that time I’ve learned two things: 1) How to “Yes, And” and 2) Nobody has a neutral opinion about improv. So! This month is either absolutely for you or absolutely not. Either way, studies prove laughing with a bunch of other people IRL is good for you and this could be one remedy for when the SAD sets in. Featuring over 35 groups and 100 performers with four teams performing a night, the festival features everything from Yeah Okay (an amazingly quick-witted ensemble) to Thunder Gap (a six-member team of experienced and multi-talented improvisers tackling long-form improv with grit, goofiness, and groundedness). KATIE KURTZ

THURSDAY-SATURDAY

PERFORMANCE

Prelude to a Kiss
Strawberry Theatre Workshop last-minute swapped out Reckless for this play by Craig Lucas, about a woman who may or may not have switched bodies with a sick octogenarian during her honeymoon, and her husband who gradually comes to realize that his beautiful young wife is harboring the soul of an old man. Lucas's work has been seen as an allegory for AIDS; it was nominated for the 1990 Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The cast of Reckless—including MJ Sieber, Anastasia Higham, and Galen Joseph Osier—will appear in this play instead.

THURSDAY-SUNDAY

FESTIVALS

Seattle Design Festival
Now in its eighth year, Design in Public's Seattle Design Festival explores how urbanism, architecture, and design can further justice, ecology, and community. 2018's theme, "Trust," will focus on bringing together diverse local communities with a lineup of arts events, panels, installations, discussions, and fun parties. Notables in the festival's first week include the Seattle Design Festival Block Party, an Architectural Model Exhibit that explores the interplay between design and everyday life, an opening party, and more.

FOOD & DRINK

Washington Cider Week
Freak out about cider at approximately a billion tastings, parties, etc. during a week so special, it lasts 11 days!

FRIDAY

ART

Chun Shao: Silicone Love - Her Garden
The internet generates and absorbs our desires, giving scopophilia—the pleasure of watching—an almost infinite playground. If this virtualized realm of desire were condensed into a single form, what would it look like? DXARTS Ph.D. candidate Chun Shao makes “video-mapped gestural sculptures” that may provide an unsettling response. You can find a previous riff on this idea, Silicone Love - Her Finger, on Vimeo: a pulsing, illuminated, jellyfish-like object made of a lampshade, motors, baubles, and gauze. Like the Web, as you look into it, it yields and responds to your imagination. JOULE ZELMAN
Opening Friday

FILM

1968: Expressions of a Flame
It can be argued that the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Capitalism in Europe and the United States happened in 1968. There was the rise of the black power movement, the feminist movement, and the anti-war movement. There were the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. There were the student protests in Paris. This was a globally synched revolution that, ultimately, instigated a class war that took the form of neoliberalism. By 1971, social democratic institutions were under attack. This NWFF series examines the moment when the world could have taken a completely different direction, when the New Deal could have gone international. Fifty years later, our president is giving the rich $100 billion, and the richest man on earth has more money than there are stars in our galaxy. CHARLES MUDEDE

FOOD & DRINK

Author Talk: Japan The Cookbook with Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Acclaimed food writer Nancy Singleton Hachisu will share her new tome Japan: The Cookbook, a paean to Japanese food stuffed with over 400 recipes that teach home cooks how to do everything from pickling vegetables to making their own ramen. At this talk, she'll discuss Japanese cuisine and sign copies purchased onsite, and guests will get to try a recipe from the book.

Boteco: Brazilian Tapas Night
In Brazil, botecos are small outdoor bars and gathering places where people go for drinks, snacks, and conversation. This event at the recently opened Brazilian restaurant Alcove Dining Room—from Mamnoon alum and former Cutthroat Kitchen and MasterChef competitor Emme Ribeiro Collins—takes its cues from traditional boteco culture and will supply 10 different Brazilian bites akin to tapas, served both individually plated and family style in a communal setting with live music. JULIANNE BELL

Grilled Things and Chicken Wings Tour
At this neighborhood food tour, load up on a sundry of meats, from grilled to skewered to deep-fried, along with some refreshing dessert drinks, and discover "great additions of Asian Pacific flavors to put under the tradition of summer barbecue tastes."

PERFORMANCE

Crooners & Queens
Glamorous local queens Irene Dubois, Betty Wetter, Portia Dela Vida, and others will bring another round of byone-era lounge tunes and probably some elaborate headpieces to this vintage drag show.

READINGS & TALKS

Risk!
Hosted by The State alum Kevin Allison, Risk! is a podcast and live storytelling event where, according to the tagline, people tell “true stories they never thought they’d dare to share.” And, oh, the stories. A memorable episode featured a woman who found a fellow kinkster online and shared her elaborate fantasies of serving as a come dumpster on a cruise ship (her words, not mine), only to discover later (after many explicit chats) that her fantasy partner was actually her… father. The apple, as they say, fell quite close to the tree. You can hear stories just as touching as this at Risk! live. KATIE HERZOG

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

FESTIVALS

Upper Left Beerfest
This two-day beer festival (formerly the Everett Craft Beer Festival) will feature craft beer from over 30 Northwest breweries and cideries, including Diamond Knot, Kulshan, and Lazy Boy, plus live music and food.

FOOD & DRINK

Cider Summit Seattle
At the ninth edition of this annual festival, guests can try more than 150 fermented-fruit beverages, including both regional and international varieties. Cideries in attendance will include well-known names like France's Louis Raison, Portland-based Reverend Nat’s, Woodinville’s Locust Cider, Seattle Cider, Schilling, and many others. In the “heritage cider” tent, you’ll also find more obscure sips like lavender lemon fizzy wine from Portland producer Hi-Wheel and apple-pie mead from New Hampshire’s Moonlight Meadery. Capitol Cider and other vendors will provide food. JULIANNE BELL

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

FESTIVALS

San Gennaro Festival 2018
This Georgetown Italian street fair features vendors selling authentic wares (including lots of food), a beer and wine garden, children's activities, and a stage with live Italian music.

FILM

70mm Film Festival
Put down your phone and surrender to the splendor of actually-epic-scale cinema in the cathedral that is the Cinerama. Not much unites the films in this 13-day festival other than a commitment to MAGNITUDE, but several are essential viewing. I know you’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again: Seeing a film in a darkened theater with strangers is a secular sacrament. The fact that you can't pause, talk, text, or tweet until it's over is a feature. Please enjoy it while it's still available. SEAN NELSON

SECS Fest 2018
The not-so-coyly named SECS FEST presents cinematic tales to titillate, including two new features, four shorts programs, and two classics. See sex in every genre, and hear special talks by special guests. Some screenings are preceded or followed by special talks by guest academics, BDSM practitioners, film professionals, and others. The cherry on top is usually the wrap party on Sunday. No one under 18 will be admitted to any of the films or events.

PERFORMANCE

Skylight
A young woman flees a long-term affair with a rich married restaurateur when his ailing wife finds them out. Having previously lived in splendid comfort virtually as a member of their happy extended family, she now lives in self-imposed exile, working with poor, violent kids who have even fewer resources than she does. Then late one night, her former lover’s son shows up to ask why she abandoned him. Shortly after he leaves, his father’s limo rolls up. David Hare’s drama, originally produced in 1995 and later revived in 2015 (with Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, just to give you a sense of the age disparity), is a strange combination of trenchant and way out of step with the psycho-social and psycho-sexual temperature of 2018. But, like most of his major works, it’s funny and involving, and it serves as a cracking showcase for two actors who know what they’re doing. SEAN NELSON

Whim W’Him Choreographic Shindig IV
Whim W’Him kicks off their fall season the way they have for the last four years: with a sort of opposite day where dancers choose the choreographer with whom they want to work. This year, performers have selected award-winning choreographer Omar Román De Jesús, Hubbard Street’s 2017 Choreographic Fellow Alice Klock, and LoudHoundMovement’s Brendan Duggan. De Jesús’s recent work looks super-fluid and powered by inertia. The dancers look like gyroscopes spinning in space, occasionally bouncing off one another. Duggan’s stuff also feels pretty abstract, but ultimately it remains rooted in theatrics and storytelling. He’s also not afraid to use a little humor. Zachary Whittenburg of Dance Magazine rates Klock as one of their “25 to Watch 2018,” calling her work “densely dimensional, unpredictable, strangely graceful, and wild.” Couldn't agree more. Watching her dance, the laws of physics seem to change every 20 seconds. Don’t miss this one. RICH SMITH

SATURDAY

ART

Georgetown Art Attack
Once a month, the art that resides in the tiny airport hamlet of Georgetown ATTACKS all passersby. In more literal terms, it's the day of art openings and street wonderment. In September, don't miss an evening of comics, art, and music videos inspired by the Georgetown Steamplant and the opening of Sue Danielson: Intangible Horizon.

Gravity Jokes
Artists and comedians have worked at the meeting place of comedy and sculpture in an exhibition that gives rise to a new maxim: Art plus gravity = comedy? That's right: E.T. Russian, Dewa Dorje, Andy Fallat, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Khadija Ann Tarver, and Mario Lemafa communicate through their various media and "tell jokes about gravity and/or jokes with gravity." We're falling over ourselves to see what they've cooked up.
Opening Saturday

COMMUNITY & CIVICS

Smoke Farm Symposium
This annual symposium brings together scholars, scientists, artists, and environmentalists alike for a day of lectures culminating in a communal dinner prepared by local chef Monica Dimas of Milkwood & Co. This year's speakers include author and theologist Lesley Hazleton, UW professor of medicine Dr. Barak Gaster, author and natural historian Eileen Delehanty Pearkes, and author Rebecca Brown.

FOOD & DRINK

Cambodian Food Pop-Up
Cambodian food pop-up Kikirom will sling noodle-based street food like Lort Chaa and red and green Nom Banh Chok.

Chinatown-ID Night Market
Traditionally, night markets are a place to stroll, shop, and nosh on tasty street-food snacks. This annual festival, which draws upwards of 25,000 people each year, takes place beneath the historic Chinatown gate in the International District, and features a slew of Asian street food alongside handmade local goods, fresh cut flowers, and more, plus entertainment that includes live bands and breakdancing groups. Past vendors have included stuffed-waffle supplier BeanFish, seafood boil restaurant Crawfish King, and Hawaiian shave-ice purveyor Mike’s Shave Ice. This year promises to yield an equally delicious lineup. JULIANNE BELL

PERFORMANCE

Ghibli's Girls: Miyazaki Drag Tribute — Encore
Calling all manga fans: WEIRD's drag tribute to Japanese film director Hayao Miyazaki was so popular, Old Witch and Londyn Bradshaw are bringing it back for round two. Don't miss a special evening of curated costumes inspired by your favorite Japanese animation characters.

READINGS & TALKS

Pistil Books' Annual Outdoor Book Sale
Pistil Books turns 25 this year! Since 1993, they’ve been slinging an array of eclectic books you didn't know you’ve always wanted to read: offbeat literary classics, rare histories, progressive manifestos, hard-to-find art books, lit crit, sexuality studies, etc. (Full disclosure and hot tip: They buy the books The Stranger receives from publishers but we don't have time to read, which means they have tons of contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, too.) The war on indie bookstores forced them to move their operation off Pike Street and onto the internet, so it’s extra special to see their wares in person. The sale features more than 2,000 $1 and $2 books, plus free lemonade. RICH SMITH

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Bacon Eggs & Kegs
This festival revolving around the combination of savory, gut-busting breakfast foods and heady booze promises concoctions like fried chicken waffle nuggets, corn bread bacon Benedict, biscuits with bacon-fat gravy, and beer-battered pancakes. Day drinking is encouraged with more than 80 brews from 40 breweries and cideries, plus mimosas, boozy root-beer floats, Irish coffee, and a 30-foot Bloody Mary bar with dozens upon dozens of toppings (including tater tots, mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, veggies, herbs, pickles, puffed Cheetos, bacon, and pork rinds). You’re probably going to want to clear your schedule for that requisite post-brunch nap. JULIANNE BELL

SUNDAY

ART

Elisheba Johnson: You Wouldn't Have This Problem If You Lost Weight
In a recent exhibition at Juan Alonso’s Tashiro Kaplan Building studio, Elisheba Johnson—who KUOW has called an “artist you should know”—showed a series of paintings in which she had transcribed the details and images from local rental listings onto vintage pillowcases. Inspired by the process of hunting for a new apartment, Johnson’s tender, intimate mixed-media works reveal just how expensive Seattle’s real-estate market has become, and why affordable housing is increasingly unattainable for many. For her latest exhibit at Virago Gallery, Johnson is responding to how “society tells women from birth that their body is not their own.” EMILY POTHAST
Opening Sunday