BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM

301 Bellevue Square, Bellevue, 425-454-3322.

KURDISTAN: IN THE SHADOW OF HISTORY

Photographer Susan Meiselas has assembled this exhibition, which explores the culture and identity of the beleaguered Kurds out of photographs, newspaper stories, memoirs, and telegrams. This fragmented narrative -- including the words of freedom fighters, farmers, missionaries, and spies -- echoes the dislocation of this stateless people. Opening reception Fri May 5, 5:30-8 pm. Through June 11.

FRYE ART MUSEUM

701 Terry Ave, 622-9250.

THOMAS HART BENTON

Perhaps best known for his dense, saturated murals (the likes of which adorn city halls across the country), Benton also was a great traveler, and recorded what he saw in America's remote regions. His drawings chronicle the country's change from an agricultural nation to an industrialized one. Through June 25.

ROBERT SCHWARTZ

Contemporary allegorical work. Through June 4.

LISA ZWERLING

Zwerling's paintings reference old themes -- the seasons, man's relationship to nature -- and make use of traditional painting techniques. The mythical creatures who populate the works, however, come distinctly out of the New Age. Through May 7.

HENRY ART GALLERY

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

*TONY OURSLER

His installation at the Henry is called The Empty Cabinet, but knowing Oursler, "empty" is a relative term. Through July 30. See Stranger Suggests, page 44.

SHIFTING GROUND: TRANSFORMED VIEWS OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

It's such a ubiquitous subject, and so often maligned. Here's a show that makes a gallant effort to show how landscape portrayal has changed over time, and by implication, how our attitude toward the land has been altered in the process. Certainly an exhibition that encompasses both Albert Bierstadt's Manifest Destiny--like paintings and Robert Smithson's earthworks can make such a jump in perspective visible. Through Aug 20.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

100 University St, 654-3100.

PORCELAIN STORIES: FROM CHINA TO EUROPE

A kind of survey course in porcelain, which of course ends up being a lesson in the movement of culture over trade routes. A very complete exhibition, with works on loan from all sorts of public and private collections. Through May 7.

SEATTLE COLLECTS LICHTENSTEIN

Seattle's most established art institution gives over space to one of the artists who, along with Warhol, most challenged the idea of originality and what is acceptable as real art. Now he's dead and an icon, and the works shown here are largely drawn from local collections. Through May 14.

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, 2001.

PAUL HORIUCHI

One of the Northwest's venerable masters is remembered in an exhibition spanning his work from the 1930s through his death in 1999. Through June 11.

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

12th and Pacific, Tacoma, 253-272-4258.

FAST FORWARD: THE SHAPE OF NORTHWEST DESIGN

It's no longer news: Design is irrevocably part of our visual culture. It doesn't make this show any less interesting, however, since the best design, like the best art, continues to delight and surprise. Participants range from the ubiquitous (Microsoft, Boeing) to Anoek Minneboo, a furniture designer recently named one of I.D. Magazine's hot young designers under 30. Through June 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. It includes the photography of Frank Matsura, who emigrated from Japan at the turn of the century (the last one) and documented the Okanogan frontier, through the contemporary work of Dean Wong and Jessica Kim. Through April 8, 2001.

WRIGHT EXHIBITION SPACE

407 Dexter Ave N, 264-8200.

*THE WRIGHT COLLECTION

Virginia and Bagley Wright have rehung their foundation's exhibit space, devoting one gallery entirely to their great collection of '60s and '70s color field paintings, and introducing a large David Salle oil and the John Baldessari piece Two Onlookers and Tragedy to the mix. Other highlights of their collection include a Robert Longo, Eric Fischl, a huge Warhol Rorschach, and Jules Olitski's Thigh Smoke. Open-ended run.

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

JULIE ALEXANDER

Works on paper populated with legions of vertical lines drawn in graphite. A line is a simple thing, but Alexander's work hard. Boomtown Cafe, 513 Third Ave, 625-2989. Through May 30.

DEBRA BAXTER

These vivid canvases are heavily worked -- layered in paint, ripped apart, and reconstructed, until abstraction seems a tame description. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-9 pm. Ace Studios Gallery, 619 Western Ave, 623-1288. Through May 28.

ROSEMARY BELKNAP

Serene still lifes, ordinary objects thoroughly seen. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-8 pm. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Room 200, 296-7580. Through May 26.

JOE BRUBAKER

Solemn hand-carved wood figures that bring to mind folk-art saints. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-8 pm. Grover/Thurston Gallery, 309 Occidental Ave S, 223-0816. Through May 27.

LAURA CASTELLANOS

Castellanos builds her paintings using thin veils of oils, but the effect isn't washed out, rather it's quite vivid and emotional. Opening reception Sat May 6, 7-9 pm. Lux Coffeebar, 2226 First Ave, 443-0962. Through May 31.

CHERYL COMSTOCK

The themes are life and death, and the aesthetic is based on so-called women's work. Comstock combines decorative motifs and patterning (associated with such crafts as embroidery and quilting), recognizable iconography such as skeletons, and flora in various stages of bloom and decay. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through June 15.

BETSY EBY

Encaustic and mixed-media. Opening reception Wed May 10, 5-8 pm. Ballard/Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through June 10.

ALEX EMMONS

Fifty small photographs are displayed on lightboxes, giving their dark swimminess an interesting intensity. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-9 pm. FotoCircle Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 624-2645. Through May 27.

*WENDY HANSON

In Forged Symmetries Hanson exhibits sculpture made out of the unlikeliest of materials: rose petals stitched together and paired with found objects. One, a globe held up by female trophy figures, aptly contrasts strength and fragility, permanence and brevity. An installation at once brave and delicate. Opening reception Sat May 6, 6-8 pm. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through June 1.

HOT SAUCE

An exhibition by the Chicago curatorial group Law Office. Opening reception Sat May 6, 6-10 pm. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 12th and Pike. Through May 29.

PAMELA KEELEY, BILL DURGIN

The figure is in the foreground. Keeley apparently can draw with both hands at once, and her pleasingly loose faces and bodies rest on the surface of the work. Durgin's large-format photography shows perfect bodies at close range, and at second look, they're too perfect -- in fact, they're mannequins. Eyre/Moore Gallery, 913 Western Ave, 624-5596. Through June 19.

*SHEILA KLEIN

Textiles seem an unlikely vehicle for pop-culture assemblage, but Klein pulls it off with her wild montages and mixed-media constructions. See Stranger Suggests, page 44. Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through May 27.

SARAH MORRIS

Meditations on the body, these temporary vessels we haul around. Morris traces her own body onto graph paper and then works the surface with collage and solvent transfers. A delicate treatment of a delicate subject. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-9 pm. Oculus Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 784-6532. Through May 27.

*DEBORAH OROPALLO

Everyday objects discover their abstract and decorative qualities through Oropallo's screenprinted canvases, which use multiple images of familiar forms. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-8 pm. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through May 27.

LINO TAGLIAPIETRA

These glass forms are lovely -- shapely, organic, and shot through with mysterious color. There's a lot of hack glass out there, but Tagliapietra is a maestro, in the actual and metaphorical sense of the word. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 6-8 pm. William Traver Gallery, 110 Union St, Second Floor, 587-6501. Through July 2.

THE ULTIMATE PRESS

Prints made by the friendly steamroller that could. Opening reception Thurs May 4, 5-7 pm. Daniel Smith Gallery, 4150 First Ave S, 233-9599. Through May 31.

*SEAN VALE

These cool paintings are as minimalist as they come -- a series of modest white panels. In such quiet work, the variations resound: A groove drilled down one side is as big a disturbance as a canyon; a grid lightly etched across a surface registers as utterly playful. Vale has created a sound-and-light environment for these works that tells you a great deal about the act of seeing them. The hum of fluorescent lights and the nattering of electric typewriters links the paintings to visual white noise, the kind you don't notice until you really start to look. Opening reception Sat May 6, 6-10 pm. Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through May 28.

VECINOS DE MAYO

It means "neighbors of May," and it's a celebration of Latino culture all month long. The gallery will show the work of five Latino artists: Gerardo Aguayo, Carlos Duran, Che Lopez, Jamie Olaya, and Jose Orantes. Opening reception (with live music and a dance demonstration) Fri May 5 at 7 pm. Phinney Center Gallery, 6532 Phinney Ave N, 783-2244. Through May 26.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

DEBORAH ASCHHEIM

A site-specific work from New York artist Aschheim. She'll fill the gallery with the kind of objects she's known for: light-reflective, ethereal, biological items clustering on the floor and hanging from the ceiling. This is the kind of show that changes a space. Suyama Space, 2324 Second Ave, 256-0809. Through May 7.

BASEBALL ART

This small exhibition of Northwest artists includes Thom Ross and Tina Hoggatt, whose work graces the less-than-graceful Safeco Field. Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers, 121 First Ave S, 682-3545. Through May 31.

ROSS PALMER BEECHER, GEORGE CHACONA

In a new series of multi-media entitled Great Film Directors, Beecher honors the film industry's giants. Her assemblages of fabricated metal and old camera parts create elaborate frames for Alfred Hitchcock, Werner Herzog, and Orson Welles -- the directors, in short, who put frames around everyday and not-so-everyday life. Chacona works in cinematic imagery as well, drawing inspiration from the silent era. Bank of America Gallery, 701 Fifth Ave, Third Floor, 585-3200. Through May 26, then continuing through June 15 at Greg Kucera Gallery.

RENA BASS FORMAN

Large-format photographs of sacred places in India. Not a new endeavor, but the images are rather stunning. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through May 20.

DEREK HESS, BLAIR WILSON

Hess is a Cleveland poster artist with a distinctive drawing style -- figurative, witty, and (a rarity) restrained. Wilson, a local boy and veteran of some of Seattle's late greats (Milky World, Project 416, ArtsEdge), shows slightly demented home furnishings, including a quilt he collaborated on with his mother. Roq La Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through May 7.

BOOTSY HOLLER

The photographer is only half of the collaboration here; the other half is Angela Seahorse, a model who explores identity through body modification -- tattoos, masks, and, finally, cutting off her hair. Brave and revealing gestures, though you wonder how much the camera really shows. Alibi Room, 85 Pike St, 623-3180. Through May 31.

JAMES LUNA

Luna, a Luiseño Indian, is a filmmaker who also works in performance, sculpture, and video. This installation, entitled Futuristic Native Outfits for Night Raids (and Other Paraphernalia), features costumes and props from the artist's aggressive inquiry into cultural authenticity. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave N, 682-6552. Through May 7.

JOHN MCQUEEN

McQueen is a basket maker, and he works in traditional basketry materials (willow and waxed string), but this is an appealingly odd exhibition of self-portraits. Each figure is four feet tall and hollow -- a perfect container, in a way, for anything you care to put in it. Elliott Brown Gallery, 619 N 35th St, #101A, 547-9740. Through May 13.

*MIRROR'S EDGE

Get yourself up to Canada to see this touring show -- Vancouver is as close as it's coming to Seattle -- featuring work by international artists rarely shown in the U.S. Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC, 604-662-4700. Through Aug 13.

BARBARA PITTS

Text and iconic objects in -- watercolors? Not what you expect from this medium. Ballard Featherston Gallery, 818 Pike St, 322-9440. Through May 6.

PRINTWORKS 2000

Yet another show with "2000" in the title, but there's good work to be seen here and (not incidentally) it's one of the great benefits of the "one-percent-for-arts" funds. Among the City of Seattle's recent acquisitions are prints by Dirk Park, whose chemically etched work has an eerie and beautiful biological feel, and C. Blake Haygood, whose drypoint prints resemble inventions from the mind of Dr. Seuss, though slightly more sinister. Key Tower Gallery, Cherry St and Fifth Ave, Third Floor. Through July 14.

REALIST ART, STEFAN KNORR

Inside the gallery: a rotating exhibit of realist art. Outside, in the window, Knorr's installation The Artists' Breath Is in Their Hands -- rubber gloves blown up by artists. A commentary on all the hot air? Perhaps. SAM Rental Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, Suite 140, 654-3240. Through May 20.

SANDRA VALENCIA, BRENDA SCALLON

Photography and installation in a show entitled From Here to There. Black Lab Gallery, 5208 Ballard Ave NW, 781-2392. Through May 10.

JO ANN VERBURG, MONA KUHN

Landscapes and portraits covered here. Blissed-out, slightly sentimental studies of the Italian countryside from the former; stark, sensual close-ups of figures from the other. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson, Suite 200, 587-4033. Through May 20.

KEVIN WILLIS

Dogs. And lots of them, in odd poses and in any mood you wish to project on them. Which is what having a pet is all about, isn't it? Lipstick Traces, 500 E Pine St, 329-2813. Through May 4.

*WORKING TITLE

This exhibition explores the labor of art -- what happens between concept and object. The four artists shown here (Thess Fenner, Todd Kephart, Nikki McClure, and Matt Sellars) work in different media, and to different ends, but the process of thought and execution is manifest in their work. Curated by Heather Dwyer, Artist Trust's program director and one of the Seattle art scene's smartest cookies. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, 425-822-7161. Through June 2.

SARA YEAROUT

Slightly eerie characters are embedded in Yearout's canvases, which are alternatively heavily painted and barely brushed. The unexpected contrast makes these paintings an interesting balancing act. Baas Gallery, 2703 E Madison, 324-4742. Through June 3.

EVENTS

*BLAK & BLU BALL

CoCA's spring fundraiser promises to be a roof-raiser, with burlesque, raffles, music, dunk-the-goddess, and more. Sat May 6, starts at 8 pm and runs into the wee hours at CoCA, 65 Cedar St. Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for everyone else; call 728-1980 for information.

*NOODLEWORKS STUDIOS OPEN HOUSE

The artists of Noodleworks open their studios a few times a year, and throw a great party to boot. This time, they've invited a slew of other artists to put up work, too. For God's sake, go. Fri-Sat May 5-6, 6:30-10 pm, Noodleworks Studios, 802 Sixth Ave S.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS

ART DETOUR

Open your studio to the curious public for the Second Annual Art Detour, which will be held the weekend of October 6. The deadline for offering yourself up is May 25, and all the relevant information is on the website at www.artdetourseattle.org, or call 988-8983.

FILM/VIDEO FESTIVAL AT BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM

There's still time to submit. For information, call 425-454-3322, e-mail miriams@bellevueart.org, or go the website at www.bellevueart.org. Deadline is May 19; get going.

SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION

The SAC seeks established visual artists for the Pioneer Square Arts and Legends plan, and filmmakers for the Boundary Dam documentary. Deadlines are May 8 and 22, respectively. For information, contact the SAC at 684-7171.