VISUAL ART

BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM

301 Bellevue Square, 425-454-3322.

*2000 PACIFIC NORTHWEST ANNUAL

LAST CHANCE! The list of artists for this year's Annual reads like an impeccable pedigree of Young Seattle Artists, including Leo Saul Berk, Susan Dory, Thess Fenner, Jeff Miller, Cathy McClure, and Nicola Vruwink. Throughout the exhibition's run, the museum will host a series of six artist residencies, allowing artists the space and resources to create work over the duration of the exhibition; completed work will then be added to the show. Through Sept 3.

FRYE ART MUSEUM

701 Terry Ave, 622-9250.

HELEN LOGGIE

Tree drawings so intricate that each work takes the artist months to complete--a kind of obsessiveness that's hard to argue with. Through Oct 8.

WINOLD REISS

The German-born Reiss (1886-1953) painted stark, unsentimental portraits of Native Americans, which were then used on railroad posters and calendars. Proof that it takes an Ausländer to see beyond the stereotypes. Through Sept 10.

HENRY ART GALLERY

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

*ANDY WARHOL DRAWINGS, 1942-1987

That slightly arch, calligraphic style that's everywhere in graphic design these days--you know where it comes from? Warhol's drawings from the '50s, when he was a commercial artist raking in the dough (as opposed to a pop artist raking in the dough). Then there are the more famous works on paper from his celebrity days and a self-portrait he drew at 14, long before his self-allotted 15 minutes began to tick away. A show like this is essential for reminding us that icons have other facets. Through Oct 8.

*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 Nov 12.

MUSEUM OF NORTHWEST ART

121 S First St, La Conner, 360-466-4446.

KAIT RHOADS

Rhoads, who shows at the William Traver Gallery, fashions structures out of glass, like architects' models of hives and domes and other shelters. Their shapes are undeniably sexy, another step along the continuum that connects female imagery with vessels. Through Oct 2.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

100 University St, 654-3100.

EASTMAN JOHNSON: PAINTING AMERICA

A retrospective of a consummate American painter. In his work, Johnson (1824-1906) covered many different territories, including scenes from American Indian and black communities. Through Sept 10.

*LANGUAGE LET LOOSE

A tiny little exhibition on the incorporation of text into the visual world. The show's centerpiece is Gary Hill's installation House of Cards: a stack of video monitors that reveals, foot by foot, the interior of a house, while two monitors on either side show a man and a women, softly saying (almost chanting) strings of non-sequiturs. 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. The exhibition is nearly hidden between two major shows, but speaks loudly indeed. Through April 29.

20th-CENTURY AMERICAN ART: THE EBSWORTH COLLECTION

Over 70 works, mostly modernist, collected by Barney A. Ebsworth, who started out collecting 16th- and 17th-century Dutch paintings, but got discouraged when he realized that all "the great pictures [were] gone." There must have been some goodies left from the post-war era; Ebsworth acquired a nifty set of works--no real masterpieces, though--by (among others) de Kooning, Sheeler, and Hockney. Through Nov 12.

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, 253-272-4258.

*ALMOST WARM AND FUZZY: CHILDHOOD AND CONTEMPORARY ART

All the art references childhood in some manner, whether nostalgic or ironic or simply fun. Thirty artists from around the world contributed work to this show, which includes The Big Sneeze (an enormous liquid-emitting nose constructed by the Art Guys) and Sandy Skoglund's Shimmering Madness, an installation made up of about a million jellybeans and fluttering butterfly wings. The aim was a show for children as well as adults; grab your favorite eight-year-old and see if it works. Through Sept 17.

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.

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 include a Robert Longo, Eric Fischl, a huge Warhol Rorschach, and Jules Olitski's Thigh Smoke. Open-ended run.

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

A.K.A. PHOTOGRAPHY

See what photographers all over the country are doing with Polaroid film--that most versatile of media. Opening reception Thurs Sept 7, 6-8 pm. Benham Photography Studio/Gallery, 1216 First Ave, 622-2480. Through Sept 30.

TOM BARIL

Baril trains his lens on the floral world, in a way that's not entirely new--the suggestive nature of flowers has been documented to death by Georgia O'Keeffe, and also by Robert Mapplethorpe, with whom Baril collaborated. The prints are pretty, though: clear and pure, and tinted in a bath of tea. Opening reception Thurs Sept 6, 6-8 pm. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through Oct 7.

*BUMBERSHOOT

Yes! It's true! There are visual arts at Bumbershoot. Here's what's what: a retrospective installation of photos, posters, and other ephemera commemorating CoCA's 20th anniversary; a not-so-sneak preview of Emotional Rescue, the first public exhibition of the Contemporary Art Project, which includes work by artists as interesting as Kim Dingle, as provocative as Lisa Yuskavage, and as hot-on-the-scene as Cecily Brown (the show will go up for a longer run later at CoCA); Bumberbienniale: Painting 2000, a look at this most hallowed of media, curated by art critic Matthew Kangas; and 10 years' worth of covers from The Stranger. Through Sept 4 (and free to the public before Bumbershoot begins).

DAVID DEVLEESCHOUWER

The paintings are abstract--layers of paint that alternately merge and resist each other--but there's a pleasant suggestion of the world, a whiff of Gerhard Richter's blurred landscapes. Opening reception Sat Sept 2, 6-10 pm. Trapeze Gallery, 1130 34th Ave, 329-3363. Through Oct 6.

*MANDY GREER

Take a stroll through Greer's landscape of animals, re-upholstered trees, and rich colors. It's part Frankenstein, part petting zoo. See Bio Box. Opening reception Sat Sept 2, 9 pm-midnight. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 1205 Pike St, 264-8061. Through Sept 24.

MOTION MAYHEM

Rock photography by Diona J. Mavis and C. Taylor. Mavis is the seasoned professional with work represented in the EMP collection; Taylor is the young avant-garde upstart, and between them they've covered a good deal of territory: Billy Childish, Superchunk, Source of Labor, Murder City Devils. And they're in exactly the right venue. Opening reception Tues Sept 5, 6-10 pm. Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 448-2114. Through Sept 30.

NORTHWEST MASTERS

You should at least know what their work looks like. A show of works by Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Paul Horiuchi, Morris Graves, Guy Anderson, William Ivey, and James Washington, Jr. Kurt Lidtke Gallery, 318 Second Ave S, 623-5082. Through Sept 30.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST NEEDLE ART GUILD

With so much talk about women's work and the use of sewing in fine art, it's probably not a bad idea to spend some time looking at the real thing. The Guild members are showing all manner of needlework, from quilts to rugs to machine embroidery. Opening reception Sat Sept 2, 12:30 pm-2:30 pm. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, 425-822-7161. Through Oct 27.

VARIETY OF LIFE

Work by photographers associated with the Reach project--an association supporting homeless and formerly homeless artists. Boomtown Cafe, 513 Third Ave, 625-2989. Through Sept 30.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

ART INSTITUTE STUDENT SHOW

Featuring work from the design, media arts, and fashion programs. Art Institute of Seattle, 2323 Elliott Ave, 448-6600. Through Oct 5.

*LEO SAUL BERK, WILLIAM HARRIS

If you've had it up to here with abstract art, I recommend a big dose of Leo Berk. His wood constructions leap over the cognitive disjoint between real and abstract, with solidly familiar material cut and glued and veneered into something strange and new. Harris' paintings look at color that hasn't quite mixed; the paint is layered and squeegeed to create a textured surface, with an eerie luminous glow as the happy result. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Sept 9. Reviewed this issue.

ROBROY CHALMERS, DAVID TRAYLOR

Chalmers is exhibiting new drawings and paper sculptures; Traylor's ceramics seem as heavy and loaded as metallic objects. Both artists' work is dense and present--nothing ephemeral here. Oculus Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 366-2108. Through Sept 2.

DONNE IN FOTOGRAFIA

All manner of photographs by a collective of Italian women. Benham Photography Studio/Gallery, 1216 First Ave, 622-2480. Through Sept 2.

FOURTH ANNUAL POUND GALLERY MEMBERS SHOW

See the spread of work at one of the last good alternative spaces around. Art by Gary Smoot, Susan Robb, Laura Jean Cronin, Penny Jerome, Owen Cornell, Christine Taylor, Katrina Santore, and Kevin Willis. Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through Sept 24.

ANDREW HARE

Hare paints the architectural details we see, but don't really see. ArtsWest Gallery, 4711 California Ave SW, 938-0963. Through Sept 2.

TIM MARSDEN

Paintings--cartoonish and philosophical at the same time--of people in ridiculous, self-inflicted situations. Daniel Smith, 4150 First Ave S, 223-9599. Through Sept 4.

BOKUDEN MATSUDA

Japanese artist Matsuda considers the process that creates his large-scale paintings performance, with each work the result of a meditative dance. The work looks like calligraphy gone not unpleasantly awry. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 155 S Main St, 667-9572. Through Sept 2.

RANDY MCCOY

Bright new paintings, in a series called Butterfly Jokes. Two Bells Tavern, 2313 Fourth Ave, 441-3050. Through Oct 5.

*ROBERT ORTBAL

Assembling hundreds of anything in one space can either change the space entirely, or simply be a lame shorthand for installation. Ortbal's work looks to be the former; in this case he's put hundreds of tin cans, opened at both ends, in a window at 911. See Stranger Suggests. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave N, 682-6552. Through Sept 17.

OUT OF THE LAB

Photography created right in the gallery's own darkroom. Black Lab Gallery, 5208 Ballard Ave NW, 781-2392. Through Sept 6.

DEBORAH PUTNOI

Random fragments of life juxtaposed in small collages. The artist uses a whole spread of media, including canvas, tin etching plates, text, wood, and paint. There have been a number of these kinds of disjointed-narrative shows at Eyre/Moore--rather an interesting direction for a gallery to take. Eyre/Moore Gallery, 913 Western Ave, 624-5596. Through Sept 2.

*RAW IMPROV

This young, young gallery has nabbed nine excellent artists for this group show. The unifying theme is the presence in the work of improvisational elements; the exhibition includes Claire Cowie, Phil Roach, Damon Maxwell, and Randy McCoy. Rex Gallery, 542 First Ave S, 262-9831. Through Sept 2.

CHARLES K. ROSENBERG

Rosenberg's works on paper feature patterning in charcoal and graphite powder on glassine paper. Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 329-2629. Through Sept 3.

STRUCTURES

A rotating exhibit featuring paintings and photographs of real and imagined structures. Participating artists include John Stamets, C. Blake Haygood, and Julia Ricketts. SAM Rental Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3240. Through Sept 2.

*MEGHAN TRAINOR

Another round of dispatches from Pugetopolis, the dark conceptual setting for much of Trainor's work. This time, in a series of paintings called Labor and Rest, she's looking at the Human Genome Project, specifically the collision of the unknown with the known: science and sales, biology and propaganda. In her paintings and mixed-media assemblage, Trainor creates symbols for this strange, advancing new world (Ms. Human Genome, chromosomes, autosomes) and makes them seem as familiar as brand-name goods. Trapeze Gallery, 1130 34th Ave, 329-3363. Through Sept 1.

ANTONELLO TURCHETTI

Emotional black-and-white portraits by a photographer who's in Seattle as part of an arts exchange with Perugia, Italy, one of our many sister cities. FotoCircle Gallery, 216 Alaskan Way S, 624-2645. Through Sept 2.

TRIO

A good bracing dose of rigorous formalism. If you line up works by the three artists--Denzil Hurley, Paul Moran, and Julie Shapiro--it's like watching a nebulous form emerge frame-by-frame on a canvas: least, more, then a little more. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through Sept 3.

LIZA VON ROSENSTIEL

Eerie paintings that use stylized animals to communicate the nuances of emotion. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684. Through Sept 2.

KEITH YURDANA

Sculpture inspired by ideas as oddly specific as gene-splicing, root-grafting, and bonsai. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Room 200, 296-7580. Through Sept 1.

EVENTS

*TONY MILLIONAIRE

A one-night-only show and book signing with the creator of Maakies and Sock Monkey. Fans of Maakies are rabidly loyal; they will be happy to hear that his book, which collected the strip from 1994 through 1999, has been reissued. Sat Sept 2, 6-10 pm at Roq La Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977.