BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM

510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, 425-454-3322

*LUMINOUS: LIGHT AS MATERIAL, MEDIUM, AND METAPHOR

Light as an architectural element is one of Steven Holl's most famous tropes, and this exhibition was assembled to examine it further. It happily includes work by some of the artists you would expect to be represented: Dan Flavin, Joseph Kosuth, Tokihiro Sato, and Iole Allesandrini. Through June 17.

BIT PLANE (BUREAU OF INVERSE TECHNOLOGY)

The bureau of inverse technology arrived in Seattle last December and set out to create a portrait of the city through surveillance, observation, and interviews. Footage was gathered by the bit plane, a small remote-control aircraft, and is now presented in a site-specific installation. Through April 22.

CONSOLIDATED WORKS

410 Terry Ave N, 381-3218

SUBlimina

This new exhibition is the touring Altoids Curiously Strong Collection--tied rather loosely to the Consolidation Series theme of public and private thresholds, but we'll forgive it for bringing some good contemporary work by 25 emerging artists. Through April 8.

HENRY ART GALLERY

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

*WOLFGANG LAIB: A RETROSPECTIVE

Laib's work resides in the delicate realm of contemplation and nature: pollen sifted into piles and large color field--like squares, "milkstones," forms built of beeswax. This is the first American survey of Laib's work--a touring show that has been shown at the Hirshhorn in Washington D.C. and will travel to San Diego, Houston, and Munich. Opening reception Sun Feb 25, 3-5 pm, with a conversation with Laib and chief curator Elizabeth Brown at 2 pm. See Stranger Suggests. Through May 6.

PERFORMING PHOTOGRAPHY

Selections from the Joseph and Elaine Monson Photography Collection (one of the most comprehensive in the nation), chosen by the collection's curator, Michael van Horn. The idea is to demonstrate the medium's flexibility--from documentary to staged, entirely fictitious scenarios--but the upshot is just really good work by some of the best artists around (including Cindy Sherman, Zhang Huan, Tina Barney, Vito Acconci, Gilbert and George, and Ann Hamilton). Opening reception (in conjunction with Wolfgang Laib retrospective, above) Sun Feb 25, 3-5 pm. Through June 3.

PETER SHELTON: STRETCHspread

Shelton is best known for his installations that expand to fill a gallery's whole space with forms that suggests the body and it parts. He's one of those eighties artists who steeped himself in this art-of-the-body theme, in shapes cast in different materials, from fiberglass to bronze and brass. STRETCHspread is a gift to the Henry's permanent collection from the deep-pocketed Lannan Foundation. Through April 8.

NORDIC HERITAGE MUSEUM

3014 NW 67th St, 789-5707

*BETWEEN SPACE AND TIME: CONTEMPORARY NORWEGIAN SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION

It's hard enough to keep up with American and British contemporary art; what's going on in Norway tends to be a big hole for all of us. This touring show of six mid-career Norwegian artist--which was seen in Moss, Norway, and Atlanta and moves on to New York--includes Per Barclay's oil-room installations and Bård Breivik's delicate mesh forms. The theme of the show in no way proscribes it, proving that even in a place as isolated as Norway, regional aesthetic takes a back seat to the personal one. Through April 1.

PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER

200 Second Ave N, 443-2001

MATHEMATICA: A WORLD OF NUMBERS... AND BEYOND

The original version of this exhibit, an exploration of mathematics, created by the furniture designers Charles and Ray Eames, was one of the Pacific Science Center's first shows. Through April 29.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

100 University St, 654-3100

CREATING PERFECTION: SHAKER OBJECTS AND THEIR AFFINITIES

An exhibition examining the Shaker culture through its furniture, textiles, and tools, as well as photographs, prints, and drawings. A selection of non-Shaker objects shows the influences absorbed, and rejected, by this simplicity-embracing group; an adjacent display of modern works traces a similarly strict formalism that artists use to create structure in the chaotic modern world. Through April 29.

*LANGUAGE LET LOOSE

A tiny little exhibition on the incorporation of text into the visual world. The show's centerpiece is Gary Hill's video installation House of Cards; 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. Through April 29.

*JOHN SINGER SARGENT

This show, curator Trevor Fairbrother's swan song, pulls together an extensive representation of the work of Sargent, the premier portrait artist of his period (1856-1925). Included are a dozen of his famous portraits of the Wertheimer family, along with a good deal of his less famous works: his charcoal studies of male nudes and the watercolors he produced near the end of his life. Through March 18.

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1123 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, 253-272-4258

THE NEW FRONTIER: ART AND TELEVISION 1960-65

A media-wide investigation into the effects of television on culture, including work by Bruce Conner, Andy Warhol, and Yoko Ono. Through March 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, including the photography of Frank Matsura and 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 devoted one gallery entirely to their great collection of '60s and '70s color field paintings, and introduced 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.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

GREG BERNHARDT

Large paintings on instant gratification and dehydrated reconstituted life. Bernhardt is escaping Seattle for Prague this spring, so catch him while you can. Independent Media Center, 1415 Third Ave, 262-0721. Through Feb 28.

*MARE BLOCKER

There's a special place in my heart for book art, and Blocker takes up a lot of it. Her works combine art and text in ways that challenge the very idea of the book; her new one-of-a-kind books are being shown with a limited edition card game called The Badge Mount Set. Wessel and Lieberman Booksellers, 208 First Ave S, 682-3545. Through March 31.

*CAROL BOLT

An installation about abundance and need, built out of starlight peppermints. King County Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Second Floor, 296-7580. Through Feb 23.

JOHN BOWMAN

The primary reference for Bowman's paintings is the theater, and what we see is a fraction of it: the curtain, the stage, a chandelier. But that's all we get--the interrupted narrative is ours to provide. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through March 3.

*LESLIE CLAGUE

This is Clague's first solo show--long overdue. Decaedent Objects combines the ideas of death and self-indulgence. The artist gently mocks her own practices, which include covering found objects (shown here in two window installations) in felt and wire, sampling and recombining thrown-away elements to create something part-quaint, part-obsession, part-memento mori. The theater's lobby features drawings and larger-scale sculpture. Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055. Through Feb 25.

CUBAN SPLASH/SALPIC"N CUBANO

Work by four Cuban-born artists: Ariela Boronat, Adela E. Gonzalez, Tatiana Garmendia, Tomas Oliva. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, 425-822-7161. Through March 28.

*TIMMY DOWLING

Photographs of men and their accessories, inspired by the poses of action figures. Houston, 907 E Pike St, 860-7820. Through March 10.

*THE DYSFUNCTIONAL CHAIR SHOW

Don't sit! The only stricture for artists participating in this group show was that the chair be impossible--or dangerous--to sit in. It's not just a gag, but inquires into the very identity of the object. When is a chair no longer a chair? Vital 5 Productions, 2200 Westlake Ave, 254-0475. Through March 1.

JAMES EWING, LINDA BELL, NICOLA VRUWINK

Photography by Ewing and Bell; a video installation by the multi-talented Vruwink. Commencement Art Gallery, Ninth and Commerce, Tacoma, 253-591-5341. Through March 8.

PATRICK HOLDERFIELD

A window installation with one of Holderfield's food paintings, this time an interpretation of John Singer Sargent's Aesop. SAM Rental Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3183. Through Feb 24.

GREG RICHARD KALAMAR

New paintings, bright and expressionistic. Black Lab Gallery, 5208 Ballard Ave NW, 781-2392. Through March 7.

SALLY LARSEN

Digital projections that suggest water and other personal imagery. Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art, Daybreak Star Arts Center, Discovery Park, 285-4425. Through April 1.

*MANIA

Fuzzy Engine's core artists take on excess, obsession, and cultural enthusiasm. Fuzzy Engine, 2801 NW Market St, 789-6951. Through March 3.

DAMON MAXWELL

New work from Maxwell, whose work ranges from the cartoonish and grotesque to the intense and abstract. I Capolavori, 2519 Fifth Ave, 448-2825. Through March 14.

*MARK TAKAMICHI MILLER

Miller's recent work has consisted of big, flirty paintings, saturated--almost garishly--with color poured over and staining the canvas. This show, with eight new paintings, moves away from pure abstraction to explore the possibility, however faint, of narrative. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Feb 24.

STEVE MILLER

Photographs from Miller's trips to Southeast Asia and Indonesia, many of them taken at night with eerily indeterminate light sources. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873. Through Feb 28.

JOHN MOLLOY

An oddly chilling pair of themes: photographs taken while Molloy was at his brother's funeral in Ireland, shown with images of Capitol Hill by night. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Feb 27.

OF THE MOTHERLAND

Six artists from Zimbabwe and a new collection of sculpture by Shona Stone. Mwoyo Arts, 1125 Pike St, 223-0908. Through March 28.

MARIA PORGES

Bay Area artist Porges is populating the world with wax vessels. Displayed like shop items on a wooden ledge, the multicolored bottles are imprinted with words, creating layers of text and meaning. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through March 10.

PIKE POWERS

Where do boats go when they die? Recent paintings by Powers--who is also Pilchuck's artistic director--look at the dying fishing industry. Elliott Brown Gallery, 215 Westlake Ave N, 340-8000. Through March 10.

THE PRIVACY SHOW

Six artists interpret the ways the world invade our lives. With work by Tyler Cufley, Paul Davies, Jeffrey DeGolier, Rachel Johnson, Samantha Scherer, and Claude Zervas. See Bio Box. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 1205 Pike St, 264-8061. Through Feb 25.

PHILIP RUBINOV-JACOBSON, ANDREA TUCKER

Strange forces seem to be at work in the paintings of both artists. Rubinov-Jackson leans more toward the mystical, while Tucker's have a more implicit humor: gorgeous blowsy girls fighting evil, business as usual. Roq La Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through March 2.

SARAH SAVIDGE

Urban Iconography--paintings on canvas and wood panels, using iconography from Asia and Africa. Virginia Inn, 1937 First Ave, 728-1937. Through Feb 27.

SCATTERED, SMOTHERED, AND COVERED

Recent acquisitions of folk, self-taught, and so-called outsider art from gallery owners Karen Light and Marcus Pina's trips through the Deep South and Midwest. Garde Rail Gallery, 4750 35th Ave S, 760-3720. Through Feb 25.

JENA SCOTT

This is Scott's second solo show at Eyre/Moore, and this time her theme is Explorers and Other Historical Figures--including the artist herself (as well as Calamity Jane and Pamela Anderson Lee). Eyre/Moore Gallery, 913 Western Ave, 624-5596. Through Feb 24.

JACK SPENCER, SETH THOMPSON

Photography from Mexico and Cuba. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson, Suite 200, 587-4033. Through March 22.

MERRILL WAGNER

Both in and out of the studio, Wagner explores paint on what can only be called the world--paint on rocks, paint on asphalt, paint on concrete. This show features new paintings on steel, minimal manmade landscapes. William Traver Gallery, 110 Union St, Second Floor, 587-6501. Through Feb 25.

JODIE WHALEN

Photographs of the body, taken with Diana and pinhole cameras. Zeitgeist, 171 S Jackson St, 583-0497. Through Feb 28.

EVENTS

THE POETICS OF LINE: CONTEMPORARY NIGERIAN ART

A lecture by the eminent anthropologist Simon Ottenberg, one of the first to study Igbo culture in Nigeria in the early 1950s. Ottenberg will discuss the political and traditional influences on the Nsukka Group of contemporary Nigerian artists. SAM, Thurs Feb 22, 7 pm, $7.

OPPORTUNITIES

FotoCircle would like to hear from artists interested in showing their work in the gallery. For submission information, call FotoCircle's voicemail at 624-2645, or visit www.fotocircle.org.

SOIL Artist Cooperative is accepting proposals for group and solo exhibitions in 2001-2002. Send up to 10 slides, resume, letter of interest, and SASE to: SOIL, c/o Joline, 12731 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125. Or, you can drop off your application at SOIL between 12-5 pm, Thurs-Sun. Deadline is Feb 26.