HENRY ART GALLERY
15th Ave NE and NE 41st St, 543-2280.
* CHEAP THRILLS: GREAT DESIGN FOR $25 OR LESS
A collection of everyday objects revered by artists and designers that encourages us to re-see the everyday. Through March 10.
* SHORT STORIES
Now with new stories! A series of staggered rotating exhibitions that includes work from the permanent collection, commissioned projects, and installations. Through May 12.
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
100 University St, 654-3100.
ART FROM AFRICA: LONG STEPS NEVER BROKE A BACK
Reviewed this issue. Through May 19.
MORRIS GRAVES AND SEATTLE
An exhibition that concentrates on Graves' early career, and takes as its thread the artist's relationship with the Pacific Northwest. Through Oct 20.
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
* RIAIN CALLAHAN
See Stranger Suggests. Opening reception Tues March 12, 6-8 pm. Little Theatre Gallery, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055. Through April 20.
* MICHELLE FIERRO
New paintings from the Los Angeles-based artist. Fierro goes a kind of modified Cy Twombly route, with random-seeming compositions of lumps of paint and other scavenged materials. The work has a weird sense to it, though, and you simply can't take your eyes off it. Opening reception Thurs March 7, 6-8 pm. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through April 6.
TOMIKO JONES
The absolute genius behind The Bunny Chronicles proves that she's no one-trick rabbit. In Infused, she's showing rich, saturated photographs of empty places. Opening reception Thurs March 7, 7-10 pm. The Green Room, 1424 First Ave, 262-0262. Through May 4.
SPIKE MAFFORD, MICHAEL SPAFFORD
In Shared Labors, the son (Mafford, the photographer) and the father (Spafford, the painter) collaborate on mythical-themed work, and document the collaboration. Opening reception Sun March 10, 2-4 pm. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through March 31.
MIKE NIPPER
Yeah, him again. More of his bright, bold, inscrutable paintings. Elliott Bay Gallery 101, 101 S Main St, 682-6664. Through April 3.
KATHLEEN STONE
An installation, called Calamity Blooming, of drawings of wounded and bloody flowers. Opening reception Thurs March 7, 6-8 pm. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, room 200, 296-7580. Through March 29.
NORMA STRAW
New color photography. She won Seattle Weekly's photo contest, but we won't hold that against her. Opening reception later this month. Cut Kulture Gallery, 2018 First Ave, 374-8753. Through April 23.
SWEET AND WILD
An art menagerie, featuring animals in the work of Kara Walker, Bill Owens, Marcel Dzama, Louise Bourgeois, and others both local and not. Opening reception Thurs March 7, 6-8 pm. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through March 30.
* AKIO TAKAMORI
New porcelain and stoneware figures from one of Seattle's premier ceramicists. Opening reception Thurs March 7, 6-8 pm. Grover/Thurston Gallery, 309 Occidental Ave S, 223-0816. Through March 30.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
MICHAEL BELMORE
Installation, assemblage, and lightboxes. Sacred Circle Gallery, Daybreak Star Arts Center, Discovery Park, 285-4425. Through March 17.
BOYS AGAINST GIRLS/GIRLS AGAINST BOYS
Gender issues, as explored by the ArtDrill folks and some of their friends. Nation Gallery, 1921 Fifth Ave, 374-9492. Through March 10.
FORD GILBREATH, SHIRLEY SCHEIER
An investigation into the movement of Licton Springs turned into a video project called "Moon Root." With Scheier's works on paper about self-knowledge and bio-geology. Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through March 30.
ROBERTA GREGORY
Just what you want: Bitchy Bitch glowering at you over brunch. Glo's Diner, 1621 E Olive Way, 324-2577. Through April 6.
JULIA HAACK
New paintings. Jem Studios Gallery, 6004 12th Ave S (enter through All City Coffee at 1205 S Vale St). Through March 30.
BARB JAKSA, NINA FRENKEL
Jaksa's constructed boxes are no mere Cornell rip-off, but thoughtfully build on the master's tradition. In some cases, the artist encourages you to pick them up and handle them. With collages by Frenkel. Artemis Gallery, 3107 S Day St, 323-0562. Through March 30.
* YUMIKO KAYUKAWA
Pure eye candy, in a lovely, girly Japan-pop vein. Roq La Rue Gallery, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through April 5.
RICHARD LEWIS, JOHN DIVOLA, KEITH CARTER, RICHARD MISRACH
New works by everyone. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson St, suite 200, 587-4033. Through March 9.
JEFFRY MITCHELL, KATHERINE GRAY
Mitchell explores the dreamy realm where animals are both symbolic and real. With mixed-media work by Gray. Elliott Brown Gallery, 215 Westlake Ave N, 340-8000. Through March 23.
* MATTHEW PICTON
Subway maps are rendered in plastic beads and resin, transforming a utility into a glittering string of jewels. Their cleverness lies in the movement from dimensionality to flatness and back again. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through March 9.
GINNY RUFFNER
The much-awarded Ruffner continues her inquiry into the life of the mind through the shape of the sculpture. Woodside/Braseth Gallery, 1533 Ninth Ave, 622-7243. Through March 20.
* CHRIS ST. PIERRE, DEMI RAVEN
Two good artists who haven't given up on figurative work; nor have they resorted to expressionistic pap. The Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through March 31.
JIMMY LEE SUDDUTH, WALLY SHOUP
Sudduth is a major folk-art hero, who at 93 is still painting every day with his signature material: molasses mixed with Alabama mud. Shoup captures the complexity of natural rock surfaces in paint. Garde Rail Gallery, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 721-0107. Through March 30.
VIRGINS
They've never publicly shown (their work) before. Aftermath, 928 12th Ave, 709-9797. Through March 21.
WILLIAM TRAVER GALLERY TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION
Traver has made his name by championing the Studio Glass movement, and introducing glass artists such as Lino Tagliapietra and Anna Skibska to the United States. Talents in other media include Doug Jeck and the excellent Friese Undine. William Traver Gallery, 110 Union St, 2nd floor, 587-6501. Through March 31.
WEEGEE
Vintage prints from the photographer's niece's collection. What? You don't know who Weegee is? For shame. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through March 30.
REBECCA WOODHOUSE, ENRICO GOMEZ, CHRIS COLE
Words, paint, and lots and lots of steel. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880. Through March 21.
YURIKO YAMAGUCHI
Two installations which suggest--one in an ordered way, one more chaotically--a way of seeing and interpreting systems. Suyama Space, 2324 Second Ave, 256-0809. Through April 5.
EVENTS
ART AT THE BEMIS BUILDING
A big two-day show of 36 artists. Also, the nicest lofts this side of TriBeCa. Try not to drool. Bemis Building, 55 S Atlantic St, Sat-Sun March 9-10, 2-9 pm. For information, call 262-0257.
BLACK AND RAW BENEFIT
The happy recipient of the proceeds is CoCA--back from purgatory with a fresh new space and a four-year lease. The benefit is not in the new space, but down at "Big Building," home to the studios and workspaces of the artists and industrial steel fabricators who have contributed work to CoCA's latest show. There will be performances by the likes of the Degenerate Art Ensemble, the Gothic Cheerleaders, the Dead Baby Bike Club, and others. Plus an art raffle! Big Building, 3600 E Marginal Way S, Sat March 9, 7 pm-1 am, $10. For information and directions, go to www.cocaseattle.org.
* SHRINKY-DINK AUCTION
In this, its third incarnation, the rules are the same: artists are given Shrinky-Dink materials and all the freedom they desire. The proceeds of the silent auction benefit the Langston Hughes Center. Zeitgeist, 171 S Jackson St, Thurs March 7, 6-8 pm. For information call 583-0497.
