510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, 425-519-0770.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Commissioned in 1991 by New York's Metro Transportation Authority, Lichtenstein's now-complete giant mural for Times Square station is paid tribute a nation away. Through Sept 14.
* NEST: LEO SAUL BERK
"In the ongoing Nest series, the Bellevue Art Museum has invited artists to turn what is usually the museum's library into a living room. In Berk's installation, the furniture points you toward the window, and it's clearly where your focus should be directed (as in rooms oriented toward a picture window, or a television set), so that the feeling of sitting in a lightbox becomes more and more pervasive. " (Emily Hall) Through Sept 7.
PLAY: DORIS CHASE
As part of its continuing video series, BAM invites one of the medium's pioneering artists to display selections from 30 years of work. Through Sept 14.
CENTER ON CONTEMPORARY ART
1420 11th Ave, 728-1980.
DORKBOT
Grassroots Art Collective presents the culmination of its monthly Dorkbot conferences, with a gallery show composed of technologically revelatory contraptions. Through Sept 3.
HENRY ART GALLERY
15th Ave NE & NE 41st St, 543-2280.
* CLAIRE COWIE
Every surface is a stage for Cowie's engaging mutant sculptures--they seem so cute and approachable, but they'll wrench you right down to their level. With photogravures featuring the knickknacks cavorting weirdly in a multilevel dreamhouse. Through Sept 28.
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
100 University St, 654-3100.
PAINTED VISIONS FROM INDIA AND PAKISTAN, PAST AND PRESENT
Two shows of yoked subject, including the 16th-century Indian masterpieces of Intimate Worlds and their contemporary counterparts in Conversations with Traditions: Nilima Sheikh and Shahzia Sikander. Through Sept 8.
PRESTON SINGLETARY
Glass artist Singletary borrows liberally from traditional Native American design for his contemporary works. Through Nov 30.
OPENINGS
HER
An exploration of the female form, told in terms of "the Age of the Water Bearer," the "sword of the Divine Mother," and the somehow dwarfed offense of "womyn." Get ready for enlightenment. Otis Cafe, 1005 Boren Ave, 342-9866. Through Sept 15.
MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
See preview this issue. Opening reception Fri Aug 15, 6-10 pm. Roq la Rue Gallery, 2316 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through Sept 5.
PRINTMAKING BIENNIAL 2003
So, okay... they're not the originals. Fine. But they're the next best thing, right? I mean, right? Featuring works by Paul Loughney, Nina Zingale, Sarah Hauser, Tim Dooley, and more. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, 425-822-7161. Through Sept 5.
* PROJECT 18
See Stranger Suggests. In and around Building 18, Sand Point Magnuson Park, 522-9529. Through Sept 14.
* VELVET DREAMS
Cuddle up to the fuzzy beauty only velvet can afford, in a powerhouse exhibition in the fine art of velvet painting. Featuring works by Edgar Leeteg, the "modern master" of the medium, as well as contemporary dabblers like Charles Krafft, Art Chantry, Joe Newton, and Ellen Forney. Opening reception Fri Aug 15 at 9 pm. Lava Lounge, 2226 Second Ave, 441-5660. Through Sept 1.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
* ANDRIO ABERO
Celebrated (and extremely young) Seattle poster artist Abero hosts a solo exhibition composed of commercial designs and recent screened works, as previewed in the Vera Project's recent Boombox exhibition. Victrola, 413 15th Ave E, 568-2086. Through Aug 31.
* ARDENT LABOR
The theme of this group show is effort, and its totem is the senninbari sash: a piece of cloth--made for a Japanese soldier, by his mother--with a thousand stitches on it, each stitch made by a different person. This is the kind of gesture that in the wrong hands could go woo-woo and completely flat, but with Mandy Greer and Juniper Shuey behind it, it is entirely promising. With work by Laura and Lawrence MacCary, Diana Falchuk, Shio Kusaka, Paul Margolis, Peter Mundwiler, Jessie Skidmore, and the curators. SOIL Gallery, 1317 E Pine St, 264-8061. Through Aug 24.
JASMINE BAYOU-YOUNG, JAYLENE SHELBY, EMILY MARGHERIO
Recent works in divergent media (drawings, photographs, and ceramics, respectively) by three young women. Emergence Gallery, 1914 Fourth Ave, 292-4142. Through Aug 29.
MARK BENNION, DEBORAH PUTNOI, DOUG SMITHENRY
Bennion's painted sculptures and sculptured paintings, Putnoi's mixed-media grids, and Smithenry's Internet-sourced paintings unite to form... well, the sum of their parts, I guess. Atelier 31, 2500 First Ave, 448-5250. Through Aug 31.
* COLE CASE, SEAN DUFFY
Duffy's nutty work looks askance at the holy objects of culture; his new work riffs on the slacker aesthetic and its subsequent canonization. Case takes on landscape as translated by the enormous egos of '70s earthworks artists. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Aug 23.
RONALD HALL, STEVEN MILLER
Hall's paintings play 52 Pick-Up with the whole damned race deck, while Miller's photos take a slightly subtler look at cultural indifference. Gallery 110, 110 S Washington St, 624-9336. Through Aug 30.
* WILLIAM KENTRIDGE, JACK DAWS
Daws' first solo show includes a playpen bounded by barbed wire, a windmill sculpted out of coal, the twin towers built of French fries, and other items that carry his nutty political charge. With new drawings and prints by South African artist William Kentridge, one of the few political artists who don't make me yawn. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Aug 30.
* PAUL MARGOLIS
Clever quilter Margolis crafts cloth representations of those closest to him; his work includes quilted meter-maid carts, wine presses, and flip-flops. King County Gallery, 506 Second Ave, second floor, 296-7580. Through Aug 29.
HENK PANDER, ANN DUFFY
Representational paintings of natural and urban scenery. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684. Through Aug 30.
MATTHEW PORTER
Bluebottle co-owner Porter pays rent on his latest solo exhibition, a letter-for-letter examination of alphabetical nomenclature (as in, "A is for Apple") titled Not Your Average Alphabet. Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store, 415 E Pine St, 325-1592. Through Aug 28.
ROUGH DIAMONDS
The anonymous and undiscovered of the thrift-store art aisle finally find their moment in the spotlight. Hopvine, 507 15th Ave NE, 328-3120. Through Aug 22.
SUSTAINING VISION
Juried by Anne Wilkes Tucker, the culmination of PCNW's eighth annual photographic competition features 80 images of visual sustenance. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Sept 28.
STOKLEY TOWLES
Final week. An installation and series of lunch-hour performances on the unseen mysteries of the library. Temporary Central Library, 800 Pike St, 733-9663. Performances at 12:15 pm, through Aug 16.
K. D. SCHILL
Costume designer Schill's debut solo exhibition marries baseball and Catholicism for Hall of Fame: Team Catholic. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880. Through Aug 24.
EVENTS
CAMERON
Portland-based clothing designer Cameron hawks her wares in the good company of Lipstick Traces, in an evening of fashion dubbed Closet Raid. Lipstick Traces, 500 E Pine St, 329-2813. Sat Aug 16, 6-9 pm.
OPOPONAX
Opoponax magazine editor Michael Sanchez hosts a haughty mixed bag of experimental film, visual art, theater, and music. Bring your black turtleneck. Little Theatre, 610 19th Ave E, 329-2629. Free. Sat Aug 16 at 2 pm.
