Visual Art Mar 5, 2009 at 4:00 am

(In No Particular Order)

Comments

1
Ann Hamilton's 'Accountings' - I still remember it not like a piece of art, but something significant that happened to me when I was young. I'd long forgotten the title or the name of the artist.
2
Although I appreciate your efforts to do a survey of notable works in Seattle, this article is at BEST an short art history lesson. By stating the that only 25 pieces are deemed "the greatest works EVER made in Seattle" is an insult to the visual art community in Seattle and very pompous for you to state. Who died and said you are the one to define all things "great"? I think that the only listing you got correct is the "Annonymous" because you're right, you DON'T know it all.
3
Jen This is a really shockingly negligent piece of journalism. There is no indication of where you saw or we can see the work. You have left out major works, unbelievable, Henry Moore, Noguchi, just for starters. Public art you don't even get!

4
the slide show was great, good article.
5
how about pictues or links to pictures, the article is about these artworks but there
are not pictures. Is the person on drugs?
Do they not understand that people might want
to see the pictures of the art while reading
the text. Is this author's mind being controlled by aliens. Is this a scam? Are we supposed to look everything up ourselves to find pictures on the net? WTF. We are all going to die because of this kind of alien mind control!!!!!!
6
I'm going to add the sadly covered over murals by whiting tennis at supreme (site of the now closed coupage) they were beautiful, made me happy and peaceful each time i saw them.
i think the ann hamilton and early james turell works were beyond incredible and most everything in town since has paled in comparison.
7
Waaaahhhh!!! You left out [art piece]! You know nothing about art because your tastes aren't exactly like mine! How could you not include [art piece] in this list of only 25?! Waaahhh
8
NOT a fan of 'Adjacent, Against, Upon', though. Coming across its immensity and then reading the title feels like a high-hat crash at the end of a bad joke. It's the kind of public art that makes the average person angry. One is only drawn to think of the resources and energy expended to move these giant rocks: pointless labor, a little reminiscent of the Pyramids.
9
Dearest Jen:
Glad to see a couple of my selections overlapped with yours. While one may quibble with semantics, I found your list thoughtful. Speaking of semantics: I was amused by your suggestion that readers view lists submitted "by selected members of Seattle's art establishment." I would be flattered by this characterization, but I work in a comic book store ferchrissakes. Certainly the other participants on your august panel are esteemed members of the art establishment, but I rather prefer my present standing as an incorrigible ingrate. Warm regards, Larry Reid
10
Really horrible title. It makes anyone who has ever seen any art in Seattle hate it. If it had been named My 25 Favorite Seattle Art Pieces, or 25 Notable Seattle Art Pieces, it could have been ok. As it is, everyone I've talked to about it is offended.
11
I love Charles Kraft's work! I wrote him a few years ago and he was nice enough to send me an autographed exhibit guide.
12
Some great choices here, including the oft-forgotten Jason Sprinkle and Charles Krafft. But also some glaring omissions. The Fremont Troll, for instance?!? It might not be as lofty and cerebral as some of your other choices, but it's all the things that art should be- populist, iconic and fun.
13
Music and literature aren't works of art?
14
There has never been a great work of art produced in Seattle, and it's impossible now.
15
This article is Retarded simply because there are no photographs of the art pieces mentioned. your written praise is not enough. What the FK??????????
p.s. some readers do not live in seattle, like myself
16
Hey Larry Reid you are part of the "art establishment"

The work that is missing for me is Mark Tobey's Gothic from the SAM collection
17
Taste in such matters is always relative, and with the exception of the horror that is the Seattle Library, I find it hard to fault any of the choices. I do find it odd that most of the works were painted/made/built in the past 25 years. Not included were any of the iconic works of the photographer Imogene Cunningham or Mark Tobey or of several other very fine artists who worked in Seattle prior to 1980.
18
me three 'Accountings.' that work wasn't just one of the best ever in Seattle, it was one of the best ever period. I couldn't stop returning to the Henry while it was up. i still have dreams about it.
19
@10: See comment @7.
20
Is there something unfortunate about black and white photography?
21
I AM OUTRAGED AND OFFENDED THAT NO STREET PEOPLE OR NON-ART INVOLVED MORONS WERE INCLUDED. LARRY REID IS HILARIOUS. BIG UPS. MUCH LOVE. WE'LL BE SEEING EACH OTHER
22
Click on the slideshow, L.A. Dude. There's a link to it under the top image, and a link to it off to the side. We couldn't get images of all the works, but we got images of most of them.
23
Tacoma Toilet Art made in Seattle??Get outta here, Jen. Top 25 pieces made in Seattle? Yawn. Almost as silly as Regina posting her piece on Tacom art every other week. Almost, I said.
24
Suggestion for future stories: 7 best colors ever used by a single dad artist. 19 best pictures ever taken in Vancouver of girls in t-shirts. 41 best songs ever whistled while sitting on the toilet at the Tacoma Convention Center. 2 best art critics EVER to compile lists in Seattle.

25
Suggestions for more interesting stories: 6 best colors ever used by single dad artists. 19 best pictures ever taken in Vancouver of girls in T-shirts. 48 best art stories ever penned by the 2 best art critics in Seattle EVER. 26 very best works in beeswax from Forks in the history of the World, EVER
26
I do appreciate Jens ability to drum up supposed controversy in this scene when there is normally little to none. Its just too bad shes the only fucking one left. Sigh...
27
Controversy? A personal little list of favorites is no controversy. It’s a Facebook gimmick. Quick, write down your 25 favorite albums and send to 25 friends. Interesting, you think?
28
How is the Wheeler photo an example of genderfuck? Is it because the girl is wearing a bowie shirt?
29
Mostly crap.
30
A good list, gotta love Charlie Krafft, but geez louise, there are some paintings in the art world too, you know.
31
The single best work of art that has ever been produced in Seattle, one that is gapingly missing from the list, was responsible for the art genre' called "Art Deco". It doubled as being the symbol of Seattle up until the Space Needle was built.

Ever heard of Kalakala?

She was a floating work of art that logged in more than a million nautical miles on Puget Sound while at the same time appearing to be something that could turn horizontal and fly to Mars.

Too bad you don't know your Seattle history a bit better. To leave Kalakala off this list is a brutal faux-pas.
32
This article is one reason why I keep coming to The Stranger to find art. Thanks!
33
Much ado about nothing-much like the new Pompidou Center exhibition.
Not even twice as many comments as artworks.
34
Listicles can only end in tears.
35
This list should include the Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University. It's much more intricate and powerful than half of those pieces mentioned.
36
Thanks Jen for your educational discourse again. As per usual... your on the mark.

I hope we all like growing old like bracelets and chevy's....

your green alaska tuxedo bumpkin.... d.
37
I'm glad to see Jacob Lawrence on the list, and Dale Chihuly. I'm a glass artist myself, and even though I don't have a cast of hundreds creating my work, as Chihuly does, I admire his innovation. To see some of the fused glass art my daughter and I create, go here: http://omegaartanddesign.blogspot.com/
38
I'm starting a new list. Top 25 stupidest article ever written about Seattle art.
39
Jen Graves and Morris Graves: related?

An excellent article from a gifted and discerning art critic.
40
That log is the deadest thing in the sculpture park... pointing to how dead people really are in relation to nature.

Natural decay is going on all around all the time in much more spectacular forms - but someone needs to spend a shitload of money to put a roof over it so that city folks can see it too? Only to be put on some list about the best art ever made?

I guess America's on decline in more ways than one...
41
OK, I got beyond the log. There's some nice picks in there - the porcelain stuff, both of 'em, and the pulpy lignin stuff too, not to mention the library... it took guts.

but still, that log really sucks.
42
Love the idea of adding the Kalakala. Three more I'd like to see given props, along the line of the hammering man ball and chain: (1) The monolith that mysteriously appeared in various places (2) The Helicopter blades that rotated over the Drinkmore Cafe (3) The mural on the wall under the highway near (I think) Seneca and Post Alley.

Don't know artists of any of these, but the monolith video can be found on youtube... Anyone?
43
You forgot about Tom Chapel's "Illest Mother Fucking Art Show On The Planet" at the DoubleHeader. That was amazing.
44
Is it native art if it was created by a non-native? I hope you do better research in the future and you can you get all the egg off your face?
45
Disappointing, even for an article written by Jen Graves. No wonder the rest of the art world thinks seattle is a backwater. ugh.
46
Grant Cogswell: you just summed up exactly the overpowering value of 'A,A,U' that had been escaping my mind. Much like the wheel in Duty Cycle, AAU is (both a study of scale AND) a tribute to pointless labor [which most everyone has experienced]. So, erm, ...Thanks!

Yo, LA dude & supercracker, click the links, dumbarses.
Dream Teamer: The not-so-good ship Kalakala wasn't created as art any more than the monorail was; you are mostly alone in your pining.

Jen, you expessed an opinion within a Stranger article: marks for bravery, for damn sure. Top 25 lists blow for anyone who's favorite hard-on-tastic art composition wasn't there *resisting naming 50 of them here* , but editors can be blamed for assignments like this. Good list overall (and great exposure for non-arties to see through new eyes): solid, couple of yawners, couple of dazzlers. Thanks!
47
Morris Graves used to phone me up from his retreat near Eureka, Ca. for Seattle art scene gossip. In those days I was a painter and writing a smart alecky column for The Rocket, trying to liven things up a little on the art crit front which Regina Hackett, Delores Tarzan Ament and Matthew Kangas had in a headlock. My phone had a record button that I really should have used when he called, but I never pushed it out of deference to his very public wish for privacy. One day, after he got his gossip fix, he said." The next time you're down here on a visit bring me some of your bird paintings and if I like them I'll sign them. " Unfortunately, he died before I could take him up on his offer.
48
Way to maintain that privacy, Charlie.
49
I was excited to read this article based on the headline and then greatly disappointed. I flipped through the pages of the Stranger and saw that there weren't even photos to go along with the 25 pieces. REALLY?! Shouldn't art be shown? And please don't list art that is in Tacoma if the title of the piece is about art in Seattle. I couldn't bring myself to actually read all of your feature because it was so disappointing that you didn't include photos of what you were reviewing. Bad job Stranger.
50
Oh cool, pretentious anti-art photography and installations, with no attention whatsoever paid to anything that the public actually cares about. Painting? Illustration? Sculpture? No, sorry guys. We've got PHOTOGRAPHY AND INSTALLATIONS. Par for the course seeing as how Jen is a Cornish instructor. This article sounds like something your teacher would barf out during a first year foundations class.
51
Seriously, You forgot Kenneth Callahan, Guy Anderson, and Mark Tobey who more than likely had a bigger influence on Jackson Pollock and "Blue Poles" than Thomas Hart Benton ever could have.
52
Native American Art is special because it is an expression of the beliefs and traditions of our First Nations people!

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