Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.
Joe Rudko: Meditations in an Emergency
Through Apr 25
Joe Rudko—best known for his meticulous, hand-cut photo collage pieces that starburst, splay, and weave—has turned to a medium that seemingly could not be farther from those X-Acto-made bouquets. In his new solo at Winston Wächter, oil pastel takes the stage. It’s thick and primal and emotional: color studies caked on paper, a riot of cream and smear aching to articulate through the shattered language of lines. That shattering creates patterns at times reminiscent of past work, but it doesn’t fully bridge the two—and that’s okay, because the break feels febrile and fresh. When rearranged and pieced back together, the broken fragments form cryptic half-hieroglyphs full of longing, perhaps only fully legible to the artist, but potent enough to seep like low-grade fever to the viewer. (Winston Wächter Fine Art) AMANDA MANITACH
Moomins’ Sea Adventures & Tove and the Sea
Through Sept 6
I’ve long dreamt of visiting Finland to visit the Moomin Museum in Tampere, but in a wild twist of events, selected exhibitions from the museum will travel across the Atlantic for the first time to Ballard’s National Nordic Museum. Taking inspiration from her life beside her partner, artist Tuulikki Pietilä, on a small Finnish island, Tove Jansson created entire worlds in tiny packages, from charming comic strips to pocket-sized novels, often surrounding the whimsical world of Moominvalley. If you are unfamiliar with the Moomin trolls—I don’t know what to tell you—they are a family of hippo-shaped creatures that go on adventures and get into mischief with their friends Little My, Sniff, Snufkin, Snorkmaiden, and more. Since they were introduced by Jansson in 1945, the Moomins have been adapted into numerous television series, video games, and theme parks. Designed for visitors of all ages, this exhibit will showcase original Moomin illustrations, an interactive island, and a brand-new photo exhibition of Jansson and Pietilä’s life together. This exhibit is a must for anyone obsessed with cute little guys, queer history, and Nordic magic. (National Nordic Museum, times vary) Read a full review of the show here. AUDREY VANN
You’ve Had It in You All Along
Apr 1–June 7
Last month, Avery Barnes announced the evolution of the gallery formerly known as TASWIRA, now rebranded as the eponymous Avery Barnes Gallery. Barnes has proven a force in the arts since launching her first brick-and-mortar gallery in Seattle at the tender age of 22. In the ensuing years, she has showcased work by an outstanding roster of artists. The first group show to celebrate the rebrand is no exception, with a selection of the city’s crème de la crème: work by Barbara Earl Thomas, Tariqa Waters, Cristina Martinez, Robert Wade, Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes, and Nahom Ghirmay, each of whom explores themes of “resiliency and truth found within the feminine.” (Avery Barnes Gallery, times vary) AMANDA MANITACH
Brandon Bye with Lisa van Dam-Bates and Nate Gowdy
Apr 16
We must first wonder at the fact that it has taken so long for a book of this kind, a book about Seattle’s graffiti culture, to make an appearance and some waves. But as the old saying goes, better late than never. Brandon Bye’s More Paint contains photographs of tags and throw-ups taken by Bye between 2023 and 2025, the years when Seattle’s former mayor, Bruce Harrell, was in the middle of his doomed war against one of the defining urban activities: graffiti. Bye’s images also capture a city that’s rapidly expanding. In the space of two years, Seattle added nearly 36,000 new residents and now has an estimated population of 816,000. Graffiti, however, is not an indication of increasing economic stress (which is truly the case for homelessness), but of the refusal to surrender urban spaces to the logic and determination of those who own and accumulate capital. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free) CHARLES MUDEDE
While the Garden Overgrew: Mya Kerner & Zak Helenske
Apr 24–May 31
Welcome new kid on the (Madrona) block! Founded by designer Michelle Dirkse and artist Jeremy Prim, Dirkse/Prim Gallery is gearing up for a year-round program of solo and two-person exhibitions rooted in painting and centered on abstract and process-driven practices informed by the natural world. The inaugural exhibition aims high with the pairing of abstract-landscape painter Mya Kerner and Zak Helenske, whose statuesque, oversized flowers hand-carved from ash are tall as humans. Above the gallery, Dirkse’s design company has built out an experimental space that blurs the line between art installation and interior design, where they will host events with a variety of creatives, from ceramicists and painters to independent furniture makers. (Dirkse/Prim Gallery) AMANDA MANITACH
Moga
Apr 18
Fresh Mochi is an IYKYK DIY space on Beacon Hill that you absolutely should know, as it boasts some of the best under-the-radar exhibitions, as well as magnificent karaoke after-parties—should you be cool enough to befriend Elizabeth Jameson, the artist and curator behind the space. Moga—a 1920s Japanese portmanteau for modan gāru, or “modern girl”—is the name of the spring exhibit, which showcases work by six celebrated artists of Japanese and Japanese American descent, including Jameson, Patti Warashina, Catherine Cross Uehara, Hanako O’Leary, and Sakura Davis. Each artist puts their spin on the iconoclast moga who bucked traditional Japanese social norms by embracing Westernized fashion and lifestyle. (Fresh Mochi, 5–8 pm, all ages) AMANDA MANITACH
More
Norman Lundin: Landscapes, Mostly, Other Things Too Apr 2–May 16, Greg Kucera Gallery
Donald Cole: Troughlines Apr 2–May 23 with artist open house Apr 18, ArtX Contemporary
In Practice: Work by PCNW Faculty Apr 2–June 7, Photographic Center Northwest
June T Sanders: Prairie Psalm Apr 2–May 2 with opening reception Apr 2, Solas Gallery,
Preston Singletary Apr 4–25, Traver Gallery
Ad-Lib Apr 4–May 17 with opening reception Apr 4, AMcE
Scott Musgrove: Useless Animals, and Kris Kuksi: New Works Apr 10–May 2, Roq la Rue
Modern American Masculinity Apr 10–June 12, Base Camp Studios 2
Best of the Northwest Spring Art Show 2026 Apr 11–12, Hangar 30 at Magnuson Park, times vary
Monsen Photography Lecture: Deana Lawson Apr 23, Henry Art Gallery, 6 pm
The 2026 Seattle Erotic Art Festival May 1–3, Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, times vary
Ongoing
Indira Allegra: The Book of Zero Through Apr 4, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, free
Santos Shelton: Vida Futura Through Apr 5, Gallery Ergo
Boren Banner Series: Camille Trautman Through Apr 12, Frye Art Museum, free
Service/Symbiosis Through Apr 18, Actualize AiR and SOIL
Priscilla Dobler Dzul: Water Carries the Stories of Our Stars Through Apr 19, Frye Art Museum, free
Anila Quayyum Agha: Geometry of Light Through Apr 19, Seattle Asian Art Museum
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once Through Apr 25, Foster/White Gallery
Knock on Wood Through Apr 25, CoCA
Figure/Ground: New Criteria Through Apr 26, Henry Art Museum
Lauren Boilini: The Good Death and Eva Funderburgh: Herd Through Apr 29 with opening reception Apr 2, J. Rinehart Gallery
Any Body: An Exploration of the Body in Abstract and Figurative Art Through May 2, Magnuson Park Gallery
Holland Cunningham: Fleeting Through May 2, Spectrum Fine Art, free
Project NW: Ralph Pugay Through May 17, Tacoma Art Museum
Wallflowers Through May 17, Frye Art Museum
Haunted Through June 7, Tacoma Art Museum
Aimee Lee: Tethered Through June 14, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
Crafting Futures: Emerging Artists Invitational Through June 13, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
TADAIMA: I’m Home Through July 12, Museum of History & Industry
Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest Through Aug 2, Seattle Art Museum
Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving Through Aug 30, Burke Museum
Chloë Bass: Soft Services Through Aug 2026, Volunteer Park
Let There Be Light Through Sept 30, Cannonball Arts
Samantha Yun Wall: What We Leave Behind Through Oct 4, Seattle Art Museum
Jonathan Lasker: Drawings and Studies Through Oct 11, Frye Art Museum, free
Eric-Paul Riege: ojo|-|ól Through Oct 25, Henry Art Museum
A Room for Animal Intelligence Through Jan 2027, Seattle Art Museum
Ten Thousand Things Through spring 2027, Wing Luke Museum
Pioneer Square Art Walk Every first Thursday
Capitol Hill Art Walk Every second Thursday
Georgetown Art Attack! Every second Saturday
Chris Kallmyer: Song Cycle Ongoing, Seattle Art Museum
Gossip: Between Us Ongoing, Tacoma Art Museum
Legacy: Highlights from the Permanent Collection Ongoing, Tacoma Art Museum
Qiu Zhijie: Map of the History of Science and Technology Ongoing, Olympic Sculpture Park, free
Ash-Glazed Ceramics from Korea and Japan Ongoing, Seattle Art Museum
Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle!
