If the Seattle Art Fair is Seattle’s answer to the Venice Biennale, then perhaps Out of Sight is our answer to that time Yayoi Kusama stood outside the 1966 Biennale peddling shiny mirrored balls for $2 each. She was not invited to exhibit as an official participant, but in retrospect, her performative critique of the art world’s dual obsessions with profit and narcissism was probably one of the more memorable things that happened that year.
Established in 2015 as an unofficial addendum to the Seattle Art Fair, Out of Sight is an annual survey of Northwest art that thrives, as the name implies, in the margins outside the commercial gallery system inscribed by the official fair. Because there’s less of an emphasis on sales, it’s a place for artists to take risks and show edgier, more exploratory work. But it’s also a great chance to catch emerging artists destined to be scooped up by galleries—(before Seth David Friedman was represented by Season Gallery, his intimate, biomorphic sculptures were featured at Out of Sight).
The original Out of Sight location inside King Street Station is now occupied by the Office of Arts and Culture, so organizers are currently renovating a brand new gallery space inside the historic Schoenfeld building at 115 South Jackson. (Full disclosure: my band, Hair and Space Museum, just agreed to play their opening party.) Curated by Greg Lundgren, Ben Heywood, S. Surface, and Justen Siyuan Waterhouse, this year’s Out of Sight promises to be a destination in its own right, full of promising young artists, seasoned veterans, and just about everyone in between. Here are a few things that are high on my list to check out: