CONSOLIDATED WORKS
500 Boren Ave N, 860-5245.
* SORTA
Final week. “This is a show about artists’ tendencies, about how they apply the filter of the mind to the chaos of the world. This is a show about systems as perfect as they are absurd. This is a show that shows how like is not always like.” (Emily Hall) Through March 23.
FIFTH ANNUAL ALTOIDScolor=”#FF0000″>* CURIOUSLY STRONG COLLECTION
Final week. Don’t write this off as yet another corporate attempt to build cred in the art world–it’s really quite good. The murderous kitty video is particularly addictive. Through March 23.
HENRY ART GALLERY
15th Ave NE & NE 41st St, 543-2280.
ARLENE SHECHET
As part of the continuing “galleries [as] working studios” residency series, sculptor Shechet exhibits her compositions of immediacy–works heavily dictated by chance results. Through May 4.
* JAMES TURRELL
See Stranger Suggests. Through Oct 5.
* GILLIAN WEARING
Opening. Wearing’s 10-16 installation, a simple single-screen video projection, makes an eerie blend of audio collected from interviews with children between these formative years (10-16) and video images of adults performing their dialogue in lip-synch. Through May 4.
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
100 University St, 654-3100.
* JACOB LAWRENCE
In its only West Coast stop, the extensive traveling exhibition of Lawrence’s career in narrative takes residence at SAM. Through May 4.
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
STEVE JONES
Paying tribute to its beloved patron, Cafe Allegro hosts a brief exhibit for Jones, a recently deceased travel photographer. Opening reception Fri March 21, 7-10 pm. Cafe Allegro, 4214 University Way NE, 633-3030. Through March 31.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
JOHN BAIN
Final week. Some kinda crazy mess of electronics and radio transmitters and lasers or something are let loose in a room of seemingly random sound fragments that the viewer interacts with. Polestar Gallery, 1412 18th Ave, 329-4224. Through March 22.
SARAH BERGMANN
Final week. Artificial light of urbanity–the scenic view of cityscapes and highways. I sure do love me a good landscape. Cornish College of the Arts, Woessner Alumni Gallery, 723 Harvard Ave E, 726-5142. Through March 22.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Pigment and its cost: The City of Seattle honors black artists from its portable works collection, featuring the wares of Jacob Lawrence, Gwen Knight, Barbara Thomas, Almerphy Frank-Brown, and others. Key Tower Gallery, 700 Fifth Ave, third floor, 684-7171. Through May 9.
ANDREA BURDEN
Ethereal works in oil. Gallery Mikhel, 109 First Ave S, 292-2000. Through March 28.
JOHN DUGDALE
A visually impaired photographer (and no, that isn’t a punch line), Dugdale uses large-format cameras and archaic processes to craft eerily timeless, otherworldly images. G. Gibson Gallery, 514 E Pike St, 587-4033. Through April 26.
TREASURE FREY
Final week. Illustrator (and Stranger contributor) Frey presents a handful of beautifully petite ink drawings. Glo’s, 1621 E Olive Way, 783-3426. Through March 23.
* MORRIS GRAVES, ALICE WHEELER
The specter of Northwest Mystics (or “The Family,” as I like to call them) continues its ironfisted reign of terror over Seattle well after their deaths, with another major exhibition of Graves’ paintings and drawings. Also featuring three documentary suites by longtime Stranger photographer Wheeler on her most famous subject, Kurt Cobain. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through March 29.
*JON HADDOCK
Reviewed this issue. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through April 5.
ILLUSTRIOUS
Okay, so you sold out. You sell your soul to publications that sandwich your painstaking, blood-soaked art between detergent ads and editorial content about J.Lo’s ass. But there is just some art that they can’t take away. Thankfully Roq la Rue offers you the intellectual gallery setting you so clearly deserve. Featuring commercial artists Tim Silbaugh, Chuck Demorat, Tony Kieme, and The Stranger‘s own Joe Newton getting their personal expression on. Roq la Rue Gallery, 2316 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through March 29.
MUSIC SEEN
Winston Wächter opens its walls to a whole mess of rock photos from EMP’s collection, offering a welcome dose of the 20th century. Winston Wächter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through May 6.
MARCH
Say it with me, everybody: Artists respond to a single-syllable, titular theme! Featuring Phil Scroggs, Kipling West, and the Clayton Brothers, among others. Kaleidoscope Gallery, 157 Yesler Way, second floor, 292-4800. Through March 28.
NAME THAT PRONOUN!
Um, “it”? Joon Miette’s take on gender identity, with the help of such notables as Nikki McClure (swoon), Storme Webber, Bootsy Holler, Irit Reinheimer, and JT Bunnell. Aftermath Gallery, 928 12th Ave, 709-9797. Through March 31.
NEW MEMBER SHOW
The recent inductees have been through their hazing ceremonies, and are now welcomed with open walls. With works by Stefano Catalani, Jana Brevick, Helen Curtis, Claire Johnson, and Jodi Rockwell. Soil Gallery, 1317 E Pine St, 264-8061. Through March 30.
BENTON PEUGH, DOROTHY RISSMAN
A married couple recently imported from Phoenix, Peugh and Rissman present their respective works on canvas. Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through April 5.
SHAUN SURETHING
Surething focuses on a zoo theme, creating images of himself/his lover in quietly odd poses that strike at innocent and ominous situations with the same broad stroke. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873. Through March 31.
ASHLEY THORNER
Pliable, plastic pods, rooted in queries of efficiency and science fiction. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Suite 200, second floor, 296-7580. Through March 29.
WE ARE NOT ALONE
Final week. Art as narcissism: In the gallery’s premier juried show, SAW opens its doors to over 70 artists turning the mirror on themselves to celebrate vanity in a variety of media. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880. Through March 23.
WOMEN WITH BALLS
In correlation with the play of the same name, the lobby of Bathhouse Theater becomes a temple to the fairer sex–a mixed-media group show depicting various women and their appendages. Bathhouse Theater, 7312 W Green Lake Dr N, 325-6500. Through March 29.
* WOMEN WHO ROCK PHOTOGRAPHY
Rock photography at its worst is a predictable way of garnering oneself some parasitic prestige at rock shows, elbowing your way to the front of the audience with a camera bag as social license to take the same static snapshots of some dumbass with a guitar that we’ve all seen thousands of times. At its best, as with the works of this show, it serves to define the aesthetic and energy of its subject with the gravity of the moment. With works by Alice Wheeler, Bootsy Holler, Robin Laananen, and Victoria Renard, among many others. Vera Project, 1916 Fourth Ave, 956-VERA. Through March 31.
YURIKO SWAN
Oil on canvas. Bluebottle Art Gallery, 415 E Pine St, 325-1592. Through March 27.
EVENTS
5IVE
After a year’s worth of discussion and planning, the Five Families–a group of over 15 artist collectives (including the Shunpike Arts Collective, the Stronghold Collective, the New Style Collective, Capitol Hill Arts Center, and Eleventh Hour Productions, among others) joined together in support and collaboration–present their inaugural public venture in a night of “total sensory” absorption. Capitol Hill Arts Cooperative, 1621 12th Ave, 406-5894. Sat March 22 at 9 pm.