CONSOLIDATED WORKS
500 Boren Ave N, 381-3218.
* JOHN SUTTON, BEN BERES, ZAC CULLER
Three smart boys with a lot of good ideas. The Sutton/Beres/Culler trio has done a lot to refresh Seattle’s notion of performance and conceptual art, such as Trailer Park (which cruised the city this summer), spontaneous performances along Broadway (such as Beres encasing himself in plaster and letting passersby chip him out), and hiring day laborers, Santiago Sierra-style, to make art objects during this show’s opening. Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 8 pm-2 am. Through Dec 21.
EXPERIENCE MUSIC PROJECT (EMP)
325 Fifth Ave, 262-3221.
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: AMERICAN MUSIC
“When Leibovitz deals with the utterly new and foreign–such as the photo of rapper Mos Def, the second-best image in this collection–she seems to be in a position of invention rather than convention. ” (Charles Mudede) Through Jan 19.
FRYE ART MUSEUM
704 Terry Ave, 622-9250.
FRAMES AT THE FRYE
Without a frame, a painting is unfinished: discuss. Through Jan 2.
ZHI LIN
Large-scale paintings depicting executions, in Crossing Histories/Crossing Cultures. Through Jan 25.
HENRY ART GALLERY
15th Ave NE and NE 41st St, 543-2280.
* HOVER: POLLY APFELBAUM AND PAE WHITE
“Pae White’s mobile, called Grotto, is made of hundreds, maybe thousands, of bright silkscreened and irregular dots, collaged so that they resemble the eyes on peafowl feathers, and then strung regularly along fragile cords and hung together in a slight boomerang shape. The strings are so thin that your very presence sets them into motion that reaches all the way into the center of the loose object–a constant breathy, floating, turning, slight action that is mesmerizing and lovely. Grotto is almost not an object, almost more of an action, a truly curious and beautiful thing. ” (Emily Hall) Through Dec 28.
MUSEUM OF GLASS
1801 E Dock St, Tacoma, 253-284-4750.
MOVING THROUGH NATURE
Three artists–Michael Kenna, Mayme Kratz, and Stacey Neff–inspired by nature. Through March 21.
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
100 University St, 654-3100.
* BAJA TO VANCOUVER: THE WEST COAST AND CONTEMPORARY ART
“The feeling you get from B2V is that of a defining claim that does not exclude–West Coast artists looking at West Coast issues and West Coast themes, but not limited by them. It’s a complex show, full of both icons and iconoclasm, and the slightly coy feeling that the curatoriat has asked a question and then denied asking it. But art, thank goodness, thrives on paradox, and much (but not all) of B2V‘s art rises to the occasion. ” (Emily Hall) Through Jan 4.
THE GRAPHIC DESIGN OF ANDRIO ABERO
Final week. Our favorite poster boy has infiltrated SAM, with posters in the downstairs hallway. Through Dec 5.
SEATTLE ASIAN ART MUSEUM
Volunteer Park, 654-3100.
LI JIN: A FEAST
Two modern scrolls by a Chinese master. Through April 11.
OPENINGS
JULIE ALEXANDER
Layered grid paintings you can look way into. Opening reception Sat Dec 6, 6-9 pm. Artemis Gallery, 3107 S Day St, 323-0562. Through Jan 31.
BRIAN ALLEN
Very, very weird: Allen photographs buildings so that they appear to be only facades, and insists it’s just a matter of perspective and perception. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 5-7 pm. AIA Seattle, 1911 First Ave, 448-4938. Through Jan 29.
BLUEBOTTLE ART GALLERY HOLIDAY BASH
Lots of freaky stuff for the holidays, with new Mexican wrestler paintings from owner Matthew Porter. Opening reception Sat Dec 6, 7-11 pm. Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store, 415 E Pine St, 325-1592. Through Dec 31.
SQUIRE BROEL, MAX BENJAMIN
Abstraction, color, intensity, etc. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Foster/White Gallery at Pioneer Square, 123 S Jackson St, 622-2833. Through Dec 24.
JACK CHEVALIER, GILLIAN THEOBALD
Chevalier makes paintings/objects that draw on all sorts of abstract influences. What’s more interesting is Theobald’s method of almost painting a landscape, but not quite. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Linda Hodges Gallery, 316 First Ave S, 624-3034.
* BRUCE DAVIDSON, DARREN WATERSTON
Davidson’s been pointing his camera at American culture and life for six decades; Waterston’s dreamy, hazy, slightly creepy (in a sort of biological way) watercolors are more introspective. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Jan 3.
BRUCE DAVIDSON, PARIS SALON SHOW
Running concurrently with a show at Greg Kucera Gallery (see listing above), PCNW’s Davidson show features work from East 100th Street. With photographs of Paris by PCNW’s students. Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 6-8 pm. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Dec 19.
JIMMY GERSEN
Work inspired by (and painted during sets by) the band Defect. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 5-8 pm; Defect show at 9 pm, $10. 7hill Gallery, 1417 10th Ave, 323-9335. Through Dec 31.
MICHAEL GESINGER, BRUCE BARNBAUM
Two photographers who “paint with light.” Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Benham Gallery, 1216 First Ave, 622-2480. Through Dec 24.
RAJAA GHARBI, DEBORAH WALKER
You can almost see the Arabic calligraphy in Gharbi’s work; Walker leans more on an early Renaissance iconic style to mourn lost species. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Gallery 110, 110 S Washington St, 624-9336. Through Jan 3.
KEN C. JUDD
Jitterbug comprises energetic graphic paintings in the style of ’80s street artists Basquiat and Haring. Opening reception Sat Dec 6, 6:30-9 pm. Broadway Market, 401 Broadway Ave E, second floor, 933-3279. Through Dec 31.
ED KAMUDA
Landscapes, created with oil paint and palette knife, with a mystical bent. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Lisa Harris Gallery, 1922 Pike Place, 443-3315. Through Dec 29.
KAREN KARGIANIS, CAROLE D’INVERNO
Stoneware and porcelain sculpture textured by bones and plants from Kargianis; jazz-inspired portraits from d’Inverno. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. AT.31, 2500 First Ave, 448-5250. Through Jan 4.
* HELEN LESSICK
Hooray, Helen Lessick’s back! Here, she shows a storm cloud of torsos made of plumber’s tape. Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 6-10 pm. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880. Through Dec 21.
CARMEN LOZAR, SARAH BERGMANN
Different kinds of glasswork with found objects from Lozar; new paintings from Bergmann. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Foster/White Gallery in Rainier Square, 1331 Fifth Ave, 583-0100. Through Dec 24.
MARIKO MARRS
Not to be confused with Mariko Mori or Mark Morris… Marrs paints abstracted things. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-9 pm. Velocity Art and Design, 2118 Second Ave, 781-9494. Through Jan 15.
JAMES MONGRAIN
Chandeliers, vases, and goblets. Not really anything like Ikea. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 5-8 pm. William Traver Gallery, 110 Union St, second floor, 587-6501. Through Jan 4.
CARLYLE DALE MOORE III, TRACY DeCAMP
New paintings, along with a show featuring miniatures. Opening reception Sat Dec 6, 7-10 pm. Art/Not Terminal Gallery, 2045 Westlake Ave, 233-0680. Through Jan 1.
JOE NEWTON
Featuring illustrations from the Savage Love column in this very paper. Opening reception Tues Dec 9, 6-9:30 pm. The Rose Club Café, 3601 S McClellan in the Mt. Baker neighborhood, 725-3654. Through Jan 3.
GREG RACHKO
Human figures in The Big Picture. Opening reception Sat Dec 6, 7-9 pm. LGBT Community Center, 1115 E Pike St, 323-5428. Through Dec 31.
RARE WORKS FROM THE GALLERY COLLECTION
Like the name says. With work by Morris Graves, Guy Anderson, Wendell Brazeau, Mabel Lisle Ducasse, and others. Opening Thurs Dec 4. Martin-Zambito Fine Art, 721 E Pike St, 726-9509. Through Jan 6.
* PHIL ROACH
If you missed Roach’s installation at BAM (and you probably did, since it was only open for three days before BAM gave up the ghost), here’s your reprieve, thanks to the good folks at SOIL. “Phil Roach’s contribution to the series Nest is a living room that’s like one of his tiny dioramas: a living room that seems to have been recently left, with clothes tossed on the couch, a messy pile of newspapers, and a radio that someone left on. But Roach lets us know that human presence is not the only presence that counts; some of the furniture and accessories in the room bear his signature peepholes, through which you view something that may or may not be the object’s inner life (the pile of newspapers has something of a surprise for you). ” (Emily Hall) Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 7-10 pm. SOIL, 1317 E Pine St, 264-8061. Through Dec 28.
RODERICK ROJO
Impressions of moving through space. Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 6-10 pm. Viveza Gallery, 2604 Western Ave, 956-3584. Through Dec 27.
DONNA ROMERO
The varying presences of light, in painting. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Zeitgeist Art & Coffee, 171 S Jackson St, 583-0497. Through Jan 8.
ELIZABETH SANDVIG
Happy animal groups, in The Peaceable Kingdom. Opening reception Sun Dec 7, 2-4 pm. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Through Jan 4.
JACK SAVITSKY
The artist known as “coal miner Jack” painted scenes of the rural life of coal miners. Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 6-10 pm. Garde Rail Gallery, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 721-0107. Through Jan 31.
SHAG
Shag created the canon for lounge and tiki culture, all the while with a spirit of gentle lampoon. His new show is called Greetings from the Soul Patch. Opening reception Fri Dec 5, 6-10 pm. Roq la Rue Gallery, 2316 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through Jan 30.
STRATA
It occurs to you now, doesn’t it, that a lot of people these days are painting… stripes. Here are some more! Including Tim Bavington, Susan Dory, and Matthew Landkammer. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684. Through Dec 24.
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY
Work about personal conflict. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6:30-9 pm. ERAC Galleria, 2119 Second Ave, 461-6923. Through Jan 3.
THINKING IN PUBLIC
Four artists who have built respectable careers in public art–Don Fels, Jack Mackie, Buster Simpson, Ellen Sollod–apply their public-spiritedness to the Smith Tower, in a demonstration of sort of how site-specific work works. Opening reception Thurs Dec 4, 6-8 pm. CDA Gallery, 506 Second Ave, 296-7580. Through Dec 31.
* YSA!!!
YSA means “Young Seattle Artists,” which would be gimmicky as all get-out if the list of artists–some of them without gallery affiliation, four of whom will show with Howard House over the next year–weren’t so good, with such relatively recent talents as Peter Mundwiler, Sami Ben Larbi, and Jana Brevick, and a few who have been toiling in obscurity for years. Opening reception Sat Dec 6, 6-8 pm. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Jan 10 (gallery closed Dec 23-Jan 6).
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
DEBORAH BELL
Final week. New paintings. Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St, 322-9440. Through Dec 6.
DIGITAL VIDEO + TIME-BASED MEDIA
A show of student work juried by the eminent Eric Fredericksen. With art by Lisa Darms, Catherine Hubert, Joan Li, Marwa Maziad, Noel Paul, and Julia Shin. Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, 685-1805. Through Dec 11.
THAD DONAT
Final week. New work. Gulassa & Co, 10 Dravus St, 283-1810. Through Dec 8.
CAIO FONSECA
Paintings of a sort of revealed abstraction–as though glimpsed through holes in the wall. Winston W…chter Fine Art, 403 Dexter Ave N, 652-5855. Through Jan 8.
GALLERIA DIARRHEA
Final week. All kinds of art to play with. Crawl Space, 504 E Denny Way, 817-5328. Through Dec 6.
ANASTASIA YÜMEKO HILL
Final week. It is utterly, utterly wrong to be interested in this show because the artist is Gary Hill’s teenage daughter. Isn’t it? Isn’t it? Hill is showing videos about human nature. Artworks, 1914 Fourth Ave, 292-4142 ext 104. Through Dec 8.
MICHAEL KENNA, LARRY CALKINS, HEIDI KIRKPATRICK, BEVERLY RAYNER
Kenna’s photographs of French lace factories; Calkins, Kirkpatrick, and Rayner contribute sculptures to an exhibition called Toys. G. Gibson Gallery, 514 E Pike St, 587-4033. Through Dec 24.
SPINNING AROUND IN CIRCLES
Bicycle culture, as seen through the eyes of messengers, leisure riders, commuters, and everyone else. Vera Project, 1916 Fourth Ave, 956-8372. Through Dec 31.
* RAMONA TRENT
Photographs of solitary women uneasily perched between fashion and introspection. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Dec 20.
ZOE DAWN WILSON
Deft, furious works that depend on a thorough, cartoonish cosmology. ToST, 513 N 36th St, 547-0240. Through Dec 31.
EVENTS AND HOLIDAY ART SALES
ENTROPY
I am given to understand that this SoDo warehouse will be packed, absolutely packed, with art, performance, and music. Thurs Dec 4, 6-11 pm; Fri Dec 5, 6 pm-4 am; Sat Dec 6, 12-6 pm. 1020 First Ave S, info@1020first.org.
FOURTH ANNUAL DRAWING JAM
They provide the pencils, you draw the pictures. Sat Dec 6, 9 am-9 pm. Seattle Academy of Fine Art, 1501 10th Ave E, 526-2787. $10 suggested donation.
I HEART RUMMAGE
Here they are, those talented crafty artists, now that you really really need clever, useful gifts, and lots of them. Sun Dec 7, 12-4 pm. Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611.
JACKSON AREA HOLIDAY ART SALE
Sat Dec 6, 12-6 pm. Sun Dec 7, 12-4 pm. Three locations, within walking distance: Jackson St Studios, 1426 S Jackson St, 276-4851. Pratt Fine Arts Center, 1902 S Main St, 328-2200. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880.
KIRKLAND ART CENTER HOLIDAY ARTS SALE
Preview party and silent auction Fri Dec 5, 6-10 pm, $10. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, 425-822-7161. Through Dec 20.
PRATT ANNUAL HOLIDAY ART SALE
Opening night party Fri Dec 5, 6-10 pm. Pratt Fine Arts Center, see “Jackson Area,” above.
* SOIL AUCTION
SOIL’s annual and usually really fun auction takes place at the site of the co-op’s future home. With some of Seattle’s best, including Charles Krafft, Jenny Heishman, Akio Takimori, and others. Sat Dec 6, 7-10 pm. Tashiro-Kaplan Building, 101 Prefontaine Pl S, 264-8061.
ALICE WHEELER
Music documentarian (and frequent Stranger photographer) Wheeler will give a slide show and lecture. Sun Dec 7, 6:30-8 pm. EMP, 2901 Broad St, 770-2702. $6-8.