BELLEVUE ART MUSEUM
510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, (425) 454-3322
* MARY HENRY
Quietly, gradually, Whidbey Island artist Henry has gained a following in Seattle with her geometric abstract paintings. No Limits is a Surround Sound kind of art, a 360° mural of geometric shapes. Through Nov 25.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ANNUAL 2001
Traditionally one of the best local annuals, this year juried by Sue Spaid, curator of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. With works by 41 regional artists. Through Jan 6, 2002.
FRYE ART MUSEUM
704 Terry Ave, 622-9250
NORTHWEST VIEWS: SELECTIONS FROM THE SAFECO COLLECTION
SAFECO has been one of the most voracious collectors of local artists for almost 30 years. Here, a selection of figurative works. Through Nov 4.
WITNESS AND LEGACY: CONTEMPORARY ART ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST
How can art represent tragedy on a grand scale? What can be derived from it? What can be learned? Answers–perhaps–here. Through Jan 13, 2002.
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
100 University St, 654-3100
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: WOMEN
Photographs of women from all walks of life. Through Jan 6, 2002.
ANNA SKIBSKA
Insisting on the delicacy of glass (something I think we forget here in Studio Glass world), Skibska stretches it into intricate webs. Through Feb 17, 2002.
WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY MUSEUM
1911 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, (888) 238-4373
STUFF AND JUNK: THE STORY OF A BRICOLEUR
An assemblage by Eastern Washington sculptor Harold Balazs, who was recently designated one of Washington’s “Living Treasures” by the people who designate those kinds of things. He’s best known for his public art–enormous gate-like structures in enamel, metal, and concrete–but is also part of this state’s fine-art heritage. Through Sept 2002.
WESTERN GALLERY
Fine Arts Complex , Western Washington University, Bellingham, (360) 650-3900
BOTANICA
Art and plants, with work by some top-notch artists, including Kiki Smith, Alexis Rockman, David Wojnarowicz, Darren Waterston, and others. Through Dec 1.
WING LUKE ASIAN MUSEUM
407 Seventh Ave S, 623-5124
IF TIRED HANDS COULD TALK: STORIES OF ASIAN GARMENT WORKERS
Tired hands can’t talk–but a series of videos, oral history interviews, and an installation recreating the working conditions of Asian immigrant workers can. Through Feb 2002.
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
* FAKE
If it looks like a duck, is it still necessarily a duck? Twenty-five local artists show forgeries–inciting all sorts of philosophical questions about value. Opening reception Fri Oct 19, 7-11 pm. Vital 5 Productions, 2200 Westlake Ave, 254-0475. Through Nov 19.
FRANKENSTEIN SURF SHACK
October is particularly well-suited to what goes on at the Roq; this month, a groovy-ghoulie group show. Opening reception Fri Oct 19, 6-10 pm. Roq La Rue, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Through Nov 1.
* PETER ROSTOVSKY
See Stranger Suggests. Rostovsky creates portraits from people’s written descriptions of themselves. Opening reception Thurs Oct 18, 5:30-7:30 pm. James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave S, 903-6220. Through Nov 24.
HAMID ZAVAREEI, REBECCA LUNCAN, NIKKI McCLURE, BEN MEEKER
High points here are Luncan’s paintings on metal (I’ve seen a tiny painting of a clitoris on a U.S. quarter dollar) and McClure’s cut-paper constructions. Opening reception Thurs Oct 18, 5-9 pm. Commencement Art Gallery, 902 Commerce, Tacoma, (253) 591-5341. Through Nov 8.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
ANIMATION SENSATION
Presented in collaboration with the Sixth Annual Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Animation Sensation features all manner of animation, from low- to high-tech. Shown with many original works. The Pound Gallery, 1216 10th Ave, 323-0557. Through Oct 21.
KYNAN ANTOS
In KnitWear, Antos trains his eye on women’s fashions from the early ’60s. Zeitgeist Cafe, 161 S Jackson St, 583-0497. Through Oct 28.
* BLINK
Michael O’Malley is a very, very good sculptor who graced us with his presence in Seattle for a year or two, and then took off (further evidence that we can’t hold on to our best artists?). At any rate, before he left, he curated this interesting show about artists and popular culture: resisting it, incorporating it, feeling its pressure. With work by Paul Sacaridiz, Jennifer Lapham, Debbie Reichard, Jim Hegge, Paul Matevier, and Phil Roach. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St, Kirkland, (425) 822-7161. Through Nov 16.
MARK A. K. BOISSY
Boissy is a Senegalese artist currently living in Paris. His work involves cutting directly into the canvas, and then painting totemic images on top. Mwoyo Arts, 1125 Pike St, 223-0908. Through Oct 29.
CELEBRATION AND VISION: THE HEWITT COLLECTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART
One of the most comprehensive collections of its kind in the country. Bank of America Gallery, 701 Fifth Ave, Third Floor, 585-3200. Through Oct 26.
* NADÈGE DESGEN:TEZ
In Things Among Others, Desgenétez displays interpretive re-creations of functional objects, such as a look back at her girlhood striped socks. Bubba-Mavis Gallery, 1158 Eastlake Ave E, 405 3223. Through Nov 9.
* MARCEL DZAMA, ED WICKLANDER
Dzama works in a kind of cultural miniature–a series of drawings that fall somewhere between doodle and manuscript illumination. In them, humans and creatures inhabit a world of surrealistic possibility: creepy, unexpected, but somehow quite dear. With sculptures by Wicklander. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Through Oct 27.
EMBRACING SCIENCE
Three New York artists investigate science through photography. Susan Jennings creates petri-dish images from air samples taken at gallery openings; Charlie Lindsay and Andrew Bordwin subject various media to electrical charges and photograph the results. An elegant intersection of microcosm and image. Eyre/Moore Gallery, 913 Western Ave, 624-5596. Through Oct 27.
FAMILIAR
A group show with Amy Ruppell, Diana Adams, and Jean Hicks. Secluded Alley Works, 113 12th Ave, 839-0880. Through Oct 25.
JOE FINDLEISS
Lightboxes! Lipstick Traces, 500 E Pine St, 329-2813. Through Oct 31.
MILTON H. GREENE, MADAME YEVONDE
The theme this month is classic portraits: From the ’40s through the ’60s, Greene photographed the world’s iconic movie stars, including some informal portraits of Marilyn Monroe, who lived with him and his family in Connecticut. British photographer Yevonde focused, during her 60-year career, on women. Benham Photography, 1216 First Ave, 622-6383. Through Oct 27.
MATT HELD
First solo show in the Northwest of paintings by a much-lauded-by-people-in-New-York artist. Chrissa’s Wine Bar, 1013 E Pike St, 726-3422. Through Nov 4.
BOOTSY HOLLER
Silver prints on fiber, eponymously hanging like Laundry. Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055. Through Nov 3.
JON HOWE, JOSHUA GEOFFREY
Bodies, bodies, bodies, distorted through emotion, mixed media, and reality. The Li’l Red Shack Gallery, 1028 First Ave S, 621-7807. Through Nov 11.
SHERRY KARVER
In Grand Central Station Series, Karver combines photography, digital manipulation, and oil painting to create a strangely prescient portrait of life in New York these days. Lisa Harris Gallery, 1922 Pike Place, 443-3315. Through Oct 27.
* KUSTOM PURSE
Retail: the new future of art galleries. This show, curated by artist Elizabeth Jameson, features purses created by 30 of my favorite artists. These are not your average accessories: Prepare to have your mind bent, at least a little. Kuhlman Clothing, 2419 First Ave, 441-1999. Through Nov 29.
FELIX MACNEE, PAUL SPENCER
Two San Francisco artists are showing a total of 1,000 drawings, created in blocks of 14, in sessions that explore imagination and its derivatives. Proceeds from this Herculean show benefit National Disaster Relief. Nico Gallery, 619 Western Ave, 2nd floor, 264-1710. Through Oct 28.
MRS. X
Leslie Straka channels her ideas about history, gender, and art through historical fashion in the Rental/Sales Gallery window. Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery, 1334 First Ave, 654-3240. Through Nov 4.
* NEW WORKS LABORATORY 2001
This kicks ass! Co-presented by 911 Media Arts Center and the Henry Art Gallery, the New Works Laboratory features traditional-media artists paired with new-media artists: Phil Roach and Jennifer West; Donnabelle Casis and Dave Hanagan; and Susan Robb and R. Eugene Parnell. New City Theater, First Christian Church, 1632 Broadway Ave, 682-6552. Through Oct 24.
* JOSEPH PARK, MARK TAKAMICHI MILLER
New work from two of Seattle’s (very different) power painters. Park’s work (which will be seen in this year’s Gwang-ju Biennale) takes as its starting point the highly formal paintings of artists such as Ingres and Rockwell, and then inhabits them with animal figures. The effect is eerie and also childish–the kind of fear inspired by things you know are fake. By contrast, Miller’s new paintings were inspired by a forgotten packet of developed film from Costco. Without knowing the subjects or determining the composition, Miller turns these snapshots into something quite abstract. Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Oct 20.
* SARAH PETERS, ALEXANDER SCHWEDER
See Stranger Suggests. The icons of girlhood come under Peters’ sharp lens in the wonderfully titled Pink Dingus; Schweder’s urinals acknowledge Duchamp, but are fully functional. Both artists have recently done residencies at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, with all its implied connection to plumbing and fixtures. With a talk and slide show by Schweder on Thurs Oct 25 at 7 pm. Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through Oct 27.
BEVERLY RAYNER, DEBRA GOLDMAN
With photographs, found objects, and various materials, Rayner delivers her take on Genetic Decoder & Other Pseudoscientific Explorations; In Mapping, Goldman explores the act and consequences of folding. G. Gibson Gallery, 122 S Jackson St, Suite 200, 587-4033. Through Nov 17.
EPHRAIM RUSSELL
Raising questions of usefulness and function, Russell’s sculptures look like everyday objects–those that receive the attention of the industrial-design community–but are simply objects. King County Art Gallery, 506 Second Ave, Room 200, 296-7580. Through Oct 27.
* SAVAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
Blatant conflict-of-interest alert! Illustrations by Stranger Art Director Joe Newton, as seen in Dan Savage’s column Savage Love. But that doesn’t mean it ain’t great! And every piece is under $50! The Rose Club, 3601 S McClellan St (Beacon Hill), for info e-mail roseclub@cablespeed.com. Through Dec 1.
TAKE MY PICTURE
Work from 60 emerging artists, each of them an advanced-certificate student at PCN. At the Nov 3 party, everyone goes home with one of the photographs for a measly $125 ticket. Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, 720-7222. Through Nov 3 (stay tuned for party details).
* TREAT ME GOOD
Who rocks harder than Pat Benatar? No one, that’s who. Well, maybe Chrissie Hynde, or Debbie Harry, or Joan Jett… nonetheless, this show looks at the ongoing influence of a tough-chick rock star whose manufactured persona marched miles ahead of her. With work by Shawn Wolfe, Linda Peschong, Ryan Berg, John Seal, and others. SOIL Artist Cooperative, 1412 12th Ave, 264-8061. Through Oct 31.
LISA ZERKOWITZ, ITALO SCANGA
Reverie is a collection of Zerkowitz’s etched-steel sculptures. With a mini-retrospective of Scanga’s energetic sculpture and painting; the artist died this summer. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 115 S Main St, 667-9572. Through Oct 27.
EVENTS
* WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLINER?
Ha ha ha… oh, right. Northwest Designer Craftsmen (the folks who support the Living Treasures video project) present an auction of 55 artist-made hats in all manner of styles. Sat Oct 20 at 8 pm at Bannerworks (2610 Western Ave). Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For information and tickets call Susie Purves at 324-3719, or e-mail susanpurves@cs.com.
ALLISON WOODS
One night only! New paintings: think Rothko, think Still. Shown in an architect’s office, which is fast becoming one of the sweetest venues for abstract art. Sat Oct 20, 6-9 pm at zero plus/James Graham Architects (1205 E Pike, 1D, 323-4009).