Visual Arts Calendar

Send listings two weeks in advance to visualarts@seattleweekly.com

Lectures and Events

Art Lecture: Gu Xiong The multi-media artist and professor, who fled China for Vancouver, B.C. after the Tiananmen Square massacre, talks about how exile affects the perception of one's homeland. 2 p.m. Sat. May 8. Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska, $6, 206-760-4285.

Artist Lecture: Scott Fraser The accomplished super-realist painter discusses his approach to trompe l'oeil and still life. (Fraser is also the subject of a solo show opening at the Frye, see below.) Noon, Sat. May 8. Seattle Academy of Fine Art, 1501 Tenth Ave. E, free, 206-526-2787.

axis of Art Can't we all get along? The "axis of evil" gets a break at this evening of music, dance and poetry, with Persian and Cuban music, photography from Iran, video from North Korea, and Rumi poetry. 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Wed. May 5, $6 (a benefit for the World Music Coalition), Capitol Hill Arts Center, 1621 12th Ave.

Madison Valley Art Show Neighborhood artists show their stuff. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. May 8. The Bush School, 3400 E. Harrison, free, 206-322-7978

Microsoft Artist Lecture: Hans Nelsen "There is something fundamental about wooden masks. They appear in almost every world culture," says self-taught Vashon Island artist Hans Nelsen. As part of a series of lectures linked to works in Microsoft's substantial art collection, Nelsen talks about his thirty-year career as a sculptor whose works emulate natural forms, including Fibonacci ratios found in everything from seashells to the human body. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Fri. May 7, free, Building 33, Microsoft campus, Redmond.

Pretty Parlor Fashion Show An evening of outrageous fashions, Brazilian groove, lounge acts, and manic experimental tap dance, all in lovely and sensible Greenwood. 7 p.m.-midnight, Fri. May 7. Pretty Parlor, 6729 Greenwood Ave. N., free, 206-789-8788.

The Untold Story Two artists represented in SAM's little "Untold Story" exhibit, Curtis Steiner and Galen Lowe, engage in a discussion with curator Pam McClusky. Topics on the agenda: stories true and untrue behind art, the lost art of collecting curiosities, and something SAM describes mysteriously as "what happens in a festival of insults and tall tuber contests." Okay, I'm curious... 7 p.m. Thurs. May 6. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., free with admission, 206-654-3100.

First Thursday

Capitol Hill Arts Center In "Detritus," Evan Blackwell and Marc Lawrence turn Seattle's garbage into—art! Reception: 8 p.m.-10 p.m. (music until 2 a.m., 21 and over only), 1621 12th Ave.

D'Adamo/Woltz Sorta-mysterious paintings of imagined landscapes by Cary Henrie. Reception: 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. 303/307 Occidental S., 206-652-4414. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.

Davidson SEE BOX, THIS PAGE.

Gallery 4 Culture "The Art of Maritime Modeling" aims to remind us of the city's disappearing boat history. A flotilla of ship models will invade the gallery; some are the work of trained artists, while others were fashioned by hobbyists and the self-taught. On the list is the extraordinary John Taylor, whose previous shows of weatherbeaten old rustbuckets at Garde Rail have been superb. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon-Fri.

Frye Art Museum Colorado's Scott Fraser is a master of the superreal still life; instead of the usual peaches or wine bottles he paints things symbolic in his life, like goldfish crackers and Styrofoam cups. Artist lecture: 7 p.m. 704 Terry Ave., 206-622-9250. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.

Forgotten Works Three photographers try their hand at primitive or pinhole cameras for unusual effects: Amy Bates uses a cheap Chinese camera called the Holga, Patrick Girgen shoots flowers as they combust, and David Chick builds and snaps shots with giant pinhole cameras, including one fashioned from a thrift shop suitcase. He calls it the "pinhole-aroid." I love saying that. Reception: 6 p.m.-11 p.m. 619 Western Ave., 206-343-7212. noon-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Gallery 110 Chris Buening's mixed-media paintings, "The Mind's Last Great Trick" are peppered with elements of the surreal: Hearts, valves, veins and other visual tropes remind us we're just a bunch of overgrown infants with oral fixations. Also on display, Betsy Best-Spadara's lovely, patterned linocut abstract collages. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Global Art Venue The second annual show of Korean glass art by Jong Pil Pyun, Sang Min Lee and others. Reception: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. 314 First S., 206-264-8755. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.; Noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Grover/Thurston Seattleite Gary Nisbet's collage/paintings draw upon symbols from everyday life: birds, flowers, etc. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 309 Occidental St., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Linda Hodges In "Accepting Nature," Seattle sculptor Deloss Webber encases found stones in rattan basketry influenced by traditional Native American and Japanese designs. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Lisa Harris There's a heavy dose of nostalgia and cuteness in the recent paintings of Lois Silver, but there's no denying she has a genuinely adept way with color and composition. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.