Send listings two weeks in advance to visualarts@seattleweekly.com.
Lectures and Events
Lecture: Joseph Park The artist, who currently has shows at both the Frye and Howard House, discusses his thoroughly irresistible, cartoony, cinematic paintings. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 206-622-9250. Free tickets available at the front desk (after 6 p.m.). 7 p.m. Thurs. Feb. 24.
Friday Group Critique Artists of all levels, you are invited to bring your art to be critiqued by a group of people who have brought in their art to be critiqued by you. Discussion led by SAFA instructor Michael Magrath. Seattle Academy of Fine Art, 1501 10th Ave. E., 206-526-2787. Free. 7:30-9:30 p.m. Fri. Feb. 25.
Openings
911 Media Arts John Feodorov, who as a child was told that the lava bed down the road was actually the coagulated blood of a slain giant, brings mythological imagination to bear on office cubicles and other disenchanted contemporary places in the installation "Four Sacred Spaces." Opens Sat. Feb. 26. 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Davidson Take off your shoes and walk on Jill Weinstock's squishy, rubber-encased nylon stockings while checking out the oil paintings of Sally Cleveland, who is drawn to scenes of cows standing around as well as to poetic urban details like the sky reflected in a stream of water running down an alley. Looks a lot like she works directly from photos. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Opens Fri. Feb. 25. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Henry Art Gallery As laterally mobile curator Robin Held's first show has gone up at the Frye, her last is opening across town at the Henry: "Celebrity Skin" pairs photos of famous 19th-century French people with Alice Wheeler's photos of Nirvana, which are startlingly immediate enough to penetrate any jadedness you think you might have for the overexposed Cobain and company. Opens Fri., Feb. 25. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Thurs.
Last Chance
Art Institute of Seattle Gallery Joey Robinson's 27 stark, roughly sketched portraits of black maids are accompanied by stories of their struggles during the civil-rights movement. 2323 Elliott Ave., 206-448-0900. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sat. Closes Thurs. Feb. 24.
Ballard/Fetherston Gary Komarin's big, splashy paintings of everything from noodly abstraction to birthday cakes seem naive and childlike at first glance, but there's something formal and calculated about the composition of these ham-fisted, likable paintings. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Closes Tues. March 1.
Bluebottle I have to confess a big weakness for Kamala Dolphin-Kinglsey's lush paintings inspired by tattoo art and stained glass. Her new work, "Somnium" is stocked with a peaceable kingdom of pets, wild creatures, nuns, saints, 1930s Chinese film stars, and mythological figures—all entwined in tentacles of foliage. Sure, a lot of her stuff is dreamy and puppy sweet, but sometimes you need a break from all the angst and irony. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Closes Sun. Feb. 27.
Bryan Ohno Candy-colored, Op Art–inspired paintings and sculptural columns by UW art professor Francis Celentano. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Closes Sat. Feb. 26.
Cornish College Gallery "Record," a group show by Cornish alums, examines how an event or image is always modified in the retelling. It's a hit-or-miss show: Neal Bashor's intentional artlessness is starting to get old, and both surreal videos by Michelle Sciumbato and David Herbert are clever but don't quite work. More effective are Rhonda Dee Pritchett's still shots of death and transfiguration from a family video, Rich Lehl's strange little cartoons, and Dennis Raine's hilariously banal word-paintings. First Floor, 100 Lenora St., 206-726-5011. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Closes Thurs. Feb. 24.
Davidson "Visage" consists of assorted figurative prints and etchings by Julie Gaskill, Jack Coughlin, Barry Moser, and others. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Closes Sat. Feb. 26.
Gallery 4 Culture Peter Mundwiler's dull and unfunny "Epics of Wallingford" tries to poke fun at the gentrified neighborhood, but the haphazard collection of potted native evergreens, a Bigfoot en homage to Harry and the Hendersons, and a stupid video add up to nothing much. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Closes Fri. Feb. 25.
Gallery 110 Thick brush strokes and expressionist influences from Diebenkorn to Cezanne in these run-of-the-mill figurative painting by two locals: Karen Kosoglad and Pamela Mills. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Closes Sat. Feb. 26.
Garde Rail The fact that Seattle artist Greg Blackstock is autistic is both completely irrelevant and totally integral to his art. Blackstock, who spent 25 years working as a pot washer for the Washington Athletic Club, creates sly drawings that catalog everything under the sun. Each generally monochrome work is filled with berries, hand saws, speedboats, fighter planes, freight cars, terriers, Monsters of the Deep, things that make noise, and police vans, just to name a few. The captions, with their deadpan style, are absolutely brilliant, and there's something wonderful about the way Blackstock crams all sorts of stuff into his pictures, like an anthropologist or a modern-day Audubon. As much as he's a talented artist in his own right, there's no denying that autism is an intricate part of these compulsive, fanatically detailed pictures. 110 Third Ave. S., 206-621-1055. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Closes Fri. Feb. 25.
