Send listings two weeks in advance to visualarts@seattleweekly.com.
Lectures and Events
Artist Lecture: Lin Tianmiao The Chinese artist talks about her work and the current cultural climate in China (see SW This Week, p. 41). 7 p.m. Thurs. March 31. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., $5-10, 206-654-3100.
Benefit Art Show A show of abstract paintings by Chang Lek and photographs by Galen Garwood, to raise money for the Akha hill tribe of Burma, Thailand, Laos, China, and North Vietnam. Musical entertainment provided by electric cellist Jami Sieber. 5:30 p.m. Sat. April 2. Corridor Gallery, 306 S. Washington St., free, 206-323-7754.
Contemporary Art Quilts "World View: Social Justice and Social Causes" is a juried show of activist-art quilts by local artists. Reception: 1-3 p.m. Sun. April 3. University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave. N.E., free, 206-525-8400.
Artist Lecture: Bertil Vallien Sweden's bigwig glass artist talks about his work, much of which involves embedding images in glass. Traditional Swedish "hot shop herring" will be served—I'm not sure if that's meant to attract or deter us. Reception: 5:30 p.m. Lecture: 6 p.m. Dinner: 7 p.m. Tues. April 5. Nordic Heritage Museum, 104 N.W. 67th St., $20 (reservations required), 206-789-5707.
Openings
Azuma Richard Conover's minimalist ink-and-graphite abstract works have a Zen-like clarity. Artist talk and reception: 2-5 p.m. Sat. April 2. 530 First Ave. S., 206-622-5599. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Ballard/Fetherston "Sense of Place" offers more of New York artist David Konigsberg's cutesy paintings of people hopping for joy or driving old cars under happy little clouds. Guess that's what they mean when they talk about his "accessible style." 5 p.m. Fri. April 1. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Bluebottle Deth P. Sun's paintings of down-and-out cartoon critters and robots. 7-10 p.m. Sat. April 2. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon- 6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
Frank & Dunya Paintings of monkeys and other cute stuff by Bluebottle Gallery co-owner Matthew Porter. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Fri. April 1. 3418 Fremont Ave. N., 206-547-6760. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.
The Other Roadside Attraction It's time for that annual Northwest tradition: driving up to the Skagit Valley, sitting in traffic on narrow backwater roads, and snapping pictures of tulips. While you're out there, stop by this collection of art set up in a former honey stand. Participating Seattle galleries, including Benham, Greg Kucera, and Winston Wächter, will be showing sculpture, painting, and other stuff by Mark Calderon, Claudia Fitch, Timothy Foss, Tom Gormally, and others. Reception: 5-8 p.m. Sat. April 2. 18791 Cedardale Rd. (Mount Vernon), 360-424-5590. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sun.
Phinney Center "Paper Politics" showcases a variety of prints with radical, antiwar, and/or activist aims. Reception: 7-9 p.m. Fri. April 1. Curator talk: 6 p.m. Fri. April 1. 6532 Phinney Ave., 206-783-2244. 9 a.m.- 9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.
Platform Saya Moriyasu's "Lavish Lamplight Gathering" is a large installation of this local artist's ceramic lamps and other rough-cut, minimalist figures. Opens Thurs. March 31. 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.
Viveza The seemingly abstract paintings of Melinda Hannigan are actually close-ups of rusty old container ships. Reception: 6-9 p.m. Fri. April 1. 2604 Western Ave., 206-355-0070. Noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Wildrose "Vision and Voice" features Lori DeMarre's photographs of transgender, lesbian, and gay people coping with life-threatening or chronic illness. Reception: 7 p.m. Tues. April 5. 1021 E. Pike St., $10 suggested donation, 206-324-9210. 3 p.m.-1 a.m. Sun.-Mon.; 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Tues.-Sat.
Last Chance
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 contemporary places in the installation "Four Sacred Spaces." 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.
Artemis Matthew Porter (who co-owns Bluebottle Gallery) serves up more of his odd-cute paintings of gigantic cats eating Seattle and monkeys, monkeys, monkeys. 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Thurs. March 31.
Bluebottle Mike Maas' "TV Party" offers a bunch of tired, tiki- and mod-retro 1970s nostalgia paintings made three-dimensional with multiple layers of cut Masonite. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Tues. March 31.
Consolidated Works "Ergonomicon," a carnival-like array of work on the theme of bodies and environments, includes Alex Schweder's fully plumbed and operational "Peescapes," Sami Bin Larbi's Sur Place, which aims to destabilize your perception with mirrors, video cameras, and a pair of adjoining stalls, and Sofia Hulten's wonderfully paranoid videos of post-9/11 anxiety. 500 Boren Ave. N., 4-8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri.; 1-8 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 206-860-5245. Ends Sun. April 3.
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's 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. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.
