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

Lectures and Events

Artist Lecture: Kristin Tollefson The Bainbridge Island native talks about her jewelry and sculpture work, and specifically her installation “Organic Plan,” now on display at Jack Straw New Media. 11:30 a.m. Sat. April 30. Jack Straw New Media, 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., free, 206-634-0919.

Echo of Spring Ikebana Exhibit The 46th annual exhibition presented by Ikebana International’s Seattle chapter features many examples of the Japanese art of flower arrangement, plus free demonstrations. 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Sat. April 30. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun. May 1. Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect Ave., free with admission, 206-625-8900.

Lecture: Modernism in Japanese Painting Furuta Ryo of the National Museum of Modern Art and printmaker Margaret Johnson talk about trends in modern Japanese painting and printmaking. (The Ryo lecture is in Japanese with English translation.) 2-6 p.m. Sun. May 1. Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect Ave., free with admission (RSVP requested), 206-654-3226.

Potters’ Sale New work by 80 local potters. 9 a.m.- 9 p.m. Thurs. April 28-Fri. April 29. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat. April 30. Columbia Winery, 14030 N.E. 145th, Woodinville, free, 425-868-3989.

Openings

CoCA The third annual “Coupling” series pairs working artists with University of Washington MFA art students. This year’s strong lineup of collaborating artists includes Leo Burke, Claire Cowie, Thom Heileson, Jeffry Mitchell, Timea Tihanyi, and Dan Webb. Reception: 7 p.m. Silent auction: 8-10 p.m. Sat. April 30. 410 Dexter Ave. N., 206-728-1980. 2-8 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; noon- 5 p.m. Fri.-Sun.

Cornish College Senior Studios Recent work by graduating Cornish BFA students in art and design. Opening reception: 7-9 p.m. Thurs. April 28. 306 Westlake Ave., 206-622-1951. Noon-7 p.m. daily.

National Parks Conservation Association Drawings and paintings of Alaskan wildlife by Kevin Clement, plus wildlife collages by park ranger Ingrid Nixon. Opens Tues. May 3. 313-A First Ave., 206-903-1444. 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery SAM Rental/Sales continues its series showcasing local galleries with selections from Davidson, including Kathleen Rabel, Liza von Rosenstiel, and Dion Zwirner. Opens Mon. May 2. 1220 Third Ave., 206-343-1101. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Seattle LGBT Community Center Gallery Maternity photographer Jennifer Loomis’ images of gay and lesbian parents and their children (see SW This Week, p. 39). 1115 E. Pike St., 206-323-5428. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun.

Last Chance

ArtsWorks “Cartoonists Take up Smoking,” a group show of more than 300 cartoons by 60 artists, all taking aim at Big Tobacco. 1914 Fourth Ave., 206-292-4142. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Bluebottle Deth P. Sun’s sad, cartoonlike paintings are populated with children in hooded Halloween costumes and little cats contemplating our brief existence. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Sat. April 30.

D’Adamo/Woltz Work by students at Cornish College and Pratt Fine Arts Center—most notably Timea Tihanyi, whose disturbing hybrid sculptures allude to bodily functions and incorporate fleshy rubber and bone-dry porcelain. 303/307 Occidental Ave. S., 206-652-4414. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Mon. May 2.

Davidson Francesca Sundsten’s surreal paintings of the natural world are too painstakingly rendered for my taste, but a series of drawings of phantasmagoric plants, almost an afterthought in this show, offers a fascinating cocktail of natural history and whimsical swirls of abstraction. Also on display: lovely minimalist Zen-inspired woodblock prints by Korean artist Lee Chul Soo. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Francine Seders “Connections” has a somewhat novel concept: comparing older and newer works in the careers of four longtime Northwest artists (Andreas Grunert, Diann Knezovich, Elizabeth Sandvig, and Marc Wenet). Seattle artist Sandvig’s work offers the biggest contrasts, although her pieces from the late ’70s and from recent years both show a pleasant exuberance of color. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Sun. May 1.

Gallery 110 In “Fools, Jesters, and Clowns,” Seattle sculptor David Traylor uses ceramic, fur, barbed wire, and torn lace to create strange, urnlike sculptures—all with a dose of sadomasochism in them. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Gallery 4 Culture The blurred airplanes and limpid waves in Judy Blanco’s photographs and drawings in cyanotype bring to mind the doomed flight of Amelia Earhart and childhood dreams of flying. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Fri. April 29.

Garde Rail Kevin Titzer’s figurines of down-and-out characters made from wood, metal, and other debris. 110 Third Ave. S., 206-621-1055. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Grover/Thurston Painter Michael Nakoneczny, who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, clearly has stories to tell. His scrappy, mixed-media paintings on Masonite are populated with characters, and there’s a childlike directness to his work, a kind of unschooled emotionality that’s very appealing. But the little scenes, which call to mind the cartoons of Lynda Barry, raise more questions than they answer. 309 Occidental Ave. S., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Howard House “Red Thread,” named for the expression in German that refers to a train of thought, is a fascinating group show sampling new conceptual art from the contemporary avant-garde in Vienna.Highlights include Franz West’s ungainly phallic garden sculpture in welded aluminum, Thomas Bauman’s thrashing foil-robot sculpture, and paintings by Americans-in-Vienna Donald Baechler and Lisa Ruyter. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Joe Bar Paintings and tiny sculptures carved from crayons, all meant to recall artist Diem Chau’s odyssey of migration from war-torn Vietnam to the U.S. 810 E. Roy, 206-324-0407. 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 8:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Sat. April 30.

Linda Hodges In Daphne Minkoff’s mixed-media collages, forgotten objects and dilapidated structures take on a new life, while Robert Calvo fuses digital technology with the pixilated nature of needlepoint. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Martin-Zambito “Warriors and Wenches” is an unfortunately named collection of paintings of women from the 1920s to the ’60s, plus an assortment of Italian fascist propaganda paintings. 721 E. Pike St., 206-726-9509. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Wed. May 4.

Phinney Center “Paper Politics” showcases a variety of prints with a radical, antiwar, or social-activist aims (see visual arts spotlight, this page). 6532 Phinney Ave., 206-783-2244. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. Ends Sat. April 30.

Richard Hugo House In “Life of Leisure” local artist Shawn Beesley paints himself doing the things he loves best: gambling, playing golf, and watching sports on TV. 1634 11th Ave., 206-322-7030. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Wed. May 4.

Roq La Rue Mexico’s Día de los Muertos, horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and ’60s pulp fiction all inspire a group show of lowbrow art by painters Michael “Pooch” Pucciarelli and Joe Chiodo. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends Sat. April 30.

Seattle Art Museum “Between Past and Future” is a thrilling showcase of contemporary Chinese video and photography, much of it focused on the body in relation to the world. Standouts in this superb show include Zhang Huan’s iconic photos of language and identity, Family Tree;Rong Rong’s disturbing images of visceral performance art; Li Wei’s clever experiments with mirrors; and Zhao Lian’s video-game-inspired exploration of authority, Social Survey. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs. Ends Sun. May 1.

SOIL Gerbils! In Randy Wood’s performance piece And They Will be the Judge of That, two well-cared-for gerbils chew through several of the artist’s soy-based-ink drawings for one month. Also on display: Wood’s new series of spare drawings, “Ghost Rocks.” 112 Third Ave. S., 206-264-8061. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Ends Sun. May 1.

Tacoma Art Museum Works by Marsden Hartley, the 20th-century American painter, poet, critic, and dandy who was a solid experimenter in form and color. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-4258. Every third Thurs. free and open until 8 p.m. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Sun. May 1.

William Traver In “Ebb and Flow,” Seattle artist Kait Rhoads weaves hundreds of tiny glass beads (murrines) into surprisingly delicate compositions inspired by forms in nature, including kelp, seaweed, and coral. Also on display: bubbly ceramics by Jamie Walker and Mark Zirpel’s sinister, medical-looking assemblages of glass, rubber, and metal—stuff straight out of a David Cronenberg nightmare. 110 Union St., second floor, 206-587-6501. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Wed. May 1.

Zeitgeist In “Sensational Domestic,” Seattle artist Allison Manch juxtaposes large-scale photos of banal domestic spaces with a series of napkins hand-embroidered with quotes from her real-life subjects. 171 S. Jackson St., 206-583-0497. 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.; 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun. Ends Wed. May 4.

Galleries

911 Media Arts Rosalind Schneider, an early innovator in the world of video art, installs “Wave Transformations,” in which near-abstract video of waves and oceanscapes is projected on a large weather balloon. 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 3-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Bryan Ohno In “Fragile Attachments,” Patricia Hagen’s abstract works take a turn for the minimal: On fields of blank canvas, a menagerie of green leaflets, nubbins of fruit, and droplets of color float by. In other paintings, little planetoids hang tentatively in space, like the friendly rock inhabited by the hero of The Little Prince. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Crawl Space Household objects captured in a three-dimensional hybrid of collage, print, and photography by local artist Isaac Layman. 504 E. Denny Way #1, 206-240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Friesen Gallery Friesen celebrates an expanded gallery space with Christopher Brown’s slightly surreal canvases of trains, racehorses, and such, plus Pegan Brooke’s abstract paintings and Stephanie Peek’s still lifes inspired by the garden. 1210 Second Ave., 206-628-9501. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

G. Gibson “Artificial Nature,” John Divola’s collection of found photos of movie sets from the ’30s to the ’60s, serves up a wonderfully fake world. Empty of all people, the images have the feeling of a crime scene or a landscape after a great plague. The only evidence of human activity is the jarring intrusion of a movie slate set up in each shot to identify the scene and remind us it’s only make-believe. Also on display: recent photos by Andrea Modica, including a series documenting a girl with acute diabetes, and another featuring the skulls of deceased mental patients. 300 S. Washington St., 206-587-4033. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Greg Kucera Margie Livingston’s gorgeous abstract canvases are threaded with a delicate, architectural latticework of narrow stripes; they draw inspiration from branches and other natural forms arranged in her studio. California artist and dark jester Reuben Lorch-Miller creates text-based art in the tradition of Ruscha and Nauman: His neon signs, digital prints, and pixilated images pulled from the Internet play with notions of rebellion and artistic authorship. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Jack Straw New Media Gallery Kristin Tollefson’s multimedia installation “Organic Plan” is inspired by the landscape and folk art of Iceland. Central to the exhibit is a large, suspended ringlike sculpture that pays homage to baldrying, a traditional Icelandic embroidery technique. 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-634-0919. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

James Harris Marcelino Goncalves’ deadpan paintings, executed in a lush palette of pastels, are inspired by ads for a summer boys camp and seem to pine for the days when this sort of boy-to-boy companionship wasn’t so sexually loaded. “Camp” is definitely the operative word here. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Kirkland Arts Center This smart group show was curated by Seattle writer and art-scene guy Fionn Meade. The pieces are spare and restrained: Mary Simpson’s little dramas of cutout men and Victorian row houses owe their mystery to the fact that the figures have been stolen from their context and plopped down on a blank page. Gretchen Bennett’s sly contact-paper compositions capture nature in extremes, Saul Becker’s weird abstract landscapes are crisscrossed with prismatic rainbows of color, and Marc Dombrosky hand-embroiders notes he’s found on the street. 620 Market St., Kirkland, 425-822-7161. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Photographic Center Northwest Japanese photographer Hiroshe Watanabe’s images of Kabuki theater performers and traditional bunraku puppets. 900 12th Ave., 206-720-7222. Noon-9:30 p.m. Mon.; 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Platform Saya Moriyasu’s “Lamplight Lavish Gathering” is a large installation of the local artist’s ceramic lamps (see visual art spotlight, p. 91). 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Priceless Works In “A Lot Like Love,” art imitates film . . . or something like that. Kristen Imig’s photos of kissing couples were used in the new romantic comedy of the same name, in which Amanda Peet plays a woman who finds her calling as a photographer. 619 N. 35th St., Suite 100, 206-349-9943. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sun.

Solomon Fine Art Using the Renaissance technique of silverpoint, Susan Schwalb creates delicate abstract stripe paintings that glow, glower, or bleed. Also on display: glass stripped to its essentials by Kazuo Kadonaga and cast-glass legs and text-suffused blocks by Jeffrey Sarmiento. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Western Bridge “19 Rainstorms” takes its title from Neil Goldberg’s video installation, in which he records various storms glimpsed throughout Manhattan from the perspective of a video camera placed inside a randomly swinging plastic bag. It’s not entirely effective, but there are snippets of beauty in the refracted raindrops and watery white noise. Trisha Donnelly’s Canadian Rain is an intense dance-conjuration video, and Tania Kitchell’s text etched on glass describes the arrival of a storm with haikulike simplicity. The masterpiece of the show, however, is Oliver Boberg’s Country Road, a continuously looping 30-minute video of a rural landscape drenched in rain. The scene, in all its sound-stage fakery, plays out like an intricate drypoint etching set in motion. With Zen-like detail, the swirls and sounds of windblown water droplets are an invocation to pay attention to the world. Like American Beauty with its floating plastic bag, Boberg’s video finds elegance in the seemingly banal. 3412 Fourth Avenue S. 206-838-7444. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Wright Exhibition Space “Aboriginal Vision” offers selections of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art from the expansive collection of UW international studies professor Margaret Levi and her husband Robert Kaplan. 407 Dexter Ave. N., 206-264-8200. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Museums

Frye Art Museum “The Retrofuturistic World of NSK” collects 20 years of painting, prints, and other media by Slovenia’s Neue Slowenische Kunst art movement. Challenging the whole idea of avant-garde, the artists in NSK create theater, music, and visual art that directly appropriates communist and capitalist propaganda and imagery. Also on display: Seattle artist Joseph Park gets a solo show, “Moon Beam Caress.” His precise paintings draw upon Japanese animation and film to create an alternative noir world peopled with angst-ridden cartoon creatures. 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.

Henry Art Gallery Doug Aitken’s three-screen video installation Interiors is a majestic meditation on the search for meaning amid the stress and alienation of 21st-century urban life. Sprawling throughout an entire gallery, four separate story lines play out on a vast box of screens, allowing you to view three of the videos simultaneously as a sculptural whole from many different angles. The nearly wordless stories arch from contemplative (a young family with a new baby stands in a junkyard as a Brian Eno–like soundtrack throbs underneath) to the mysterious (a man sands a helicopter in a sterile factory cleanroom) to the frenetic (hip-hop artist André Benjamin gushes a verbal storm while a woman smashes a handball and an Asian businessman twitches in a sweaty convulsion of stress). The collective vignettes pack a surprising emotional wallop, considering the stories are stripped to their most basic visual and sonic elements. Also on display: “Celebrity Skin” offers a jarring juxtaposition of photos of famous 19th-century French people with Alice Wheeler’s stark images of Kurt Cobain and company. “Playtime” pairs whimsical art made from toys with Peter Fischli and David Wells’ amazing 30-minute video of pyrotechnic installation. A collection of minimalist works by locals offers disturbing mixes of childhood simplicity and adult emotional turmoil (including Claire Cowie’s excellent Panorama Drawing). UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.

Museum of Northwest Art “Stewards of the Northwest Vision” offers works from two private collections. Featured artists include Tobey, Graves, Anderson, Michael Spafford, Elizabeth Sandvig, William Cumming, and Gerard Tstutakawa. 121 South First St. (La Conner), 360-466-4446. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.

Seattle Art Museum “Between Past and Future” is a thrilling showcase of contemporary Chinese video and photography, much of it focused on the body in relation to the world. Standouts in this superb show include Zhang Huan’s iconic photos of language and identity, Family Tree;Rong Rong’s disturbing images of visceral performance art; Li Wei’s clever experiments with mirrors; and Zhao Lian’s video-game-inspired exploration of authority, Social Survey. Also on display: “Africa in America” a varied and complex exploration of slavery, displacement, and ethnic culture as portrayed in African-American art of the late 20th century, including work by James W. Washington Jr., Kara Walker, Ellen Gallagher, Oliver Jackson, and Marita Dingus. Also: works from SAM’s collection of 19th-century French artists, including Bouguereau, Monet, and Berthe Morisot. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.

Seattle Asian Art Museum “Mountain Dreams” collects contemporary ceramics incised with Buddhist text by Korean artist Yoon Kwang-cho. Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect Ave., 206-625-8900. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.

Tacoma Art Museum Marsden Hartley isn’t exactly a household name, but the 20th-century American painter, poet, critic, and dandy was a solid experimenter in form and color. This touring retrospective marks the first major show of his work in the Northwest in 20 years. Meanwhile, “A Decade of Excellence” displays work by Northwest artists who’ve been awarded the Behnke Foundation’s “Neddy” Artist Fellowship since the program began 10 years ago, including Michael Spafford, Juan Alonso, Claire Cowie, Susan Dory, and Mark Takamichi Miller. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-4258. Every third Thursday free and open until 8 p.m. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Washington State History Museum Photo portraits of Native Americans by Ben and Linda Marra. 1911 Pacific, Tacoma, 253-272-3500. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; open until 8 p.m. Thurs.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Wing Luke Asian Museum “Women and Violence” explores issues of domestic violence, sexual abuse, war, trafficking, and problems with the “mail-order bride” phenomenon—all focusing on the Asian/Pacific Islander community. 407 Seventh S., 206-623-5124. 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.