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.
