ExhibitsAn American Century of Photography: From Dryplate to Original—A nearly 250-photograph exhibit drawn from the Hallmark Photographic Collection includes the “groundbreaking” works of Edward Muybridge, Alfred Steiglitz, Diane Arbus, Andy Warhol, and Cindy Sherman. But since it was organized by the Kansas City-based Hallmark Corporation, it’s a good bet that you’re not going to see any male genitalia (gasp!) or crosses immersed in urine. Seattle Art Museum, 654-3166. 9/30-1/16.Game Show—And some people think their children should only watch PBS. The Bellevue Art Museum continues to challenge the conventions of the empty-white-room experience with this exhibit focusing on games and game theory as they relate to aspects of the artistic process. The show will include interactive stations and artists in residence. 11/20-1/30. Bellevue Art Museum, 425-454-3322.Inside Out: New Chinese Art—When you think of Chinese art, do you usually think of old porcelains and scrolls depicting mountains and water? This knockout exhibit, the first major traveling show to explore the dynamic new art being produced by contemporary artists from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, is sure to turn that perspective Inside Out. I’ve seen a part of this show at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this past spring and the selection included a room full of lotus flowers made out of dyed eggshells and maxi-pads, documentation of a performance artist who sat painfully in a fly-infested trench for an entire day, and most stunning of all, giant scrolls composed entirely of glue and human hair shaped into nonsense Chinese calligraphy and Western words. Overall, this is one of the most interesting shows of the year. Consisting of over 80 works, the exhibit will be split up into two venues: the Henry Art Gallery, U.W. campus, 543-2280 and Tacoma Art Museum, 253-272-4258. 11/18-3/5.Jeffrey Simmons—The former Betty Bowen Award recipient (1996) has moved on from his candy-colored bull’s-eye-like paintings to a more complex, layered style involving underlying moir頰atterns touched with silver, bronze, and gold metallic paints. The result: riotous color and texture providing the illusion of subtle peaks and indentations in the painting. Simmons has also produced a small body of abstractions dealing with irregular linework and miniature detail titled “Science Fiction Paintings.” Borrowing both palette and imagery from sci-fi illustration, the works appear like tiny organisms viewed through an electron microscope. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third S, 624-0770. 10/7-30.Robert Sperry—When crippled by bone cancer, late ceramist and U.W. professor Robert Sperry stopped throwing pots and turned to computer technology to continue his art. Quickly educating himself in the latest technologies in digital imaging, Sperry churned his creative energies to produce pictures of beautiful, mirror-like abstractions that reflected his interest in fractal mathematics and chaos theory. The works, filled with glossy and fluid swirls feel sensuous, and are fully deserving of their titles, which often refer to the physical, such as Bones, Wind, and Sex. Not only a beautiful show, this is a triumphant testimony to an artist’s passion and talent in spite of disease. Howard House, 2017 Second, 256-6399. 10/2-31.Tammy Spears—Formerly represented by Linda Cannon, Tammy Spears’ oil paintings of flowers have an O’Keeffe-like sensuality: enlarged petals just waiting to be fingered and plucked. (Think of it as flower pussy power.) Spears will be included in a group show later this year, with sculptors Henry Deposit and Amy Died at the newly refurbished Robbie Mildred Gallery. Don’t forget to check out Robbie’s bathroom, which serves as exhibition space for “emerging” artists. 307 E. Pike, 903-1246. 12/11-1/14.