Brian Murphy

Though its Belltown facade may be modest, the Suyama Space holds big surprises. Little has been done to alter the industrial, fin de siecle building, resulting in a clean, yet rugged interior, and a wide-open space of rough-hewn wood evoking the makeshift towns of the Wild West. In spite of the seemingly self-absorbed aspect of Brian Murphy's work, the current site-specific installation, "Facing: Installation by Brian Murphy," is particularly suited to the Suyama Space. Interested in the distinctions among artist, subject, and audience, Murphy seeks to capture real-life self-portraits, painting from direct observation with use of a hand-held mirror. His efforts have given birth to a number of enormous, albeit fractional, reflections of the artist in which he's depicted from the mouth up (above). Murphy's watercolors with their seemingly transient pools of color seem ready to slip off the edge of his 9-foot high panels and into oblivion. Not likely. The massive self-portrait heads oppose one another from across the vast expanse of the room and re-create a modern version of the standoff in the OK Corral. In Suyama Space's showdown, the man with the holster is replaced by the man in the mirror. Suyama Space, 2324 Second Ave., 206-256-0809, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.