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

Lectures and Events

In Resonance: Forum on Sound-Based Art Artforum critic Christoph Cox leads a discussion of trends in contemporary audio-based art, in conjunction with the exhibit “In Resonance” at Bumbershoot. Panelists include Steve Roden, Marina Rosenfeld, and New York–based installation artist Stephen Vitiello. 7 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 1. Henry Art Gallery, UW campus, free, 206-543-2280.

Ikebana Exhibition The Seattle Sogetsu School of Ikebana displays the Japanese art of flower arrangement, offering daily ikebana demonstrations. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Sept. 3-Sun. Sept. 4. Alderwood Mall, (across from Macy’s), 3000 184th St. S.W., free, 425-744-9751.

First Thursday

All City Coffee “Boilers and Bridges,” a new series of realist paintings by Keven Furiya. Reception: 6-10 p.m. 125 Prefontaine Pl. S., 206-652-8331. 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat.; 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.

Ace Studios New paintings, filled with multiple arrows and other “collections” by local Vron Lee. Reception: 6-9 p.m. 619 Western Ave., 206-623-1288. 1-5 p.m. Sat., or by appointment.

Art Patch “Encountering Animals” features new paintings by Stephen Schildbach. 306 S. Washington St. (#102), 206-666-2603. (By appointment.)

Catherine Person A noted freelance art consultant opens a new Pioneer Square gallery down the street from James Harris. The first show is “Introductions,” works by 10 gallery artists, including Linda Davidson, Drake Deknatel, and Rachel Illingworth. Reception: 5-8 p.m. 319 Third Ave. S., 206-726-1836. 11 a.m-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Davidson New hyperrealist allegorical paintings by Stephanie Frostad, plus work by Adrienne Sherman, whose nature-inspired paintings employ techniques of the Old Masters. In the print gallery, new work by Canadian artists Sean Caufield and Akiko Taniguchi. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Design Commission Steve Miller’s ironic and quirky photos of Japan, taken with a plastic Holga camera. Reception: 6-10 p.m. 119 Prefontaine Pl. S., 206-223-7709.

Foster/White Cheerful, candy-colored abstraction from local painter Manfred Lindenberger, who has a thing for sorting and filling the canvas with a crowd of interrelated forms. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 123 S. Jackson, 206-622-2833. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

G. Gibson Photo-based constructions from Beverly Rayner, plus Susan Seubert’s antique-looking tintype photographs of wispy dresses and a collection of prints celebrating the 100th birthday of photographer Ruth Bernhard. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 300 S. Washington St., 206-587-4033. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Gallery 110 Colorful figurative acrylics on canvas by Nancy Kiefer, plus Natalie Niblack’s drawings, paintings, and ceramic sculpture that reach deep into the childhood psyche. Reception: 6-8 p.m. (Artists’ reception: 6-8 p.m. Wed. Aug. 31). 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Greg Kucera New work by Seattle sculptor Ed Wicklander, whose whimsical creations employ an array of materials in surprising ways. Two examples: leaking inner tubes made of welded steel and a bust of Jerry Garcia in wood, containing a hidden tab of LSD for the lucky buyer. Also on display: a new set of color lithographs on the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, by local artist Roger Shimomura. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Artist discussion: noon Sat. Sept. 3. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Grover/Thurston Pendelton, Oregon-based artist James Lavadour’s mysterious, near-abstract landscapes burn with a slow passion, and this new collection of work blazes with striated geology, lava bursts of color, and smoldering half-light. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 309 Occidental St., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Howard House In “New Worlds” Seattle artist Leo Saul Berk converts two-dimensional images—Edward Weston photos, pictures of clouds—into topographic, three-dimensional models in Masonite by means of a 3-D drafting program and computer-controlled cutting tools. Meanwhile, Ken Fandells’s “The Planets” offers a single photograph and a series of videos inspired by Gustav Holst’s bombastic classical composition, preferred by nine out of 10 movie-preview directors worldwide. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Linda Hodges Nature-inspired abstract sculpture combining cut stone and rattan weaving by Deloss Webber. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Lisa Harris Mystical, Georgia O’Keeffe–y paintings and prints of Northwest landscapes by Bellingham’s Thomas Wood. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.

Nordic Heritage Museum “Articulations” features new photography by Bellingham artist Garth Amundson. Reception: 6 p.m. 104 N.W. 67th St., 206-789-5707. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon- 4 p.m. Sun.

Photographic Center Northwest Seattle photographer Chris Jordan’s “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption.” turns dizzying quantities of garbage and e-waste sighted in landfills into huge, nearly abstract studies in color and repetition. Opens Thurs. Sept. 1. 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 “Recording Field Level Five” includes new video, installation, and sound samples from Seattle artist Susan Robb, whose eclectic work ranges from contemplative to zany. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Shift Studio Carolyn Zick’s “Distil [Bill]” features drawings, sculpture, and paintings all having to do with some inside joke about a professor’s vest and artists’ hangovers. Reception: 5-8 p.m. 306 S. Washington St. (#105), 360-650-3436. Noon- 5 p.m. Sat. and by appointment.

SOIL “Nocturnes” offers experimental art incorporating animation, including Seattle’s Cat Clifford and Mary Simpson and New York–based artists Laleh Khorramian and Lucy Raven. Reception: 6-9:30 p.m. 112 Third Ave. S., 206-264-8061. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun.

William Traver Cleverly designed sculptures and assemblages in painted wood by Cordy Ryman. Reception: 5-8 p.m. 110 Union St., second floor, 206-587-6501. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Other Openings

CoCA In conjunction with co-curator Fionn Meade’s multivenue exploration of sound art at this year’s Bumbershoot, Steve Peters and Christine Wallers’ installation “Alchemy” uses brass bowls and hidden speakers to express wishes for a better world from more than 300 people. Reception: 6-10 p.m. Fri. Sept. 2. 410 Dexter Ave. N., 206-728-1980. 2-8 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; noon-5 p.m. Fri.-Sun.

Francine Seders Seattle painter Robert C. Jones has been producing some of the finest abstract expressionist paintings in the region for several decades. This show of new work, his first at the gallery since 2002, offers a variety of canvases meticulously painted, scraped, and repainted. Opens Fri. Sept. 2. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.

Northwest Craft Center In “Materials of Nature,” ceramic artists Hunter McGee, Scott Minugh, Lynn Di Nino, Steve Sauer, and John Arnold Taylor explore the physical and metaphysical properties of natural materials. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Wed. Aug. 31. 305 Harrison St. (Seattle Center), 206-728-1555. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sun.

Seattle LGBT Community Center “Between Dreams (Entre Sueños)” by James Vitale features erotic drawings of men in various states of arousal. Opens Sat. Sept. 3. 1115 E. Pike St., 206-323-5428. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun.

Last Chance

ArtsWest Ceramic wall sculptures by Julie Lindell, plus black-and-white photos of everyday people and objects by Ron Hammond and Zuzana Sadkova. 4711 California Ave. S.W. (West Seattle), 206-938-0963. Noon-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Roq La Rue “The Devil’s Hobby Hut” brings together two cranky masters of lowbrow art: Seattle’s own Charles Krafft and San Francisco–based poster artist Frank Kozik. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-4 p.m. Sun.

Sessions Gallery Industrial landscapes by former Californian Greg Ashline, at this new Ballard gallery focusing on emerging artists and digital art. 2220 Market St., Suite L-09, 206-234-5000. 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Vera Project Photographs of local music shows, taken by students from Photographic Center Northwest. 1916 Fourth Ave., 206-525-8585. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; 2-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

Winston Wächter The human figure is the theme of “Figuration,” a sampler of work by gallery artists. Most notable is Brian Murphy, whose unsparing self-portraits are a study in dissolution and excess; other artists include Generation X’s answer to Norman Rockwell, Bo Bartlett; James Croak, who sculpts people from cast dirt; sculpture by Robert Taplin; and paintings by Tony Scherman and Alex Katz. 203 Dexter Ave. N., 206-652-5855. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Galleries

Artcore Tattoo-influenced paintings of big-eyed ladies, most with a hefty dose of blue eye shadow, by Costa Rican artist Alex Nuñez. 5501-A Airport Way S., 206-767-2673. Noon-10 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Noon-7 p.m. Sun.

Artemis Sun-drenched realist paintings of Seattle locales and other stuff, by Anne Duffy. 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Benham “Beyond the Landscape” features nearly abstract photographs of the outdoors by resident artists Bruce Barnbaum and Phyllis Uitti-Maslin. 216 First Ave., 206-622-2480. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Gallery 4 Culture Watercolors, prints, and drawings by Bay Area artist William T. Wiley. Raised in Richland, Wash., Wiley has been a part of the counterculture art movement since the ’60s, offering surreal and politically charged illustrations, many deeply coded with layers of allusion and symbols. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Gulassa & Co. “Orb” features mod, polka-dotted, and pastel ceramics by local artist Timothy Foss. 10 Dravus St., 206-283-181. Noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Jack Straw New Media Gallery Rene Yung’s installation “Four Dignities” uses fabric screens and quiet audio to encourage viewers to experience the Buddhist concept of mindfulness in four states: sitting, walking, standing, and lying down. 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-634-0919. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

OKOK “Ha Get’em,” offers faux brand-name T-shirts and intentionally useless consumer products by local designer and illustrator Shawn Wolfe. 709 Broadway Ave. E., 206-322-7523. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-7 p.m. Sun.

Schmancy Oddball toys are the new hip art medium, peddled by stores like Schmancy in Belltown and OKOK on Capitol Hill. “Plush You!” features a motley assortment of stuffed animals from Stuart Bloomfield, Beck Wheeler, Heidi Kenney, and David Huyck. These one-of-a-kind critters are reasonably priced, weird, and the kids love ’em. 1930 Second Ave., 206-728-8008. 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Seattle Museum of the Mysteries Graphic tallies of the war dead in Iraq by artist-activist Thomas A. D. Hays. 623 Broadway Ave. E., 206-328-6499. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

Solomon Fine Art “Natural Selection” offers nature-inspired art by Denver’s Trine Bumiller and Washington, D.C.–based painter Isabel Manolo. Manolo’s work, a series of remembered landscapes executed in near-abstract acrylics, looks the most promising. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Square Room Paintings of crows and such by Brian McGuffey and wall sculpture incorporating branches and natural material by Leif Holland. 1316 E. Pike St., 206-267-7120. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-6 p.m. Sun.

Stonington Gallery “Awakenings: A Gathering of Contemporary Coast Salish Artists” showcases the work of 20 Native American artists from the Pacific Northwest, including cedar sculpture, glass, basketry, and metalwork by Shaun Peterson, Susan A. Point, Marvin Oliver, and others. 119 S. Jackson St., 206-405-4040. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Viveza This Belltown gallery celebrates its two-year anniversary with a group show of gallery regulars, including Melinda Hannigan and Doug Smithenry. 2604 Western Ave., 206-956-3584. Noon- 5 p.m. Wed.-Sun.

West Edge Sculptural Invitational Harbor Steps get a dose of mediocre sculpture for the second summer in a row, including works by locals Ann Morris, Gerard Tsutakawa, Claudia Fitch, and Ross Palmer Beecher. Harbor Steps to Benaroya Hall, between Third and Western avenues at University Street, 206-334-5040.

Western Bridge German artist Daniel Roth’s strange and subtle installation River Styx presents “evidence”—in drawings, sculpture, and photography—of an underground river running west from Seattle, below the Olympic Peninsula, and out to a burial island off the coast. Also on display is Rodney Graham’s clever second look at an old oak tree, Roni Horn’s obsessive 100-photo installation You Are the Weather, and a justly famous series of portraits of four sisters taken over a span of 30 years by Nicholas Nixon. And speaking of the River Styx, you’ll feel like you’ve been to hell and back after experiencing Gary Hill’s numbing video Wall Piece, a study in frustration, artistic struggle, and the failure of language. 3412 Fourth Ave. 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.-Fri.

Museums

Bellevue Arts Museum BAM is back with a retooled mission as an accessible (read: noncontroversial) place for art, craft, and design. Executive director Michael Monroe launches the resurrection with “The Artful Teapot,” an impressive but safe collection of 250 teapots as sculpture. Albert Paley’s new–Art Nouveau iron work is nice and intricate, kind of like a Chihuly is nice and intricate. (Fans of the Tacoma glassmeister can see one of his newly commissioned works in BAM’s lobby.) And for those who just can’t get enough glass, there’s an exhibit of art and posters from the early days of the Pilchuck Glass School. 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Thurs.); 11 a.m-5:30 p.m. Sun.

Burke Museum Subhankar Banerjee’s magnificent photos of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are the result of a two- year expedition among caribou and tundra. Savor these images, before ExxonMobil and BP bring their “low impact” drilling apparatus to ANWR. Also on display: traditional and contemporary Native American art depicting arctic animals. UW campus, Northeast 45th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast, 206-543-5590. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (until 8 p.m. Thurs.).

Frye Art Museum “William Cumming: The Image of Consequence” offers an authoritative retrospective of the Northwest painter’s long career (he’s now 88 and still hard at work). Curated by local art critic Matthew Kangas, the show follows the evolution of Cumming’s work, from reform-minded realism to a more formal fusion of representation and abstraction. 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.

Frye Art Museum “Taking and Making” features recent work by Oliver Herring, the German-born artist whose experiments in photography, video, and sculpture take novel turns, including a life-size self-portrait made from snapshots. “Spectatorship and Desire: Lust” rehangs some of the Frye’s permanent collection in a salon-style jumble. 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 Lead Pencil Studio, the local architecture/art installation team of Daniel Mihalyo and Annie Han, installs “Minus Space,” which re-creates the hillside lost in the 1997 expansion of the Henry, using a fine scrim of assorted materials. Also on display: German-born Seattle artist Trimpin does amazing things combining technological gizmos with more analog stuff like typewriters, player pianos, and other musical instruments. (His best-known work is the immense Roots and Branches sculpture of robotically controlled guitars at EMP.) The next year or so is going to be something of a Trimpin celebration, with local galleries and museums showcasing the artist’s various kinetic sculptures. At the Henry, the wonderfully titled installation Phfftt involves some 200 electronically controlled woodwind instruments you can play with a series of two dials—or you can simply listen to one of the 12 manic, lighthearted, or sinister works by the composer. And do not miss the magnificent Francis Bacon painting Study for a Pope IV, on display in its own room. Seattle is lucky to have this work, on loan from an anonymous West Coast patron. The 1961 painting is a late piece in Bacon’s startling series of popes; this one conveys a haunting combination of authority and impotence. The skull-like head seems to shift and shimmer before your eyes, and the feeble hands make the pontiff seem very fallible indeed. Also, “Seeing the Unseen,” a fascinating collection prints of X-ray, microscopic, time-lapse, and other photographic novelties. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.

Seattle Art Museum “Isamu Noguchi: Sculptural Design” is an unorthodox and splashy exploration of the eclectic 20th-century sculptor-designer. The exhibit is a visual and sonic extravaganza designed by theater experimentalist Robert Wilson. Various rooms evoke different themes in Noguchi’s long career: His work in the theater with the likes of Martha Graham takes the shape of a brooding theatrical space; intensely material sculptural works are set in a Zen rock garden complete with several tons of raked gravel. Other rooms suggest Noguchi’s mission to popularize art through mass-produced design. There are moments when the whole project goes over the top—the canned thunder and lightning accompanying a model of a monument to Benjamin Franklin, complete with kite and key, is just a bit much. Still, this is a fascinating look at an artist who managed to span divides between cultures and artistic disciplines. Also on display: “Africa in America” is 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. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.

Tacoma Art Museum Jewelry doesn’t have to make the diamond barons at DeBeers rich. Case in point: “Zero Karat,” a touring collection of jewelry made from such non-precious materials as aluminum and Chinese newspapers. Also on display: “Carving a Legacy,” contemporary interpretations of traditional Native American art by Shaun Peterson, Greg Colfax, Karen Reed, and others. 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.