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Lectures and Events

Artist Lecture: Lin Tianmiao The Chinese artist talks about her work and the current cultural climate in China (see SW This Week, p. 41). 7 p.m. Thurs. March 31. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., $5-10, 206-654-3100.

Benefit Art Show A show of abstract paintings by Chang Lek and photographs by Galen Garwood, to raise money for the Akha hill tribe of Burma, Thailand, Laos, China, and North Vietnam. Musical entertainment provided by electric cellist Jami Sieber. 5:30 p.m. Sat. April 2. Corridor Gallery, 306 S. Washington St., free, 206-323-7754.

Contemporary Art Quilts “World View: Social Justice and Social Causes” is a juried show of activist-art quilts by local artists. Reception: 1-3 p.m. Sun. April 3. University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave. N.E., free, 206-525-8400.

Artist Lecture: Bertil Vallien Sweden’s bigwig glass artist talks about his work, much of which involves embedding images in glass. Traditional Swedish “hot shop herring” will be served—I’m not sure if that’s meant to attract or deter us. Reception: 5:30 p.m. Lecture: 6 p.m. Dinner: 7 p.m. Tues. April 5. Nordic Heritage Museum, 104 N.W. 67th St., $20 (reservations required), 206-789-5707.

Openings

Azuma Richard Conover’s minimalist ink-and-graphite abstract works have a Zen-like clarity. Artist talk and reception: 2-5 p.m. Sat. April 2. 530 First Ave. S., 206-622-5599. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Ballard/Fetherston “Sense of Place” offers more of New York artist David Konigsberg’s cutesy paintings of people hopping for joy or driving old cars under happy little clouds. Guess that’s what they mean when they talk about his “accessible style.” 5 p.m. Fri. April 1. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Bluebottle Deth P. Sun’s paintings of down-and-out cartoon critters and robots. 7-10 p.m. Sat. April 2. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon- 6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Frank & Dunya Paintings of monkeys and other cute stuff by Bluebottle Gallery co-owner Matthew Porter. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Fri. April 1. 3418 Fremont Ave. N., 206-547-6760. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

The Other Roadside Attraction It’s time for that annual Northwest tradition: driving up to the Skagit Valley, sitting in traffic on narrow backwater roads, and snapping pictures of tulips. While you’re out there, stop by this collection of art set up in a former honey stand. Participating Seattle galleries, including Benham, Greg Kucera, and Winston Wächter, will be showing sculpture, painting, and other stuff by Mark Calderon, Claudia Fitch, Timothy Foss, Tom Gormally, and others. Reception: 5-8 p.m. Sat. April 2. 18791 Cedardale Rd. (Mount Vernon), 360-424-5590. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sun.

Phinney Center “Paper Politics” showcases a variety of prints with radical, antiwar, and/or activist aims. Reception: 7-9 p.m. Fri. April 1. Curator talk: 6 p.m. Fri. April 1. 6532 Phinney Ave., 206-783-2244. 9 a.m.- 9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.

Platform Saya Moriyasu’s “Lavish Lamplight Gathering” is a large installation of this local artist’s ceramic lamps and other rough-cut, minimalist figures. Opens Thurs. March 31. 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Viveza The seemingly abstract paintings of Melinda Hannigan are actually close-ups of rusty old container ships. Reception: 6-9 p.m. Fri. April 1. 2604 Western Ave., 206-355-0070. Noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Wildrose “Vision and Voice” features Lori DeMarre’s photographs of transgender, lesbian, and gay people coping with life-threatening or chronic illness. Reception: 7 p.m. Tues. April 5. 1021 E. Pike St., $10 suggested donation, 206-324-9210. 3 p.m.-1 a.m. Sun.-Mon.; 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Tues.-Sat.

Last Chance

911 Media Arts John Feodorov, who as a child was told that the lava bed down the road was actually the coagulated blood of a slain giant, brings mythological imagination to bear on office cubicles and other contemporary places in the installation “Four Sacred Spaces.” 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.

Artemis Matthew Porter (who co-owns Bluebottle Gallery) serves up more of his odd-cute paintings of gigantic cats eating Seattle and monkeys, monkeys, monkeys. 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Thurs. March 31.

Bluebottle Mike Maas’ “TV Party” offers a bunch of tired, tiki- and mod-retro 1970s nostalgia paintings made three-dimensional with multiple layers of cut Masonite. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Tues. March 31.

Consolidated Works “Ergonomicon,” a carnival-like array of work on the theme of bodies and environments, includes Alex Schweder’s fully plumbed and operational “Peescapes,” Sami Bin Larbi’s Sur Place, which aims to destabilize your perception with mirrors, video cameras, and a pair of adjoining stalls, and Sofia Hulten’s wonderfully paranoid videos of post-9/11 anxiety. 500 Boren Ave. N., 4-8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri.; 1-8 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 206-860-5245. Ends Sun. April 3.

Davidson Take off your shoes and walk on Jill Weinstock’s squishy, rubber-encased nylon stockings while checking out the oil paintings of Sally Cleveland, who’s drawn to scenes of cows standing around as well as to poetic urban details, like the sky reflected in a stream of water running down an alley. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.

Francine Seders New mixed-media assemblages by Robert Mirenzi, who works with materials ranging from plastic dolls’ heads to cheap Chinese party favors. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Sun. April 3.

Gallery 110 Gary Oliveira’s pensive photos of post-coital motel rooms (rumpled sheets on the Magic-Fingers bed, discarded room-service trays—you get the idea); plus, Cynthia Bittenfield’s grainy photographs of Normandy beaches, which pay earnest tribute to her father’s involvement in D-Day. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.

Greg Kucera Minimal but lushly colored abstraction and near-abstraction (moonlit landscapes from the Northwest and Southwest), executed in encaustic by longtime Northwest painter Joseph Goldberg. Also on display: new work by Gregory Kucera—not the gallery owner but the L.A.–based conceptual and video artist of the same name. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.

Jacob Lawrence Gallery Children’s drawings created during wartime, ranging from the Spanish Civil War to Kosovo. UW campus (Art Building, Room 132), 206-685-1805. Noon-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Fri. April 1.

Linda Hodges Brad Rude’s paintings and sculptures put animals in vaguely shamanist compositions. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.

James Harris New work by Peter Schuyff, whose carved pencils, spiraling totems cut from raw logs, and obsessively layered paintings of strange forms make excursions into pattern and topology. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Sat. April 2.

Lisa Harris New, vigorous, boldly colored Northwest landscapes by Brit-born transplant John Cole. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun. Ends Sat. April 2.

Roq La Rue In “Opulent Decay,” three artists luxuriate in death, the macabre, and destruction, including Joshua Petker’s creepy expressionist paintings and Alice Tippet’s subtle but gory pictures of peacocks and other birdies. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends Fri. April 1.

Solomon Fine Art Ellen Garvens’ insectlike assemblages and Peter Stanfield’s techno-looking wall sculptures from hand-tooled steel. 1215 First Ave., 206- 297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends Fri. April 1.

William Traver Nancy Worden’s art jewelry makes use of some wild materials—everything from clothespins to taxidermy eyes to chunks of the demolished Kingdome. 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 Sun. April 3.

Galleries

Artbook Press & Gallery Marvin Johnson (aka bufoman) creates and collects artist-made stamps and is a participant in the subculture of correspondence in the tradition of Ray Johnson. 4703 Ballard Ave. N.W., 206-285-2665. Noon-6 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Bryan Ohno Susan Rothenberg has her horses, Morris Graves had his birds, and Katina Huston has her bicycles. The Bay Area artist, philosophy professor, and former bike messenger takes bikes as her private talisman, an idée fixe that she repeats in large, near-abstract washes of ink on Mylar. Using 20 different types of ink in a painstaking process, Huston creates elegant and gorgeous compositions that emerge from greaselike stains and mud puddles. The tangle of gears and pedals and tires and derailleurs adds up to a lush vision of a machine that’s a perfect and simple extension of the human body. The works confer a saintliness upon her subject—completely appropriate, since it’s the bike riders who will save us all from global warming. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

CoCA “Help Wanted,” a group show of collaborative works by local artists, writers, and computer programmers (see Visual Arts Spotlight, page 73.). 410 Dexter Ave. N., 206-728-1980. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sun.

Crawl Space Anne Mathern poses adults in creepy restaged photographs of their most formative adolescent moments. 504 E. Denny Way #1 (near Olive), 206- 240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Daybreak Star Art Gallery & Indian Cultural Center Mixed-media paintings of whimsical wild animals of the west by Colorado’s Kay Miller. Discovery Park, 206-285-4425. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Goods Illustration and type design by the Vancouver, B.C.–based team of Robin Cameron and Niall McClelland. 1112 Pike St., 206-622-0459. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Howard House “The Red Thread” is a group show that samples new work from the contemporary avant-garde in Vienna (see feature, page 71). 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-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 a lot of 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, while Claire Cowie’s paper mobiles and minimalist figurative paintings seem too cute to amount to much. More substantial are Saul Becker’s weird abstract landscapes crisscrossed with prismatic rainbows of color. 620 Market St. 425-822-7161. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Photographic Center Northwest “Fotografenbüro” features documentary work by five photographers from Lux, a Berlin-based photo bureau. 900 12th Ave., 206-720-7222. Noon-9:30 p.m. Mon.; 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Tues.-Sun.

Priceless Works “Small Salience” collects abstractions and figurative work by 14 artists who use minimal gestures and forms to make their points. Includes work by Patrick Holderfield, Peter Gross, and Linda Peschong. 619 N. 35th St., Suite 100, 206-349-9943. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sun.

Richard Hugo House “Woman in Ill-Fitting Wig” is a collaboration in painting and text between Rebecca Brown and Nancy Kiefer. Kiefer paints mugs of difficult women, then Brown spins verbal riffs on the images. 1634 11th Ave., 206-322-7030. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat.

Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery SAM’s Rental/Sales Gallery continues its showcase of local galleries, this time with artists from Bryan Ohno Gallery, including Francis Celentano, Anna Daedalus, and Patricia Hagan. Also on display: works by Gabriel Fernandez and Chauney Peck. 1220 Third Ave., 206-343-1101. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Suyama Space Roger Feldman’s architectural sculptures are designed to be unsettling—literally. The three installations, each about the size of Thoreau’s cabin, are built simply from 2-by-4s and other framing materials. They’re meant to be experienced, so take off your shoes and enter. Each structure is made to rock and teeter; one is constructed with an Escher-like zigzag of parallelograms, and it takes random and disturbing lurches as you walk about the room. 2324 Second Ave., 206-256-0809. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

ToST Evan Blackwell and Marc Lawrence’s big, bold 3-D wall sculptures created from found lumber and other colorful junkyard detritus. 513 N. 36th St., 206- 547-0240. 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Tues.-Sat.; 5 p.m.-midnight Sun.-Mon.

Western Bridge “19 Rainstorms” is a sampling of rain- and weather-themed video, painting, photography, and installation by Neil Goldberg, Trisha Donnelly, Olafur Eliasson, Anri Sala, Tania Kitchell, and others. 3412 Fourth Ave. S. 206-838-7444. Noon- 6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Museums

Frye Art Museum In Robin Held’s first exhibition since taking over as curator at the Frye, Seattle artist Joseph Park gets a solo show, “Moon Beam Caress.” The 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 As laterally mobile curator Robin Held’s first show at the Frye continues, her last at the Henry does, too. “Celebrity Skin” pairs photos of famous 19th-century French people with Alice Wheeler’s photos of Nirvana, which are startlingly immediate enough to penetrate any jadedness you might feel toward the overexposed Cobain and company. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.

Museum of Glass “Best in Show” parades a bunch of dog-themed art by William Wegman, David Gilhooly, and Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen. 1801 East Dock St. (Tacoma), 253-396-1768. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. (third Thurs. of the month until 8 p.m.); noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Museum of Northwest Art “Northwest Matriarchs of Modernism” showcases work by a dozen artists working between 1940 and 1970, including figurative painter Viola Patterson, abstract painter Mary Henry, and sculptor Hilda Morris. 121 South First St. (La Conner), 360-466-4446. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

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. 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 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 Northwest artists who’ve been awarded the Behnke Foundation’s “Neddy” Artist Fellowship since the program began 10 years ago—including work by Michael Spafford, Juan Alonso, Claire Cowie, and Susan Dory. 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 Do you remember being able to think about 9/11 without cursing Bush for dragging us into the bloody quagmire of Iraq? We don’t, and we’re not at all sure that “September 11: Bearing Witness to History” will help. It’s a touring show of charred flags, blackened firefighter helmets, and twisted steel from the WTC, all presented like sacred relics. 1911 Pacific Ave. (Tacoma), 253-272-3500. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Wed.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.