Openings & Events
Exterminator City Looking to brush up on who’s who in Seattle’s booming underground comix scene? Its best and brightest are selling their wares on the cheap at this up-and-coming comics market. Push/Pull Studio Gallery, 8537 Greenwood Ave. N., facebook.com/exterminatorcity. Free. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Sun., Aug. 3,
The Great White Disconnect: White Privilege and Hip-Hop This free lecture led by local rapper OCnotes considers the ways hip-hop has been appropriated and repackaged. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 622-9250, fryemuseum.org. 7 p.m. Thurs., July 31.
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How to get back There (Seattle) From Here (the Dam) As Part of the Henry’s outdoors-oriented Summer Field Studies series, artist Molly Mac leads tagalongs on a weekend trip to the Grand Coulee Dam with site-specific video works along the way. The tour convenes and departs from the museum lobby. Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E., 543-2280, henryart.org
. $5-$10. 10 a.m. Sat., Aug. 2.
Jeon Yang-Bae A fashion show featuring outfits made out of Korean Hanji paper, dyed and brushed with ink. Surprisingly, the clothes are washable. Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St., 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org.
$5-$7.
7-9 p.m. Weds., Jul. 30.
Curt Labitzke
Men and Women collects recent work from the Chair of the UW Printmaking program. Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Fri., Aug. 1. The Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E. (Bainbridge), theislandgallery.com. Through Aug. 31.
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The Resurgence of shaMEN Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes, Nicholas Galanin, and Nep Sidhu, the artists behind the Frye’s Your Feast Has Ended, discuss the role of the male shaman throughout history in this free lecture. Frye Art Museum, free, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Sat., Aug. 2.
Vibrations 2014 Cairo’s yearly summer arts and music festival in the park returns with a healthy lineup of artists, showcasing installations from Aidan Fitzgerald, Derek Erdman, Frank Correa, JD Banke, MKNZ, Trevor Brown and much more. Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Ave. E, templeofcairo.com. Free. 2-10 p.m. Sun., Aug. 3,
Ongoing
The Art of Gaman The subtitle of this group show reveals its sad starting point: Arts & Crafts From the Japanese-American Internment Camps, 1942–1946. Over 120 objects are on view, many of them humble wood carvings, furniture, even toys made from scrap items at Minidoka or Manzanar. The more polished drawings come from professional artists like Ruth Asawa, Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, Chiura Obata, and Henry Sugimoto. Some of the more touching items—like a samurai figurine made from wood scraps, shells, and bottle caps—come from family collections, not museums; they’re precious keepsakes from a shameful historical era. As for the show’s title, gaman roughly translates as “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.” BRIAN MILLER Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org, $8-$10, Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Through Oct. 12.
At Your Service Ariel Brice, Gesine Hackenberg, Molly Hatch, Giselle Hicks, Garth Johnson, Niki Johnson, Sue Johnson, Emily Loehle, Caroline Slotte, and Amelia Toelke mess with crockery and other tokens of the domestic table. Bellevue Arts Museum. Through Sept. 21.
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John Buck Wow. A carousel of history comes to Pioneer Square in Buck’s two massive, moving wooden machines (plus woodblock prints and bas relief carvings). The two central installations are Burrowed Time and Cat’s Cradle, both of them enormous, intricate meditations on colonialism, cartography, myth, and the golden age of discovery. This opening was the hit of last week’s First Thursday Art Walk. Bring the kids, take videos, but don’t touch. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S., 624-0770, gregkucera.com. 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Aug. 23.
Romson Regarde Bustillo In his show Dugay na, the Filipino artist creates brightly colored works on paper, intricately cut and designed with patterns, some of them narrative. The title of the show translates as “no longer new” or “a long time now.” Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, 550 Winslow Way E., 842.4451, biartmuseum.org. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Daily through Sept. 24.
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Chen Shaoxiong The contemporary Chinese artist shows new video works and their source drawings in the exhibit Ink. History. Media, which is inspired by historical photos of major events from 1909-2009. Seattle Asian Art Museum, $5-$7. Weds.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through Oct. 19.
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Danish Modern: Design for Living A survey of modern style Danish furniture from 1950-60. Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 N.W. 67th St., 789-5707, nordicmuseum.org, $8, Tues.-Sun., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Through Aug. 31.
Barbara De Pirro & Katie Miller They show separate sculpture and video works harnassed by the German notion of Vorfreude, translating as “the joyful anticipation of future pleasures.” Method, 103 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), methodgallery.com. Through Aug. 23.
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Deco Japan This is a somewhat unusual traveling show in that it comes from a single private collection: that of Florida’s Robert and Mary Levenson. The specificity and period (1920–1945) are also unusual. Among the roughly 200 items on view—prints, furniture, jewelry, etc.—we won’t be seeing the usual quaint cherry-blossom references to Japan’s hermetic past. The country opened itself late, at gunpoint, to the West, and industrialized quite rapidly. By the ’20s, there was in the big cities a full awareness of Hollywood movies, European fashions, and streamlined design trends. Even if women didn’t vote, they knew about Louise Brooks and her fellow flappers. We may think that, particularly during the ’30s, the country was concerned with militarism and colonial expansion, but these objects reveal the leisure time and sometime frivolity of the period. For an urbane class of pleasure-seekers, necessarily moneyed, these were boom times. The luxe life meant imitating the West to a degree, yet there are also many traces of Japan’s ancient culture within these modern accessories. Think of the sybarites during the Edo period, for instance, and the women depicted here look more familiar—even if they wear cocktail dresses instead of kimonos. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Asian Art Museum, ends Oct. 19.
Fantasy in the City Mike Oncley, Doaly, Vikram Madan, and Steve Thomas are among some two dozen gallery artists exploring sci-fi and fantasy themes. Ltd. Art Gallery, 307 E. Pike St., ltdartgallery.com. Ends Aug. 24.
Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami An exhibit that examines the evolution of origami as an art form around the globe from its origins all the way up to today. Bellevue Arts Museum, through Sept. 21.
James Lee Hansen & Irene Kubota Hansen shows sculptures in bronze; Kubota exhibits bright paintings that resemble cheerful quilts. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 521 S. Main St., 459-6857, bryanohno.com. Ends Aug. 23.
Healthcare: On the Edge of Change That’s the name of this small exhibit by painter Nancy Rothwell, who addresses the aging of baby boomers in her art. University Unitarian Church: 6556 35th Ave. N.E., 525-8400. Ends Sept. 5.
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Heaven & Earth VI The Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) presents its annual outdoor art show, which will surely fall victim to vandals this summer, just like its predecessors. That means you should download the walking map and go early, before any destruction occurs. This year’s theme is “As Above, So Below.” Artists participating are Teresa Burrelsman-Stern, Mary Coss, Elisa Berry Fonseca, Joshua Harker, Michael Todd Harrison, Terra Holcomb, Tom Hughes, Fred Lisaius, Savina Mason, Lucy Mae Martin, Deanna Pindell, Kristin Schimik, Suzanne Tidwell, Megan Treasure, Ken Turner, and Allyce Wood. Carkeek Park, 950 Carkeek Park Rd., cocaseattle.org. Through Oct. 20.
Ellen heck, Shigeki Tomura, & Harold Keeler Woodblocks exploring female identity, Japanese watercolors of moments in nature, and lithographic odes to the city of Seattle. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave. S., 624-7684, davidsongalleries.com. Through Aug. 2.
Carolyn Hopkins
Smoke Signals compiles drawings, sculptures, and video made by the artist during time spent at Blue Lake in Oregon, where a recent forest fire ravaged the landscape. The work explores the artist’s deep seated connection with place. Punch Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 621-1945, punchgallery.org. Through Aug. 2.
KAC Artists’ Exhibition Over two dozen locals will show their work in this annual juried exhibit, with many on hand for the reception. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St., 425-822-7161, kirklandartscenter.org. Ends Sept. 13.
Elizabeth Lopez Now located in SAM’s gift shop, the sales gallery features her bright-colored abstract paintings. SAM Gallery, 1300 First Ave., seattleartmuseum.org. Free. Ends Aug. 17.
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Modernism in the Pacific Northwest: The Mythic and the Mystical Summer is usually the season for tourist-friendly blockbuster shows at SAM, like Japanese fashion last year, traveling from other institutions. This one is entirely local, celebrating the native quartet of Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson. How did the Northwest become a school? Isolation, for one thing, since prewar Seattle was remote and provincial when the four got their start. Institutions also played a part: Cornish, the UW, and especially the brand-new SAM helped form a community of artists and collectors. (SAM founder Richard Fuller was particularly instrumental, employing and buying from the Big Four.) Seattle had a little bit of money then, but it was dowdy old money, two generations removed from the Denny party—derived mostly from the land, the port, and timber. What Tobey and company brought to national attention during the war years and after was a fresh regional awareness and reverence for place. This meant not simple landscapes, but a deeper appreciation for the spiritual aspect of nature, traces of Native American culture, and currents from across the Pacific—including Eastern religion and Asian art. Many of the paintings here, publicly exhibited for the first time, come from the 2009 bequest of Marshall and Helen Hatch. They, like Fuller and the Wrights, were important collectors and patrons of the Big Four during the postwar years. What they preserved can now be a fresh discovery to all new Seattle residents unfamiliar with the Northwest School. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. $12–$19. Weds.-Sun. Ends. Sept. 7.
Mughal Painting: Power and Piety Some 300 years of Indian art, from the 16th century to English colonial rule of the subcontinent, goes on display. Seattle Asian Art Museum, opens Sat., July 19. Ends Oct. 19.
Mystic Modernism of the Pacific Northwest Coinciding with SAM’s show on the same topic, here’s a group show featuring other members and disciples of the movement, including Paul Horiuchi and George Tsutakawa. Seattle artREsource, 625 First Ave., Suite 200, 838-2695, seattleartresource.com. Ends August 30.
Northwest Marine Art Exhibition Local painters celebrate the sea. Kristen Gallery, 5320 Roosevelt Way N.E., 522-2011. Ends Aug. 31.
Cheri O’Brien
Dog Stories is exactly what it sounds like–a multimedia series featuring reverent renderings of all sorts of canines. Jeffrey Moose Gallery, 1333 Fith Ave., 467-6951, jeffreymoosegallery.com. Through Aug. 16.
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Stephen O’Donnell He tweaks 18th-century painting conventions in Told and Untold Stories, often by rendering himself in female costumes from the period. Winston Wachter Fine Art, 203 Dexter Ave. N. 652-5855, seattle.winstonwachter.com. Tues., July 22. Ends Aug. 30.
Jeffrey Palladini The Bay Area artist paints crisp summer scenes of bodies lounging in the sun—a little bit comic book, a little bit David Hockney. Lisa Harris Gallery, 1922 Pike Place, 443-3315, lisaharrisgallery.com. Ends Aug. 30.
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Ken Price The recently deceased L.A. artist created colorful cityscapes of his home town, often to accompany the poetry collections of his pal Charles Bukowski. The show is called Inside/Outside. Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E., 543-2280, henryart.org. $6-$10. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs. & Fri. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed., Sat. & Sun.
Through Sept 7.
William Robinson The local artist shows large organically-inspired sculptures rendered in stone. Foster/White Gallery, 220 Third Ave. S., 622-2833, fosterwhite.com. Ends Sept. 3.
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Skyspace James Turrell’ Skyspace stands on two concrete pillars in the Henry’s erstwhile sculpture courtyard. On the exterior, thousands of LED fixtures under the structure’s frosted glass skin create slowly shifting colors, making the pavilion a spectacular piece of public art every night. Inside, the ellipse of sky seen through the chamber’s ceiling suddenly appears to be very, very close, a thin membrane bulging into the room. Wispy bits of cirrus clouds passing by appear to be features on the slowly rotating surface of a luminous, egg-shaped blue planet suspended just overhead. Emerging from the Skyspace, I find the night wind and the light in the clouds come to me through freshly awakened senses. A dreamy, happy feeling follows me home like the moon outside my car window. DAVID STOESZ Henry Art Gallery
Carter Smith He offers new shibori banners and garments. Also on view, prints by Renee Jameson. Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E. (Bainbridge), 780-9500, theislandgallery.net. Through Aug. 31.
Summer Group Show Gallery artists Kathy Gore-Fuss, Kathy Liao, Henk Pander, Robert Schlegel, and Vannessa Tran share new work. Prographica, 3419 E. Denny Way, 322-3851, prographicadrawings.com. Ends Aug. 16.
Under Pressure Traveling up from Portland and the collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and family, this big survey of postwar prints includes work by Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, and Warhol. Bellevue Arts Museum, through Sept. 12.
The Unicorn Incorporated/Your Feast Has Ended
The Unicorn Incorporated is a career retrospective for Seattle’s Curtis R. Barnes that reaches back over four decades. As a child during the ’50s, he took his first art classes at the Frye; and he later trained at Cornish. But, really, most of his work here was forged by the politics of the ’60s, rather than by some particular school. Racism, Vietnam, Muhammad Ali, MLK, Malcolm X, black power, and the civil-rights movement all figure in his caricatures and illustrations for the Afro American Journal during the early ‘70s. Many of Barnes’ drawings show somewhat grotesque characters who’ve been warped and twisted by society—made into monsters, in effect. The Green River killer, ’80s subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz, apartheid enforcers, used-car salesmen, D.C. politicians, child molesters… these are the oppressors, yes, yet Barnes presents them almost like taxonomic specimens. Alternatively, and this comes as something of a relief, Barnes also draws a pantheon of the jazz icons he reveres (Monk, Bird, etc.). These figures become one with their instruments, transmogrified like some of his other characters—only in a good way. Your Feast Has Ended represents a new generation of minority artists: Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes (son of Curtis R. Barnes), Nicholas Galanin, and Nep Sidhu. The most conceptually cooked works here are by the Tlingit artist Galanin, who’s based in Sitka, Alaska. The politics and history he evokes are the most specific, and he does far less borrowing and appropriation. The 2010 SPD murder of John T. Williams is commemorated both with a drum (to be beaten with a police nightstick) and a video of a Tlingit dancer wearing cedar body armor. Of course that cladding wouldn’t stop a bullet, no more than art can stop history or redress historical wrongs. BRIAN MILLER Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 622-9250, fryemuseum.org. Free. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., 11 a.m–7 p.m. Thurs. Ends Sept. 21.
Ryan Weatherly He exhibits new paintings of distorted faces and figures. Blindfold Gallery, 1718 E. Olive Way, blindfoldgallery.com. Through Aug. 9.
Kathy Yoshihara In her show Made in America, the California artist creates small ceramic figures to explore her heritage and Japanese-American history in general (including the internment camps of WWII). KOBO Gallery at Higo, 604 S. Jackson St., 381-3000. Ends Aug. 17.
