Send listings two weeks in advance to visualarts@seattleweekly.com
Lectures and Events
Artist Lecture: Juan Alonso The Cuban-born Seattle painter (who has a new solo show at Francine Seders, see below) gives a lecture/slide show. 6 p.m. Mon. Apr. 5. Pratt Fine Arts Center, 1902 S. Main St., 206-328-2200.
Gallery Talk: Laurie Le Clair and Susan Seubert SEE BOX , THIS PAGE.
Lecture: East Meets Arts and Crafts Author Bruce Smith examines the influence of Japanese aesthetics on the turn-of-the-century Arts and Crafts design movement. 10:30 a.m.-noon, Sat. Apr. 3. Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect Ave., $8-$12, 206-625-8900.
Lecture: A History of Political Cartooning Richard West, director emeritus at the Frye, will move from the eighteenth century to the 20th-century illustrations of Herblock, Bill Maudlin, and Seattle’s own David Horsey. 2 p.m. Sat. Apr. 3, Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 206-622-9250.
Lecture: Looted Art Art historian Shauna Issac discusses a database she’s created to help establish the provenance of art that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. 6-8 p.m. Fri. Apr. 2, Building 33, Conference Center, Microsoft, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, 425-703-1800.
SECLUDED ALLEY WORKS “Knock on Wood” offers painted furniture, paintings of furniture, and paintings on wood from Kelly Lyles, Maija Fiebig and Todd Karam. It’s a one-night-only, third anniversary celebration before SAW moves out of its current space. Reception: 7 p.m.-midnight Sat. Apr. 3. 113 12th Ave., 206-839-0880.
First Thursday
Benham Just in time for spring, a group show of unusual flower photography by Omak’s Ken Smith, San Juan Islands resident Fred James Housel, and Seattle’s Steven Meyers, who specializes in x-ray prints. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 1216 First Ave., 206-622-2480. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.
Bryan Ohno Rae Mahaffey’s candy-colored abstractions on wood panel, and staged allegorical photographs by Anna Daedalus. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Caffe Ladro Unpretentious, atmospheric Seattle landscapes by Gretchen Batcheller. Reception: 7 p.m.-9 p.m. 2205 Queen Anne Ave. N., 206-282-5313
Davidson SEE BOX, THIS PAGE.
Gallery 110 Pamela Mills’s still life and flower paintings are rich in color and have a subdued optimism, even though they’re intended as virtual altarpieces. “Transcendence,” a collection of semi-figurative pastels by MiRan, looks to be a show of Klee-like whimsy (fishes, curlicues, and such). Reception: 6 p.m. -8 p.m. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.
Gallery 4 Culture I’m not sure which was worse, the old name of the Cultural Development Authority Gallery or the new one. Regardless, the county’s public art gallery remains indispensable, providing emerging artists with a royalty-free venue to break into the public eye. This month, Kristin Cross gets her moment. Her installation “Collective Memory” consists of door fragments and other domestic artifacts compulsively organized and displayed. Cross takes the found-object approach to an almost absurd extreme, turning contemporary salvage into an act of archeology. Reception : 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon-Fri.
Greg Kucera In “Last Call—New Photographs” director John Waters brings the slapstick gruesomeness of his films to this second show of photographs and sculpture at Kucera. Some of the stuff is good for a laugh, but not much else. The most intriguing piece is Birth Control, an over-the-top collection of photos of a gynecological exam gone very bad. Its title aptly describes its effect: Who’d want to get pregnant after seeing that? Also at Kucera is a perfectly good exhibit of introspective mixed media works by Enrique Martinez Celaya. Reception (John Waters will not be there): 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Linda Hodges Central Washington painter Cynthia Krieble’s landscapes of the arid Columbia Plateau and mountains of eastern China are composed with a Zen-like flurry of tiny, seemingly random series of brushstrokes. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Lisa Harris Royal Nebeker’s “Tvert Imot, Reflections in the Mirror of Ibsen,” offers paintings of contemporary life inspired by the Norwegian playwright. Nordic Heritage Museum opens a companion exhibit of Nebeker’s paintings next week. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.
Nico “Areas” features vaguely expressionist cityscapes of Seattle, Amsterdam, and other locales by Jay Mason. Reception: 6 p.m.-10 p.m. 619 Western Ave., Suite 22, 206-229-4593, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.
Patricia Cameron Fine Art A collection of figurative/spiritual stuff by Taos painter Suzanne Betz. Reception: 6 p.m. –8 p.m. 105 S. Main St. #204, 206-343-9647. Noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Fri.
Solomon Fine Art What appear at first to be minimalist abstract canvases in Paul Shakespear’s “Dwell” are actually the result of meticulous applications of paints and glosses. Reception: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.
William Traver Ceramic sculpture (including some very big heads) by Jun Kaneko plus Alan Fulle’s shimmering, liquid “Light Dot” paintings. Reception: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. 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.
Other Openings
Art/Not Terminal Who says art is totally useless? This month the Annual Functional Art Show and Contest showcases work that supposedly has a real purpose! Reception: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Sat. Apr. 3. 2045 Westlake, 206-233-0680, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Sun.
Atelier 31 Dutch painter Rineke Engwerda’s pop-photorealist paintings usually have a Magritte-like twist—the intrusion of a flat, cartoon scene or dark obscuring shadows. Margaret Quan Knight’s photographs depict the human body in dislocating fragmentation. Whether she’s using cast resin body parts to accompany nude dancers or creating bread dough that transforms into a human belly, Knight treats flesh as a malleable artist’s material. Reception: 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. Wed. Mar. 31. 2500 First Ave., 206-448-5250. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Tues.; 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.
Bluebottle “13 Lucid Eggs” is a group show on birth and fertility featuring work by Francesca Berrini, Erin Norlin, Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley, Sam Trout and others. Reception: 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Sat. Apr. 3. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Tue.-Fri., noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
Fancy Paintings of manatees and little carved wooden birdies by Portland zine illustrator Bwana Spoons. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Sat. Apr. 3. 1932 Second Ave., 206-443-4621. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Francine Seders Juan Alonso’s “Weathered” acrylics on canvas transform Havana’s architectural details into stylized, symmetrical talismans reminiscent of William Morris wallpaper designs. Alonso will be giving a lecture on painting at Pratt (see events, above). Reception: 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Sun. Apr. 4. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sun.
Garde Rail Folsky figurative sculptures in found scraps of wood and tin by Ohio artist Kevin Titzer. Reception: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Fri. Apr. 2. 4860 Rainier Ave. (Columbia City), 206-721-0107. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.
James Harris SEE SW THIS WEEK, PAGE 39.
Photographic Center Northwest Twenty-six prints by one of Mexico’s most talented photographers, Graciela Iturbide. Her images, whether of transvestites in rural Mexico, or of religious pilgrims in India, have an otherworldly spirituality that’s firmly planted in the dust and grime of the real. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Fri. Apr. 2. 900 12th Ave., 206-720-7222. Noon-9:30 p.m. Mon.; 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Tues.-Sun.
Priceless Works I have a weak spot for Francesca Berrini’s collages, which turn found bits of National Geographic maps into phantasmagoric destinations. In addition, accomplished textile artist Mandy Greer will create an installation, “The Wolf Prince and the Parrot Princess,” which promises to deliver “puffball chandeliers, 13-foot, hand-braided rugs and a trophy head of the wolf prince.” Cool. Reception: 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Fri. Apr. 2. 619 N. 35th St., Suite 100, 206-349-9943. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sun.
Shoreline Community College New, swirling firestorms of painting on paper by Seattle’s Barbara Earl Thomas. Opens Sat. Apr. 3. Building 1000, 16101 Greenwood N., 206-546-4101 ext. 4433. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
SOIL SEE SW THIS WEEK, PAGE 39.
Victrola Coffee & Art “Snakes and Ladders:” cut-and-paste paintings full of, well, snakes and ladders by local illustrator Brian Sendelbach. Reception: 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Fri. Apr. 2. 411 15th E., 325-6520.
Viveza Etsuko Ichikawa’s “Funiki: Floating Feelings” is a collection of endearingly weird, wispy mixed-media constructions of paper, cotton, and doilies all shielded from the cruelties of the art world by glass bells. Reception: 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Fri. Apr. 2. 2604 Western Ave., 206-355-0070. Noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Winston Wächter The idealized landscapes of Vashon Island painter Victoria Adams seem to emerge directly from 17th-century Holland—but more than simple pastiche, the paintings evoke a kind of imaginary space where the world and nature are benign. Reception: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Wed. Mar. 31. Winston/Wachter Gallery, 403 Dexter Ave. N., 206-652-5855, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.
Last Chance
Consolidated Works “Sonic Absorption” is a brainy exhibit of sound-based art. 500 Boren Ave. N., 206-860-5245, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 1 p.m.-8 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Sun. Apr. 4.
Cornish College Gallery Cornish’s annual faculty show collects works by Mark Takamichi Miller, David Nechak, Rebecca Allan, and others. 1000 Lenora, 206-622-1951, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Ends Thurs. Apr. 1.
Crawl Space For a second year, ten University of Washington art students have teamed with Seattle artists, in a month-long collaboration resulting in “Coupling 2.” 504 E. Denny Way (near Olive), 206-240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Sun. Apr. 4.
D’Adamo/Woltz In a new experiment designed to showcase emerging artists, D’Adamo/Woltz exhibits work by students from Cornish, Pratt, and the UW. Standouts include several spiny, dangerous-looking wall sculptures by Dana Morgan and a video piece by UW art student Sarah Murat. 303/307 Occidental S., 206-652-4414. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Fri. Apr. 2.
Gulassa & Co. “Images of Hope,” is a benefit exhibition organized to help African children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. Included are photos by Gulassa & Co. employee Marin Kaetzel and art donated by Jennifer Beedon-Snow, Nikki McClure and Faryn Davis. 10 Dravus St., 206-283-181. Noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Wed. Apr. 7.
Kirkland Arts Center “Gigantic Ceramic Figurines” from Brian Baker, Daniela Rumpf, Michaelene Walsh, and others. 620 Market St. 425-822-7161. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Fri. Apr. 2.
Martin-Zambito “Art of World War II” collects rare Northwest prints and paintings that run the gamut from propaganda to anti-war. Includes work by Seattle artist Seattle artist Jess Cauthorn and a “Ratmen” series on Nazi atrocities by New York/Seattle painter Abe Blashko. 721 E. Pike St., 206-726-9509. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Ends Wed. Apr. 7.
Museum of Northwest Art Simon Schama once observed that landscapes are always culture before they’re nature. “The Grand View,” a new exhibit at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner confirms this. Ranging from the soaring visions of Albert Bierstadt to quirky investigations by contemporary painter Michael Brophy, this exhibit explores the importance of place in the region’s art. 121 South First St. (La Conner), 360-466-4446. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Ends Sun. Apr. 4.
Roq La Rue “Pop Rocks:” super bad-ass paintings of Twiggy, Redd Foxx and other ’70s icons in bold acrylics by cartoonist/artist Jim Blanchard, plus wildly colored paintings in a similarly hip vein (check out all that glitter!) by Rene Garcia Jr. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends Fri. Apr. 2.
Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery A sampler of works by artists new to SAM/RSG, including Perri Lynch and Michael Dikter, plus works from SAM/RSG’s partner gallery Grover/Thurston, including pieces by Joe Max Emminger, Fay Jones, and Gary Nisbet. 1220 Third Ave., 206-343-1101. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends Sat. Apr. 3.
Shoreline Community College Art Gallery “The Distance of Clutter” comprises large canvases of fractured domestic spaces by Matt Everett. Building 1000, 16101 Greenwood N., 206-546-4634. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Sat. Apr. 3.
Museums
Experience Music Project “Springsteen—Troubadour of the Highway” offers over sixty photos of the Boss from Annie Leibovitz and others, along with videos, records and other memorabilia. “Beatlemania! America Meets the Beatles” shows rare memorabilia, plus film footage of the fab four’s appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. Seattle Center, 325 Fifth Ave. N., 206-EMP-LIVE. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.
Frye Art Museum “Another Look: Frye Viewpoints” serves up a sampler of contemporary representational art: a mixed bag, but Tim Lowly’s Temma on Earth is a fascinating study of the artist’s daughter in uneasy repose amid a gray landscape, while Odd Nerdrum’s Man Bitten by Snake is truly bizarre. 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 “Dance and Art in Dialogue, 1961-2001” chronicles Trisha Brown’s collaborations with visual artists, displaying pieces of sets, costumes, and artworks that emerged from or inspired her work. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.
Museum of Flight Okay, this is odd—artist Steve Maloney somehow acquired heaps of stuff that the Transportation Security Administration confiscated from airport security checkpoints after 9/11. Maloney has taken these assorted box cutters, pocketknives, and scissors and incorporated them into installations, including a one large bulletproof plexiglass box affixed with a rusty chain and padlock. There’s a glib humor to the whole project that doesn’t really make sense. 9404 East Marginal Way S., 206-764-5700, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.
Seattle Art Museum “Only Skin Deep” is a rich and fascinating exhibit of photos and other found historical images that explore attitudes towards race. Also: Christian Marclay’s exhibit is fun, if not particularly deep. Impossible instruments (a twenty-foot drum kit, a tuba grafted onto a trumpet) are set alongside clever collages made from album covers The most compelling work is the 13-minute, four-screen film Video Quartet, a cacophony of musical samples from Hollywood movies. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.
