Visual Arts

NOTE: First Thursday Is on Friday This Week

Leonard Baskin

Fierce Humanist collects multimedia work created as an ode to mankind. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave. S., 624-7684, davidsongalleries.com. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sept. 27.

Sally Cleveland and Gabriel Fernandez These two artists deal in lonely landscapes and scenes of humble and forgotten places and objects, like the dividing line on a dusty highway or a solitary ketchup bottle. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Linda Hodges Gallery, 316 First Ave. S., 624-3034, lindahodgesgallery.com. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sept. 27.

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Chris Crites & Samantha Scherer Crites displays his signature mugshots and crime scenes painted on brown paper bags. Scherer shows her fine-lined ink drawings in We Are OK Here. Opening reception and artist talk 5-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. G. Gibson Gallery, 300 S. Washington St. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 587-4033, ggibsongallery.com. 11 a.m-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Oct. 11.

Rein de Lege Based in Spain, the Dutch artist shows his large paintings on linen in a show called Face to Face. Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Hall Spassov Gallery, 319 3rd Ave. S., 223-0816, hallspassov.com. Ends Sept. 30.

Justin Gibbens He creates his own zoology and natural history, some influenced by Japanese and Indian art, in the watercolors presented in Avatars and Shapeshifters. Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Punch Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 621-1945, punchgallery.org. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Sept. 27.

Lauren Grossman

Ghost Variations invokes the spectral nature of the show’s primary medium—glass. Transparent, light, and requiring breath to mold it, the material allows Grossman to draw comparisons between glass and “giving up the ghost,” he says. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Platform Gallery (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 114 Third Ave. S., 323-2808, platformgallery.com. Weds.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Ends Oct. 11.

John Kiley & Hiroshi Yamano The two artists show their creations in glass. Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Traver Gallery, 110 Union St., 587-6501, travergallery.com. Ends Sept. 28.

Dianne Kornberg A survey of the work from the veteran Portland artist/academic, Then/Now is made up of photographs taken during the ’90s of animal remains she found by her house, as well as collaborative works she made with poets and writers. Opening reception 2-4 p.m. Sat., Sept. 6. Prographica Gallery, 3419 Denny Way, 322-3851. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. prographicadrawings.com. Ends Oct. 11.

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Irene Kubota

Finding Our Way is full of charmingly childlike paintings from the East Coast artist, whose work was described by The New York Times as looking like a “grown-up fairy tale.” Opens Thurs., Sept. 4; reception during First Thursday on Friday art walk. Bryan Ohno Gallery, 521 S. Main St., 459-6857, bryanohno.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Oct. 11.

Paul D. McKee He presents found objects and considers notions of collecting and preservation in Collection. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Method Gallery, 106 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), methodgallery.com. Noon-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Oct. 11

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The Magician Created by Chris Byrne and designed by Scott Newton, The Magician

is an intricately printed graphic novel that incorporates the folding, push/pull interactive elements of a pop-up book. Paper Hammer published the volume, which contains a dozen handbound elements. Opening reception 5-7 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 4. Paper Hammer, 1400 Second Ave., 682-3820, paper-hammer.com. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends Sept. 30.

Daniel Joseph Martinez Through text, sculpture, photography, painting, installation, robotics, and performance, Reflections From a Damaged Life confronts social issues ranging from religion to the military-industrial complex toadvertising. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. James Harris Gallery, 604 Second Ave., 903-6220, jamesharrisgallery.com, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Oct. 11.

Steven Miller

Les Fleurs du Male is a photo series created as an homage to French novelist and playwright Jean Genet. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri, Sept. 5. Gallery4Culture, 101 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 296-7580, 4culture.org. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Sept. 25.

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Jean-Claude Moschetti The photographer’s beautiful photographs of West African ceremonial masks and costumes are shown in Magic on Earth, which surveys the cultures of Sierra Leone, Benin, and Burkina Faso. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. M.I.A. Gallery, 1203 Second Ave., 467-4927, m-i-a-gallery.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Oct. 25.

Andy Nasisse Meant to mimic petroglyphs from long past, the ceramics in Shadowland use unique surface treatments to conjure up images that were hiding beneath the material’s outer layer. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Pottery Northwest, 226 First Ave. N., 285-4421, potterynorthwest.org. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Fri. Ends Sept. 26

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Dylan Neuwirth:

PRIVACY SETTINGS His new show expands on Internet-addled questionings of post-digital humanity with his trademark neon signage and glasswork. He renders web-isms like the word LOL made out of crack pipes. Opening reception 5:30-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Season, 523 S. Main St., 679-0706, season.cz. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., Ends Sept. 13.

Jeff Olson & Sara Everett They show new work. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Core Gallery, 117 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 467-4444, coregallery.org. Ends Sept. 30.

Kim Osgood

Small Pleasures collects the Portland artist’s monotypes and acrylic paintings inspired by the changing seasons. Opening reception 6-8 p.m Fri., Sept. 5. Lisa Harris Gallery, 1922 Pike Place, lisaharrisgallery.com. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon-Sat. Ends Sept. 29.

Tamara Stephas Influenced by the Hudson River School, her paintings explore the effect of humanity on the surrounding environment. Opening reception 1-3 p.m. Sun., Sept. 7. University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave. N.E., 370-1066, stephas.com, Ends Oct. 17.

Sonya Stockton In The Revolt, she draws abstract forms layered with cook books, wall paper, encyclopedias, and other found iterms. Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Fri, Sept. 5. Gallery 110, 110 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 624-9336, gallery110.com. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Sept. 27.

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SuttonBeresCuller

You knew it was wrong … but you did it anyway is the local prank-happy art trio’s first big gallery show, featuring a bronze banana, scratched-up mirrors, and a pile of lamps. Also on view: etchings by Martin Puryear. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S., 624-4031, gregkucera.com, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Nov. 1.

Trialogue This collaboration between Julia Freeman, Caroline Kapp, and Ellen Ziegler is based around a sort of game in which the trio built work around a single word, passing the piece on to the next person as they went along.

Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Soil Gallery, 112 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 264-8061, soilart.org, 12-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Ends Sept. 27.

Z.Z. Wei

Horizons shows the artist’s love for the Northwest with a series of sweeping, brushed paintings depicting the Puget Sound Region. Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Patricia Rovzar Gallery, 1225 Second Ave., 223-0273, rovzargallery.com, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun. Ends Sept. 30.

The World Is Flat A group photography show features snapshots local artists have taken during their various globetrotting travels and adventures. Opening reception 5-9 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5. Flatcolor Gallery, 77 S. Main St., 390-6537, flatcolor.com. Noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Sept. 27.

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. 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.

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, 1400 E. Prospect St. (Volunteer Park), 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org. $5-$7. Weds.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through Oct. 19.

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City Dwellers A dozen contemporary Indian artists are represented in this show organized by SAM and originating entirely from the private local collection of Sanjay Parthasarathy (a Microsoft millionaire) and wife Malini Balakrishnan. Scenes and icons from Mumbai to New Delhi are represented via photography and sculpture, from an all-native perspective. As tourists know, India is ridiculously photogenic, from its colorful idols and deities to the slums and beggars. It all depends on what you want to see. Photographer Dhruv Malhotra, for instance, takes large color images of people sleeping in public places—some because they’re poor, others because they simply feel like taking a nap. Nandini Valli Muthiah opts for more stage-managed scenes, posing a costumed actor as the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna in contemporary settings; in one shot I love, he sits in a hotel suite, like a tired business traveler awaiting a conference call on Skype. Sculptor Debanjan Roby even dares to appropriate the revered figure of Gandhi, rendering him in bright red fiberglass and listening to a white iPod. Apple never made such an ad, of course, but this impudent figure tweaks both India’s postcolonial history and the relentless consumerism that now links us all, from Seattle to Srinagar. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Asian Art Museum, through Feb. 15.

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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. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Asian Art Museum, ends Oct. 19.

Femke Hiemstra & Casey Weldon Hiemstra paints on found objects in Warten am Waldrand. Weldon tweaks nature scenes with bright, artificial colors in Novel Relic. Roq La Rue Gallery, 532 First Ave. S., 374-8977, roqlarue.com. Ends Sept. 27.

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Etsuko Ichikawa and Yukiyo Kawano

One Thousand Questions—From Hiroshima to Hanford is a joint exhibition examining the nuclear history of Japan and Washington State. Columbia City Gallery, 4864 Rainier Ave. S., columbiacitygallery.com, 760-9843. Ends Sept. 21.

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Modernism in the Pacific Northwest: The Mythic and the Mystical Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson are featured. 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.) 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. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. $12–$19. Weds.-Sun. Ends. Sept. 7.