Sept. 22-28, 2004

Reception: White Center Teens Project In an event in conjunction with the Aperture 50th anniversary photo exhibit, the White Center project puts digital cameras and books of photos by noted photographers (Bernice Abbot, Walker Evans, etc.) into the hands of teens from this predominantly low-income neighborhood. 6-8 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 23. Benham Gallery, 1216 First Ave., 206-622-2480.

Openings

Howard House Talk about good timing: Victoria Haven was recently announced as the 2004 winner of Seattle Art Museum's prestigious Betty Bowen award, just prior to the opening of a show of her new work at Howard House. Haven is known for her delicate and intricate geometric paintings, drawings, and wall sculptures that seem so ephemeral as to have almost no physical substance at all. This new work, titled "Wonderland" will feature fragile cut-paper constructions and other works on paper. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 23. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

SAM Rental/Sales Gallery A sampler of painting and drawing from Cornish College instructors Patrick LoCicero, Kathleen Rabel, and Mark Takamichi Miller, among others. Reception: 5-7 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 23. 1220 Third Ave., 206-654-3158. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Last Chance

Capitol Hill Arts Center "Claustrophilia," features artwork by those whose day jobs are in the tech industry. On hand will be work (not necessarily tech-related) by Beatrice Billard, Vlada Breiburg, Janet Galore, Sharon Matsumoto, and Erin Moscatello 1621 12th Ave., 206-388-0600. 6-10 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. Ends Sun. Sept. 26.

Garde Rail If you like outsider art (and I do), this is the kind of show that tests your faith. Rick Borg paints with what you want to be rough, visionary brilliance, but "rough" here most of the time means simply inept and careless. In places, though, like on the coarse slats of a found piece of wood on which Borg has painted a cigar store Indian, his crazy array of colors achieve a crude, accidental glory that makes you believe again. 110 Third Ave. S. 206-621-1055 11 a.m.-5 p.m Wed.-Sat. Ends Sat. Sept. 25.

Galleries

1506 Projects "Moving Digital," a collection of video-based art, film loops, and TV-show inspired prints from artists Iole Alessandrini, Brad Ewing, Sean Frego, Joseph Gray, Thom Heileson, David Herbert, Jamisen Ogg, Keith Tilford, Tony Weathers and John Wells. 1506 E. Olive, 206-920-8618. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Artemis Dynamic electrical assemblages cobbled together from industrial trash, light bulbs, and other detritus by Jay Humphreys and Jules Manoogian 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Baas Gallery Nature-inspired paintings from Jared Rue Thornton and accomplished mixed-media paintings laden with wildlife and intricate abstraction by M.A. Papanek-Miller. 2703 E. Madison, 206-324-4742. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Ballard Fetherston Pleasant, scratchy abstractions in oil and wax by Kirsten Stolle and pleasant, spacey abstractions in acrylic and graphite by Chris Metze. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.

Bryan Ohno Larry Bemm's open, casual abstractions in pastel-colored oils are painted directly on wood panels. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Cafe Septieme Erin Frost's erotic black-and-white self-portraits. 214 Broadway E., 206-860-8858.

Cornish College Gallery The familiar mustiness, the stale coffee, the filthy microwave, and those battered old couches: Yes, it's "Staff Lounge," a great idea for a show, put together by Cornish staff for those who know such rooms all too well, and those who can catch only tantalizing glimpses of them from the outside. 1000 Lenora St. 206-726-5011. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Davidson Steven Heino's paintings on phenolic cloth (a fiberglass fabric he discovered during his days working for Boeing) have a rich, three-dimensional quality. In large-scale paintings of dynamos, big solids, and coiled springs, Heino paints and then sands layers away to achieve a pleasing, luminous sheen to his abstraction. Also showing: surrealist paintings stocked with 19th-century technology and anemic-looking people by local Russian-born painter Alexander Petrov. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Forgotten Works Yet another gallery sets up shop in the Tashiro-Kaplan complex. The show, "Before, During and After," is an assortment of work from past and present gallery members, including Allison Agostinelli, Antjuan Oden, David Chick, and Su Job. 619 Western Ave., 206-343-7212. noon- 3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Francine Seders Fred Birchman's "History of Flight" includes two-dimensional works and several sculptures that engage in near-abstract meditations on airplanes, flight and freedom. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun.

Gallery 63 Eleven Sturdy, heavy, manly objects made by blacksmith David Tuthill. 6311 24th N.W., 206-478-2238. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Gallery 110 Thomas Ager's "(E)Scapes Landscape Project"—transparencies of paintings and collages lit from behind and displayed to great effect in the darkened west gallery. My colleague David Stoesz thinks they're impressive, I'm of the opinion they're amateurish and disjointed. Also: Lisa Sheets' collages fuse pop images, religious iconography and fabric patterns into tightly controlled compositions of no great interest. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Gallery 4 Culture Combining ethics and aesthetics, artists Sarah Morris and Christ2000TM take on the wasteful consumption economy by turning household trash into texturally rich sculpture. Morris's woven cassette tapes are lovely, but most of the rest feels like a tepid art school project. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Glo's The popular breakfast joint continues to be a friend to cartoonists, this time showing original art from Henry Chamberlain's new comic book (er, "graphic novel") about a young man in a big city. 309 Occidental St., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Greg Kucera Minimalist sculptor Peter Millett has been living and working in Seattle for more than 30 years, and this exhibit of new work showcases his modernist (and expensive) forms—including stairs to nowhere, rhythmic braids of steel, and wall sculptures that find a simple joy in paint and natural wood grain. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Grover/Thurston In "After Nature," Seattle artist Deborah Mersky paints talismanlike birds tangled within otherwise abstract compositions. 309 Occidental St., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Hugo House Prints and light boxes by Mary Simpson and Valerie McEvoy (from Alaska and Ireland respectively) that explore the theme "Another Country." 1634 11th Ave., 206-322-7030. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat.

Jack Straw New Media Gallery Seattle's Iole Alessandrini installs interactive lasers and other optical gizmos in this multimedia experience intended to explore "the distributed body, multiple-self and transmigration of presence." 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-634-0919. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

James Harris Shaun O'Dell's color drawings are filled with an intricate, well- balanced tangle of pilgrim heads, wildlife, and networked tree branches that add up to a sort of spiritual map of the clash between human economy and nature. Sample title: Prophesy Extraction at the Confluence of Kykuit, The Western Medicinal Compact and the Southern Decline of a Blind Consensual Chiming. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 10:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Joe Bar You gotta have at least one gimmick to make it these days, and Chris Crites has two, both damn good: mug shots and paper bags. He paints one on the other, in luridly bright acrylics, and has a great eye for the humor in clueless and grumpy criminal faces hauled before police cameras. 810 E Roy St. 206-324-0407. 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Kittredge Gallery This is welcome news: Esther Luttikhuizen, formerly of the long-vanished Esther Claypool Gallery, gets a new gig as director of University of Puget Sound's Kittredge Gallery. This month's show (curated by former director Fred F. Poyner IV) features politically charged ceramic figures by UPS faculty John McCuistion and sumi paintings by Fumiko Kimura. University of Puget Sound campus, 1500 N. Lawrence (Tacoma), 253-879-2806. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Sun.

Kurt Lidtke A "Fall Salon" of the usual Northwest Masters: Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Morris Graves, Paul Horiuchi, etc. 408 Occidental Ave. S. 206-623-5082. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.