May 18-24, 2005

Send listings two weeks in advance to visualarts@seattleweekly.com.

Lectures and Events

Artist Lecture: Mary Randlett The Seattle photographer got her start with a small Kodak as a 10-year-old kid on Orcas Island in 1937. Since then, she's become the grand dame of Northwest photography, whether shooting misty landscapes of the Cascades or documenting artists William Ivey, Guy Anderson, and Imogen Cunningham at work in their studios. Randlett will talk about her long career and her friendships within the Northwest arts community. 2 p.m. Sat. May 21. Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, free with admission, 253-272-4258.

Pratt Fine Arts Center Annual Auction The annual fund-raiser auction for the Pratt includes work for sale by Gerard Tsutakawa, Julie Speidel, and many others. Free public preview: 6-9 p.m. Fri. May 20. Auction: 5-10 p.m. Sat. May 21. 1902 S. Main St., $175, 206-328-2200.

Openings

Crawl Space In a debut solo show, "From A to A," Todd Simeone photographs stuff from his life (gameboards, furniture, and such), then erases portions digitally. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 504 E. Denny Way (#1), 206-240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

D'Adamo/Woltz "80 Years of New Yorker Covers" is a brief exhibition of limited-edition signed prints of, well, covers from The New Yorker. Opens Fri. May 20. 303/307 Occidental Ave. S., 206-652-4414. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Greg Kucera I haven't been this excited about a debut solo show for some time. Recent UW MFA graduate Drew Daly will exhibit new sculpture, and what little I've seen of it is fantastic. Daly takes everyday objects such as wooden chairs and performs meticulous magic with them. One Adirondack chair, for instance, is systematically sliced into fragments, then reassembled to form two ghostly remnant chairs. In Subject: Remnant, Daly spent 300 hours sanding an antique chair until nothing but the most delicate skeletal structure remained. Also on display will be a potpourri of recent acquisitions, including works by Tara Donovan, Robert Gober, Tim Hawkinson, William Kentridge, Martin Puryear and others. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Thurs. May 19. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

G. Gibson Fabric art isn't limited to quilts any more. Take "Stitched," which brings together work by longtime gallery artist Larry Calkins, who does wall sculptures made of dresses and beeswax; Ruth Marie Tomlinson's sewn fragments of rubber inner tubes; and recent UW MFA graduate Laura Wright, whose "security blankets" include necessities for the post–9/11 era: machetes, shovels, and flasks. Opens Thurs. May 19. 300 S. Washington St., 206-587-4033. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

James Harris New paintings by Oakland's Squeak Carnwath, whose quietly philosophical paintings have employed blocks of color, private iconography, and hand-scrawled slogans to inspire viewers to ask questions of themselves. Reception: 7-9 p.m. Thurs. May 19. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Solomon Fine Art New work by abstract painter Paul Shakespear. Opens Wed. May 18. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Suyama Space Utah artist Paul Stout installs "Second Nature," in which huge, single blades of "grass" will grow up from assorted Victorian coffee tables. Opens Mon. May 23. Artist lecture: noon, Sat. May 21. 2324 Second Ave., 206-256-0809. 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Last Chance

911 Media Arts Rosalind Schneider, an early innovator in the world of video art, installs "Wave Transformations," in which near-abstract video of waves and oceanscapes is projected on a large weather balloon. 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 3-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Frye Art Museum Seattle artist Joseph Park gets a solo show, "Moon Beam Caress." His 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.

Galleries

1506 Projects "Of Course We Know No Bounds" includes new work by Chad States, who in the past has done deadpan photos of staged narratives and now explores issues of cropping and framing in the creation of images. 1506 E. Olive Way, 206-329-5400. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Baas Art In a recent artist statement, Barbara Noah says she has a thing for the "long shot." So that explains her digitally manipulated photos of twisted- balloon dogs orbiting Mars! Looks like interesting work, in the tradition of John Baldessari's slapstick photo manipulation. 2703 E. Madison St., 206-324-4742. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Ballard/Fetherston New work by Deborah Bell, who does cheery, bubbly acrylic abstractions, many of which suggest cells or constellations, all on wood panel. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Bluebottle In "Future Perfect," illustrator and Web designer Julie West offers up highly stylized, sexy pictures of an assortment of characters, all influenced by skate-punk-graffiti design. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Bryan Ohno In "Fragile Attachments," Patricia Hagen's abstract works take a turn for the minimal. On fields of blank canvas, a mixture of green leaflets, nubbins of fruit, and droplets of color float by. In other paintings, planetoids hang tentatively in space, like the friendly rock inhabited by the hero of The Little Prince. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.