Openings & Events
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Building 30 Open Studios Magnuson Park’s artist studios open up for all to explore the photography, painting, printmaking, mixed media, installation, public art, and sculpture that occurs within. Building 30, 7400 Sand Point Way N.E., spaceatmagnuson.com. Free. Noon-5 p.m. Sun., June 22,
Gate To Nowhere The 520 ghost ramps, due for demolition these next couple of years, are memorialized by an artist who wrapped one of its pillars in reflective metal sheet. Near 26th Ave. E. and E. Miller St. Opening ceremony: 6-8 p.m. Thurs., June 19,
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Modernism in the Pacific Northwest: The Mythic and the Mystical SEE PAGE 20.
Summer Field Studies Starting from the Henry Art Gallery’s lobby, this intermittent free walking series pairs visitors with artists, musicians, but mostly, explorers, who will act as guides through various projects that deal with the surrounding landscape and its reflective power. See website for exact schedule. Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E., 543-2280, henryart.org.
Free.
Through Sept 14.
Piece of the Sky Graffiti artists Jonathan Wakuda Fischer and John Osgood team up for a live mural painting. MudBay, 522 Queen Anne Ave. N., bombshellarartlabs.com. 5-7:30 p.m. Weds., June 18.
Betsy Williams and Birdie Boone Two ceramic artists from New Mexico show their wares, inspired respectively by the traditions of Japan and the culture of Virginia. KOBO Gallery (at Higo), 604 S. Jackson St, 381-3000, koboseattle.com. Opens Sat., June 21. Through July 13.
Ongoing
Artcade Vintage arcade consoles are strewn across the gallery floor with video game art accompanying them. Vermillion, 1508 11th Ave., 709-9797, vermillionseattle.com. On view through June.
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, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org, $8-$10, Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Through Sept. 21.
Howard Barlow
Bite presents an array of mutated looking sculptures with teeth and bone dangling in grotesque fashion. Punch Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 621-1945, punchgallery.org. Through June 5.
Rachid Bouhamidi
Fanfare for the Area Man collects the Los Angeles artist’s colorful, busy paintings. Blindfold Gallery, 1718 E. Olive Way, 328-5100, blindfoldgallery.com. Through July 5.
Alli Curtis
The Decay of an American Dream captures photos of homes and businesses after foreclosure and bankruptcy in wake of the financial crisis. A/NT Gallery, 2045 Westlake Ave., 233-0680, antgallery.org. Through June 29.
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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.
Rachel Debuque and Danielle Peters Performing as Candied Calamari, the local duo will be “engaging in sacramental action in a futuristic landscape.” In the back space: Julie Alpert’s Look-Alikes, a drawing series based on a pair of identical lamps. SOIL Gallery, 112 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), soilart.org. Through June 28.
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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, 1400 E. Prospect St. (Volunteer Park), 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org. $5-$7, Weds.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through Oct. 19.
Marc Dombrosky
Who throws their sister to the wolves under the bus? takes a collection of unrelated items, and attempts to forge momentary, fragmentary narratives by placing them all in the gallery in new, unexpected contexts. Platform Gallery, 114 Third Ave. S (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 323-2808, platformgallery.com. Free. Through July 26.
Anne Fenton Recent winner of the Brink Award, the local artist shows two new videos, stencil art, and handmade fibrous objects. Henry Art Gallery, $6-$10, Weds., Sat., Sun., 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thurs., Fri., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Through June 15.
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Jenny Fillius Her affection for repurposing castoff tin is on display in Stay on the Sunny Side, in which the metalworker forges art pieces out of old toys, containers, and more. Gallery4Culture, 101 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 296-7580, galleries.4culture.org. Through June 5.
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.
Zaria Forman and Rena Bass Forman A mother and daughter show two separate series centered around the effects of climate change—one through pastel drawings, and one through photography. Winston Wachter Fine Art, 203 Dexter Ave. N. 652-5855, seattle.winstonwachter.com Through July 17.
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LaToya Ruby Frazier Born in the declining Rust Belt town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Frazier’s images have mostly been black-and-white studies of her kin, lending dignity to loved ones struggling with underemployment, disease, and fractured families. She began taking photographs as a teenager during the ’90s, in part as a rebuttal of the historical images of Braddock that showed only its white faces. Born by a River comprises two sections and eras. In the hallway leading to the Knight/Lawrence Gallery, we see about two dozen black-and-white images of her family, often with Frazier posing among them. Look at us, Frazier is saying; this is how we live. The main gallery contains seven large color aerial views of Braddock, taken last year from a helicopter hovering over The Bottom, the neighborhood where Frazier was raised. There’s a startling micro/macro effect as we pull up high to these impersonal views. Frazier’s family, and others like it, disappear. All we see are scrapped lots and empty fields. The people are conspicuously missing. B.R.M. Seattle Art Museum, $12.50-$19.50, Weds., Fri.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through June 22.
David French He displays new paintings. Also on view: work by Susan Bennerstrom. Linda Hodges Gallery, 316 First Ave. S., 6
24-3034, lindahodges
gallery.com. Through June 28.
Alan Fulle He shows new work in Blocks and Stripes: Sculpture in Paintings. Traver Gallery, 110 Union St., 587-6501, travergallery.com. Through June 28.
Steve Gawronski and Scott Mayberry Gawronksi’s scultpure series explores the word “dig,” while Mayberry’s acrylic paintings delve into the interplay of technology and nature. Core Gallery, 117 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 467-4444, coregallery.org. Through June 29.
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Aaron Haba From Camano Island, he uses boat-building techniques for the creations of Vessel. Method Gallery, 106 Third Ave. S., (Tashiro Kaplan Building), Through June 28.
I Heart Comic Art An art show of local indie comic artists, with art on sale and live music from Lucas Morais of Astral Twins. Caffe Vita, 1005 E. Pike St., 709-4440, caffevita.com. Through June 30.
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Portraits of Pride In celebration of Pride Month, self portraits from LGBTQ and allied artists inclduing Amy C. Abadilla, Cody Blomberg, Andrew Caldwell, Dale Davis, McCade Dolan, Scott Dunn, Stephen Eaker, Juan Franco, Elise Koncsek, Nan Leiter, Mario Lemafa, and others. Opening reception Thurs., June 12, 6-9 p.m. Gay City Health Project, 517 E. Pike St., 860-6969, gaycity.org. Through July 7.
Andy Kehoe and Redd Walitzk Andy Kehoe’s beautiful paintings depict dark forest landscapes inhabited by a zoo of fantastical mystic creatures. Redd Walitzki’s work has a similar sylvan vibe, opting for brighter colors and a focus on woodland nymphs. Roq La Rue Gallery, 532 First Ave. S., 374-8977, roqlarue.com. Through June 5.
Robert Marchessault His Forest for the Trees is a series of realistic oil paintings of trees against stark skylines. Foster/White Gallery, 220 Third Ave. S., 622-2833, fosterwhite.com. Through July 2.
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Liu Xiaodong Having achieved success in Beijing, Liu went back to his emptied-out old village after three decades away, finding stagnation and defeat among his former cronies. The young people have fled to the coast, where the money is. Back in Jincheng, prospects and hopes are things of the past. There he took photos and made sketches for the paintings of Hometown Boy. There’s nothing explicitly political here, yet the paintings read like a socioeconomic portrait of China’s old inland Rust Belt. These are somewhat sad, desultory scenes. Liu isn’t a political artist like Ai Weiwei. He works within the system but is certainly aware of its constraints and discontents, which surely swirl into Hometown Boy’s palette of oils. B.R.M. Seattle Asian Art Museum, through June 29.
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.
Alexander Petrov and Kurt Kemp A collection of Russian painter Petrov’s surreal works alongside Kemp’s equally as bizarre paper collages. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave. S., 624-7684, davidsongalleries.com. Through June 28.
Photographic Presence and Contemporary Indians: Matika Wilbur’s Project 562 The young Seattle photographer, a member of the member of the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes tribe, is traveling to Indian reservations around the photograph all the 562 officially recognized tribes. There she makes dignified portraits and conducts audio interviews. This is a selection of about 50 images made during the last two years. Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., 253-272-4258, tacomaartmuseum.org, $8-$10, Weds.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through Oct. 5.
Kate Protage and Dan Hawkins
Urban Explorers showcases the work of two adventurous artists who thrive on journey’s through the wilds of the city. Protage takes pictures of the city at night, and then recreates them as oil paintings. Hawkins, who has ventured in urban ruins and decaying buildings across the world, documenting them on photographic film. Opening reception Thurs., June 12, 6-8 p.m. SAM Gallery, 1300 First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. Free. Through July 20.
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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
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The Unicorn Incorporated/Your Feast Has Ended Local artist Curtis R. Barnes is represented by some five decades of work in The Unicorn Incorporated. An artist, illustrator, muralist, and community advocate, he co-created the Omowale Mural at Medgar Evers Pool in 1972, a very visible manifestation of the flowering of African-American artists during that era. Then, controversially the mural was destroyed in 1995, but some its design elements will be on view during this big career retrospective, his first. Three artists are represented in Your Feast Has Ended: Seattle’s Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes (son of Curtis R. Barnes), Sitka’s Nicholas Galanin, and Nep Sidhu, a Briton now based in Canada. According to the Frye’s manifesto, the three will “offer a visual cogitation exploring continuum, identity, ritual, and adornment and signal that natural, cultural and human resources have been appropriated, exploited, suppressed, depleted, or eradicated.” Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 622-9250, fryemuseum.org. Free. Opens Sat., June 14. 11 a.m-5 p.m. Through mid-September.
Wan Quingli In Inked, by the San Francisco-based Chinese artist, traditional calligraphy and line drawings have been tweaked to comment upon the modern world. They’re whimsical but rather obvious (actual mouse meets computer mouse, etc.), too gentle for satire. Seattle Asian Art Museum, Through June 29.
Cait Willis The “glitch” paintings in her Catastrophe Museum are based on the writings of J.G. Ballard, resulting in messy “white noise” paintings. Opening reception Thurs., June 12, 5-9 p.m. Ghost Gallery, 504 E. Denny Way, 832-6063, ghostgalleryart.com. Through July 7.
