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

Last Chance

Artemis “Seven Tiny Artists” refers to the size of the artwork, not the artists. On hand will be small and affordable paintings, photographs, jewelry, and other cool stuff by Liz Tran, Todd Karam, and Kate Endle. 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Thurs. Dec. 23.

BIF’s Mixed-media landscapes and little paintings by the late local arts renaissance man, Wesley Wehr, plus sculpture and drawings done between 1965 and 1975 by Ben Sams. 5828 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-522-1607. Noon-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends Fri. Dec. 24.

Davidson Dion Zwirner’s near-abstract paintings recall estuaries and wetlands, but there’s a lack of rigor to this new work—nothing really jumps out from the jumble. If you ask me, John Grade is a better interpreter of nature into abstraction (I enjoyed his show of large sculpture here earlier this year). This selection of Grade’s drawings and small sculptures delves into the microscopic world without being too literal about it. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Fri. Dec. 24.

Foster/White “Small Works” features undersized paintings and sculpture by Eva Isaksen, Alden Mason, Gerard Tsutakawa, and many, many others. 123 S. Jackson, 206-622-2833. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Fri. Dec. 24.

Grover/Thurston Michaelene Walsh’s ceramics are sort of creepy but nothing you couldn’t give to your aunt Edith for Hanukkah. 309 Occidental St., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Wed. Dec. 22.

Howard House Billy Howard closes the year with “Sell Out,” a sizable sale of work by a heap of artists, including gallery favorites Victoria Haven, Mark Takamichi Miller, Yuki Nakamura, Susan Robb, and Portland’s Damali Ayo, a conceptual artist known for her provocative pieces on race relations. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Fri. Dec. 24.

SOIL This month, the artists’ collective gallery SOIL becomes a video-performance-theater space with the Butoh-inspired antics of DK Pan as well as installations by video artists Kaleb Hagan-Kerr, Robb Kunz, and others. 112 Third Ave. S., 206-264-8061. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Ends Fri. Dec. 26.

Galleries

1506 Projects Tony Weathers’ “Yes, Oui, Si; Waiting,” is a site-specific video installation questioning our desire for commodities and consumer goods. 1506 E. Olive, 206-329-5400. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

911 Media Arts The contemporary media center celebrates its move to new digs with an installation of Language Willing, a simultaneously frenetic and lethargic video piece by local genius Gary Hill. 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Aftermath Ursula Gullow’s “There is Little Sense of Having Arrived Anywhere” is a 12-foot mural of urban chaos cut into sections to protest the commercialization of art. 928 12th Ave., 206-709-9797. 1-5 p.m. Sat.

Art Institute of Seattle Gallery The AIS annual faculty exhibit showcases sculpture, video, painting, and mixed media by 40 faculty members. 2323 Elliott Avenue, 206-448-0900. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.

Atelier 31 Rebecca Raven’s 2- and 3-dimensional paintings inspired by the silent-movie era will be the last hurrah for this Belltown gallery, which will close shop at the end of the year. 2500 First Ave., 206- 448-5250. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Tues. and Sat. 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.

Bluebottle The faux ethnic treasures in “Artifacts of Pepelo Island,” by Seattle-based artist Iosufatu Sua ask the question: Would you rather visit an anthropology exhibit of “primitive” art, or a show of contemporary street painting? And why? 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri., noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Bryan Ohno This year’s holiday group show features a talented roster, including Patricia Hagen (whose abstractions range from candy lozenges to menacing biological forms), sculptor Junko Ijima, and Katina Huston, who does lovely sumi-style ink washes of bicycles. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

CoCA “Because We Can,” a solo show of slightly surreal photos by Hugh Lenzt, plus a group show by CoCA members. 410 Dexter Ave. N., 206-728-1980. 2-8 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., noon-5 p.m. Fri.-Sun.

Crawl Space “Fantastically Ordinary:” new, understated sculpture and drawings on wax and other media by two University of Washington BFA graduates, Chad Wentzel and Rachael Olson. 504 E. Denny Way #1 (near Olive), 206-240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

G. Gibson Contemporary figurative photographs by Mona Kuhn and flower photographs by Ron van Dongen. 514 E. Pike St., 206-587-4033. 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Gallery 4 Culture Designer and photographer Thom Heileson’s richly layered photomontages and videos offer up mysterious spaces, a kind of architecture of the unconscious. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Gallery 110 Steve Miller’s “Milky” captures the reactions of a bunch of naked people having gallons of milk poured over them, while Mark Moody’s “Dust Collectors” is a series of photos of dust-encrusted entomology exhibits. In Miller’s photos, the milk combines with the stark white background to partially erase Miller’s subjects, while Moody’s bug pictures are also about erasure—in the creepy, ethereal little images, pinned insects corrode under a decade of dust. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Garde Rail Thick with frostinglike layers of paint (her skies resemble nothing so much as Crest toothpaste), Toronto-based artist Jennifer Harrison’s row upon row of painted houses offer a cheery, but abandoned landscape of mythical happiness. 110 Third Ave. S., 206-621-1055. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Greg Kucera Susan Skilling’s recent minimalist paintings offer passionate glimpses into the heavens—a place of frosty moonlight and orblike objects that recall the intense spiritual iconography of Morris Graves. Lynne Woods Turner’s drawings create a place of concentric rings and faint dots, all sketched so lightly they’re nearly invisible. There’s no need to revive the tired “Northwest Mystics” label (Skilling is from Seattle, Turner from Portland), but these two local artists definitely deliver a quiet, meditative art that’s a refreshing blend of complexity and subtlety. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Jack Straw New Media Gallery In “Yiju, Songs of Dislocation,” Byron Au Yong combines music and video projected on sculptures made from metal mesh to create a study of memory and heritage. It’s not completely effective (the music sometimes fades to an inaudible whisper) but the wisps of images have the same fleeting quality of vague childhood memories. 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-634-0919. 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

James Harris In “Low Pressure,” Tania Kitchell conducts little experiment- performances in chilly conditions and records the results in fleeting, ephemeral photographs. The nearly abstract images of Kitchell’s breath steam and fluttering snowflakes caught against the night sky have a sweet, Zen quiet to them. Kitchell also keeps meticulous records of her time outdoors, and these haikulike weather observations are transferred into blocks of text etched on Plexiglass. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Linda Hodges A grab bag of artists who’ll be on display at Linda Hodges’ gallery in 2005, including Alfred Arreguin, Gayle Bard, and Jennifer Beedon Snow. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Lisa Harris New still lifes and landscapes in pastels and paint by Skagit Valley artist Joel Brock. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.

National Parks Conservation Association Scott Parker’s “National Parks Project” collects photographs, paintings, and sketches from a dream road trip: visiting all 56 officially designated National Parks in two years via Jeep, kayak, bush plane, and foot. 313-A First Ave., 206-903-1444, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Platform “Paperwork” is a group show tackling paper as both material and subject matter by photographer Debra Baxter, printmaker Harriet Sanderson, Brooklyn’s Alicia Wargo, San Francisco’s Ray Beldner (who creates sculpture with dollar bills), and New York photographer Zelig Kurland. 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Roq La Rue Mike Leavitt returns with more of his cool Art Army action figures based on all your favorite heroes: R. Crumb, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Van Gogh, and all the rest. Also on display: simple, monochrome paintings all centered around children lost in the woods by Joe Newton. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun.

Seattle Museum of the Mysteries Why did it take me so long to discover this place? This funky little collection of curiosities is a deadpan, serious-but-maybe-not subterranean museum dedicated to the paranormal and weird. It’s stocked with stuff on the first reported sighting of a UFO (right here in the Northwest), haunted buildings, and Bigfoot. (Who knew the most conclusive proof of Sasquatch after the famous Patterson film is a butt-print the critter supposedly left in the mud?) I have no idea what’s mysterious about the ferry Kalakala and the paintings currently on display by Vietnam vet Ray-Paul Nielsen are unremarkable. Oh, and there’s an oxygen bar here if the thought of crop circles takes your breath away. 623 Broadway Ave. E, 206- 328-6499. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

Solomon Fine Art “Barely Visible” showcases two artists whose meticulous work transforms the banal into something vital through the act of creation: New York–based Cynthia Lin’s silverpoint drawings of paper capture the chaotic beauty of dust, while Marc Dombrosky’s fascinating work morphs tossed-aside grocery lists and other found notes into exquisitely detailed embroidery. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Western Bridge The second part of Henry Art Gallery’s ambitious show “Work of the Work” (much of which was mounted with the help of William and Ruth True’s Western Bridge collection) showcases art that deals with perception and humanist religiosity. 3412 Fourth Avenue S. 206-838-7444. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

William Traver Danish glass artist Tobias Møhl’s intricately detailed vessels and forms are notable in that they use no added colors. 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.

Wright Exhibition Space This show, curated by Virginia Wright, hopes to revive interest in color field painters Jules Olitski, Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, and Kenneth Noland. 407 Dexter Ave. N., 206-622-1896. 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Thurs.

Museums

Frye Art Museum Mark Ryden’s amazing “Wondertoonel” brings gothic pop surrealism to the sleepy halls of the Frye. Also on display: Henk Pander portrays modern-day tragedies—the New Carissa oil spill, terminal illness, and ground zero in Manhattan—with disturbing realism. 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 “The Work of the Work” is a rewarding and tightly focused exploration of how art works on viewers. Much of curator Elizabeth Brown’s guiding aesthetic is to find art that is both accessible to those who don’t have an extensive background in art, but art that also stands up to rigorous critical scrutiny. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Thurs.

Seattle Art Museum “Spain in the Age of Exploration 1492–1819” offers a sampling of the dark visions of Velazquez, Murillo, El Greco, Goya, and other masters. Also on display: “The View From Here,” offers selections of Pacific Northwest art from 1870 to 1940, while “Modern in America,” explores the interaction between photography and the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Jasper Johns, and other 20th century greats. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.

Tacoma Art Museum “Hudson River School” is an OK collection of landscapes from 19th century American artists. “Sense of Place” is an eclectic selection from the permanent collection. The fourth installment of “Building Tradition” offers Northwest art by Carl Morris, Yuki Nakamura, David Darraugh, Marita Dingus, and Jennifer West. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-4258. Every third Thursday free and open until 8 p.m.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.