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

Lectures and Events

Artist Lecture: Gerard Tsutakawa The local sculptor, best known for the “hole in the mitt” sculpture at Safeco Field, which accurately sums up the Mariners’ performance these days, talks about his work. 6 p.m. Thurs. June 23. Pratt Fine Art Center, 1902 S. Main St., free, 206-328-2200.

“Escape” Student Exhibit Students from the Youth in Focus advanced photography class show their work. Reception: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thurs. June 23. YMCA Triangle Gallery, 909 Fourth Ave., free, 206-382-5000.

SAM’s Party in the Park The groundbreaking for Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park is cause for celebration, and the museum is throwing quite a party. Reggie Watts, salsa band Yerbabuena, and Garfield High School’s jazz band will provide the soundtrack; art-creation activities, a beer garden, and SUTTONBERESCULLER’s public park on a trailer bed are just a small part of the festivities. 4:30-8:30 p.m. Thurs. June 23. Site of future Olympic Sculpture Park, Broad Street and Elliott Avenue, free, 206-654-3200.

Openings

Burke Museum Subhankar Banerjee’s magnificent photos of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are the result of a two-year expedition among caribou and tundra. Savor these images before ExxonMobil and BP bring their “low impact” drilling apparatus to ANWR. Opens Sat. June 24. UW campus, Northeast 45th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast, 206-543-5590. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (until 8 p.m. Thurs.).

Platform New paintings by five artists: Jaq Chartier (Seattle), James Gudat (Portland), Patte Loper (New York), Daniel Rushton (New York), and Kim Squaglia (Sacramento). Reception: 5:30-8 p.m. Sat. June 25. 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Last Chance

Garde Rail New work by brothers Clint and Scott Griffin. Clint creates world maps and other images by scraping away at layers of collage, while Scott arc-welds mysterious figures to old metal. 110 Third Ave. S., 206-621-1055. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Sat. June 25.

Greg Kucera Drew Daly’s sculpture performs meticulous magic on everyday objects like wooden chairs. To make Subject: Remnant, Daly spent 300 hours sanding an antique chair until nothing but the most delicate skeletal structure remains. Also on display: a potpourri of recent gallery acquisitions, including works by Tara Donovan, Robert Gober, Tim Hawkinson, William Kentridge, and Martin Puryear. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Sat. June 25.

Jack Straw New Media Gallery Kristin Tollefson’s installation “Organic Plan” is inspired by the landscape and folk art of Iceland. 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-634-0919. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Fri. June 24.

James Harris New paintings by Oakland’s Squeak Carnwath, whose large, overtly philosophical paintings employ blocks of color, an intricate private iconography, and hand-scrawled slogans to inspire viewers to ask questions of themselves. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Sat. June 25.

Priceless Works Matt Sellars’ installation “Anticline” alludes to the vast landscape of the West, using wood sculpture and drawings. Plus, painter Rich Lehl’s surreal universe of people, animals, and sushi. 619 N. 35th St., Suite 100, 206-349-9943. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Ends Sun. June 26.

Solomon Fine Art New work by abstract painter Paul Shakespear. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends Fri. June 24.

Galleries

Ballard/Fetherston Lisbeth Firmin’s monoprints and realist paintings inspired by a recent trip to Cuba. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Fri. June 3.

Benham Black-and-white self-portrait photos by Erin Spencer and digitally manipulated images by Maggie Taylor. 1216 First Ave., 206-622-2480. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Bluebottle In “Dust and Feather Stories,” Faryn Davis’ moody paintings of birds encase found objects, organic matter, and paper in a thick layer of resin. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Capitol Hill Arts Center “Tasty Bits and Misfits” is part of a nutritious breakfast of paintings inspired by Saturday morning cartoons and other animation, brought to you by Suzanne Kaufman and Karin Yamagiwa. 1621 12th Ave., 206-388-0500. 6-10 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.

Carolyn Staley Eleven prints depicting nude, frolicking, self-confident Buddhist goddesses, all by 20th-century Japanese artist Mayumi Oda. 314 Occidental Ave., 206-621-1888. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

CoCA Tokyo-based architect and artist Yumi Kori’s two-part installation “Infinitation” attempts to suggest the infinite through the manipulation of sound and light. 410 Dexter Ave. N., 206-728-1980. 2-8 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; noon-5 p.m. Fri.-Sun.

Crawl Space In “Common,” six local artists aim to raise the banal—Laundromats, muscle cars, picnic dinnerware—to the level of high art. 504 E. Denny Way #1, 206-240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Davidson In “Natural Selection” painters interpret cityscapes in stylized, formal compositions—including intricately abstract scaffoldings by Tram Bui and Mary Iverson’s studies of machinery in Seattle’s port. “Landscapes in Wood” collects reduction-woodblock prints by Gordon Mortensen, Jean Gummper, and Robert Patierno. Also continuing: selections of original prints by Picasso, including a particularly lovely sampling of line drawings from the famous “La Suite Vollard.” 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Facèré “Signs of Life” collects art jewelry that stretches the boundaries of wearable artifacts and pairs each work with a poem or short prose piece by a local writer. Artist-writer duos include artist Jana Brevick and local sci-fi writer Greg Bear; and German artist Heidi Kindlemann and novelist and short story writer Laura Kalpakian. 1420 Fifth Ave., Suite 108, 206-624-6768.

Francine Seders Painter Alan Lau’s day job as a produce stocker at Uwajimaya figures in his new abstract works, executed in sumi ink, oil pastel, and China markers. Also on display: sculptures in wood, plastic, and bronze by longtime local artist Dan Carmichael. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.

G. Gibson Fabric art isn’t limited to quilts any more. “Stitched” brings together work by Larry Calkins, who does sentimental, elongated sculptures of dresses; Ruth Marie Tomlinson’s sewn fragments of rubber inner tubes; and recent UW MFA graduate Laura Wright’s “security blankets,” which have sewn-in necessities for the post-9/11 era, including machetes, shovels, and booze flasks. 300 S. Washington St., 206-587-4033. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Gallery 4 Culture A sampler of black-and-white photographs from the county’s public art collection, including work by Eduardo Calderon, Michael Gesinger, Mary Peck, Chris Engman, and others. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Gallery 110 The death of Deborah Walker’s father is the inspiration for a series of slightly surreal paintings of birds, vessels, and containers, while Cindy Small’s lurid dream paintings filled with monkeys, carnival clowns, and tattooed ladies examine the notion of what’s exotic. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Howard House Fourteen artists explore the shifting terrain of landscape painting in the early 21st century. No gorgeous vistas or Ansel Adams glamour portraits here—instead, New York’s Cameron Martin portrays Mount St. Helens in superflat studies of gray, while Seattle painters Victoria Haven and Robert Yoder create near-abstract compositions suggestive of mountains and aerial views. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

InfoHazard A new gallery and used bookstore focusing on renegade art and radical books opens with a show of surreal-erotic paintings by Kamilla White and multimedia paintings of crows by Noel Franklin. 1716 E. Olive Way, 206-324-6630. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Jacob Lawrence Gallery In “Touching Art,” local artists were challenged to create tactile artworks that can be experienced by blind art patrons. Four pieces from this exhibit will be selected for permanent display at the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind. UW campus, School of Art, 206-685-1805. Noon-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Kirkland Arts Center Iowa-based artist Tim Dooley’s car-crash of graphic design, cartoon-influenced prints, fake campfire, and appropriated media images. 620 Market St., Kirkland, 425-822-7161. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Every third Thurs. open until 8 p.m.

Lisa Harris Christopher Harris’ nearly abstract color images of the rolling fields of Eastern Washington, taken with a pin-hole camera; plus, nostalgic photographs modified with oil paints by Sherry Karver. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.

Photographic Center Northwest Thesis portfolios by PCNW graduates, including Ken Claflin’s illuminated urban cityscapes. 900 12th Ave., 206-720-7222. Noon-9:30 p.m. Mon.; 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Roq La Rue Creepy-surreal paintings of Barbie-thin gothic women by Lori Early, plus “The Mod Squad,” four painters purveying canvas-loads of hipitude. Andrew Brandou (aka Howdy Partner) puts Golden Book children’s characters to work in pursuit of world revolution, while Keith Weesner, Ryan Heshka, Dale Sizer paint variations on pulp fiction covers, hot-rod pinups, and tiki-lounge kitsch. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-4 p.m. Sun.

Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery SAM/Rental samples work from artists with studios in Ballard, including Deborah Bell, Dionne Haroutunian, and Michael Schultheis. 1220 Third Ave., 206-343-1101. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Seattle LGBT Community Center “Portraits of Pride,” features self-portraits by local gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender artists, in celebration of Pride Month. 1115 E. Pike St., 206-323-5428. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun.

SOIL “Unearthed” is a group show featuring delicately burned papers by Tokyo-born artist Etsuko Ichikawa, plus new work by Tuan Nguyen, Sara Osebold, and Helen Curtis’ assemblages incorporating glass and pig intestines. Just think of the promotional opportunities with nearby Salumi restaurant! 112 Third Ave. S., 206-264-8061. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun.

Suyama Space In Utah-based artist Paul Stout’s oddly compelling installation “Second Nature,” huge blades of “grass” grow up from assorted Victorian coffee tables. Be sure not to miss Stout’s virtuoso mechanical bugs under glass in the adjacent space. 2324 Second Ave., 206-256-0809. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Vain Fragments of spray-can work and graffiti lettering by Sam Sneke, one the city’s most renowned street mural artists. 2018 First Ave., 206-441-3441. Noon-7 p.m. Sun.-Tues.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Wed.-Thurs.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

Vera Project Break-dancing photographs by local Amanda Hovey. 1916 Fourth Ave., 206-525-8585. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; 2-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

Vidya A new gallery in the creaky 619 Western building launches “The Triumph of Death and Other Stuff,” comics-inspired paintings and drawings by Tim Marsden, plus John Feodorov’s symbolic paintings exploring alienation and identity. 619 Western Ave., second floor, 206-297-0437. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Western Bridge German artist Daniel Roth’s strange and subtle installation River Styx presents “evidence,” in drawings, sculpture, and photography, of an underground river running west from Seattle, below the Olympic Peninsula and out to a burial island off the coast. Also on display is Rodney Graham’s clever second look at an old oak tree, Roni Horn’s obsessive 100-photo installation You Are the Weather, and a superb series of portraits of four sisters taken over a span of 30 years by Nicholas Nixon. 3412 Fourth Ave. S., 206-838-7444. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

Wright Exhibition Space “Aboriginal Vision” offers selections of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art from the expansive collection of UW international studies professor Margaret Levi and her husband Robert Kaplan. 407 Dexter Ave. N., 206-264-8200. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thurs.-Fri.

Museums

Bellevue Arts Museum BAM is back with a retooled mission: serving as a place for art, craft, and design. Executive Director Michael Monroe launches the resurrection with “The Artful Teapot,” an impressive but safe collection of 250 teapots as sculpture. Albert Paley’s nouveau iron work is nice and intricate, kind of like a Chihuly is nice and intricate (fans of the Tacoma glassmeister can see one of his newly commissioned works in BAM’s lobby). See related story, p. 53. 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Thurs); 11 a.m-5:30 p.m. Sun.

Frye Art Museum “The Retrofuturistic World of NSK” collects 20 years’ worth of painting, prints, and other media by Slovenia’s Neue Slowenische Kunst art movement. Challenging concepts of authorship, nationality, and avant-garde, the artists in NSK create theater, music, and visual art that appropriates Communist and capitalist kitsch. “Taking and Making” features recent work by Oliver Herring, the German-born artist whose photography, video, and sculpture take novel turns, including a life-size self-portrait sculpture made from snapshots. 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 Doug Aitken’s Interiors is a majestic meditation on the search for meaning amid the stress and alienation of 21st-century urban life. Also on display: “Playtime” collects whimsical art made from or inspired by toys, including Peter Fischli and David Wells’ amazing 30-minute video of pyrotechnic mayhem. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.

Seattle Art Museum “Isamu Noguchi—Sculptural Design” is an unorthodox and splashy exploration of the eclectic interests of the important 20th-century sculptor-designer. The exhibit is a visual and sonic extravaganza designed by theater experimentalist Robert Wilson, a longtime friend of Noguchi. Various rooms evoke different themes in Noguchi’s long career. His work in the theater with the likes of Martha Graham takes the shape of a brooding theatrical space; intensely material sculptural works are set in a Zen rock garden complete with several tons of raked gravel. Other rooms suggest Noguchi’s mission to popularize art through mass-produced design; one could argue there wouldn’t be IKEA without Noguchi. There are moments when the whole project goes over the top: The canned thunder and lightning accompanying a monument to Benjamin Franklin, complete with kite and key, is just a bit much. Still, this is a fascinating look at an artist who managed to span divides between cultures and artistic disciplines. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.

Wing Luke Asian Museum “Women and Violence” explores domestic violence, sexual abuse, war, trafficking, and the “mail-order bride” phenomenon, specifically focusing on the Asian/Pacific Islander community. 407 Seventh Ave. S., 206-623-5124. 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun.