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

Lectures and Events

Artist Conversation: Trimpin Trimpin, a German-born technical wizard, is the creator of EMP’s impressive Roots and Branches kinetic sculpture, a MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and an extremely talented maker of sound-producing gizmos. He’ll talk about his 25-year career, including the recent piece Think Tank, created with programmer Seb Chevrel as part of CoCA’s “Help Wanted: Collaborations in Art” project connecting writers, programmers, and artists. 7:30 p.m. Wed. March 23. CoCA, 410 Dexter Ave. N., free, 206-728-1980.

Artist Lecture: Doug Aitken The L.A.–based video artist talks about his work, including Interiors, a four-channel video installation opening at the Henry (see SW This Week, p. 47). Artist lecture and opening reception: 7-10 p.m. Fri. March 25. Henry Art Gallery, UW campus, $6-$8. 206-543-2280. Exhibit hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.

Lecture: Chinese Cultural Exchange The Washington State Arts Commission’s Cheryll Leo-Gwin talks about recent artist exchanges between Washington and China. 7-8:30 p.m. Thurs. March 24. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., free with admission, 206-654-3100.

Unclad The fourth annual celebration of the human nude in painting, photography, and sculpture features more than 75 artists, including Seattle’s Suzanne Brooker and Camano Island glass artist Marc Boutte. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. March 26-Sun. March 27. Gallery at Utsalady Bay, 3 W. North Camano Dr. (Camano Island), free, 360-387-8681. Visit www.uncladart.com for directions.

Openings

Museum of Glass “Best in Show” is a parade of dog-themed art by William Wegman, David Gilhooly, and Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen. Opens Sat. March 26. 1801 East Dock St. Tacoma, 253-396-1768. 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. (third Thurs. of the month until 8 p.m.); noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Wagamama Japanese arts by four Eastside artists: calligraphy by Hiroe Nishikawa, photographs by Kiyoshi Toda, Sumi-e ink painting by Hiroko Seki, and Chigiri-e (mosaic rice paper art) by Kyoko Niikuni. Reception: 7-10 p.m. Fri. March 25. Redmond Town Center, 425-869-8303. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.

Last Chance

Ballard/Fetherston Big, sunny abstraction by Benton Peugh, and Dorothy Rissman’s meticulously layered and sanded figurative paintings. 818 E. Pike St., 206-322-9440. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Wed. March 30.

Gallery 4 Culture Eric Olson generates dot paintings using random tables of numbers, then hand-paints each tiny blob of acrylic on sheets of aluminum. It’s a clever if slightly sterile excursion into issues of chaos and order. Smith Tower, 506 Second Ave., Suite 200, 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Fri. March 25.

Garde Rail A small solo show of John Taylor’s creaky, rough-hewn interpretations of historic ships, cobbled together from junk lumber, rusted tin cans, and assorted flotsam. 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. March 26.

Jeffrey Moose Al Loving, “African-American art legend,” has been making his way in the art world since the 1960s. Not long ago, he completed a huge mosaic in a Brooklyn subway station; here, he shows a series of color-saturated acrylic/rag paper collages. 1333 Fifth Ave., Rainier Square, second level, 206- 467-6951. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Sat. March 26.

Platform Scott Fife’s assortment of celebrity busts made from layer upon layer of cut gray cardboard. (See this week’s visual arts spotlight, p. 76) 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Sat. March 26.

SOIL In “Knock-Off,” Nina Zingale and Gina Rymarcsuk transform tacky European art and religious souvenirs into—well, tacky photo booth snapshots. Also on display: Toi Sennhauser’s dozen sewn-felt oysters. 112 Third Ave. S., 206-264-8061. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Ends Sat. March 26.

Galleries

911 Media Arts John Feodorov, who as a child was told that the lava bed down the road was actually the coagulated blood of a slain giant, brings mythological imagination to bear on office cubicles and other disenchanted contemporary places in the installation “Four Sacred Spaces.” 402 Ninth Ave., 206-682-6552. 1-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Artbook Press & Gallery Marvin Johnson (aka bufoman) creates and collects artist-made stamps and is a participant in the subculture of correspondence in the tradition of Ray Johnson. On display will be art-through-the-mail creations by bufoman, Carl Chew, Dogfish, and Greg Byrd of Toast Postes. 4703 Ballard Ave. N.W., 206-285-2665. Noon-6 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Artemis Matthew Porter (who co-owns Bluebottle gallery on Capitol Hill) serves up more of his odd-cute paintings of gigantic cats eating Seattle (one too many double-shorts?), and monkeys, monkeys, and more monkeys. 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Bluebottle Mike Maas’ “TV Party” offers a bunch of tired, tiki- and mod-retro 1970s nostalgia paintings made three-dimensional with multiple layers of cut Masonite. 415 E. Pine St., 206-325-1592. 1-7 p.m. Tue.-Fri.; noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Bryan Ohno Katina Huston’s lovely, near-abstract studies of bicycles employ a variety of inks and washes on Mylar (see this week’s visual arts spotlight, p. 75). 155 S. Main St., 206- 667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Capitol Hill Arts Center Watercolors have a bad rap as a lightweight art medium. In “Unbroken,” the hipsters of the Capitol Hill Watercolor Society hope to change all that with a show ranging from comics- inspired paintings to trippy landscapes. 1621 12th Ave., 206-388-0600. 6-10 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sat.

CoCABorn magazine, the online venue that fosters collaborations between writers and visual artists, is the impetus behind “Help Wanted,” a collection of multimedia interactive pieces by Andrio Abero, Randy Moss, Tatiana Parcero, Trimpin, and many others. 410 Dexter Ave. N., 206-728-1980. 2-8 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., noon-5 p.m. Fri.-Sun.

Consolidated Works “Ergonomicon,” a carnival-like array of work on the theme of bodies and environments, includes Alex Schweder’s fully plumbed and operational “Peescapes,” Sami Bin Larbi’s Sur Place, which aims to destabilize your perception with mirrors, video cameras, and a pair of adjoining stalls, and Sofia Hulten’s wonderfully paranoid videos of post–9/11 anxiety. 500 Boren Ave. N., 206-860-5245. 4-8 p.m. Thurs.- Fri.; 1-8 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Crawl Space Anne Mathern poses adults in creepy restaged photographs of their most formative adolescent moments. 504 E. Denny Way #1, 206-240-6015. Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Davidson Take off your shoes and walk on Jill Weinstock’s squishy rubber-encased nylon stockings while checking out the oil paintings of Sally Cleveland, who is drawn to scenes of cows standing around, as well as to poetic urban details like the sky reflected in a stream of water running down an alley. Also on display: Ajay Garg’s miniatures in the Indian tradition. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Francine Seders New mixed-media assemblages by Robert Mirenzi, who works with materials ranging from plastic dolls’ heads to cheap Chinese party favors. Also: Juliana Heyne’s monoprints and landscape paintings inspired by a recent trip to Spain. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.

Gallery 110 Gary Oliveira’s pensive photos of post-coital motel rooms (rumpled sheets on the Magic- Fingers bed, discarded room-service trays—you get the idea), plus Cynthia Bittenfield’s grainy photographs of Normandy beaches, which pay earnest tribute to her father’s involvement in D-Day. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Goods Illustration and type design by the Vancouver B.C.–based team of Robin Cameron and Niall McClelland. 1112 Pike St., 206-622-0459, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Greg Kucera Minimal but lushly colored abstraction and near-abstraction (moonlit landscapes from the Northwest and Southwest) executed in encaustic by longtime Northwest painter Joseph Goldberg. Also on display: new work by Gregory Kucera—not the gallery owner but the L.A.–based conceptual and video artist of the same name. Kucera the Artist makes frenetic videos of urban life, digitally created stripe paintings, and sculptural “paintings” in which holes have been cored into thick sheets of plastic. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Howard House “Red Thread,” named for the expression in German that refers to a train of thought, is a two-part group show that samples new work from the contemporary avant-garde in Vienna. The city of Freud and Klimt has of late become a magnet for a cosmopolitan crop of artists, including the collaborative team Muntean /Rosenblum (Austria and Israel), Tamuna Sirbiladze (Georgia), Benedetta Jacovini (Italy), Rudolf Stingel (U.S.), and Franz West (Austria) among others. The show will range from the large, phallic sculptures of Franz West to photographic “meat portraits” by the duo Clegg & Guttmann. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Harrison St. Gallery “Pursuits” is a look at hobbies in prints from Cornish College’s permanent collection. Seattle Center House, Third Floor, 305 Harrison St., 206-587-0112. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

Jacob Lawrence Gallery Children’s drawings created during wartime, ranging from the Spanish Civil War to Kosovo. UW campus, Art Building, Room 132, 206-685-1805. Noon-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

James Harris New work by Peter Schuyff, whose carved pencils, spiraling totems cut from raw logs, and obsessively layered paintings of strange forms make excursions into pattern and topology. 309A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Kirkland Arts Center This smart group show features works by Seattle writer and art-scene guy Fionn Meade. The pieces are spare and restrained: Mary Simpson’s little dramas of cutout men and Victorian row houses owe a lot of their mystery to the fact the figures have been stolen from their context and plopped down on a blank page. Gretchen Bennett’s sly contact-paper compositions capture nature in extremes, while Claire Cowie’s paper mobiles and minimalist figurative paintings continue to confound me—her stuff just seems too cute to amount to much. More substantial are Saul Becker’s weird abstract landscapes crisscrossed with prismatic rainbows of color and Perri Lynch’s multimedia pieces with an accompanying soundtrack of raindrops. Marc Dombrosky hand-embroiders notes he’s found on the street, while Dawn Cerny’s simply drawn menageries of birds and prisons offer sweet meditations on limitations and freedom. 620 Market St. 425-822-7161. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Kuhlman Block prints and minimalist drawings by Jean Behnke. 2419 First Ave., 206-441-1999. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sat.

Linda Hodges Brad Rude’s paintings and sculptures put animals in vaguely shamanist compositions. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Lisa Harris New, vigorous, boldly colored Northwest landscapes by Brit-born transplant John Cole. 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 “Fotografenbüro” features documentary work—much of it chronicling the dramatic changes affecting Eastern Europe—by five photographers from Lux, a Berlin-based photo bureau. 900 12th Ave., 206-720-7222. Noon-9:30 p.m. Mon.; 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Tues.-Sun.

Priceless Works “Small Salience” collects abstractions and figurative work by 14 artists who use minimal gestures and forms to make their points. Includes work by Patrick Holderfield, Peter Gross, and Linda Peschong. 619 N. 35th St., Suite 100, 206-349-9943. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sun.

Richard Hugo House “Woman in Ill-Fitting Wig” is a collaboration in painting and text between Nancy Kiefer and Rebecca Brown—Kiefer paints mugs of difficult women and Brown spins verbal riffs on the images. 1634 11th Ave., 206-322-7030. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 p.m. Sat.

Roq La Rue Oh the decadence! In “Opulent Decay,” three artists luxuriate in death, the macabre, and destruction, including Joshua Petker’s creepy expressionist paintings and Alice Tippet’s subtle but gory pictures of peacocks and other birdies. 2316 Second Ave., 206-374-8977. 2-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; noon-4 p.m. Sun.

Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery SAM’s Rental/Sales Gallery continues its showcase of local galleries, this time with artists from Bryan Ohno Gallery, including Francis Celentano, Anna Daedalus, and Patricia Hagan. Also on display: works by Gabriel Fernandez and Chauney Peck. 1220 Third Ave., 206-343-1101. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Solomon Fine Art In “Small Tales,” Ellen Garvens’ insectlike assemblages made from hand tools and photographs explore the fragility and utility of the body, while Peter Stanfield’s techno-looking wall sculptures from hand-tooled steel all focus on a short vignette of love or loss. Also on display: Fred Holcomb’s bright, competent abstract paintings. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Suyama Space Roger Feldman’s architectural sculptures are designed to be unsettling—literally. The three installations, each about the size of Thoreau’s cabin, are built simply from 2-by-4s and other framing materials, and are meant to be experienced. So take off your shoes and enter. Each of the structures is made to rock and teeter. One is constructed with an Escher-like zigzag of parallelograms, and it takes random and disturbing lurches as you walk about the room. The most memorable of the three pieces is sealed off in sensory-deprivation blackness. 2324 Second Ave., 206-256-0809. 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

ToST Evan Blackwell and Marc Lawrence’s big, bold 3-D wall sculptures created from found lumber and colorful junkyard detritus. 513 N. 36th St., 206- 547-0240. 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Tues.-Sat.; 5 p.m.-midnight Sun.-Mon.

Vain “Your Egyptian Jets” features monsters, mod superheroes, and other graffiti-inspired art by Brandon Graham, David Linder, and Corey Lewis. 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.

Western Bridge “19 Rainstorms” is a sampling of rain- and foul-weather-themed video, painting, photography, and installation by Neil Goldberg, Trisha Donnelly, Olafur Eliasson, Anri Sala, Tania Kitchell, and others. 3412 Fourth Ave. S., 206-838-7444. Noon-6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

William Traver Nancy Worden’s art jewelry makes use of some wild materials—everything from clothespins to taxidermy eyes to chunks of the demolished Kingdome. 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.

Winston Wächter Decorative, nature-based abstraction reminiscent of tangled grasses—in mixed media and encaustic—by Betsy Eby. 203 Dexter Ave. N., 206-652-5855, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Zeitgeist Kynan Antos’ pairs of paintings in “Wake” explore the transformations we experience after the loss of a loved one, whether human, canine, or feline. 171 S. Jackson St., 206-583-0497. 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Museums

Frye Art Museum In Robin Held’s first exhibition since taking over as curator at the Frye, Seattle artist Joseph Park gets a solo show, “Moon Beam Caress.” The precise paintings draw upon Japanese animation and film to create an alternative noir world peopled with angst- ridden cartoon creatures. Park also has work currently on display at Howard House. Also on display: 20th-century artist Philip Pearlstein’s intense drawings of nudes. 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 As laterally mobile curator Robin Held’s first show at the Frye continues, her last at the Henry is getting attention. “Celebrity Skin” pairs photos of famous 19th-century French people with Alice Wheeler’s photos of Nirvana, which are startlingly immediate enough to penetrate any jadedness you think you might feel toward the overexposed Cobain and company. UW campus, 206-543-2280. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Thurs.

Museum of Northwest Art “Northwest Matriarchs of Modernism” showcases work by a dozen artists working between 1940 and 1970, including figurative painter Viola Patterson, abstract painter Mary Henry, and sculptor Hilda Morris. 121 S. First St. (La Conner), 360-466-4446. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Seattle Art Museum “Between Past and Future” is a thrilling showcase of contemporary Chinese video and photography, much of it focused on the body in relation to the world. Though small and suppressed, the avant-garde is clearly alive and vital in communist China. Standouts in this superb show include Zhang Huan’s iconic photos of language and identity, Family Tree, Rong Rong’s disturbing images of visceral performance art, Li Wei’s clever experiments with mirrors, and Zhao Lian’s video-game-inspired exploration of authority, Social Survey. Also on display: “Africa in America,” a varied and complex exploration of slavery, displacement, and ethnic culture as portrayed in African-American art of the late 20th century, including work by James W. Washington Jr., Kara Walker, Ellen Gallagher, Oliver Jackson, and Marita Dingus. 100 University St., 206-654-3100. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun.; 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. Thurs.

Seattle Asian Art Museum “Mountain Dreams” collects contemporary ceramics incised with Buddhist text by Korean artist Yoon Kwang- cho. Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect Ave., 206-625-8900. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sun.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.