Openings & Events
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Capitol Hill Art Walk Along with the typical players, of note are a show by Japanese pop-art painter Yumiko Kayukawa at Grace Gallery and col·li·sion by Jacob Dixon, Specs Wizard and Sir Froderick at Vermillion. Capitol Hill, capitolhillartwalk.com. 5-8 p.m. Thurs., May 14.
Fiona McGuigan She creates the same image over and over again in Repetition, Paradoxically Is Always New. This is apparently a one-off event, which promises an “opening and closing reception,” 5:30-9:30 p.m. Thurs., May 14. Calypte Gallery, 1107 E. Denny Way, 304-6782, calyptesings.tumblr.com.
Akio takamori His sculptures piece together a narrative through psychological spaces in The Beginning of Everything. Opening reception: 6-8 p.m. Thurs., May 14. James Harris Gallery, 604 Second Ave., 903-6220, jamesharrisgallery.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends June 27.
Ongoing
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Chiho Aoshima This is SAAM’s second exhibit by a contemporary young Japanese artist associated with Takashi Murakami. (The artist known as Mr. was the guy who recently filled a gallery with tsunami detritus.) Aoshima is a woman, however, who ought to provide a different perspective on the oppressive sexism of most anime. In addition to 30-plus drawings and two large “dreamscapes,” her show Rebirth of the World will include new animated work, Takaamanohara (or The Plain of High Heaven), dealing with Shinto deities. In her typically colorful paintings, ethereal kawaii sprites roam in enchanted glades where the colors are anything but natural. Long, undulating hair mixes into the undgrowth and vines, suggesting deeper connections to the planet. There are cityscapes, too, as in her 2005 animation City Glow, where the towers rise like wormy, human-faced figures. The corporeal, architectural, and natural realms blur together in her work. Aoshima is a syncretist whose diverse subjects grow from the same spiritual undercurrent. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St. (Volunteer Park), 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org. $5-$9. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed., Fri.-Sun. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs. Ends Oct. 4.
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Ilse Bing An early user of the 35mm Leica hand-held camera, the German Bing (1889-1998) is known as a pioneering woman in European photography. Ilse Bing: Modern Photographer is a selection of her images. Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E. (UW campus), 543-2280, henryart.org. $6-$10. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed., Sat., Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Oct. 11.
Fred Birchman and Carolyn Krieg Birchman focuses on architecture and landscape in Reclamation Projects. Krieg shows equine photographs in Horses.Prographica Gallery, 3419 E. Denny Way, 322-3851, prographicadrawings.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends June 20.
Luke blackstone
I Might Be Nothing is a showcase of his sculpture work, often including found materials and technologies, which comments on the shifting relationship between humans and machines. Bellevue College Gallery Space, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., 425-564-2788, bellevuecollege.edu. 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. Ends May 22.
calligraphic abstraction A collection of 35 works in calligraphy spanning from Islamic to archaic Chinese to the contemporary writing system created by artist Xu Bing. Seattle Asian Art Museum. Ends Oct. 4.
Vivian Chesterley
Journey collects paintings that combine realistic images of flowers and more abstract landscapes. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., 842-4560, bainbridgeperformingarts.org. Noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Fri. Ends May 31.
jim chuchu
Pagans is a photo/video series that reimagines African deities. Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, 1203 Second Ave., 467-4927, marianeibrahim.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends June 13.
Nancy Coleman In Textus, she uses painted, woven text to study the space between literal and abstract. Gallery 110, 110 Third Ave. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 624-9336, gallery110.com. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends May 30.
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Imogen cunningham 17 photographs of Cornish, its students, and founder Nellie Cornish, taken in 1935 by the pioneering Northwest photographer. Cornish College of the Arts, 1000 Lenora St., 726-5151, cornish.edu. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends June 30.
ben darby
Auspicious features dolls, toys, and Godzilla molds. Foster/White Gallery, 220 Third Ave S., 622-2833, fosterwhite.com. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends May 30.
LINDA DAVIDSON and SAYA MORIYASU
Road Trip is a collection of new paintings from Davidson, featuring skies, landscapes, and rainbows. Moriyasu’s exhibit, Parlor, uses a variety of media to consider what might be called the inner life of her own ceramics studio. Opens Fri., April 24. G. Gibson Gallery, 300 S. Washington St. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 587-4033, ggibsongallery.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends June 6.
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Eloquent objects Although the tendency would be to view this selection of Southwestern art as a Georgia O’Keeffe show (with 22 of her paintings on view), the intent is to bring the New Mexico still-life tradition out of the desert and to our mossy climes. Thus another 40-odd works will represent her peers and heirs: Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Gustave Baumann, Eliseo Rodriguez, and a dozen more. Flowers, cow skulls, cacti, and the Painted Desert are surely represented here, but there’s a meditative way of seeing that’s equally important to the arid inspiration. The desert strips away everything excess (recall Peter O’Toole’s T.E. Lawrence saying he liked the desert because “It’s clean”), always a useful lesson for artists. This touring show is making its only West Coast stop in Tacoma. TAM has more works by O’Keeffe (1887–1986) in its permanent collection (some added with the recent Haub family bequest), though she’s the main draw here, and her influence extends far beyond Santa Fe. We’ll see that reach in a concurrently running companion show, The Still Life Tradition in the Northwest, featuring local names like Morris Graves, Norman Lundin, and Doris Chase. BRIAN MILLER Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., (252) 272-4258, tacomaartmuseum.org. $14. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun. Ends June 7.
Emerge/Evolve 2014: Rising Talents in Kiln-Glass This traveling group show from Portland’s Bullseye Glass Company gallery features about two dozen artists pushing the boundaries of their medium. Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org. $5-$10. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sun. Ends June 14.
Jen Erickson Her paintings deal with loss and decomposition. Punch Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 621-1945, punchgallery.org. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends May 30.
everything your heart desires Five Seattle film and video artists try to answer the question, “What do you want most?” SOIL Gallery, 112 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 264-8061, soilart.org. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Ends May 30.
GET THE SCOOP! This show is all about spoons and ladles, made predominantly from clay. Pottery Northwest, 226 First Ave. N., 285-4421, potterynorthwest.org. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Tues.-Fri. Ends May 29.
robert Hardgrave Cullom Gallery collaborates with the host venue to present Die Kopie, a collection of large-scale collaged and toner-transfer work. Studio E Gallery, 609 S. Brandon St., 762-3322, studioegallery.org. Hours by appointment. Ends June 6.
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Henry Hornstein He presents black-and-white photos taken at horse tracks around the coutry, with images dating back to the early ’70s, in Racing Days. (NR)
Photo Center NW, 900 12th Ave., 720-7222, pcnw.org. Noon-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends June 13.
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Indigenous Beauty New York collectors Charles and Valerie Diker have a good eye for Native American art, augmented by professional curators and buyers. This traveling private collection offers a lot to see from every corner of the continent, including over 500 tribes and 2,000 years of history (up to the present era). You want Hopi pottery? You got it. Navajo blankets? Those too. Tlingit tunics and Washoe baskets? Check and check. Also on view are pipes, drums, bowls, war clubs, ivory carvings, rattles, rugs, moccasins, combs, dolls, purses, and even a bit of metalwork and ink-on-paper drawing—after those materials were introduced by European colonists. The show feels like a compressed visit to a dozen different museums scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico—a sampler of sorts. You want to see more, but you also want to see more focus on history, tribe, or region. It’s the functional aesthetic here that’s most powerful and affecting. Nothing here is merely decorative. If you’re going to make a pair of high-top Kiowa moccasins, why not make them lovely—with elaborate tassels and beadwork? BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. $12.50-$19.50. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sun. (Open to 9 p.m. Thurs.) Ends May 17.
