Openings & Events
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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 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. Opens Sat., May 2. 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.
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. Opens Wed., April 29. 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.
Vivian Chesterley
Journey collects paintings that combine realistic images of flowers and more abstract landscapes. Opening reception, 5-7 p.m. Fri., May 1. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., 842-4560, bainbridgeperformingarts.org. Noon-5 p.m. Tues.-Fri. Ends May 31.
KAC Artists’ Exhibition Hall Spassov Gallery owners Amy Spassov and Erik Hall serve as jury for this year’s exhibit, which features 35 pieces from local artists. Opening reception, 6-8:30 p.m. Fri., May 1. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St., (425-822-7161, kirklandartscenter.org. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Fri. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Ends June 20.
Structural Reinforcement A group show featuring studio artists Caitlin Brookins, David L. Friend, Laura Craft, Dara Solliday, and Sonya Stockton. Opens Wed. April 29. Shoreline City Hall Art Gallery, 17500 Midvale Ave. N., shorelinearts.net. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends July 24.
Jen till Studies in Light and Space is a collection of paintings that meditate on the way light hits the Earth. Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Fri., May 1. The Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E. (Bainbridge Island), 780-9500, theislandgallery.net. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends June 28.
Ongoing
Change-Seed Twenty-five artists from Hong Kong seek to update the U.S. on shifts in contemporary art created outside mainland China. Most works are small, concerned with the body and functionality. CoCA Georgetown, 5701 Sixth Ave. S., 728-1980, cocaseattle.org. 11 a.m-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri. Ends May 15.
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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.
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.
Cable Griffith and Sarah Teasdale The artists’ paintings bring exterior landscapes into interior settings in their show, Coded Landscapes. Vermillion Gallery, 1508 11th Ave., 709-9797, vermillionseattle.com. 4 p.m.-midnight. Tues.-Wed., Sat.-Sun. 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends May 9.
Group Show
Night Life, from gallery artists Dianne Bradley, Karen Dedrickson, Lori Duckstein, and Sally Drew, is featured in the main gallery. In the guest gallery, Black Lives Matter deals with racism and violence. Columbia City Gallery, 4864 Rainier Ave. S., 760-9843, columbiacitygallery.com. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wed.-Sun. Ends May 17.
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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.
Claire Johnston
Sea + Space = Obscura is all about the mysteries of ocean and universe. Zeitgeist Coffee Gallery, 171 S. Jackson St., 583-0497, zeitgeistcoffee.com. 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun. Ends May 6.
ethan murrow Jurassic is a show about the overwhelming vastness of the Northwest landscape. Winston Wachter Fine Art, 203 Dexter Ave., 652-5855, seattle.winstonwatcher.com. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends June 27.
Narrating earth Gallery artists Lin McJunkin, Ann Vandervelde, and Anne McDuffie explore the fragility of the planet through glass sculpture, paintings, and poetry. Burien Arts Gallery, 826 S.W. 152nd St., 244-7808, burienarts.org. Noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends May 3.
The New Frontier: Young Designer-Makers in the Pacific Northwest This group show runs concurrently with Jana Brevick: This Infinity Fits in My Hand, which showcases her jewelry design. Bellevue Arts Museum. Ends Aug. 16.
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Mary Ann Peters Her work is all about multiple truths, unreliable narrators, and nostalgia. Small paintings and large tapestries consider notions of exile and displacement. James Harris Gallery, 604 Second Ave., 903-6220, jamesharrisgallery.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends May 9.
The portrait reframed This group show features portraiture by Anita Nowacka, Davis Freeman, Jay Defehr, and others. Stacya Silverman Gallery, 614 W. McGraw St., 270-9465, stacyasilverman.com. Hours by appointment. Ends June 15.
Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection Over 200 pins and other jewelry items are displayed from the collection of the former U.S. Secretary of State. Bellevue Arts Museum. Ends June 7.
Saving the Environment: Sustainable Art A diverse group of artists takess throwaway items and creates recycled art. Opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Thurs., April 23. Schack Art Center (Everett), 2921 Hoyt Ave., (425) 259-5050, schack.org. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Noon-5 p.m. Sun. Ends May 30.
Diana Velasco Her two photo series, Portraits and Family Album, recognize the daily lives of Danish relatives, their identity, and personal histories. Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 N.W. 67th St., 789-5707, nordicmuseum.org. $6-$8. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Noon-4 p.m. Sun. Ends June 28.
