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Lectures and Events

Arf Art This city sure loves its dogs, so it was only a matter of time before some yahoo discovered canine- created art. Thankfully, this is a fund-raiser and pet- adoption event benefiting Homeward Pet Adoption Center in Woodinville. Doggie Art-Making: Noon-1 p.m. Thurs. Sept. 2. Adoption: noon-2 p.m. Reception: 5-6 p.m. Alexis Hotel, 1007 First Ave., free, 206-624-4844.

Artist Lecture: Lucinda Parker Thoughts on career and art practice by a Portland-based artist who has been creating lyrical abstract paintings for 30 years. 6-8 p.m. Fri. Sept. 3. Microsoft Campus, Building 33 Conference Center, Redmond, free (call for directions), 425-703-1800.

Pottery Northwest A one-week show of student ceramic art and functional pottery. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Wed. Sept. 3. Exhibit: noon-5 p.m. Sat. Sept. 4 and Tues. Sept. 7–Sat. Sept. 11. 226 First N., free, 206- 285-4421.

First Thursday

Artists’ Studio Open House A gallery show in the lobby of the OK Hotel, where artists Soli Grace, Ronald Hall, David Midbaum, Greg McCorkle and Sharon Wilfong have studios. Reception: 6-9 p.m. OK Hotel, 212 Alaskan Way S.

Bryan Ohno Larry Bemm’s open, casual abstractions in pastel-colored oils are painted directly to wood panels. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Cafe Septieme Erin Frost’s erotic black-and-white self portraits explore the interaction between lust and power. Reception: 9-11 p.m. 214 Broadway E., 206-860-8858.

Capitol Hill Arts Center Here’s a somewhat intriguing theme for a show: “Claustrophilia,” featuring artwork by those whose day jobs are in the tech industry. On hand will be work (not necessarily tech-related) by Beatrice Billard, Vlada Breiburg, Janet Galore, Sharon Matsumoto and Erin Moscatello Reception: 7-9 p.m. 1621 12th Ave., 206-388-0600. 6-10 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.

Forgotten Works Yet another gallery sets up shop in the Tashiro-Kaplan building and Mayor Greg Nickels will speechify at the opening. The show, “Before, During and After,” is an assortment of work from past and present gallery members, including Allison Agostinelli, Antjuan Oden, David Chick and Su Job. Reception: 6-10 p.m. 619 Western Ave., 206-343-7212. noon-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Foster/White New paintings by Alden Mason, the reigning dean of abstract painters in the Northwest. Still going strong, he’s managed to retain that distinctive Mason look while venturing into new territory. This new series offers more of the improvisational, almost scribblelike quality of his work and sketchy, childlike forms. Also on display, Louise Kikuchi’s “Spanish Allusions,” abstract color grids loosely inspired by visits to Madrid’s Prado Museum. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 123 S. Jackson, 206-622-2833. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Gallery 110 Lisa Sheets’ collages manage to fuse pop images, religious iconography and fabric patterns into tightly controlled compositions. Meanwhile, Thomas Ager’s “(E)Scapes Landscape Project” is all over the place with paintings and collages all transferred to transparencies. The goal of the project is to call attention to the Northwest’s disappearing wild deserts and coastlines. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Gallery 4 Culture Combing ethics and aesthetics, artists Sarah Morris and Christ2000TM take on the wasteful consumption economy by turning household trash into texturally rich sculpture and installation. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Greg Kucera Minimalist sculptor Peter Millett has been living and working in Seattle for more than 30 years, and this exhibit of new work showcases his finely- crafted geometric forms—including stairs to nowhere, rhythmic braids of steel, and wall sculptures that find a kind of joyous simplicity in paint and natural wood grain. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Grover/Thurston In “After Nature,” Seattle artist Deborah Mersky paints talismanlike birds tangled within otherwise abstract compositions. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 309 Occidental St., 206-223-0816. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Linda Hodges “Contours” is a group show of contemporary variations on landscape including work by Jennifer Beedon, Lead Pencil Studio, and Brenna Helm. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 316 First Ave. S., 206-624-3034. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Lisa Harris Richard Hutter’s abstract paintings and collages have a tightly-balanced composition and employ bold motifs in layer upon layer of musiclike forms. This collection, “Supernature,” promises new work that alternates large, silent color fields with noisier, more intricate patterns of abstraction. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 1922 Pike Pl., 206-443-3315. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.

Platform Platform Gallery, a new artist-owned artspace in the Tashiro-Kaplan complex, celebrates its debut with “Still Lives,” work by two artists obsessed with fusing human and natural worlds. Keith Yurdana offers disturbing drawings and sculptures of human-animal metamorphosis and Carlee Fernandez’s creepy taxidermy grafts things like grapes and strawberries onto hapless dead birds and rodents. 114 Third Ave. S., 206-323-2808. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.

ToST New, simple-but-cool painting of furniture, tricycles, flowers and other nice stuff by Todd Karam. Opens Fri. Sept. 3. 513 N. 36th St., 206-547-0240. 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Tues.-Sat., 5 p.m.-midnight Sun.-Mon.

Vain “Broken Windows” features roughly painted, fashion-savvy portraits by Casey Garcia. Reception: 6-9 p.m. 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.

William Traver Gregory Grenson’s reverse paintings on glass depict a variety of women in a raw and unflattering light. But there’s none of the De Kooning misogyny here—just unschooled, brightly colored portraiture somewhere between Egon Schiele and Lynda Barry. Also on display, blown glass thingamabobs from David Levi. Reception: 5-8 p.m. 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.

Zeitgeist Eric Olsen’s dot paintings are studies in randomness and chaos—each color is given a number and distributed evenly by computer-generated randomness. So, in the future, will artists be replaced by robots? Have no fear, Olsen hand-paints each dot to give it that special human touch. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 171 S. Jackson St., 206- 583-0497. 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Other Openings

Atelier 31 Doug Smithenry’s fragmented, ironic portraits of men pick apart notions of realism and masculinity, while Seattle-based Japanese artist Junko Yamamoto’s sunny abstractions pop and fizz. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Wed. Sept. 8. 2500 First Ave., 206-448-5250. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Tues.; 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Artemis Dynamic electrical assemblages cobbled together from industrial trash, lightbulbs and other detritus by Jay Humphreys and Jules Manoogian Opens Wed. Sept. 1. 3107 S. Day St., 206-323-0562. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Baas Gallery Nature-inspired paintings from Jared Rue Thornton and accomplished mixed-media paintings laden with wildlife and intricate abstraction by M.A. Papanek-Miller. Opens Wed. Sept. 1. 2703 E. Madison, 206-324-4742. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Francine Seders Fred Birchman’s “History of Flight” includes two-dimensional works and several sculptures that engage in a near-abstract meditations on airplanes, flight, and freedom. Opens Fri. Sept. 3. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat., 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sun.

JEM Studios Now showing at this Georgetown studio is a selection of paintings by Eddie Maurer, who, when he’s not in Seattle lives in the jungles of Costa Rica. Reception: 8-10 p.m. Fri. Sept. 3. 6004 12th S., 206-250-6186. Noon-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Kittredge Gallery This is welcome news: Esther Luttikhuizen, formerly of the long-vanished Esther Claypool Gallery, gets a new gig as director of University of Puget Sound’s Kittredge Gallery. Looks like she’ll have a free hand in curating: the lineup into 2005 includes artists such as Alfredo Arreguin and Phil Roach. This month features politically charged ceramic figures by UPS faculty John McCuistion and sumi paintings by Fumiko Kimura. Opens Wed. Sept. 1. University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Lawrence (Tacoma), 253-879-2806. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 1-4 p.m. Sun.

Kurt Lidtke A “Fall Salon” of the usual Northwest Masters: Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Morris Graves, Paul Horiuchi, etc. Opens Thurs. Sept. 2. 408 Occidental Ave. S. 206-623-5082. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Martin-Zambito Mid-20th-century paintings, prints and photographs by lesser-known Northwest artists, including Inez Hill Bailey, Glen Alps, James Peck and Wendell Brazeau. Opens Thurs. Sept. 2. 721 E. Pike St., 206-726-9509. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Museum of Glass Venice is the mecca of glassblowing, and the island of Murano its epicenter. The survey “Murano,” showcases more than 200 pieces of 20th- century Murano glass from the Olnick Spanu Collection. Opens Sat. Sept. 4. 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.

Metropolis Local artist ABDEL’s “The Red Series” offers expressionist figure studies in bloody reds. Reception: 5-9 p.m. Fri. Sept. 3. 318 Callow Ave. (Bremerton), 360-373-4709.

Tacoma Art Museum The late UW professor and ceramics maven Howard Kottler is celebrated in the solo show “Look Alikes,” a selection of kitschy and witty commemorative plates from the 1960s to the 1980s. Opens Sat. Sept. 4. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-4258. Every third Thursday free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Last Chance

1506 Projects “Sea Legs” features new work by Ben Beres, David Herbert, Jamison Ogg, Matt Sellars and Daniel Smith. 1506 E. Olive, 206-329-5400. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Sun. Sept. 5.

Benham Italian photographer Federico Busonero and American Stephen Johnson shoot images of national parks in their respective countries, while William Henry captures castaway objects in nature. 1216 First Ave., 206-622-2480. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun. Ends Sat. Sept. 4.

Gulassa & Co. Paige Alderete’s “Les Cheveaux” features a series of wigs made from human hair, colorful synthetic fibers, feathers, and found objects. 10 Dravus St., 206-283-181. Noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Mon. Sept. 6.

Martin-Zambito Rare figure drawings by Japanese-American modernist Kiyoshi Shimizu and Depression-era paintings by WPA artist Louis Wolchonok. 721 E. Pike St., 206-726-9509. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Wed. Sept. 1.

Museum of Glass Dolls, fabric creations, and glass faces all exploring issues of identity by local artist Marita Dingus. 1801 E. 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. Ends Sun. Sept. 5.

Seattle Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery A satisfying little show of work from emerging artists Barbara Sternberger, Amanda Knowles, Patricia Hagen, and Shea Bajaj. 1220 Third Ave., 206-343-1101. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends Sat. Sept. 4.

Solomon Fine Art Tom Gormally’s encaustic paintings recall vaguely cellular forms. Also on display: abstracted landscapes by Fred Holcomb, the “Wonder” and “Dream” series by Alex Mitchell, and kaleidoscopic chaos by Page Davis. 1215 First Ave., 206-297-1400. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends Fri. Sept. 3.

Tacoma Art Museum TAM’s Northwest Annual grab-bag of juried local art, including realist paintings in queasy pinks and greens by Robert Jones, a couple of clever video installations by Juniper Shuey and Iole Alessandrini, large-scale abstractions by Margie Livingston, and Rachel Brumer’s quilts-as stained glass. 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-4258. Every third Thursday free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.; noon- 5 p.m. Sun. Ends Mon. Sept. 6.

Zeitgeist Sarah Kavage’s large paintings of fingerprints, computer circuitry, and other 21st-century subjects, all painted in lurid silvers and golds. 171 S. Jackson St., 206-583-0497. 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Wed. Sept. 1.

Galleries

Alexandria Rossoff Jewels & Rare Finds Rare behind-the-scenes photos of the Beatles by photojournalist Harry Benson. 402 University St., 206- 381-3949. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

Davidson Steven Heino’s wood and aluminum “Effigy” series of sculptures arrive at human figures through cubist-looking geometric forms, while his abstract paintings are concerned with chandeliers, corsets, and other delicate structures. Also showing: grim paintings by local Russian-born painter Alexander Petrov. 313 Occidental Ave. S., 206-624-7684. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Howard House In “Soft Sport” Jenny Heishman’s photos on vinyl address the weird emptiness and sex appeal of golf. In addition to the photos, the show includes a series of abstract sculptures that test the bounds of plastics and vinyl—whether using layer upon layer in rainbow compositions or constructing a phony mountain range. Mark Takamichi Miller’s “Zion” takes a roll of anonymous snapshots discovered at Utah’s Zion National Park and transforms the pics into portraits that are so thickly painted they seem to pop from the vast empty canvases that surround them. 604 Second Ave., 206-256-6399. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Jack Straw New Media Gallery Seattle’s Iole Alessandrini installs interactive lasers and other optical gizmos in this multimedia experience intended to explore “the distributed body, multiple-self and transmigration of presence.” 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 206-634-0919. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Western Bridge Western Bridge’s kickoff show, “Possessed,” is a superb collection of video and mixed-media pieces that make a veritable fetish of anxiety. Aïda Ruilova’s quick-cut video of nervousness has a garage-punk edge to it, while Zoe Leonard’s room full of used dolls is an unnerving formalist study in female identity. In Nicola’s Vruwink’s Living, the artist documents her worship at the altar of Martha Stewart. And the title of this group show derives from Shirin Neshat’s stunning 10-minute film featuring Iranian-born actress Shohreh Aghashloo as a madwoman wandering into the village square. 3412 Fourth Avenue S. 206-838-7444. Noon- 6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.