This Week's Events: Jan 1 - Jan 6, 2008

Happy 2008 everybody! Seattle Art News is back from holiday hiatus and looking forward to a great year. On that note, remember to keep the local art news, tips, reactions and suggestions coming my way. I do try to incorporate as many reader suggestions as I can into the site, as well as updating the weekly calendar with all your events and openings. Thanks for reading!

Thursday, January 3

Pioneer Square First Thursday Artwalk – Full list of openings coming tomorrow!

Henry Art Gallery – “Zoe Strauss Artist Talk,” at the Henry Art Gallery. Open Satellite in Bellevue presents the first Northwest solo exhibition of Philadelphia-based photographer and installation artist Zoe Strauss. Focusing her camera on the gritty neighborhoods of her hometown, Strauss creates tough, emotional portraits of the residents and architecture populating the streets of South Philadelphia, Kensington, and other working class areas. Her images, each considered part of a larger series begun in 2000, are ferocious studies of the American inner city. Strauss discusses her work at the Henry Art Gallery at 7 pm. Free and open to the public.

Friday, January 4

Fremont First Friday Artwalk - Galleries and participating businesses are open from 6-9 pm, rain or shine.

Northwest Film Forum – “All My Love,” plays twice daily at 7 and 9 pm from January 4 – January 10. Seattle filmmaker/composer Brian Short has created a bold, original first feature that weaves skies, landforms, structures and textures into "visual music." All My Love features impressionistic photography from three distinctive parts of the globe: the deserts of the American Southwest, the Mongolian Gobi, and the urban landscape of modern Berlin with an evocative ambient/electronic score. The result is a hypnotic journey through light, movement and form that is at once global in its scope and deeply personal in its vision. This unique Seattle creation won the prize for best feature at the 2007 Local Sightings Film Festival. Tickets: $5 - NWFF members, $6 - children & seniors, $8.50 – general. Buy them here.

Vermillion – “First Friday at Vermillion,” featuring music by Selector Angel Eyes. Vermillion celebrates their continuing group show “Gathering” with refreshments, live music, and meet the artist opportunities. 6-9 pm. Show runs through the end of January.

McLeod Residence - McLeod Residence celebrates its "First Anniversary" with an exhibit featuring three artists who work with traditional subjects in nontraditional ways. The anniversary party and exhibit opening will feature a special musical performance by Cynthia Norton, an artist exploring the boundaries between domestic crafts and new media, to coincide with the opening of her video quilt installation Apple Suckling Tree. Also showing during January is an interactive textile grid by USA Fellow Maggie Orth and a stereoscopic photography installation by Ingrid Schultz. The one-year anniversary party and performance of Apple Suckling Tree takes place on Friday, January 4, 2008, from 6-9 pm. The exhibits run through February 2, 2008.

Seattle Art Museum - Karl Krogstad Film Premiere “The Perfect Show.” Seattle’s celebrated independent filmmaker, Karl Krogstad, presents six new short films. Krogstad, host of the Seattle Channel’s The American Avant Garde, only unveils new personal works every three years. This screening, “The Perfect Show,” promises to be a visually and thematically stimulating treat; Krogstad calls it “the most unusual grab bag of my cinematic career.” This 90-minute program will include his introductions to the films and answers to audience questions. First showing at 7 pm and second showing at 9 pm. Tickets sold at the door: $8 – members, $10 – nonmembers.

Saturday, January 5

Seattle Asian Art Museum - Free First Saturday event “Sapporo Yuki Matsuri: Sapporo Snow Festival.” Watch an artist at work making an ice sculpture, walk the galleries and create your own sculpture with teaching artist Janet Fagan Smith. 11 am – 2 pm, free and open to the public.