This Week's Highlights: April 1 - April 6, 2008

Wednesday, April 2

University of Washington - Aperture and the U of WA Library present “The Black Panthers: Making Sense of History,” photographs by Stephen Shames. During the height of the Civil Rights movement, from 1967 to 1973, photographer Stephen Shames had unprecedented access to the Black Panther Party through his close friendship with the Panthers and Bobby Seale in particular, and captured not only its public face-street demonstrations, protests, and militant armed posturing-but also unscripted behind-the-scenes moments, from private Party meetings held in its headquarters to Bobby Seale at work on his mayoral campaign in Oakland. Shames's work offers an uncommonly nuanced portrait of this dynamic social movement, during one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history. The exhibition will be on view through May 31st in the Odegaard Library at the U of WA.

Thursday, April 3

Pioneer Square First Thursday Artwalk - Full list of openings & events coming soon!

Friday, April 4

Northwest Film Forum - “Zidane” screening. Acclaimed contemporary artists and filmmakers Douglas Gordon (24 HOUR PSYCHO) and Philippe Parreno have taken a unusual approach in creating this film portrait of soccer superstar Zinédine Zidane. They focused seventeen synchronized 35mm and HD cameras (equipped with the most powerful zoom lenses ever made) solely on him for the entirety of a soccer match from the first kick of the ball to the final whistle. The result of this 360-degree, real-time portrait is a startling connection to the sensations, the psychology and the body of the athlete. The film's brilliant sound design captures the ebb and flow of the stadium crowd (one clue to the game's activity off-screen), and incorporates an original score by the band Mogwai that emphasizes the calm intensity of the player (and the sport.) “Zidane” will be showing at the Northwest Film Forum Friday - Sunday, April 4-6, at 7:15 and 9:15 pm. Sunday night screenings to be introduced by Henry Art Gallery Associate Curator Sara Krajewski. Tickets $5/NWFF and Henry Art Gallery members, $6/children and seniors, $8.50/general. Click here for tickets.


McLeod Residence - Opening reception for “Salvage” a site specific installation by Diana Falchuk that incorporates the gallery and lounge's signature wallpaper--and cake icing. Salvage opens with a reception April 4 from 5-9pm and will be exhibited through May 31. Also opening on April 4 is a skatedeck series curated by Kristen Rask of Schmancy and Kurt Barbee of 5280 Lasers; and Wildflowers, a series of digitally-altered Holga photographs by Jenene Chesbrough.


University of Washington - The Henry Art Gallery presents an artist lecture by “Josiah McElheny.” Josiah McElheny makes installations and discrete sculptures that explore crucial moments in the development of modernity, its visual and theoretical undercurrents. His interest in the history of modern science finds its fullest expression in The Last Scattering Surface, a vivid, tangible model of the Big Bang. In celebration of the exhibition’s opening, McElheny will discuss The Last Scattering Surface and the relationships between concepts such as history, fiction, and memory at play in his work. 7 pm in Kane Hall, Room 120. $8 Henry members / $12 General Admission / $10 Students and Seniors. Click here for tickets.

Photographic Center Northwest - “Crossing the Water” exhibition reception and book signing. Local artists, Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh, bring years of experience and research to this exhibition. Their evocative photographs not only draw the viewer into a world rarely witnessed by outsiders, they also offer viewers an unprecedented opportunity to better understand the diversity of Afro-Cuban religious traditions. This deeply affecting visual document encourages its audience to look beyond stereotypical depictions of a religious culture and a nation that have so often been misrepresented and misunderstood. Garoutte is Assistant Professor of Photography at Seattle University. Her work has appeared in exhibits in the United States and abroad. Wambaugh is an award-winning photographer and an independent scholar of African and Afro-Caribbean ritual art who has worked extensively in Haiti and Cuba. Reception 6-8 pm. Exhibition runs through April 29, 2008.

© Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh. "Santiago Castañeda Vera seated amid his godchildren"

Saturday, April 5

Henry Art Gallery - “Josiah McElheny: The Last Scattering Surface” exhibition opens. Josiah McElheny has grafted a distinguished art career out of two far-flung strands of contemporary art practice: conceptual art and the studio glass movement. Deploying the most sophisticated and virtuoso glass-working techniques, he makes installations and discrete sculptures that explore crucial moments in the development of modernity, its visual and theoretical undercurrents. Since his celebrated An Historical Anecdote about Fashion, commissioned by the Henry Art Gallery in 1999, McElheny’s work has focused primarily on comparing art to the history of the 20th century. His interest in the history of modern science finds its fullest expression in The Last Scattering Surface. Working with astrophysicists at Ohio State University over several years, McElheny has created a vivid tangible model of the Big Bang, the explosion postulated to represent the beginnings of organic matter. Characteristically the form also quotes visual culture, specifically the gigantic chandeliers of New York’s arch-modern performance space, Lincoln Center. April 5 – July 13, 2008.

We're Back: This Week's Highlights

Seattle Art News is back from vacation and ready for spring. Don't forget that the Gates of Paradise exhibition at SAM closes April 6!

This week's post features highlights from the many events happening this week. As always, check the full calendar for all events.

(Also - check out the left sidebar under Regional Arts Headlines (keep scrolling) for a new RSS feed of news, events, and updates from local galleries and museums. Let me know if someone has a blog that you want to see on this page. Enjoy!)

Wednesday, March 26

Seattle Art Museum - A Pivotal Perspectives lecture, “Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Art and Innovation.” In his essay for the Gates of Paradise catalogue, writer and Renaissance sculpture expert Andrew Butterfield addressed the innovation in Ghiberti’s magnificent baptistery doors. Hear Butterfield elaborate more about this topic in conversation with SAM’s chief conservator Nicholas Dorman. 7 pm in Plestcheeff Auditorium. Free and open to the public. Museum admission not required. Please call the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121 to secure seating. SOLD OUT!

Thursday, March 27

Seattle Art Museum - "Illuminating the Gates of Paradise" lecture. How did the Gates of Paradise make their way from Florence to Seattle? Join Gary Radke, guest curator of The Gates of Paradise as he discusses how new life was brought to this Renaissance masterpiece. 7 pm in Plestcheeff Auditorium. Free with Museum Admission. To reserve your space, please call the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis and reservations are released ten minutes prior to start time.

Platform Gallery - “Kelly Mark: stupid love” Artist Reception. Toronto artist Kelly Mark, whose work was last seen in Seattle at the Henry Art Gallery in 2006, will be featured in a solo exhibition at Platform Gallery. Mark's video, drawings, installations and sculptures have centered on her awareness of time–its passing, wasting, marking, keeping–through the recording of repetitive tasks and ordinary unnoticed moments. In addition to sculptures and photographs, Mark will be exhibiting "REM" an installation featuring a video mashup consisting of 170 different sources taken from television. Reception 5-7 pm. Exhibit continues through May 3, 2008.


Northwest African American Museum - “Daniel Minter Artist Lecture.” Mr. Minter is the Washington Foundation Artist in Residence at the new Northwest African American Museum, which celebrated its grand opening earlier this month. Originally, from Ellaville, Georgia, Minter is a graduate of the Art Institute of Atlanta. Always attempting to weave the traditional with the contemporary, Minter’s work is often narrative, mingled with threads of Southern folklore and African spirituality. Mr. Minter will be displaying a number of his pieces at the Museum before and after the lecture. Talk begins at 6 pm, wine and cheese reception begins at 7 pm.

Painting by Washington Foundation Artist in Residence, Daniel Minter

Friday, March 28

Gallery IMA - “In The Name of Love: An installation in Gallery III by Carol Milne.” Opening and artist reception from 5-8 pm. Spread out upon white quartz sand, are 32 kiln & hot cast glass grenades, each differ in size and shape, with the tops removable by the pin. Carol explores the ideas and relations between grenades and gifts. These gifts are hot cast grenades with bullet-shaped interiors. Kiln cast bows adorn the tops. On the surface the grenade looks like a fancy gift box, colorful, beautiful, a delight to hold. But a closer look reveals the ominous undercurrents, the danger within. A gift has a giver and a receiver. It's usually given with good intentions, and received with joy. But are good intentions enough? When it's no longer welcome, is it still a gift?


Microsoft Art Collection - A screening of “Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments” directed by Edgar B. Howard and Tom Piper. Ellsworth Kelly’s work is abstracted forms of everyday sights, like the shadow cast by a tree, or the space between two buildings. Kelly uses bright color fields with highly defined edges to represent these subjects, often with one color per canvas. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant abstract painters, sculptors and printmakers still working today. Fragments follows Kelly as he visits Paris, where he spent much of his twenties, as well as detailing the installation of a pair of wall drawings that were commissioned for the United States Embassy in Beijing. The Film Series is held at Microsoft Redmond Campus Building 33 Conference Center. Click here for more information. 6-7:10 pm.

BLVD Gallery - “Residential” series performance by Foscil, Seattle's "Post Baroque Nu-Hop" ensemble. Foscils music is an amalgam of diverse influences touching on the atmospheric production of Wu Tangs RZA, the out-jazz of Miles, and the psychedelic meandering of Zappa. Each performance in the series features a different incarnation of the group. 8 pm.

This Week's Events: March 4 - March 8, 2008

Tuesday, March 4

Trabant Coffee and Chai - The collage of Marty Gordon will be on display at Trabant Coffee and Chai (1309 NE 45th St. in the U District) starting on March 3. "...his messages are relevant to today, and seem to be pointing to a higher purpose, a bigger message.” - Julie Sadler from Collage Clearinghouse.

Marty Gordon, "Waffles from Heaven"

Wednesday, March 5

Cornish College of the Arts – Opening reception for “Mark-Makers: The 2008 Cornish Art Faculty Exhibition” featuring new and recent work by seventeen members of the Cornish Art Department faculty. Representing painting, photography, print, mixed media, video, and sculpture, the faculty provides students with a strong variety of artistic perspectives and technical expertise. Through vastly different themes, techniques, and approaches to the creative process, many connections amongst the work of these artists may be apparent after taking a look beneath an initial visual impression. Reception from 5-8 pm. Exhibition continues until April 4, 2008.

Seattle Art Museum – In the Pivotal Perspectives series: “Masterpieces of Roman Art in Seattle.” Join Carlos Picón, Curator of the Greek and Roman Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as he discusses a wide range of Roman antiquities included in Roman Art from the Louvre, the landmark loan exhibition from the Louvre. Picon’s talk will also illustrate other antiquities in the collections of the Seattle Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 7-8 pm. Free and open to the public. To reserve your space, please call the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121.

Thursday, March 6

First Thursday Artwalk in Pioneer Square – This month has a 'dog-friendly' theme. Full list of openings will be posted on Wednesday!

Henry Art Gallery – “Talk Demo on Sound Poetry and Conversation” featuring Steve McCaffery and Jeanne Heuving. Steve McCaffery is a poet, performance / intermedia artist and critic. He was a founding member of Toronto Research Group and the Four Horsemen sound-text ensemble. Briefly associated with Fluxus, he has two commissioned pieces in the Fluxus Collection of Francesco Conz. On Wednesday, March 5, McCaffery will be reading as part of the Subtext Reading Series at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel Performance Space. Join us for this subsequent conversation between McCaffery and UW Professor Jeanne Heuving, author of the cross genre works Incapacity and Transducer. 7 pm, Free.

Northwest Film Forum – “8th Annual ByDesign Opening Night.” This special annual series explores the intersection of graphic design and moving image, and celebrates multidisciplinary artists who push at the boundaries to create new techniques, styles and forms. On Thursday, ByDesign 08 kicks off with a blast! This free opening reception and audiovisual event features the latest video work by UK group Semiconductor and live video and sound performances of new work by digital artists Kamran Sadeghi (Son Of Rose) and Randy Jones (Caro) exploring the synchronization of colors, shapes and type with sound. 8 pm. ByDesign runs from March 6-13. Check here for a full list of events.


Vermillion – “Arcade Magazine Issue 26:03 Release Party.” Arcade Magazine has chosen Vermillion to unveil their latest issue, feature edited by Cara Rose DeFabio and touching on Fashion and Design. Join us this Thursday for wine, food and to see the newest issue. Also, art by Marianne Goldin as well as concepts from Graypants, Erin Kendig, Design Kompany, and Stacey Farrar. 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Friday, March 7

Fremont First Friday

Photographic Center Northwest - “What's Not to Love?” featuring work by Rachel Herman, Molly Landreth & Jenny Riffle. Rachel Herman depicts how love bends but doesn't necessarily break. In her series, The Imp of Love, Herman photographs couples, who were once lovers but are now renegotiating their relationship in a new context. In Embodiment: A Portrait of Queer Life in America, Molly Landreth's photographs serve as an archive and a journey through a rapidly changing community and the lives of people who bravely offer new visions of what it means to be queer. In her series, The Space In Between, Jenny Riffle investigates the practice of empathy and the psychological spaces of people that surround her and are most dear to her. Artists reception from 6-8 pm. Exhibition runs through March 28, 2008.

© Molly Landreth, Meg and Renee, Denny Blaine Beach, WA, 2006, Digital Pigment Print

Bellevue Arts Museum - Curator Walkthrough of “Material Terrain” with curator Stefano Catalani. 6:30-7:30 pm, Free.

Saturday, March 8

Ballard Second Saturday Artwalk

Bellevue Arts Museum – “Pratt Demonstrations: Marble Carving with Anthony Brigance Cook.” Explore the personal process of carving marble! Cook will show the stages of marble carving through visual representations and will demonstrate how to remove stone with hand chiseling and hand files. 1-3 pm, Free.

This Week's Events: Feb 25 - March 2, 2008

Thursday, February 28

Pratt Fine Arts Center – Lecture by visiting artist “Vaughn Bell,” who works in multi-media, video, and public art. She teaches the workshop Book as Art, Art with Books as part of Pratt’s Diverse Disciplines department in March. Lecture, free, at 6:30 pm in the Pratt Studios. Bell’s work will be on display in the Hallway Gallery from February 11- March 10.

Lawrimore Project – Opening reception for “Charles LaBelle - Polis/Persona: Selected Video and Projected Works 1993-2007.” Polis/Persona presents a selection of videos and slide-projection works from 1993 to 2007 which involve the direct engagement between the artist and the urban environment. Blurring the boundaries between documentary forms, performance, endurance art, and Hollywood fictions, LaBelle’s work ultimately investigates the relationship between our subjective notions of self and the space of the city. Reception 5-8 pm. Exhibit continues through April 12, 2008.

Videos and slide projection work by Charles LaBelle opening at Lawrimore Project

Howard House – “Gretchen Bennett: Hello” opens in the Front Gallery at Howard House. In her latest body of work, Gretchen Bennett continues her process of collecting and gathering found materials. No longer tracing the geographical iconography of the Northwest, she widens her focus to include an in-depth look at the pop-culture iconography of the area through drawings of the band Nirvana and its lead singer Kurt Cobain. Also opening, “Supernature,” curated by Gretchen Bennett and featuring artwork by Saul Chernick, Andrew Guenther, Matthew Day Jackson, Alexander Kantarovsky, Robert de Saint Phalle, Suzanne Walters, and Aaron Williams. Supernature examines the notion of the perfect landscape, but instead of presenting an idealized or romanticized view of the natural world, the artists allow for the possibility that the perfect landscape can be found in hybrid and abandoned settings. Opening reception 6-8 pm. Artist/Curator's Talk: Saturday, March 1, 12 Noon. Exhibit continues through April 12, 2008.

Friday, February 29

Henry Art Gallery – New exhibition, “Kader Attia: New Work” opens, presenting installations and new video works by the French-Algerian artist, his first large-scale, solo exhibition in the U.S. Attia will be in residence at the Henry Art Gallery for one month to produce new work for the exhibition. The central installation, Rocher Carré, based on a composition Attia has in the past painted directly on walls, realizes a sculpture of this subject for the first time. Attia plans to create numerous shapes out of ordinary materials, filling the space with “emptiness.” The formal beauty of his installations provokes a psychological proximity that helps visitors explore the relationship between volume and emptiness, dream and reality, wealth and poverty, power and weakness. The opening celebration begins at 8 pm. Members free, $6 students, $10 general. The exhibition continues until May 25, 2008.

Kader Attia. Holy Land. 2007. Courtesy of the artist, 1st Biennale of the Canary Islands, and Andrehn-Schiptjenko (Stockholm)

Artist Trust – “Latino Artists Networking Event.” Artist Trust announces a series of artist networking events to be held in our fabulous Artists' Assets Area (AAA) in Seattle. The events will bring artists together, introduce them to the many resources available in the AAA and provide information on services available through Artist Trust's Information Services, Professional Development and Grant Programs. The themes of the Networking Events are meant to be a starting point for conversations and interactions that lead to introductions, possible collaborations and in general – networking! Latino Artists of Washington State are encouraged to participate in this networking event. Come meet other Latino artists practicing in Washington State. Free, 6-9 pm. Contact migue@artisttrust.org for more information.

BLVD Gallery - "Residential,” a music performance series featuring Seattle's "Post Baroque Nu-Hop" ensemble FOSCIL. Each monthly performance features a new incarnation of the group- February features special guest Witnica. Foscils music is an amalgam of diverse influences touching on the atmospheric production of Wu Tangs RZA, the out-jazz of Miles, and the psychedelic meandering of Zappa. Doors open at 8pm.

Saturday, March 1

Tacoma Art Museum – New exhibition “A Couple of Ways of Doing Something,” features fifteen of Chuck Close’s delicately intimate daguerreotypes (including striking enlargements) of leading contemporary artists, paired with Bob Holman’s witty and beautifully typeset poems. As individual portraits, each daguerreotype offers an immensely revealing study of the subject, extending the hyperrealist tradition of portraiture for which Close is renowned.The exhibition includes examples of his other works, taken from each daguerreotype, in a variety of challenging photographic media, including tapestries and photogravures. The result is a transfixing group portrait of Close’s influential and highly creative circle of friends and colleagues.The exhibition is on view March 1 through June 15, 2008.

Gallery 6311 - Painter Mike Leavitt will unofficially close his "Myscapes" show this Saturday, March 1 from 11am-5pm. Leavitt will be at-work sculpting & painting all day, sitting the gallery as a closing event. This is a chance to see the process of Leavitt's hand-made action figures and more. Gallery 6311 is in Ballard at 6311 24th NW, Seattle, WA 98107.

"Myscapes' by Mike Levitt, closing March 5 at Gallery 6311

This Week’s Events: Feb 18 – Feb 24, 2008

Thursday, February 21

Seattle Art Museum - Opening day for new exhibition, “Roman Art from the Louvre,” an extraordinary selection of ancient art from Paris’s famed Musée du Louvre, which portrays nearly 300 years of imperial Roman life and history. The exhibition includes approximately 180 pieces, many that have never before traveled to the United States, from one of the richest collections of ancient Roman art in the world. February 21–May 11, 2008.

Gage Academy of Art – In the Artist's Tool Kit discussion series, “Craig's Strategic List,” featuring Mr. Craig Kosak, outlining four strategies emerging artists can use to get their careers off the ground, from finding the appropriate market to signing with the right gallery. 12:30-2 pm, in the Geo Studio, Room 304, Third Floor. Free and open to the public.

Open Satellite – Opening reception for “Nearer to Thee,” an exhibition by Open Satellite artist in residence Hilary Wilder. Brooklyn, New York and Richmond, Virginia based artist Hilary Wilder investigates painting as a construction of reality and a structure of knowledge. Through the lens of landscape, which serves as a dynamic metaphor for human experience, Wilder introduces narratives and compositions that are held in tension between fact and fiction, order and disorder, stability and chaos, and the real and ideal. For her residency at Open Satellite, Wilder has created an ambitious painting installation that is site-specific in her consideration of the space of the gallery, which provides a structural framework for her dramatic canvases. In the context of the Pacific Northwest, Wilder’s thematic concerns offer a contemporary dialogue about landscapes and identity as well as a critique of place, history, and the environment. Opening reception 6-9 pm. Exhibition Dates: February 21 – April 5, 2008.

Hilary Wilder, In Progress, opening at Open Satellite

Frye Art Museum – “Reframing the Nineteenth Century: Collecting Art at the Frye.” Charles and Emma Frye amassed an impressive collection of nineteenth and twentieth-century art, one which in many ways challenged prevailing canons of aesthetic taste during the late Victorian era. This lecture, led by Susan P. Casteras, department of art history, University of Washington, places the Fryes' often bold purchases and vision in a larger context of collecting by American patrons, especially that of Horace Henry, exploring how their choices embraced diverse styles and attitudes. 6:30 pm, free and open to the public.

Tacoma Art Walk – From 5-8 pm, galleries, museums, and participating locations hold special events and activities.

Tacoma Art Museum – During the Tacoma Artwalk, “Exquisite Corpse” beginning at 6:30 pm. Invented by surrealist artists in 1925, “exquisite corpse” is a participatory art experiment that explores ideas of chance, fragments, collage, and forms that emerge out of chaos. Artist Shannon Eakins will lead this interactive group-drawing activity. Programming and museum admission from 10 am – 8 pm are free as part of FREE Third Thursday.

Upper Queen Anne Artwalk - From 6-8 pm, rain or shine.

Art/Not Terminal Gallery – “Figure Drawing Session.” Every 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Thursday, Art/Not Terminal hosts Boys R Us, a group figure drawing session featuring male models. Coffee, tea, cookies, music, conversation, and art creation from 6:30-9:30 pm. $8 for participants.

Friday, February 22

Seattle Art Museum – “A Roman Holiday: Public Opening Weekend” for new exhibition Roman Art from the Louvre. From Feb 22 – Feb 24, SAM hosts a great roster of events throughout the entire building. Friday’s events include a guided tour at 6:30 pm and a lecture on ‘The Three Faces of Rome: Ancient, Christian, and Opera’ at 7 pm. Check here for a full schedule of events. Free with Museum Admission.

Northwest Film Forum – Northwest Film Forum and the Henry Art Gallery present “The Cool School.” Filmmaker Morgan Neville explores the emergence and impact of the beat-era LA art scene, focusing on its catalyst: Walter Hopps's and Ed Kienholz's Ferus gallery, a simple space with grand ambitions. Ferus hosted Andy Warhol's first gallery show (his 32 Campbell's Soup Cans did not debut in New York!) and Marcel Duchamp's first retrospective. The Cool School's collage of period footage, and interviews with Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Walter Hopps, Dennis Hopper, and Frank Gehry create a vivid picture of this inspiring scene that ultimately established the importance of West Coast art. Showing February 22 – 28, at 7:15 pm and 9:15 pm each night. On opening night, February 22, enjoy a special introduction and post-screening conversation with Regina Hackett, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Visual Arts Critic. $5 NWFF and Henry Art Gallery Members / $6 Seniors & Children / $8.50 General. For tickets call 800.838.3006 or visit brownpapertickets.com.


Saturday, February 23

Seattle Art Museum – “A Roman Holiday: Public Opening Weekend” for new exhibition Roman Art from the Louvre. From Feb 22 – Feb 24, SAM hosts a great roster of events throughout the entire building. Saturday from 10 am – 3 pm is Family Day: Rome the World, a day of hands-on art activities and events. Free with Museum Admission.

Museum of Glass – Opening day for new exhibition “Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass.” Widely regarded as one of the most significant artists in the modern studio glass movement, there has never been a retrospective look at Lino Tagliapietra’s art and career in its entirety. This exhibition will represent not only pivotal and renowned series of artistic work covering a period of approximately thirty years, but also designs made for industry and private objects that have never been exhibited. February 23 - August 24, 2008.

G. Gibson Gallery – Artist reception and artist talk for “Laura McPhee: River of No Return.” 3 pm.

Laura McPhee, Igloo Built from Downloaded Plans, Park Creek, Custer County, Idaho, March 2005

Henry Art Gallery – “Hilary Wilder Artist Lecture.” Current Open Satellite artist Hilary Wilder's practice investigates painting, as a structure of knowledge and a construction of reality. Working directly on the wall and inserting canvases into complex systems, her dynamic works critique painting as a mode of representation, specifically questioning the concept of the romantic, picturesque, and sublime within the landscape tradition. Her compositions are held in tension between ideas of order and disorder, stability and chaos, and the real and ideal. 4 pm, Free.

Sunday, February 24

Seattle Art Museum – “A Roman Holiday: Public Opening Weekend” for new exhibition Roman Art from the Louvre. From Feb 22 – Feb 24, SAM hosts a great roster of events throughout the entire building. On Sunday at 2 pm, come hear the story only the curators could tell about the history and society of ancient Rome as reflected in the Louvre collection in “The History of Society: The Story of Ancient Rome.” Free with Museum Admission.

Frye Art Museum – “Comic Book Style on Film.” Many talented film directors have approximated the comic-book style in movies, including Jean Luc Godard’s Alphaville (1965), Richard Lester’s Superman II (1980), and Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990). Now, digital technology has made it possible to dazzlingly replicate the frames of a comic, notably in the Frank Miller adaptations Sin City (2005) and 300 (2006). Robert Horton ponders the value of this aesthetic and decides when it works . . .and when it doesn’t. Audience discussion with film clips. 2 pm, free and open to the public.

This Week(end)s Events: Feb 14 - Feb 16, 2008

Apologies for the lateness this week, but better late than never. Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 14

Gage Academy of Art - ArtTalk Series lecture, “The Epic Narrative,” with Bo Bartlett. Gage Artistic Director, Gary Faigin, facilitates a monthly group discussion about the work of contemporary figurative artists. Bartlett is a contemporary master of the most challenging of all traditions: the life-sized figurative narrative. Faigin and Bartlett discuss the underlying symbolic and spiritual underpinnings of his dramatic scenes, as well as compositional and color decisions. 12:30-2 pm, free and open to the public. (The lecture will be held in the Geo Studio, Room 304, Third Floor.)

James Harris Gallery – Opening reception for “Message in a Bottle,” a group exhibition bringing together a wide range of mediums – including sculpture, photography, painting and installation –focusing on how artists transform the expected visual utility of an object to multiple pictorial possibilities. These are artists who inherently investigate the origins of their subjects, creating fictive spaces and new relationships by placing disparate or unusual objects together in dynamic ways. Reception 6-8 pm. Exhibition continues through March 18, 2008.

Helga Steppan, See Through Series, 2004, exhibiting at James Harris Gallery

Greg Kucera Gallery – Opening of new exhibition featuring recent paintings by “Anne Appleby.” Reception 6-8 pm. Exhibit continues through March 29, 2008. "Saturday After" artist talk: February 16, 12:00 pm.

West Seattle Junction Art Walk – Galleries and participating businesses open from 6pm - 8pm. For information and maps visit Hotwire Coffeehouse, 4410 California SW, Seattle, which will be featuring multi-media works by collage artist "Sarah Gordon."

Twilight Artist Collective – In the new TwAC West Seattle gallery, “Because Diamonds Aren’t Really A Girl’s Best Friend...ART IS!” a Valentine’s Day event. Looking for a creative way to show your Valentine he or she is “one-of-a-kind”? Give them gifts “like no other” from local TwACkers including paintings, sculpture, jewelry, warm knit hats and scarves, and limited edition t-shirts from artist Eric Osborne. Osborne is also the February featured artist and is exhibiting a new body of work. 6-9 pm.

Friday, February 15

Platform Gallery – Artist reception for “Fall Together / Fall Apart” new work by Melissa Pokorny, sculptor and Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Using the strategies of still life composition and tableau vivant painting, Pokorny's work explores the arbitrary, the inappropriate, and the accidental while evoking a wry sense of melancholy. 5-7 pm. Exhibition continues through March 22, 2008.

Work by Melissa Pokorny, opening at Platform Gallery

Gage Academy of Art – In the Rosen Gallery, “Face Forward: Gage Annual Self-Portrait Competition.” Past and current Gage students put their best face forward for this self-portrait competition and exhibit. 7-9 pm. Debuting in the Steele Gallery, “Face Backward: Gary Faigin.” In conjunction with the self-portrait competition, this special exhibition features 25 years of self portraits by Gage cofounder and artistic director Gary Faigin. 6-8 pm. Also, don’t miss “Big Heads: Cardboard Constructions,” with artist Scott Fife discussing his sculpture portraiture - intricate work that he creates with simple tools such as X-acto knives, masking tape, glue and a screwgun. 7 pm. All events are free and open to the public.

This Week’s Events: Feb 4 – Feb 10, 2008

Thursday, February 7

Pioneer Square First Thursday Artwalk – full list of openings coming tomorrow! Or check the Seattle Art News Calendar if you just can’t wait.

Microsoft Art Collection - “David Maisel Artist Lecture.” David Maisel’s large-scale photographs depict landscapes that have undergone radical transformations. Many of Maisel’s aerial images rely on minerals that are exposed through mining or water reclamation to provide the color scheme, as chemical elements glow brightly within the composition. He states, “[My] images have as their subject matter the undoing of the natural world by wide-scaled human activity in the landscape. Our efforts have eradicated the natural order.” His Oblivion series, on view in the Microsoft Conference Center, are images of Los Angeles that are reminiscent of satellite or surveillance photos. 6-7 pm. Free and open to the public. Check website for further information and RSVP.

Henry Art Gallery – “Art Dialogue with Sandra Kroupa.” In conjunction with the exhibition Dawn Cerny: We're all going to die (except for you)., Sandra Kroupa, Book Arts and Rare Book Curator, UW Libraries Special Collections, will discuss late nineteenth-century mourning rituals and customs. Kroupa is a scholar and collector of objects and ephemera related to these distinct and fascinating traditions. 7 pm. Free.

Friday, February 8

Fetherston Gallery – Opening reception for works by “Joe Shlichta.” 5-7 pm. Exhibition continues through March 8, 2008.

BLVD Gallery – Opening of "Trade Bloc: A group show of Global Ambitions," a show that aims to present the global flavor of the urban art milieu. What are the benefits of a truly Global art market? What are the effects of the internet on artists ability to gain recognition without the participation of the traditional channels of media exposure? BLVD has assembled a group of great artists from Asia, North America, South America, and Europe whose work we illustrates this new borderless world in which we live. 6-10 pm. Show continues through March 8, 2008.

Roq La Rue - "A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities," a group show of works relating to animals by Roq La Rue artists. "The way we relate to the other creatures living on the planet relates directly to the way we view ourselves. This show, while leaning more towards the fanciful rather than the political, offers up a wunderkammer like display of creatures..." Artists include: Femke Hiemstra, Travis Louie, Brian Despain, Amy Sol, Lisa Petrucci, Chris Ryniak, Chet Zar, Kozydan, Junko Mizumo, Liz McGrath, Kukula, Laura Plansker, Mark Frauenfelder, Christian Vanminnen, Mark Gleason, Nathan Ota, Catalina Estrada, Sarah Joncas, Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley, John Brophy, Anthony Pontius, Jeremy Bennet, Jim Woodring, Heiko Muller, and Javier S. Ortega. 6-9 pm. Exhibit continues through March 1, 2008.

Femke Hiemstra "Mr Macabre" acrylic on mixed media, at Roq La Rue

Form/Space Atelier – Opening reception for “A Place to Call Your Own,” new large scale paintings by Ryan MolenKamp charting his unique report on cartographic influences, the growth of familiar places, and familiar interconnections. 6-8 pm. Exhibit continues through March 2, 2008.

McLeod Residence – McLeod Residence is pleased to collaborate with two different curators for its February exhibits. “Encausticated,” curated by Megan Woo, is a showcase of artists working with encaustic paintings and mixed-media works. “The Possibility” is a photography exhibit by Shoot for Change and is organized by local youth mentoring program Community for Youth. Sales of the photography will benefit Community for Youth. In addition, Cait Willis will show her roller derby paintings. All exhibitions will open Friday, February 8, from 6-9pm and run through March 29, 2008. The opening will feature a performance by local musician Levi Fuller at 8pm.

Kamla Kakaria, "Marigold," 2007, Photo by Richard Nicol - part of Encausticated at McLeod Residence

Microsoft Art Collection – In the Film Series, a screening of “Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured Landscapes.” One of the predominant themes in Edward Burtynsky’s work is how nature is transformed by industry. He aims to provide a contemporary view of what he calls “the great ages of man,” depicting exploited mining sites, recycling yards, and rock quarries. Manufactured Landscapes, a documentary by award-winning director Jennifer Baichwal, follows Burtynsky as he chronicles China’s modern industrial revolution. 6-7:30 pm at the Microsoft Redmond Campus. Free and open to the public. Check website for further information and RSVP.

Saturday, February 9

Tacoma Art Museum – “Art with Heart.” Create a unique artwork for someone special in time for Valentine’s Day. Local artist Chris Sharp will teach a range of printmaking techniques and guide participants in making works of art with heart. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Price includes admission for one child age eight and older with one adult companion. All supplies are provided. Pre-register for this program via email at education@TacomaArtMuseum.org or by phone at 253.272.4258 x3030. Session One: 10:30 am–12 pm (for children age eight and older with an adult companion). Session Two: 2–4:30 pm (for adults aged eighteen and older)

Benham Gallery – “Bruce Barnbaum Gallery Talk” from 2-4 pm. Join photographer Bruce Barnbaum for a discussion coinciding with his new exhibit "Stone" at Benham Gallery.

Artist Trust – “Artist Trust 21st Annual Benefit Auction” at Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion. Join over 700 artists, arts enthusiasts and community leaders to "Party like an Art Star." The goal is to raise more funds than ever before to provide direct funding to individual artists of Washington State. This Artist Trust event promises not only to benefit artists with the proceeds raised, but also to be an exciting, fast-paced evening with live and silent auctions, cocktails, dinner, dancing, and entertainment provided by some of the Northwest´s most talented performers. Featuring: Silent and Live auction of over 200 artists, Specialty cocktails and a festive buffet, Live auction with KING 5 Evening Magazine´s John Curley, Performances by Artist Trust grant recipients, and Music by Billy Joe and The Dusty 45s! Click here for tickets and further information or call 206/467-8734 x18.


Henry Art Gallery – “Architect’s Lecture: Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA.” In conjunction with the Henry’s SANAA exhibition, architect Kazuyo Sejima will present a lecture highlighting her firm’s design process. The lecture will provide a rare opportunity to hear about a unique body of work that challenges the boundaries separating architecture and art. To read more about the Henry’s related exhibition, visit http://www.henryart.org/ex/sanaa.html. 5 pm - $10 Henry members / $15 General Admission / $12 Students and Seniors. This lecture will be held at Roethke Auditorium in Kane Hall, University of Washington Campus. For tickets call Brown Paper Tickets 1-800-838-3006, or visit www.brownpapertickets.com.

Ballard Second Saturday Artwalk - Galleries and businesses open from 6-10 pm, including:

* Gallery 6311 - Mike Leavitt's "Myscapes" landscape painting show. Local artist Mike Leavitt is reviving Seattle's boring conceptual art and landscaping painting. Known for his wedding cake topper and "Art Army" figurines, Leavitt's new small-scale landscapes are another curio oddity. Tiny painted scenes are cramped into the odd-sized surfaces of guitar picks, bowling pins, windshield scrapers, copper pennies, and other objects. 6-10 pm. February 9 – March 5, 2008.

* OKOK Gallery - Opening new exhibition "In Effect," featuring new works and site specific installations from Jen Stark & Diem Chau. 6-10 pm. February 9th - March 4th.

* BLVD Project Room at Triple – The first installation in a new series, presented by BLVD Gallery, "Arterial Lines" by Nhon Nguyen, a Seattle based artist who is using the opportunity to create a mural that reflect on his experiences living in Osaka Japan over the past 3 years. The BLVD Gallery Project Room is a collaborative effort between BLVD Gallery and Triple, a new boutique in the Ballard neighborhood on Historic Ballard Ave. The goal of "The Project Room" is to create a small venue for emerging artists to develop and expand on concepts through site specific installations.

This Week's Events: Jan 28 – Feb 3, 200

Thursday, January 31

Western Bridge – “Multiplex,” Western Bridge's winter exhibition is an anthology of work in projected video and video installation from the first half of this decade. Work in the exhibition includes Isaac Julien's three-channel cowboy romance "The Long Road to Mazatlan," Takeshi Murata's painterly decomposition of a campy film in "Monster Movie," Jennifer Steinkamp's wall-projected installation "Formation G" and Dara Friedman's hypnotic loop of kids jumping into the ocean from a Miami Beach pier, "Government Cut Freestyle." Single channel projected videos by Miguel Angel Rios and Suara Welitoff, two video pranks by Christopher Chiappa and Jack Daws, and a photograph by Lynne Cohen round out the exhibition. Continuing through March 29, 2008.

Gage Academy of Art – “Nordic Art: More Than Munch.” The arts are thriving in Scandinavia today, with painting, printmaking, textiles, drawing, sculpture and installation being created everywhere. Join artist Margaret Davidson as she shows you the landscape and traditions of Scandinavia, and see how they are both fascinatingly old, and constantly refreshed and refigured in the art of today. 12:30pm – 1:30 pm. Free and open to the public.

Frye Art Museum – “Countercurrents in the Seattle Art World of 1900–1930” with Martha Kingsbury, emeritus professor, Department of Art History, University of Washington. When Charles and Emma Frye and Horace C. Henry were forming their collections, the art world of Seattle was small and tentative. While the Fryes and Henry collected an established and unequivocally esteemed form of art—easel paintings in oil—the art world around them included new, adventuresome, and radical components. This lecture explores some of these countercurrents: Seattle collectors with goals very different from theirs; artworks sharing little or nothing with oil paintings; and artists whose practices and lifestyles seemed to defy the values that the Frye and Henry collections embodied. 7 pm. Free and open to the public.

Friday, February 1

Fremont First Friday Artwalk – Galleries and participating businesses open from 6-9 pm.

Twilight Artist Collective – February exhibit featuring paintings by Angelina Villalobos aka 179 opens today in TWaC’s Pike Place Market locaiton. Exhibit continues through Feb 29, 2008.

Photographic Center Northwest – “Snowbound & The Last Iceberg: Photographs by Lisa M. Robinson and Camille Seaman.” Opening reception for an amazing new show featuring two artists who photograph snow and ice. For five winters, the young American photographer Lisa M. Robinson made photographs in the snow. Snowbound depicts landscapes in which everyday objects-alienated and sunken in snow – civilize the natural surroundings. The Last Iceberg, a series by Camille Seaman chronicles a handful of the many thousands of icebergs that are currently headed to their end. Seaman approaches the images of icebergs as portraits of individuals, much like family photos of her ancestors. Reception 6-9 pm. A lecture with Robinson & Seaman begins at 6:30 pm in the PCNW Auditorium. $5 suggested donation.

© Camille Seaman, Stranded Iceberg 1, Cape Bird, Antarctica, 2006, Archival Inkjet Print

Saturday, February 2

Frye Art Museum – Lecture on “R. Crumb’s Underground” with Robin Held, Frye chief curator and director of exhibitions and collections. Join in a conversation with Robin Held as she leads a gallery tour through the forty-year retrospective of comics and sketchbook drawings by the quintessential underground artist Robert Crumb. 2 pm. Free and open to the public.

Pop Tots – “The Alphabet Show,” featuring 26 artists making kid-friendly art representing each letter of the alphabet. Food, wine, and artwork by Sara Barbetta, Josh Bloch, Debi Boyette, Craig Campbell, Sam Doyle, Anthony Edwards, Colin English, Kelly English, Eric Gillyard, Marty Gordon, Therese Gordon, Jamie Holmes, Angie Lazzar, Andre Lee, Kati Von Lehman, Joey Lloyd, Beth Maycumber, Russell Maycumber, Tricia Patterson, Maggie Schneider, Tiare So'osemea, Joey Veltkamp, Michael Williams and Melissa Woods. 4-6 pm. Pop Tots is located at 6405 Roosevelt Avenue, Seattle, WA 98115.

Sunday, February 3

Tacoma Art Museum – “Threads that Bind Community” free festival honoring Black History Month. The Threads that Bind Community festival is from noon to 5 pm at Tacoma Art Museum and offers FREE admission to all visitors. Spoken word, gospel music, and dance performances, as well a scavenger hunt and a community quilt, will be among the many special festival activities. Women of the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters will piece together squares for the community quilt throughout the day and will talk with visitors in the galleries about their work in Threads that Bind. Local artist Ellen Ito will help visitors create paper quilt squares in the Open Art Studio. Storytelling by Links Youth, the student group of The Links, Incorporated, Tacoma Chapter, will take place in the Art Resource Center. Check here for a full schedule of events.

This Week's Events: Jan 14 - Jan 20, 2008

Wednesday, January 16

The Hideout – “Vital 5 Review” release party. The new edition of the Hideout’s zine. “Alcohol fueled editorial, drawings and other random thoughts, all made on location… And surprisingly, it is quite good.” Decide for yourself. Evening/nightish, free, 21+.

Thursday, January 17

Bellevue Arts Museum – Opening day of “Material Terrain: A Sculptural Exploration of Landscape and Place” a traveling exhibition that features contemporary works by eleven artists who employ diverse materials and techniques to address the uneasy balance between the natural and constructed environment. Twenty-three, large-scale, mixed-media works will be on indoor and outdoor display throughout the Museum. Exhibition continues through May 4, 2008.

Tacoma Art Museum – “Renoir as Printmaker: The Complete Works” exhibition opens. Tacoma Art Museum presents a comprehensive collection of French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s etchings and lithographs created during the last three decades of his life. Drawn from a local private collection, this body of work constitutes Renoir's entire known graphic works. Exhibition continues through June 29, 2008. The public opening happens tonight from 5-8 (during the Tacoma Artwalk) during which the museum is free.

The Hedreen Gallery – New videos from Matt McCormick’s “future so bright” series. Relentlessly blurring the line between documentary, installation and experimental film, McCormick has poetically captured the spirit of the American West in his latest body of work. McCormick gained critical attention for his film The Subconcious Art of Graffitti Removal, which was named one of the best films of 2002 by Artforum and The Village Voice. The “future so bright series” is “an ode to a falling empire, a swan song to what was, as well as a love song to what could still be.” Opening reception 5-8 pm. Exhibition continues through March 29, 2008.

Matt McCormick, detail from "future so bright: western edge"

Tacoma Artwalk - Participating galleries and business open 5-8 pm. In addition, admission to the Museum of Glass is free during the artwalk, and admission to the Tacoma Art Museum and Washington State History Museum is free all day.

Friday, January 18

Suyama Space – Opening reception for “Seeps of Winter: Installation by John Grade.” Seattle sculptor John Grade will create a site-specific installation inspired by an imagined view from the bottom of a bog stretched across the ceiling of Suyama Space, an installation gallery located at 2324 2nd Avenue in Seattle, Washington. Seeps of Winter is cast in interlocking sections of cast paper pulp, glassine and cellulose, a mixture that creates a thin, puckered and drooping skin spanning the exhibition space. The natural light emitted from the gallery skylights dimly filters through large pores in the membrane, releasing a subtle luminosity. Opening reception 5-7 pm. The exhibition will continue through April 18, 2008. Grade will present an artist talk at the gallery on Saturday, January 19 at 12 noon.

"Seeps of Winter," 2008, detail (in progress), cast paper pulp, glassine and cellulose, 10 x 50 x 30, photograph by Maria Grade

Seattle Art Museum – “World Maps: SAM's Think Tank and Beyond with Hirokazu Kosaka.” The Creatively Speaking lecture series presents SAM Think-Tank artist in residence Hirokazu Kosaka. How would you map the world you inhabit? This is the question printmaker Hirokazu Kosaka’s Mappa Mundi asks as he creates woodblock prints in response to maps made by Seattle residents. Discover how this project has unfolded over the last four months in the SAM Think Tank, as well as out and about in Seattle. 7-8 pm. Free with Museum Admission. To reserve your space, please call the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121.

Saturday, January 19

Bellevue Arts Museum – “Textile Printing Demomstration.” Join Cameron Anne Mason, Textiles instructor at the Pratt Fine Arts Center, as she demonstrates ways of using thickened dye on fabric to create multi-layered and textured art cloth. Cameron will show how to stamp, stencil, and silkscreen fabric using low-tech tools. Learn simple techniques for silk-screening without the expense and effort of creating photo emulsion screens. 1-3 pm, Free to the public.

Henry Art Gallery – “Integrating Life and Art: Tea Ceremony Demonstration.” The Urasenke Foundation will present a Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration in the Henry’s Turrell Skyspace (Light Reign); afterwards, participants can enjoy a tea service in the Henry’s Baci Café. Saturday January 19, 2008, 2 to 3:30 PM. (Seatings at 2, 2:30, and 3 PM). Space is limited, reservations required, call 206-616.9694. Suggested donation: $10 General / $5 Henry Members / $5 Students and Seniors

Seattle Art Museum – “Mappa Mundi Workshop with Hirokazu Kosaka.” Loosely translated, mappa mundi means charting worlds. Go back in time and create a map describing special places where you spent your childhood. Your hand-drawn maps will become part of the Mappa Mundi project on display in the Think Tank. No drawing experience needed. This is an intergenerational workshop. Noon – 2 pm. Free to the public, registration is recommended. Contact 206.654.3209 or CommunityAffairs@SeattleArtMuseum.org.

Sunday, January 20

Frye Art Museum – “West Germany’s Big Three: Herzog, Wenders, and Fassbinder.” Three names are inextricably linked with the flowering of West German cinema in the 1970s: Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God, 1972), Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, 1987), and the short-lived but astonishingly productive R. W. Fassbinder (The Marriage of Maria Braun, 1979). Robert Horton compares the journeys of these gifted filmmakers against the context of German film history. Audience discussion with film clips. 2 pm, free to the public.

This Week's Events: Jan 7 - Jan 13, 2008

Can you believe how many amazing openings/events are happening simultaneously on Thursday? Good luck choosing, but rain or more rain, this is definitely the week to shake off the post-holiday slump and get out of the house.

Wednesday, January 9

OKOK Gallery - "Sound and Vision" will debut three compositions from the inaugural Environmental Aesthetics Satsop Residency founded by Gabe Bacon and Paul Schrag Wednesday. The three artists awarded the first annual Satsop Residency include Seattle artist Yann Novak, Olympia quartet Problems, and Olympia artist Myello. The artists were granted access to an abandoned Nuclear Cooling Tower in Elma Washington where they were invited to sonically interpret this epic industrial monument. Each composition will be accompanied by a photograph that will be projected on the back wall of the gallery. 7-9 pm.

Thursday, January 10

University of Washington – “University Art Institute Keynote Lecture by Robert Storr.” Robert Storr is an internationally renowned curator, critic, academic, and artist. Storr held the position of contemporary curator at the MOMA for years and is currently Dean of the Yale School of Art and was director of the 2007 Venice Biennale. In conjunction with the closing of “Kim Jones: A Retrospective” at the Henry Art Gallery, Storr will speak on Jones and his work's inclusion in the 2007 Venice Biennale and at Site Santa Fe in 2004. 7 pm in the Roethke Auditorium in Kane Hall, University of Washington Campus. Tickets ($15 General Admission, $10 Henry Members, $12 Students/Seniors) are available online at Brown Paper Tickets.

SAM Gallery – Opening reception for two new shows, “In Focus: Centrum/London” and “Autobiography.” The first exhibition highlights a local residency program at Centrum, in Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend, and specifically the January residency of six U.K.-based artists whose work explores space/place/site. The second exhibition features a group of artists who explore their own identity, heritage, and/or artistic history in their artwork. Featured artists include Willie Bonner, Diem Chau, Pamm O. Hanson, Lezlie Jane, Judith Kindler, Layne Kleinart, Hugo Ludeña, Allan Packer and Amy Sollins. Reception runs from 5-7 pm. The SAM Gallery is located in the Seattle Tower Building.


G. Gibson Gallery – Reception for two new shows, “Berenice Abbott: New York” and “Doug Keyes: Becoming Language.” Doug Keyes' recent work, Collective Memory-Routes and Areas / Becoming Language, are multiple exposure photographs that document travel along a route or within a specific area in an attempt to record what the eye doesn't see but the mind retains. These large-scale luminous color photographs reveal (or conceal) an entire experience in a single image. Berenice Abbott was an influential photographer of the early 20th century, well known for her images of New York in the 1930s. Reception 5-8 pm. Both shows continue until February 16, 2008.

James Harris Gallery – Opening reception for “Hinterland,” an exhibition of paintings by Portland artist Adam Sorensen. Employing numerous sources in his compositions – which range from Surrealism to The Hudson River School to Japanese Anime – Sorensen explores the contemporary landscape in a way that captures how ecological circumstances have displaced traditional ways of imagining and relating to the natural world. Also opening in the James Harris Project Space is a small selection from Claire Cowie’s latest body of work. 6-8 pm. Show runs through February 9, 2008.

Adam Sorenson, "Grove and Hazard," opening at James Harris Gallery

Platform Gallery – For his new show “Prospect Fields,” artist Eric Eley has created a living drawing that becomes a field for a view. Seeing an opportunity to go beyond simply placing discrete objects in the white box of the gallery, Eley has created an environment that puts the viewer literally inside the sculptural object by delineating the space within the entire gallery. With no way to see the work in profile or from afar, one is instead given the opportunity to powerfully experience space as a three dimensional drawing. Opening 5-8 pm. Exhibition continues through February 9, 2008.

Lawrimore Project – “The Prom - A Semi-Formal Survey of Semi-Formal Painting.” Lawrimore Project is pleased to present the second of a three-part series devoted to contemporary painting strategies. Curated by gallery manager, Alex Ohge, THE PROM... is a pure celebration of the medium and could easily have been subtitled, "paintings for painters and the people who love them." This semi-formal survey brings together a group of artists from around the country all completely devoted to the process of painting and all exploring the semi-formal terrain where representation meets painting for painting's sake. Opening reception 5-8 pm. Exhibition runs January 11th - February 23rd.

Catherine Person Gallery – “The Black & White Show.” A mixed media survey in glorious black & white featuring recent work by Colleen Hayward, Davis Freeman, *Eric Elliott, Lynne Saad, Nola Avienne, Seth D'Ambrosia & Teresa Redden. Reception 6-8 pm. Exhibition continues through February 9.

Howard House – “Ken Fandell: Old Pictures” presents four new photographic diptychs and a 10 minute animated video in which the artist continues his explorations into the disorienting psychological effects of meetings between quotidian existence and drama, mystery, and grandeur. “Ken Kelly: Future Perfect” presents a new body of work which focuses on the referential possibilities of simple grid patterns. Reception for both exhibitions 6-8 pm. Show continues through February 23, 2008. (An Artist Talk will be held Saturday, Jan 12, at 12 Noon.)

West Seattle Junction Art Walk – Galleries and many participating businesses hold openings and events from 6-9 pm, rain or shine (probably rain).

* Hotwire Coffeehouse West - The unofficial starting point of the West Seattle Junction Artwalk will be featuring collage works by local artist Marty Gordon, sponsored by Twilight Artist Collective. (4410 California SW, Seattle).

Marty Gordon, "The Ladies Who Launch," 5x7" collage

Friday, January 11

Suite 100 Gallery – “Left Behind,” a new show featuring over 10 artists that captures various aspects of what being left behind entails, interpreted by each artist with personal experiences coloring his or her work. Opening night features live painting and music. 6-10 pm. Show runs through February 1, 2008.


Form/Space Atelier – Opening reception and lecture for “Scant Plush,” new paintings by Jessica Hachmeister. Jessica Hachmeister is drawn toward large and dramatic abstract painting, developing a style based on dominant shapes and interconnecting lines. Hachmeister distributes these marks across multiple canvases to create a balanced landscape of form and space. 6-8 pm. Exhibit duration: January 11-February 3.

Saturday, January 12

Twilight Artist Collective – “Twilight Artist Collective Celebration: 3 Ladies + 3 Years + New Location.” Twilight Artist Collective is turning 3, celebrating the opening of their second location (what an accomplishment!) and throwing a big party to toast their vision of creating a sustainable, thriving artist community of more than 100 artists. How can you turn down complimentary brew, bubbly, and baby-cakes provided by the Elysian Brewery, Cupcake Royale, and Cascade Trade, and live music by DJ Sean Majors of The Lost Boys. ALSO featuring artwork by many Twilight Artist Collective artists and Live painting by Justin Hillgrove, Eric Osborne, and OneSevenNine. 6-10 pm, at Twilight Artist Collective, (4306 SW Alaska Street.)

3 Ladies + 3 Years = Twilight Artist Collective

Ballard Second Saturday Artwalk – Galleries and participating businesses open from 6-9 pm. Maps are available at most locations. Openings include:

* Secret Garden Bookshop – “Marty Gordon,” featuring humorous collage-work by prolific local artist Marty Gordon. 6-9 pm.

* Re/Max Mutual Realty – Andrew L. Parker with RE/MAX Mutual Realty Seattle is a regular participant in the Ballard Artwalk and this month they present photography by local artist Thomas Krueger. After viewing the show, stop by the separate opening to meet the artist at the Forum Center, Cascade Board Room. Snacks & wine will be served.

Photograph by Thomas Krueger, on display at Re/Max in Ballard

* OKOK Gallery - The Gallery will be presenting a second show of the first installment of "Sound and Vision." 7-9 pm. (See above for more details.)

Sunday, January 13

Francine Seders Gallery – Opening reception for “Robert C. Jones: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints. Reception from 2-4 pm. Exhibition continues through February 17, 2008.

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.