Seattle Art Blog - News, Discussion, and Events

Opening at The Henry Art Gallery, 15 Ave. NE & 41st St., on October 24 is a show of the work of one of the most controversial  photographers of the 1980s, Robert Mapplethorpe. Titled “Polaroids,” the exhibition brings together ninety of his early Polaroids, many never exhibited before. Included are self-portraits, figure studies, still lifes, and portraits of lovers and friends Shown: Untitled, self portrait.

Eirik  Johnson’s photographic series, “Sawdust Mountain,” opens on the same day. This Northwest photographer explores 19th-century myths about a powerful and romantic West full of promise and bountiful assets, myths that are now replaced by 21st-century ecological concerns arising from the toll taken by natural-resource-based industries. Both shows close January 31.

Eric Salisbury continues his series, “Gestures,” where he attempts to convey his motto: “Positive Art Does Wonders for the Heart.”  The exhibit is on view at C Art Gallery, 855 Hiawatha Place South, through November 16. An artist reception is scheduled for November 5 from 5-7pm. Shown: Green (detail).

“Looking Back: Important Works by Morris Graves from 1930-1990,” and “Passionate Generosity: Selected Works from the Marshall & Helen Hatch Collection,” are on view at the Gordon Woodside/John Braseth Gallery , 2101 9th. Ave. at Lenora St., through October 31. Shown: Morris Graves, Remembrance of Things Past.

The Eastside Association of Fine Arts, with support from the Bellevue Arts Commission, just announced its 34th Open Fine Art Exhibition. The show, featuring an array of media, including drawing, painting, pastels, watercolor & collage… takes place from October 19 - November 13 in the Symetra Building lobby at 777 108th NE, Bellevue, WA 98004.  A reception and awards ceremony is to be held Saturday the 24th from 1 pm to 4pm  with awards at 2:30. Shown: 741 Mixed water media, by Don Stewart.

October 22 –24

Seattle Weaver’s Guild sales and exhibition at Bloedel Hall on the lower level of  St. Marks’ Cathedral at 1245 10th. Avenue E. in Seattle. Hours are 5pm – 8pm on October 22, 10am - 8pm October 23 and October 24 from 10am – 5pm. Proceeds from the sale are used to fund the guild’s volunteer outreach program and to bring talented practicing artists to Seattle Weavers' Guild to educate both its members and the public in their art.

October 22

Pilchuck on Display: An Exhibition of International  Glass Art,  The Westin Seattle, 5;30-8pm, free and open to the public.  This event allows visitors to take a virtual trip to the campus.  Visit www.pilchuck.com.

October 23

Duvall Art Walk 6-9pm. North Bend’s  concert violinist Lenore Vardi will perform among her musically-themed paintings at The Laurel Tree Gallery , 15715 Main St. NE. in Duvall.

Pilchuck 31st Annual Art Auction at the Westin Hotel. All auction proceeds benefit the glass school’s educational and artistic programs. Tickets for the gala begin at $250 per person. For more information please contact Helga Hizer, (206) 621-8422 ext. 34, hhizer@pilchuck.com.

October 24

Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Crab Feed and Auction fundraiser at 6pm. Held at the IslandWood Center, 4450 Blakely NE, on Bainbridge Island. There are a limited number of tickets available at $110 each, at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, or by telephone at 206.842.3132.

October 24 & 25

Annual Kristin Ford Jewelry Trunk show at Crackerjack Contemporary Crafts, 1815 N. 45th #212. Artist’s reception on October 24 from 12 –4pm.

Deon Matzen, a painting and drawing instruction at the Skagit Valley College on Whidbey Island, is among the winners of the “21 over 31 competition” for artists over 60 years old, conducted by Southwest Art Magazine. Among thousands of entries, Matzen was one of the 21 chosen with her entry “Diamond T Tanker II.” In November, Ms. Matzen will have a show featuring her series of old trucks at the Gallery-by-the-Bay in Stanwood, Washington and a show of old rural architecture at the  Whidbey Pies at the Greenbank Farm Gallery in Greenbank.

Observed in most Latin countries, Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of the life of departed family members in friends. Altars are built in the public square or home with pictures of the deceased along with their favorite food or drink, perhaps a piece of clothing or other momentos. This year’s festival at the Tacoma Art Museum  will include a collective altar on which everyone is welcome to contribute their own ofrendas (offerings) to lost loved ones. People are invited to contribute their remembrances online at either Day of the Dead -- Tacoma on Facebook, or on Tacoma Art Museum’s Flickr page at www.Flickr.com/Groups/TacomaArtMuseum. These pictures will be on display during the festival. Shown above is a picture of an actual alter in Puerto Vallarta.

“Every community festival at Tacoma Art Museum has its own personality,” said Stephanie A. Stebich, Director of Tacoma Art Museum, ”Día de los Muertos is one of the most vibrant. We are adding a collective altar this year to invite everyone to participate and discover that sense of connection and joy. The online elements of Facebook and Flickr will allow fans of the festival another way to contribute to the festivities.”

For more information on Tacoma Art Museum’s schedule of events, visit www.TacomaArtMuseum.org/DiaDeLosMuertos.

Well-known northwest artist, Anne Schreivogl, opens in “Everyday Joy” at the Cole Gallery, 107 5th Avenue South in Edmonds,  October 15 from 5-8pm. Denise Cole says, “Meet Anne and enjoy a champagne reception!” The show will run through November 16. Shown: Drum Roll.

Opening October 15 at the Seattle Art Museum downtown are exhibits not to be missed, both of which will be on view through April 11.

The first, “Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act “ consists of more than 40 original works of art trace the development and amazing creativity of the American master sculptor, with particular depth in his most celebrated period, the late 1940s. Highlights include miniature maquettes, works on paper, jewelry, monumental sculptures, and one of the artist’s largest mobiles.

The second, “Michelangelo Public and Private: Drawings for the Sistine Chapel and Other Treasures from the Casa Buonarroti,” centers around 12 original drawings by Michelangelo. The exhibit features portraits of the artist, personal documents and decorative arts. Its primary focus is Michelangelo’s preliminary work for the Sistine Chapel in Rome, including a selection of working drawings for the Sistine Ceiling and the Last Judgment.

Dr. Gary Radke, the Dean's Professor of the Humanities at Syracuse University, is scheduled to give a lecture on the Sistine Chapel before and after Michelangelo on Friday, October 16 from 7-8pm. Shown: Study of a man’s face for the Flood in the Sistine ceiling, 1509-10, Michelangelo Buonarroti

Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Washington, Ellen Garvens exhibits her constructions, photographs, and drawings in an exhibit called “Devices,” on view at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery on the University of Washington campus in the Art Building. A series of sculptures combine hand tools and photographs to create a hybrid image/object. In these works anthropomorphic aspects of small hand tools are brought to bear on photographs of the human form. The show runs through October 31. Shown: Plaster Room.

“Meiro Koizumi | My Voice Would Reach You,” a survey the artist’s career
to date, features eleven video works made by Koizumi during the period 2000 – 2009.  New York Times art critic Roberta Smith noted, "His videos are 'Punk’d' for intellectual sadists." The show opens at the Hedreen Gallery in the Lee Center for the Arts at Seattle University, 901 12th Avenue. His recent solo exhibitions include "MAM 009 Meiro Koizumi" (2009) at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. His recent group exhibitions include "Rehab!" at Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (2008) and "Nanjing Triennial" (2008). He is schedule to be included in "Art Scope" in Berlin, organized by Daimler Foundation in 2010. The show opens October 14 from 5-8pm and closes January 9, 2010.

"A Long and Winding Road" Memories of my past, new works by northwest painter Don Tiller opens in a reception October 14 from 6-9pm at the Gunnar Nordstrom Gallery, 800 Bellevue Way N.E. Suite 111. The show runs through November 8.

Third Thursday

Edmonds Art Walk.  Galleries are open from 5-8pm.  E-mail ansons66@yahoo.com.

Tacoma Art Walk.  Tacoma's galleries, Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, and the Washington State History Museum are open from 5-8pm.  All three museums are free.  Info: 253/272-4258.

Upper Queen Anne Art Walk, 6-8pm.  E-mail info@bouncingwall.com.

Third Saturday

Everett Art Walk, 4-7pm.  Visit www.everettartwalk.org.

LaConner Art Walk, 4-8pm.

Last Thursday

MIcrosoft Art Collection Tours.  Open to the public, free.  RSVP two weeks in advance artevent@microsoft.com.  Maximum of 40 can register.

October 16

The 2009 Soil Art Auction held at the Lawrimore Project, 831 Airport Way S., 6pm. Auction preview at noon. Art, food, drinks, friends, and music, all for $10.

October 16 – ?

At 11am, Max Grover Gallery, located at 820 Water Street in Port Townsend, start the selling of all gallery inventory so Sherry and Max can have more time to paint and get on with the joys of living.

October 17

Opening weekend celebration at the downtown Seattle Art Museum for two shows: Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act and Michelangelo Public and Private. Art, music, games, kids' art shows, family tours and more.

Family Day at the Seattle Art Museum from 10am to 3pm.

Art Rumble in Sodo, an all-day open studio event with the 1020 Building (above Ouch My Eye located at 1022 First Avenue South) and the Bemis Building from noon-8pm. Over 25 artist studios will be open to the public in both buildings. An artist reception is scheduled at Ouch My Eye from 8pm-midnight.

Ten visual artists are pitching in to help start a new dance company in Seattle, Whim W’Him. Steven Jensen, Mark Zappone, Casey Curran, Michael Liang, Mary Crane, Catherine Lepoutre, Jared Rue, D. Kleck, and Margo Spellman have all donated art for a dinner/silent auction to be held at Steve Jensen Studios, 1424 Tenth Avenue. For more information, call Deborah Cobain at 425.246.5056.

October 17 & 18

The Big Red Barn Festival at Countryside Meadows, 21916 7th. Avenue NE in Arlington, from 9am - 5pm. The festival is a family-oriented event that includes a children's art show, plant sale, and art exhibitors representing a variety of mediums from oils, watercolors, and acrylics to jewelry, pottery, and garden art. No charge.

October 17 – November 1

Tacoma Art Museum and Centro Latino celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Observed in Mexican and other Latin American communities on November 1 and 2 (All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day), Dia de los Muertos is a powerful, symbolic celebration in honor of relatives and friends who have died. The belief is that death is not the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life; therefore these celebrations are joyous, not mournful. Alongside the traditional tapete (sand painting) that fills the lobby and more than a dozen altars made by community organizations, this year’s festival will include a collective altar on which everyone is welcome to contribute their own ofrendas (offerings) to lost loved ones.

Inspired by Istanbul's skyline of historic domes and minarets alongside modern buildings, Boyd Sugiki’s exhibit at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner creates a series of forms reminiscent of architecture. In blown glass, he portrays towers and cupolas in simplified forms, each structure made up of multiple parts fitted together with precision. The show is on view through January 3. Shown: Cupolas.

Cappy Thompson's “Dreamscapes: Heaven and Earth,” is showing October 10 - November 8 at Traver Gallery Tacoma, 1821 E Dock Street #100. An opening reception takes place October 10 from 4-7pm. Thompson's narratives are often autobiographical, with the artist and her friends occasionally standing in as characters in her legends. Thompson has been recognized as a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts and, in addition to teaching extensively, her work is included in the collections of noted public and corporate institutions worldwide. Shown:dreamscape: three aspects of my soul .