Food & Drink

What to See This Fall: Visual Arts

By Brangien Davis and Dana Standish September 8, 2014

0914fallartssculpture

This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

 

Seattle Art Museum: Pop Departures
Those Pop Art troublemakers have been at it for the last 60 years: shaking up everything we thought we knew about art by incorporating images from advertising, comic books and everyday cultural detritus to challenge the traditions of “fine art.” Now SAM mounts a major exhibition dedicated to showing how the roots and themes of the Pop Art movement have continued to inspire artists and antagonize purists. Pop Departures will showcase the early masters: Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, John Chamberlain, James Rosenquist and others, whose work presaged the 1980s work of artists such as Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Richard Prince, John Baldessari and Raymond Pettibon, also on display. The continuum (and the exhibit) reaches into the present day, as evidenced by contemporary artists (including Josephine Meckseper, Elad Lassry, Margarita Cabrera, Mickalene Thomas and Ryan Trecartin) still using mass-market images to make statements about modern commodity culture. 10/9–1/11/2015. Times and prices vary. Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave.; 206.654.3100; seattleartmuseum.org

Seattle ArtResource Gallery: Lineage
A hidden gem for those in search of art by Northwest masters, this gallery showcases and sells consigned pieces at killer prices. The fall exhibit, Lineage, features paintings, sculpture and screen prints by artists who either attended or taught at the University of Washington—including pieces by such luminaries as Chuck Close, Alden Mason, Jacob Lawrence and Roger Shimomura.
The best part? Any one of them could be yours. 10/2–11/22. Times vary. Free. Seattle Art Resource Gallery, 625 First Ave.; 206.838.2695; seattleartresource.com


Read all of our picks for fall arts, including music, theater, film and more here.



Museum of Glass: Lino Tagliapietra
How did a Venetian glass artist spur Seattle’s thriving glassblowing scene? It’s a long story—one that the Museum of
Glass is celebrating on the occasion of Lino Tagliapietra’s 80th birthday. The influential Italian artist swapped techniques with Dale Chihuly in 1968, taught at Pilchuck Glass School in 1979 and ’80, held his first solo show at Seattle’s Traver Gallery in 1990 and helped put Seattle glass on the global map. See work by the man Chihuly has called “the greatest glassblower in the world.” 9/24–2/15/2015. Times and prices vary. Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock St.; 253.284.4750; museumofglass.org

Greg Kucera Gallery

Claudia Fitch’s sword; Courtesy of the Greg Kucera Gallery

The local arts champion is stocking his gallery with Seattle artists this fall: Cheeky pop-culture sculpture trio SuttonBeresCuller presents new carved, bronzed and welded work (9/4–11/1); sculptor Claudia Fitch, who in May won the prestigious Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, shows her playful, sometimes sci-fi ceramic and metal work (11/6–12/24); and artist Whiting Tennis exhibits his paintings, which resonate with both architecture and folktales (11/6–12/24). Times vary. Free. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S; 206.624.0770; gregkucera.com

The BAM Biennial is a juried exhibition featuring new work by emerging and established Northwest artists and craftspeople. Past exhibits have brought together the best of the clay (2010) and fiber (2012) worlds, and now wood gets its due, in this exhibit of pieces by 39 of the area’s premier artists working in the medium. Included in the Seattle contingent: Rick Araluce, whose enigmatic miniature environments were one of the nuanced surprises of last season; sculptor John Grade, whose work embraces nature and its relationship to decay; Julia Haack, who turns salvaged wood into stand-alone landscapes; Julia Harrison, whose delicate, erotic, wearable carvings evoke Japanese netsuke; W. Scott Trimble, whose playful sculptures explore the intersection of architecture and nature; and Ed Wicklander, who has influenced many of the other artists and is known for his carved high jinks (and for his delightful depictions of cats…lots of cats!). 10/31–3/29/2015. Times and prices vary. Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way NE; 425.519.0770; bellevuearts.org

ARTIST INVASIONS AND INSTALLATIONS

Lilienthal/Zamora
Seattle installation artists Etta Lilienthal and Ben Zamora bring their innovative vision to Belltown’s Suyama Space with a new piece, Never Finished, which will fill the gallery from floor to ceiling with suspended bars of light. In the tradition of noted 1960s–’70s fluorescent light artist Dan Flavin, the duo uses a minimalist approach to create a maximum experience: environments that burn into the brain. 9/29–12/19. Times vary. Free. Suyama Space, 2324 Second Ave.; 206.256.0809; suyamaspace.org

MADART
With a mission to make art easier to stumble upon, MadArt brings the work of local artists to unexpected locations. The newest incarnation, Mad Campus, features interactive, site-specific sculptures by Seattle artists—including Evan Blackwell, Saya Moriyasu, Maki Tamura and W. Scott Trimble—temporarily placed across the UW campus in locations both heavily trafficked and hidden. 9/13–10/25. Free. University of Washington campus. madartseattle.com

Ann Hamilton
For the first time since the gallery’s 1997 expansion, the Henry is handing over the building keys to a single artist: Ann Hamilton. Known for her enormous installations that resemble sensory dreamscapes—a 90-by-54-foot orange silk sheet stretched across the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon, France; 42 human-powered swings that triggered huge billowing curtains in NYC’s Park Avenue Armory—Ohio-based Hamilton will now have her way with the Henry, crafting a transformative, site-specific installation. It will be a taste of things to come, too: The MacArthur “Genius” has been tapped to create large-scale art at Pier 62/63 as part of the new Waterfront Seattle project. 10/11–4/30/2015. Times and prices vary. Henry Art Gallery, UW Campus; 206.543.2280; henryart.org

New coffee-table books by and about local artists

Left to right: Cute Grit, Mary Randlett Portraits, An American Knockoff

Roger Shimomura: An American Knockoff
Born and raised in Seattle, Roger Shimomura is known for his comic, Pop Art–style paintings that take Japanese stereotypes to task with humor, shock and awe. An American Knockoff, by Anne Goodyear and Chris Bruce, visually chronicles Shimomura’s bold artistic portrayal of the tension between assimilation and resistance. October release; University of Washington Press, $24.95

Mary Randlett Portraits

Esteemed Northwest photographer Mary Randlett has taken more than 500 portraits of prominent local artists and writers over her long career, 90 of which appear in this book—including shots of Mark Tobey, Theodore Roethke and Barbara Earl Thomas. Also featured are 70 short essays about the artists by author Frances McCue. Hear McCue and Randlett discuss the book at Town Hall (10/14, 7:30 p.m. $5). September release; University of Washington Press, $45

Cute Grit
Enfu (aka Ken Taya) is a Bellevue-based game developer by day and a digital daydreamer by night, cooking up anime cartoon cuteness flavored with a pinch of street culture. Seen on the walls of Blue C Sushi (and, post–Super Bowl, a Seahawks poster), Enfu’s imaginary world is rife with rickshaw taco trucks, replicating electric poles and wee caricatures, from bunnies to bombs. Attend the launch party at Capitol Hill’s Ray Gun Lounge (10/24. 8 p.m. Free. 501 E Pine; gammaraygamestore.com), where Enfu will sign books and display art. October release; Chin Music Press, $34.95

 

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