Seattle Art Blog - News, Discussion, and Events

Dec 1, 2006 Insights Gallery in Anacortes is featuring "2006 Petite Pieces," over 60 new small works by gallery artists. The show is on view for tonight's gallery walk in Anacortes and will run through December. Pictured is South Beach  II by Don de Llamas.

Nov 30, 2006 As usual, there's a lengthy list of museum and art gallery exhibits, "Meditation on How the Story Travels Through Time, Art to look at this week." Pay special attention to the ones marked with the "SW Pick." Incidentally, someone forgot to add the links to the websites this week.

In addition, Sue Peters has written a review of COCA's 2006 Annual Show. She says, "The show was juried by Jennifer Gately, Portland Art Museum's new curator of Northwest art, who selected from over 400 entries nationwide. As with most exhibits of this nature, there's a range of quality, depth, and style—photography, video, sculpture, and mixed media—but enough standout pieces like Gatti's to make it worth a look." Go to the Seattle Weekly site to read the whole thing.

Nov 30, 2006 So far this is my favorite podcast by Jen Graves. She interviews Robin Held, the hot curator at the Frye Art Museum  who has the Seattle art world buzzing with her contemporary exhibits. "I Like My Time, I Don't Like My Time," Erin Wurm's show currently on view through January 28, is the main subject of this week's talk; but they also discuss the future of the Frye, why Robin is there and why she's finally unpacked. Follow this  bolded link to the Stranger  to listen. Robin, who recently returned from Munich, says the Frye and its 19th century German collection is a rockstar over there. Interesting. That might account for the fact that, after the US and Canada, the number one country visiting this website is Germany. Also, if, after you listen, you want to refresh your mind about Spinoza, I've googled him here.

Nov 27, 2006 First Friday 

Anacortes Galleries host a gallery walk from 6 - 9pm. Call Kathy at 360/293-6938.

Art Collective Issaquah. 6 - 9pm. Train Depot, 15 Rainier Blvd. North, Downtown Issaquah. Bremerton Gallery Walk in downtown Bremerton from 5 - 8pm.

Fremont Art Walk. 6 - 9pm. Visit www.fremontseattle.com. for a map and more information.

Vashon Island Gallery Cruise. 6 - 9pm. Call Silverwood Gallery at 206-463-1722.

First Saturday
Gig Harbor Art Walk along the harbor. 1 - 5pm.

Langley on Whidbey Island. Galleries extend their hours to 8pm.

Port Townsend Gallery Walk. 5 - 8pm. Call Ancestral Spirits Gallery at 360/385-0078.

December 1 - 2
Anacortes Holiday Art Walk featuring the work of many Skagit Valley artists. Call Kathy at Scott Milo Gallery 360/293-6938

December 1 - 3
Bainbridge Island Winter Studio Tour exhibits the excellent quality and diversity of 60 artists. For maps and artist previews visit www.bistudio.com or call Sally Noedel at 206/855-2924.

December 2
Bellingham Downtown Art Walk. Maps for each gallery walk are available at the Downtown Renaissance Network, Allied Arts of Whatcom County and at participating downtown venues.

Langley Gallery Holiday Art Walk. Held in Langley on Whidbey Island 6 - 9pm. Call 360/221-7737 for info.

Gage Academy 7th Annual All Day Drawing Festival. 10am - 10pm. 1501 10th Ave. East. All ages are invited to drop in for an hour or stay for the day. Art, Music, Food, & Fun! $10 or an art book donation/ kids and teens, free. Also taking place the same day is a holiday art show and sale and the Gage alumni show. For more information visit www.gageacademy.org.

The Greening of Coupeville Art and Antique Walk. Call Sandy at the Windjammer Gallery 360/678-9200 for information.

December 2 - 3, 9 - 10
Vashon Island Open Studio Tour. Over 35 studios participate from 10am - 4pm. To get there, take the ferry in West Seattle or Tacoma's Point Defiance Park. Call the Silverwood Gallery at 206/463-1722 for information.

Nov 26, 2006 There's a wonderful reason to read Regina Hackett's blog in the Seattle  P.I. this weekend if you like heart-warming stories. This one concerns Charles LeDray who started out in Seattle as a lowly museum guard and wound up a star in the NY art scene. Read the whole article.

Nov 25, 2006 Hmmm, now this IS interesting.  Just when I thought all hell was breaking loose in Afghanistan with a resurgence of the Taliban, there's an article in the Art Newspaper saying, "The Afghanistan Museum in Exile, in Switzerland, is closing, and its collection will be sent back to Kabul as Unesco has determined that the situation in the Afghan capital is now safe enough. Items donated for safekeeping are therefore being packed, for their return. The museum in exile is in the village of Bubendorf, 20 kilometres outside Basel. It was established by Swiss scholar Paul Bucherer-Dietschi in 1999, to house artefacts from war-torn Afghanistan."

Nov 24, 2006 Matthew Kangas, writing for the Seattle Times, says, "Three fascinating exhibitions this month underscore the continued local interest in Japanese culture and its influences. The shows deal with Victorian-era (Meiji-period) women's novel illustrations, erotic woodcuts of the 18th and 19th centuries and wood-fired handmade pottery made by American artists in the Japanese style.Why not take an afternoon off from holiday cooking and shopping and soak up the alternately elegant, startling and warm qualities of Japanese art?" The exhibits he wants you to see are "Kuchi-e" at Carolyn Staley, now located in the Pike Place Market, "Shunga: Erotic Japanese Prints 1780-1900," at  Davidson until November 30 on Occidental and "Mingei Tradition in the Northwest: 8th Annual Pottery Invitational," at  Glenn Richards until December 24 on Denny Way. Pictured from Carolyn Staley Fine Japanese Prints  is "Kazue, an ideal Meiji beauty, which was designed by Kiyokata Kaburaki as frontispiece for volume one of the three-volume novel, Uzumaki (Whirlpool)."

Nov 24, 2006 A great list compiled by Sue Peters and Rachel Shimp with brief descriptions and links to the web pages. Follow the bolded link to Art to check out this week. 

Nov 24, 2006 "Two world-famous photographers have, at this moment in time (late fall), shows in Seattle. One is Stephen Shore, at Henry Art Gallery; the other is Vik Muniz, at Seattle Asian Art Museum. Shore's career began in the early '70s; Muniz's began in the mid-'80s. The former is American; the latter is Brazilian. The American was born in 1947; the Brazilian was born in 1961. What connects the two artists (apart from being photographers) is Andy Warhol: one, Shore, by experience; the other, Muniz, by influence. What separates the two artists is value: One is better than the other. Which is which? The value of Shore's work is higher. What now follows is an explanation of this final judgment." Read the entire article written by Charles Mudede in the Stranger

Jen Graves has an interesting podcast this week with Mary Simpson and Fionn Meade whose live-action film, Billy in the Lowground, can be seen at Punch Gallery. Jen's getting better each week as she learns to ask questions in order to draw out revealing responses from her subjects and prevent the interview from turning into a monologue. Follow this bolded link to listen. I also suggest you follow the link to the Foghorn String Band where you'll hear a few of their pieces, a couple of which are reminicent of the old Cornish reels. Great stuff.

Nov 21, 2006 I try to read it everyday. Gossipy and and informative art news from all over the world . You can find it at www.artsjournal.com/visualarts/ 

Nov 20, 2006

Last Thursday
Microsoft Art Collection Tours. Open to the public, free. Please RSVP two weeks in advance to artevent@microsoft.com, a maximum of 40 can register, first come, first served.

November 18 - December 24
Allied Arts of Whatcom County Annual Festival of Fine Art. Live music, open 10am - 7pm. daily. Call 360/676-8548.

November 24 - 25
Historic Fairhaven Holiday Tour d'Art, Bellingham. 5 - 10pm. For information and maps contact Erica Hume at Artwood, 360/647-1628 or visit www.fairhaven.com.

The Island Artisans' Holiday Crafts Fair at Friday Harbor, San Juan Island. 10am - 5pm. Craft artists from throughout the San Juan's will be participating. Held at Friday Harbor Elementary School, off Argyle Street. For information contact Kathy Babbit, 360/370-5889.

November 25
Season of Light Auction featuring the 28th Annual Festival of Trees, "Let the Holiday Season Begin" in Seattle's most elegant venue, The Fairmont Olympic Spanish Ballroom. Proceeds benefit Childrens' Hospital and Regional Medical Center. For information, www.seasonoflight.org.

Nov 15, 2006 Jen Graves at the Stranger really likes to get it on. Recent deaccessions at the Seattle Art Museum have her up in arms. I  have no opinion here other than it seems it wouldn't hurt Jen to interview a few more people around town to come to come up with a really legitimate consensus regarding SAM's decision to sell a few works in order to buy different pieces . First she complained that SAM had too many secrets, and now she doesn't liike what they're revealing. I do so love controversy. Judge for yourself by reading the whole article right here.

Nov 15, 2006 Tell you right now folks, they threw the mold away when Regina Hackett was created. If you haven't read her blog yet, you just might find it entertaining. One of the wonderful things I love about the net is the interaction; it seems Alfredo Arreguin doesn't like Regina's opinion about his art, and he's not the least embarrassed to tell  her. Go here to read all about it.

Nov 14, 2006 Greg Kucera, owner of the Greg Kucera Gallery , says, "We are extremely pleased to welcome  Catherine Mosley to Seattle in order to gain a greater understanding of her knowledge of the printmaking process, her collaboration with Robert Motherwell, and her relationship to both the artist and to the art he created." Robert Motherwell produced a total of 536 print editions, and more than 100 were produced in collaboration with  Catherine Mosley from the years 1972 until his death in 1991. The current exhibition, will feature 60 etchings from his collaborations with Mosley.The exhibition will also include 10 paintings, collages, and works on paper that relate directly to his etchings.The exhibition opens this Thursday, 6 to 8 pm and will be on view through December 30. Catherine Mosley will give a talk at noon on Saturday, November 18.

Nov 14, 2006 Seattle artist Yancy Wright's exhibit, "Illumine," opens Thursday night in the Catherine Person Gallery at a reception from 6-8 and will be on view until  December 22. The artist will give an informal talk at the gallery on November 18 at noon. New gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 12-6 and Saturday 12-5.  Pictured is Wright's Treve Alberi.